The true Democrat. [volume] (Bayou Sara [La.]) 1892-1928, 1898-09-10
A Bridge of MONKEYS.

A Bridge of Monkeys.
"They are coming toward thu
bridge; they will most likely cross by
the rocks yonder," observed Raoul.
"How-swim it?" / asked. ut il
a torrent there"
"Oh, moi" answered the French
man. Monkeys would rather &c
through fire than through water. i
they cannot leap the stream they vii
bridge it..
Bridge it-and how?"
"YOu will see in moment" my
companion replied.
Presently the monkeys appeared
upon the opposite bank, headed by al
old gray chieftain, Differed like sc
many soldiers. One, an aide de camp
or chief pioneer perhaps, ran out up,
on a projecting rock, and after looking
across the stream, as if calculating
the distance, scampered back, and ap,
peared to communicate with the
leader. This produced movement
in the troops. Meanwhile several Of
the monkeys engineers, no doubt
ran along the bank examining the
trees on both sides of the arrayo. At
length they all collected around tall
cottonwood which grew over the mar
rowest part of the stream, and twenty
of the thirty scampered up it's trunk.
On reaching high point, the FORE
most, strong fellow, ran out upon a
limb, and taking several turns of his
tail around it, slipped off and hung
head downward. The next on the
limb, also q stout one, climbed down
the body of the first, and whipped his
tail tightly around the neck and fore
arm 81 the latter, dropped off in his
turn on hung head down. The third
repeated this Vancouver upon the
second, and the fourth upon the string
rested his forepaws upon the ground.
The living chain now commenced to
swing backward and forward, like the
pendulum of clock. The motion was
slight at first, but gradually increased,
the lowermost monkey striking his
hands violently on the earth as he
passed the tangent of the oscillating
curve. Several others upon the limbs
above aided the movement. This
continued till the monkey at the end
of the chain was thrown among the
branches of tree on the opposite
bank. Here, after two or three vibra-
tons he clutched q limb, and held
fast. This movement was executed
adroitly, just at the eliminating point
Of the oscillation, in order to save the
intermediate links from too sudden q
jerk. The chain was now fast at both
ends, forming a complete suspension
bridge, over which the whole troop, to
the number of four or five hundred,
passed. It was comical ssight to
witness the quizzical expression OF
countenance along that living chain.
After the troops had passed one
monkey attached his tail to the lowest
on the bridge, another girdled him in
the same manner, and another, until
q dozen more were added to the
string. These last were powerful
fellows, and running up to high
limb, they lifted the bridge into n
position almost horizontal. Then q
scream from the last monkey of the
new formation warned the tail end
that all was ready, and the next mo-
nent the whole chain was swung over
and landed safely on the opposite
bank. The lowermost links dropped |
off like q melting candle, while tho
higher ones leaped to the branches
md came down by the trunk. The
whole troop then scampered off into
he chapparal, and disappeared.--
Reid's Adventures in South America. |