, 1856-10-31
A Bridge of MONKEYS,

The following curious incident is told b.
Capt. Reid. in his Adventures in South
crn Mevico ~ Th;s is ,bo most roroI ro,
'' '0 ,"''' wv. "".
VI ''et''"S Il suspension oridge ever invent
ed, anu we think the Mexican monkeys ar,
entitled to the patent:
"Thcv ara comi,c tow,rds ,bo od,,o
they viii most IiEcl1 cross Inv tho rncIv
vonderr observed RoonI l'
"How-swim ~ + osLod ..It 10
torrent here .,
on nou orsvorod ,I,o E.orohr,,,
monkeys would rather 90 into fire thar
water. If they cannot lean the stream
they will bridge it.D. s.t.. 'a......s. ...
Bridge il and how ?p
Stop a moment, Captain-you shall
see."
Tho bolchrmor ,o;,os uou sor,doa
roorer and To nonId m"rco;,o ,Lo ou;n,oI'
wcrc ornro,cLino, ,I'o emo, whoro wo Ioy
PrcsoniIy thov 9nnoorod ON tbo onT.oS;t,
honL boodaJ hv an ali ,.r',, In;.aJP pGja r
,oin onJ ofTiooyod H., O. 1"am oa,J;ara
w. ,,oro Rel s,,,aJ or na Ty.,','iaa,.a 'os,
or r;DT,toiiod triho '''' 0'''' ''' .
~
me Ene, an a'u,ut'camp' ,t OF cnIei ploncSr once,
and aftrr Iooking orrosS tho Streom os \
coIcuIatine Tho distance scomnoroJ hocl.
and anntorcJ to commnnicote With tbe
leader Tnis rrodnccJ a movsmo~t in thc
troon Commando woro ;ssnoS % ouJ cat;cno
nor,ias woro de,oiIod> >anG IN. ,n.rcLaJ I T 20 1%o I
front MeapwbiIe ssvsroI Of tbo comadro,
jos onginccrs No dorLt ram oIonl, tl,o
bank, examining the trees on both sides Of
the Onrugo.
At lcnrtb they all COLLECTED around tolI
cotton wood that grew over the narrowest
mart of the stream and twenty or thirty Of
them scampered up its trunk On reach.
inv n bigb polnt the foremost n strong
fellow. ran ont unon limb. and takin5
several turns of his tail around il slipped
off and hung downwards. The next on
the limb, also a stout one, climbed down
the body of the first, and whipping his tail
round the neck and arm of the latter,
dropped of in his turn and hung down.
The third repeated THIS vancouver upon
the second, ana the fourth upon the third,
and so on until the last one upon the string
reSIeu us lorepaWs upon the grounu.
The living chain then commenced swing
ing backwards and forwards like the pen
dulum Of clock. The motion was slight
at hrst, but gradually increased, the lower
most monkey striking his hands violently
on the earth as ne passed the tangent oi
the osclllaung curve. Several Others upon
the limbs above aided the movement.
This continued until the monkey at the
end Of the chain was thrown among the
branches OF tree on the opposite bank
Here, after two or three vibrations, he
clutched limb and held fast. This move
ment was executed adroitly, just at the
eliminating point OF the oscillation, ir
order to save the intermediate links IRON
the violence OF too sudden jerk
The chain was now fast at both ends
forming a complete suspension bridge, over
which the whole troop passed, to the mum
Der OF four or i've hundred, with the rapid
ity OF thought
1t was one Of the most comical sights
ever beheld, to witness the quizzical ex
preston Of countcnances along that living
chain.
The troop was now on the other side
.hut how were The animals forming N,
bridge to 0et themselves over : This wa.
the 9nestion that suggested itself Mani
But then the point dGppui on the othel
side was much lower down. and number
one with half a dozen of his neighbors