, 1889-08-22
A E MONKEY.
Some of the Antics in Which He Indulges
His Extreme Jealousy.

His Extreme Jealousy.
My Office in the last port where /
was stationed looked over the sea and
had a veranda outsides it, which of
course was kept sacred. l was sitting
one day in my office chair looking
out over the bay beyond to collect my
thoughts for a dispatch then in hand
when l espied a Celestial coming along
the veranda with some dark object in
probation of the attention it was receiv-
ing by placing two arms OF inordinate
length around the mans neck. l nat
urally rose up to see what this phe-
nomenon was, and having been told
that it was a rare animal l at once
made overtures for his purchase.
As soon as negotiations were con-
cluded / fastened my purchase-a
black gibbon-to my copying press,
instead of sending him up to my
house, being anxious to introduce
him myself to my dogs and to Joseph,
the cat l could not intrust a rare an
imal to my servants, lest the introduce
ton through their agency to Joseph
and the rest might result in some dis
aster. When | fastened the gibbon to
the press l took no account of the
length of the animals arms, and 1 was
therefore not a little surprised when a
black hand took possession of a blue
and red pencil and a black mouth be-
gan to eat it. Nature is said, In her
benehcence, to instruct the lower ami
NAL what to eat and what to avoid.
That, no doubt, applies to the animal
in the wild state, such animal being
directed by instinct where to find an
antidote TO anything deleterious which
it may nave eaten. An animal in cap
tivity must, however, be treated diff
ferently, and must not be allowed to
do as it likes. So l reasoned, and as l
had no herb ready to correct the evil
which L knew would result from eat
ing q pencil | proceeded to recover the
stolen article. Though my new pet
did not mind being touched, though
he would jump into your lap and make
himself at home, he strongly objected
to part with anything which he had
once got hold of, and a good deal of
diplomacy had to be used before l pos
sessed myself of the pencil.
Scarcely was this fun at an end be-
fore some black fingers were dipped
into the ink, and when the ink was re-
moved out of reach the gum bottle
was next turned over, the gum being
particularly appreciated. Thinking
the animal might be thirsty l put a
saucer of water before him, but
though easy to put the saucer down it
was impossible to pick it up again,
even though there was not a drop OF
water left in it.
At first the name of ''Sambo" was
given to the gibbon, on account of its
Jet black color, then this was changed
in course of time to Samuel" the lit
tie fellow becoming too respectable to
be called Sambo. AT the last port at
which l was stationed the lower win
dows of my dwelling house were pro-
vided with iron bars-about five
inches apart-as a protection against
thieves. These bars were a great con
venience to me, as l could attach Sam
to them at meal times, thus keeping
him out of mischief while giving
him plenty of freedom. The ques-
ton of feeding Sam was not an
easy one to tackle. If we sat down
and began eating before he vas served
the most noisy protests were made,
and when the saucer of rice was put
down there was no one courageous
enough to recover the empty saucer.
The point was often. settled by Sam
himself, who, having finished his
rice, would throw the saucer into the
dlE Ii lew LILIES, CdICuluR IL very CIV
erly, and then hurl it away from
him. A wooden bowl was found to
answer better, but this also received
much rough usage and had TO be re
peatedly renewed.
One very noticeable feature about
Sam was his extreme jealousy. If |
stroked the cat in his presence he used
to get into a paroxysm of rage and
make efforts to bite me. He would be
almost as much vexed if l patted the
dogs. When a guest came to lunch
con he was SO angry at the intrusion
that he often had to be removed. He
would absorb all the conversation UNI
til removal, it being quite impossible
to keep him quiet. He had a singular
objection-he has it now in a mild
way-to anything being removed by
the servants; and had he been fasten-
ed to my chair instead of the window
no plate could have been removed.
When in the drawing DON with me
and he was often there-he would
even fly at my wife if she attempted
to touch the tea things. AT this date
he has sobered down a good deal but
even now, though a servant may
bring me a letter, he must not take
away a reply if Sam is with me; and
if my wife shakes my coat, or even
touches my shoulder, he catches hold
of her, though now perhaps more in
play than in anger.-Cor. Chambers
Journal.