The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1876-01-04
Pet Monkey on Board Ship.

\
Pet Monkey on Board Ship.
| Some years ago, just before the Rus
| sian war, there was on board her Majes-
! ty's ship BelierophOn an ape, which be-
| longed TO the Captain. Like all the rest
of his tribe, he was very fond Of mis-
chief, and therefore was kept chained
| by the waist to a kennel in which he re-
sided. This he used to drag about with
him on the main deck, where he was
| kept, always taking care to hold the
chain in one hand TO keep the strain off
his belt.
He was very fond of sitting before the
galley fire, warming himself, sometimes
much to the inconvenience of the cooks,
who, however, were on very good terms
with him in general. He saved them
| good deal of trouble at last, for Ole day,
| finding the galley quite clear, Jacko tried
his hand at cooking, and very nearly
succeeded in producing dish of boiled
monkey. A kettle was sizzlng away
merrily, and, OF course, Jacko began to
examine it with his hands, and the re-
suit was he turned the boiling water
over himself. He was on the sick list
| for some time afterward, and lost
good deal of hair and some skin.
He could not bear the sight of q kettle
after that, and the cooks found it out, so
when Jacko got in the way they used to
show him kettle FULL or empty )--l1ls
was quite enough to start him off for an
hour or SO. He nearly came TO grief
once with another experiment. One
cold night he found the oven door open,
and though the fire was out the oven
was warm. Oh, ho! thought Jaoko, here
are snug quarters at all events, SO in he
walked unperceived, and was soon COM
fortably asleep. By-and-by, the cook
came and lighted the fire, and not know
| ing there was a stranger on the premises
he shut the oven door. When the fire
grew brisk, a most extraordinary noise
emanated from the oven; when the door
was opened by the sentry-who thought
his sable majesty was in tout jumped
Jacko, grinning and chattering at tre-
mendous rate, no doubt feeling unpleas-
antly hot.
| He never tried that sleeping apart
| ment again. After time he hit upon
another and safer way of keeping HIM
| self warm at night. He discovered that
| by standing ON the top rail of the sheep
pens he could reach the fowl coops which
were hung to the beams above them. Up
! he went, and watched till a fowl put its
| head out between the bars. Jacko at
once made a grab and pulled the untor-
tunate fowl out by the neck. Finding
| the fowl was warm, he dragged his ken
nelback to his place before the fire, taxi
ing his game with him, and there he slept
| all night, with the bird in his arms like a
baby. Next morning, when the fire was
| lighted, out ne came with his living blan-
| ket. lie allowed the fowl to walk about,
| but the moment it showed signs OF going
out of reach OF his arm he pulled it back
again, and gave it a fresh start; and SO
on, till the fowl was returned to the
coop.
Alter that Jacko often took fowl to
bed with him, and, strange to say, he
| never did them any harm, though the
process of being dragged through the
| bars could not have been pleasant for
the victim. The officers used to smoke
| near the galley, and Jaeko was very fond
Of getting inside our monkey Jackets in
cold weather. He was very fond of
smoking, too, but we could not teach b i'm
1 to draw the smoke. We used to put the
stem of pipe in his mouth and blow
down the bowl, and he would smack his
| lips over the smoke. l am sorry to say
he now and then got drunk when the
| grog was being served out. lie Was very
| amusing when in that state, but l think
the poor fellow had bad headache after
ward. On the whole, he was good
tempered animal, but he had great dis
| u
had gwen him a sly blow now and then.
| BY way OF revenge, Jacko used TO look
| out under the ladder when the boys were
bringing down their hamlnocks in the
evening, and suddenly pounce upon one
of the hammocks. The unlucky owners
knowing that Jacko could bite, as rule
would drop the hammock, and tnere-
upon Jacko would sit on it, and grin and
chatter and jump till he was tired, when
he would gave up possession without
| iurther trouble. Or course, now and
then he got loose, and then there was
grand hunt. One day he disappeared
for some time, and no one knew where
lhe was, as he kept quiet, which was not
usually the case.
At last one of the clerks went into the
office, which was under the poop, and no
sooner did he open the door than he saw
| Master Jaeko going out of the window,
which had been left open, and by which
he had got in, He had been making up
the ships books in his own fashion.
The ink was splashed about all over the
place, and Jacko himself was nearly as
black as an Ethiopian serenader.
He did not 60 ty-handed, however,
for he took the Articles of War in his
hand, and, of course, he took to the
/ rigging. ''Boys, catch monkeyW was
the boatswain's mates pip4; but before
he was captured the Articles of War
were torn to shreds. Fortunately Tor
lthe discipline of the ship there were
other copies on board. l believe poor
Jacko was at last killed i'll the attack on
Sebastopol; but left the ship, 80 can
not be sure about his end Land and
Water.