Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1869-04-04
How an Army of MONKEYS
Bridxed q Stream,

They are coming, and will most
likely cross the river by the rocks yon-
der, observed Raoul.
" How, swim it ?" l asked. 8" 1t is
torrent there !'
ooh, no" answered Raoul monkeys
would rather go into fire than water
If they cannot leap the stream they will
bridge it.
" Bridge it and how p
"Stop a moment, captain, and you
shall see" The half-human voice now
sounded nearer, and we could perceive
that the animals we're approaching the
spot where we lay. Presently they aP-
peared upon the opposite bank, headed
by and old gray-headed chieitaln, and
officered like so many soldiers. They
we're, as Raoul stated, of the comddr9a,
or ring-tailed tribe.
One-an aid-de-camp or iefpioneer,
perhaps-ran out upon a projecting
rock, and after looking across the stream,
as if calculating the distance, scampered
back and appeared to communicate with
the leader. This produced a movement
in the troops. Commands we're issued,
fatigue parties were detailed and marche d
to the front. Meanwhile several
of the neutrality-suspicious., no doubt,
ran along the bank, examining the
trees on both sides.
At length they all collected around a
tall cottonwood that grew over the
narrowest part of the stream, and twenty
or thirty of them scampered up Its
trunk. On reaching high point, the
foremost strong fellOw-ran out up
on limb, and taking several turns Of
his tail around it, slipped off, and hung
head downward. The next on the limb
also a stout one, climbed down the body
of the first, and whipping his tai
tightly round the neck and forearm o.
the latter, dropped off in his turn, and
hung head down. The third repeated
his man@uvre upon the second, and th'
fourth upon the third, and so on, unit
the last one upon the string rested hi'
fore-paws upon the ground.
The living chain now commenced
swinging backward and forward like th'
pendulum of a clock. The motion
was slight at first, but gradually IN
creased, the lowermost striking his hand
violently on the earth as he passed tn
tangent of the oscillating curve. Severa
others upon the limbs aided the move
ment. This continued until the monke..
at the end of the chain was throWl
among the branches of tree on tn
opposite bank. Here, after two or thre
vibrations, he clutched limb and he'll
fast. This movement was executes
adroitly, Just at the eliminating point 0
the oscillation, in order to save the IN
termediate links from the violence OF
too sudden jerk The chain was no7
fast at both ends, forming a complet
suspension bridge over which the Who'll
troop to the number of four or five hun
dred passed with the rapidlty
thought.
1t was one of the most comical sight
: I ever beheld, to witness the quizzlc;
expression of the counteRances alon
that living chain =,
The troop was now on the other sid,
but how we're the animals forming I'll
bridge to get themselves overY Th
was the question which suggested itsel
Manifestly by number one letting 60 h
tail. But then the point d daPpi on IL
f other side was much lower down, an
number one, with half-a-dozen of h
neighbors, would be dashed against tt
t opposite bank OF soused into the waite
Here, then, was a problem, and '
D waited with some curiosity for its sol
{ ton. 1t was soon solved. A monk!
was now seen attaching his tail to Il
' lowest on the bridge, another girded nj
: in a similar manner, and so on, until
? dozen more was added to the strln
. These last we're all powerful fellow
I and, running up to high limb, tn
d lifted the bridge into position almG
e horizontal.
: Then a scream from the last monk
D of the new formation warned the t
t end that all was ready and the ne
9 moment the whole chain was swu
j. over, and landed safely on the oppos
Y bank. The lowermost links now drc
s ped off like melting candle, while
/. higher ones leaped to the branches a
a. came down by the trunk. The VIII
r troop then scampered OF into the ch'
lie Oeral and disappeared.