The Louisiana Democrat., 1889-05-01

venience to me, as I could attach Sam
to them at meal-t times, thus keeping
him out of mischief whilst giving him
plenty of freedom. The question OF
feeding Sam was not an easy one to
tackle. II we sat down and began
eating before he was served, the most
noisy protests were made; and when
the saucer of rice was put down, there
was no one courageous enough to re.
cover the empty saucer. The point
was often settled by Sam himself, who,
having finished his rice, would throw
the saucer into the air a few times
catching it very cleverly--a 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 repeatedly renewed.
One very noticeable feature about
Sam was his extreme jealousy. If l
stroked the cat in his presence, he used
to get into a paroxysm OF rage and
make great efforts to bite me. He
would be almost as much veXed if l
patted the dogs. When guest came
to luncheon, he was so angry at the
intrusion that he often had to be re-
moved. He would absorb all the con-
versation until removal, it being quite
impossible to keep him quiet. He had
singular objection-he has it now IN
a mild way-to any thing being re-
moved by the servants; and had he
been fastened to my chair instead OF
the window, no plate once put on the
table could have been removed. When
in the drawing 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 So
bered down good deal; but even now,
though a servant may bring me a let
ter, he must not take away reply if
Sam is with me. He objects to any one
coming near 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.
His disposition has naturally changed
during his long captivity, and l am,
therefore, obliged to speak of his ac-
tions in the past tense. Sitting up,
Sam measures sixteen and half inches;
but his arms are twenty-threo inches
long. He is jet black all over, has fur
as thick as that OF many animals which
live in cold climes, and the hair on the
top of his head grows up into point,
which naturally enhances his personal
appearance. His nose is flat, and is,
doubtless, more useful than orna-
mental. He has a good voice, and
whether he calls out for his food Or
expresses his delight at seeing you, his
notes are equally agreeable. When l
take him his bread and milk at half
past six every morning he shows his
gratitude in a queer way; prostrating
himself, he makes what, no doubt, are
eloquent speeches in his own language.
After he has spoken for some time and
made numerous faces, he takes hold of
my hand and hugs it. Until he has
gone through this elaborate perform
ance he will not touch his food.
Though his diet should consist of rice
and fruit only, he often has
bread and jam, and too often
slice of cake. He has no OBJ
lection, moreover, to either rice
pudding or plum-pudding. When his
appetite shows signs Of weakness, an
egg beaten up in mAk revives him; and
symptoms of fever call for little qui-
nine mixed with sugar. never give
Sam tea. Tea makes such animals
nervous, and has other deleterious
effects ON their constitutions, which
need not be particularised here.
Orangoutangs taken to Britain are
generally dosed with tea on arrival,
and are given an inordinate quantity OF
fruit to eat Very little fruit is re-
quired, and care should be taken not
to give too much water, In their wild
state, gibbons no doubt eat large
quantity of fruit; but then nature comes
to their aid if ill effects arise, and
points out to them the herb which will
cure them. In captivity, they do not
get much exercise, and science can do
very little for them when bodily all
ments occur.
If Sam breaks loose in the summer,
he helps himself literally to bananas;
if his rope gives way in the winter, he
makes his way to the drawing-room;
there he warns himself, and having
done this, he jumps on the sofa, pulls
an anti-macassar over him, and goes to
sleep.
When l 60 into the garden release
him altogether. He jumps from tree
to tree, to the great amazement of the
Celestials, who watch his movements
from hillocks outside my grounds, and
occasionally he comes down to have a
game with my two pups. 1t is not a
common sight to see a gibbon loose,
nor can you always get a picture of a
gibbon and dog rolling over and over
each other in play. Perhaps some of
my readers may at one time or another
have kept gibbons. If they have, they
must have been struck with the singu-
lar way IN which gibbons quench their
thlrst. The young gibhon does not
put MS mouth to the water when he
wants to drink; he dips his left hand
into it and sucks the back of his fin
gers, the hair which is on then, +o,,;no .,