The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1897-09-29
Their Fatal Curiosity.

Nearly all the monkeys which one
sees in the United States come from
Gorgona, a little village which is stu
ated a short distance from the Panama
Railroad. The inhabitants of this
district are mostly native negroes, for
no white man could exist in such a
trying climate without drinking plenty
of whisky and almost constantly TAX
ing quininc. The whole region is
marshy and covered with extremely
p~rofuse tropical vegetation. At night
there arises a thick vapor, laden with
fever, which hangs over the woods
like 4 cloud.
This region Of wood is the paradise
of the monkeys. They travel in troops
around the woods and are generally
led by several old monkeys. Only a
few months ago I had occasion to
visit this monkey town" and was
compelled to spend night in a shanty
belonging to an old negro. In the
early morning, as we sat at breakfast,
the creatures came around the veranda
in a most curiously human way. The
mothers brought their families, and
while waiting for scraps Of food that
the old darkey was accustomed to
throw to them during meals they went
on with the toilet of the nursery, with
the most ludicrous gravity and method.
One by onc the youngsters had to
come up to be "dressed," and it was
very funny to see how they tried to
shirk what was their equivalent for
the tub, towel and soap which u own
children do their best to evade.
AS soon as the process Of scratching
and combing was over the little ones
skipped off with an agility that was
amazing, but lever quite quickly
enough to escape the box IN the car
which the parent generally admins
tered as a finishing touch.
And what a pathos there was, too,
about the way in which the mothers
brought their young one up to within
a few feet of our table for food. The
very tiny ones, the babies in arms,
were held out to US just as the beggar
woman of our own species holds out
her starving child. The youngest
were pushed to the front. Misbe-
havior was promptly suppressed by
the elders, who sat sedately in the
back row, and but seldom got anything.
Our gestures were understood by them
with astonishing Intelligence.
How are monkeys caught?
Well, when the people receive the
information that the travelling mon
key troops are lea the village they
repair to the woods in crowds to chase
them. Their plan is very simple.
They procure a %cocoanut, in which a
hole is cu5, just large enouth to admit
a monkeys paw.
The nut is next followed out, and a
big lump of sugar is placed in it. A
long piece of string is then fastened
securely TO the nut, and it is placed
in the road or path Of the approaching
monkeys. 1t is known that monkeys
are very inquisitive animals. AS soon
as they see the lonesome c%ocoanut in
the grass they hurry to examine it
thoroughly. 1t is a curious sight to
see how quickly they will climb from
the trees, chattcring the while, to
take a good view of the concern.
It does not take them long to dis
cover that the inner part contains a
piece of sugar. One of the boldest
and grccdiest sticks a paw into the
nut to get the sugar and grasps it as
tightly as he IAN. But his fist is so
large that he cannot draw it out of the
hole again, with tn sugar, which he
holds fast to, cost what it may. The
negroes now pull the string until nut
and monkey arrive in the vicinity of
their ambuscade. In the meantime
the other monkeys wonder what is the
matter with their comrade. They
hurry to see whether he is being pull
ed to with his paw in the cocoanut,
the crowd around him chattering and
gcsticulating to their hearts content.
Now the great moment has come.
The negroes have 4 large net ready,
and they spread it out oyer the unsus-
p%ccting monkeys, and before they are
aware of it they are prisoners. They
are sold to the employees of the
Panama Railroad. and reach the North
American market through commercial
Dealers Washington Star.
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