The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1888-05-23

at their assailants to prevent actual at
tack, and still the active army in the
trees made matters decidedly interesting
from that direction 1t was evident that
matters were coming to crisis, and the
officers began to get seriously alarmed
for their own safety. They were still
more than half mile from the clearing
and about twice that distance from the
village. Every moment they expected
| the monkey mob to attack them IN force,
when, with such overwhelming numbers,
they would in all likelihood be literally
bitten to death.
In this dilemma they were almost at
their wits end for measure of self pro-
lection. Against almost any other form
of assailants there would have been a
ready refuge in the trees; but with
monkeys they wonld have been far worse
off than on the ground. Yet something
must be done, and in very short order,
too. At this juncture they reached a
big banyan tree with hollow trunk.
The hollow was large enough to admit
both and protect them from the rear, and
it was open in front. Secure from rear
attack, it was not much trouble to keep
the enraged monkeys at lay. They were
not now in any immediate danger, and
the situation developed into a regular
siege. The officers were without food
or drink, and the intense heat had pro-
duced both thirst and fatigue. Dusk
was settling down over the jungle, no
assistance was likely to arrive, and the
monkey mob had taken possession OF the
banyan, watching eagerly for the oppor-
tunity to harrass and assault the In
truders anew.
Now the Englishmen could use their
rifles with good effect, for after the first
few minutes the monkeys had ceased
trying to attack at close quarters. They
had plenty of ammunition, and before
darkness closed over the strange scene,
they literally strewed the ground with
dead monkeys. The slaughter caused
excitement among their fellows. They
chattered and grunted horribly at every
shot, and menaced their prisoners from
the branches. But their rage was impo-
tent against the sportsmel in their re-
treat. All night long the monkeys kept
up the siege, making night hideoLs with
their cries, and when the morning
dawued they were still on hand, appar.
ently as determined as ever. The pris-
oners had kept watch by turns through
the night; each had slept an hour or two
in a sitting position, but thirst and
fatigue now Lore heavily upon them.
Their chief hope lay in firing out the
patience of the monkeys, or in attracting
the attention of the villagers mile away.
To this latter end they fired their rifles
simultaneously several times, and kept
up their warfare upon the monkeys. At
every crack of the guns dead or
wounded monkey would comc.toppllnS
to the ground, but the unterrriied survlv-
ors showed no disposition to flee the field.
Several times the sportsmen ventured
from their strongho' d a short distance,
but they were always compelled to beat
a hasty retreat. Every time they sailed
forth the monkeys cine swarming down
from the branches Of the banyan, in
which there seemed at least thousand.
Thus the morning passed away, high
noon arrived and no sight of relief.
Their situation was becoming desperate,
their thirst had developed into torture,
but happily relief was now soon.to come.
1t was about o'clock, when, in reply to
their shots, they at length heard shouts.
Their own throats were too parched to
shout in response, but they shot off their
rifles. Ten minutes later several villagers
appeared on the scene. Strange to say,
the monkeys allowed the dusky Hindoo-
ryots to approach without exhibiting
undue excitement.
The surerstitious natives were shocked
and terrified at seeing the ground strewn
with the carcasses of not less than fifty
sacred monkeys; but they quickly COM
pretended the situation. They were
only too glad to be of assistance to the
sahibs under such trying circumstances,
and had little difficulty in rescuing them
and leading them to the village. A
nights rest and plenty of food soon re.
stored the tagged energies of the two
Englishmen. They had to abandon their
trip to the Scotch engineers bungalow,
however, for the monkeys had fairly
stolen one day out of their four days
leave. On the following day party of
natives escorted them through the
monkey-invested portion of the Jungle,
whence they made their way back to
the cantonement without further mis-
adventure. York. COmmer,ial-Adcer-