The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1894-10-18
MONKEY KINGS AND LAWS;
The Intellectual Ability of This Animal
Greatly Underrated.

The Intellectual Ability of This Animal
Greatly Underrated.
It is still an article of faith. not only
in India but in all lands where mon
keys go in packs, that they have
king, laws and language, of course.
Saving the first item, and duly limit
ing the Others the belief is sound, no
doubt. But Iben Batuta tells us. on
the authority of ''pious persons" he
met in India. that the king lies in
state Four noblemen always attend
him with rods in their hands, and
cooks serve him on their knees. Nikitin,
the Russian traveller of the fifteenth
century, gives more details. The king
has train of armed followers. -
When a subject is caught he contrives
to send a message to the sovereign,
who forthwith dispatches an army
And when they come to the town
they pull down the houses and beat the
people; and their armies, it is said, are
many" This is not quite so ridiculous
as it looks, for the sacred apes that fre-
quent an Indian village will really
gather to avenge an injury, and it is a
common practice with them to destroy
the hut when angered. But it may
have occurred to Nikitin that his state
ment was too broad. He explains.
therefore, how monkeys are caught
with impunity. They have grI-lc
many children. land when child is
unlike its father and mother it is
thrown out on the high road. Thus
they are taken by the Hindoos, who
teach them every sort of handicraft or
sell them at night, that they may not
find their way home"
When diamonds were first discovered
in South Africa. Europeans focl1ing to
that thinly populated region became
aware of an annoyance, not to say dan
ger, which they had not reckoned
among the chances of the journey.
Many lonely kloof was frequented by
a tribe of apes. which dwelt among the
rocks above, and descended to feed
many do still, no doubt. but not on the
beaten tracks In summer weather
dlggers camped out and started at sun
rise, rested during the heat, and re
sumed in the late afternoon-the feed
ing times. AS often as not the big
male apes gathered promptly to defend
the pass. We never heard of serious
accident on authority, though plenty
are reported. The brutes are not less
formida BILE in appearance than in fact,
and when, at a fight OF stones, they
charge, roaring and screaming, travel
crs are rarely so stupid as to face them.
In 1871 there was a defle in the dis
trict of Albania which had been closed
by apes for several years. Neither
Beers nor English settlers willingly
assail them, owing, we understand, to
a belief that they avenge themselves
upon the crops of the aggressor. I'm
less Mr.. Mansfield Parkyns exagger-
ated the intelligence and discipline of
their kinsfoll in Abyssinia, this notion
is not so absurd-if, as is always prob
able. the aggressor's crops were those
nearer to the colony.
Mr.. Parl1yns says that he often
watched them descending the rocks to
feed. The old males go tirst-some of
them scout on either flank, - and al
climb every eTninence near the line Of
march to assure themselves that the
route is safe. After accommodating
they gave orders in such different tones
of voice that each mnst have a special
meaning. The elders are silent when
advancing. but the main body, females
and young, keep up an incessant chat
ter, playing and feeding as they go.
unless brought to an instantaneous
halt by signal. Behind follows the rear
guard of males. who drive loiterers on
sharply. On reaching the corn fields
the scouts take posts all round. while
the rest fall to plundering with the
utmost expedition, filing their cheek
pouches as full as they will hold and
then tucking the heads of corn under
their armpits." Mr.. Parkyns never
saw a scout leave his place, where he
cannot feed, until the foray is over and
he resumes his duties on the homeward
march. Evidently they must be al
lowed a share of the booty carried off
An unfailing instinct tells them where
to search for water and they dig for
| it with their hands, one relieving an
other if the work be prolonged. Loop
ards are the great enemy, but they sell
dom dare attack fnll-grown animal.
This species are not so pugnacious as
| the South African, perhaps because
| food is more abundant and they are
| more familiar with human beings.
They withdraw at sight of men. though
| they attack dogs, and sometimes wo-
men, if alone. Mr.. Parkyns saw a
striking instance of their intelligence
at khartoum. A Snowman there told
him to watch. and then led his ape to-
| ward basket of dates in the market.
The creature never looked at it, but
while performing edged closer. Sud
denly he started up from the ground
on which he was lying, stretched like
corpse, and uttering a cry of pain or
| rage, fixed his eyes full on the face of
the date seller, and then, without NOV
| ing the rest of his body, stole as many
dates as he could hold in one of his hind
hands" The seller, being stared out of
countenance, knew nothing of it. This
was reason unquestionably, and of a
complex order N. Y. Advertiser.
THE HANDY BICYCLE.