The Evansville daily journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, 1850-07-25
An Army:of Monkey.
ANovEL SUSPENSION BRIDGE.

"They are coming towards the bridge
they will most likely cross by the rocks yon.
der" observed Raoul.
How swim it 2" asked. 1T is tor
rent there 70
oh, no." answered the Frenchman. smon-
keys would rather go into fire than water
Ii they cannot leap the stream, they will
bridge it." --,-r b, -~rr-rsr,s
Bridge it 7! and how 2" -. lesr
Stop moment, Captain-you shall see,
The half human voices now sounded nearer
and we could perceive that the animals were
approaching the spot where we lay. Pres
e"iIy they appeared upon the opposite bank,
headed by an old grey chieftain, and officer
ed like SO many soldiers. Thcv were, az
Raoul stated, Of the comddreja, or ringtailed
tribe.
One-an aid de camp, or chief pioneer, per-
haps-ran out upon the projecting rock aud,
after looking across the stream az ii calcuIat-
ing The distance scampered back and appear
ed to communicate with the leader. This
produced u movement in the troop. Com
nands were iss, . |, and fatigue parties were
detailed aud marched to the trout. Mean
while. several Of the comadrrjas-cngineu,
no d ubt--ran along the bank. examining the
trees OIL both sides vi the arroyo.
Al lel,gIh they ali collected around tall
cotton wood, that grew over the narrow part
Of tile stream, and twenty or thirty Of them
scampered up its trunk. On reaching high
upon limb, and taking several TURNS OF his
tail around it, slipped off, and HUI 2 his head
d0wnwards. The next on the Ii III also a
stout one. climbed down The body e e first.
AID whipped his tail tightly round the neck
and forearm of The latter. dropping of in
turn. and hung head down. the third re-
fpeated this maneuvrc upon the second, and
tn. fourth upon the third. and so on until the
last one upon the string resten his fcre-paws
upon the ground.
| The living chain now commenced swinging
backwards and forwards, like the pendulum,
of clock The motion WAS slight at first but
gradually increased, the lowcrmost rhonkey
striking his hands violently OIL the earth as he
passed the tangent aud oscilating curve
Several others upon the limbs above aided
The movement.
This continued until the monkey Mt the end
Of the chain WAS thrown among the branches
of n tree on the opposite bank. Here, after
two three vibrations, he clutched limb
and held fast This movement was executed
adroitIy, just at the eliminating point Of me
oscillation, in order to save the iI....rr,neda.,
links from the violence of 200 suddc,, ;erk
The chain was now fas. at both ends
forming, a complete SUSPENSION bridge. owe
which inc who'll. troop, to the number of lou
or hive Hundred, passed with the rapidly O
thought.
II Was one Of the most comical sights I ev
er b-held, to witness the quiz 2raI expression
, Of counterances along that living chain.
The troop was now on the other side, hu
how were the animals forming the bridge L
} get themselves over? This was the question
which suggested ITSELF Manifestly by mum
her one letting 90 his tail. But then thu
point d app0i on the other side was mucI
lower down and number orc with a half doz
en- of bis neighbors would be dashed agains
the opposite bank, or be soused INTO the WA
, ter.
Here, then, was problem. and we waitcs
. with some curiosity Tor it's solution. II WA
, soon resolved A monkey was now seen at
{ iching his tail to the lowest on the bridge
another girdrd him in a similar manner. AM
and another, and soon. urtii dozen mor'
were added to the string. These last were
all powerful fellows. aud running up to q
, high limb, thew lifted the bridge INFO posi-
tion almost horizontal.
{ Then a scream from the last monkey o
: the new formation warned the tail end tina
all were ready and the next moment thu
J whole chain was swung over, and landed
safely on the opposite bank. The lowe
links now dropped off like a melting candle
, while the higher ones ieaped to the branche,
, and came down by the trunk. The Who'll,
troop then scampered off into the chaparra
aud disappeared II Adventures in Soul
5 America. .r1.-oe1' ~