The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1905-06-16
S|N|AN AND HUMAN
PHASES OF CHARACTER FOUND
IN THE UP.To.DATE SHOW.
FEATURE OF FoREPAueH.sELLs
The Forthcoming Appearance Of the
Big Menagerie in Norfolk Brings to
Mind "reminiscences Of Strange An
imal Life.
[From satnrday,s DnllN.l

| great SHOWS recalls I0e 1OllOWlnS WIFI
ten by well known student of animal
life:
Standing in front OF the monkey
cages at Forepaugh-Sells circus, was
studying character-Simian and hu-
man. ! saw youth of the Fauntleroy
type Gin dress) refuse his mate a
piece of candy, yet he was liberal with
his gift of peanuts to the monkeys.
BY contrast ! saw rather lively
monk snatch peanut, open 1t and
! give one of the kernels to a quiet, Sc
date little monkey who did not have
the spirit to fight for his own. May
be the Darwin theory is true, how
ever. In evolving these many cen
! turies, we have not, as a race, de-
veloped or improved the natural gen.
erous instincts Of our Simian ances-
| try. ! recall watching two rare spec
| linens Of the chimpanzee at the Cal
cutta geological gardens. They stood
erect, five feet, seven inches. Moth.
ing could so resemble the human spe-
cies, save a man. The larger Of the
! two held out his hand, palm up,
which we filled with sweets. After
| deliberately tasting, he allowed his
little wife to help herself from the
open palm. Their facial expression
was extremely human and kindly.
In His Native Land.
In the early nineties | was engaged
in gold mining in the bush country
of the Surinam river, Dutch Guiana
While there ! had many experiences
with the monkey. | shall never for
get my first walk from the river to
our camp. ! heard from far away.
peculiar noise Growing nearer the
noise became almost deafening, a mix
ture of shrill sQueaks and laughter,
then a great commotion overhead. A
tribe of monkeys (several hundred)
passed by. They travel very quickly,
leapng from limb to limb. rarely
touching the ground.
1t became common occurrence for
| tribes TO pass our camp, Sometimes
they would halt, as if in wonder or
surprise, probably specializing as to
what sort of monkeys we were. They
were always playful and mischievOus.
breaking off boughs, throwing them
as if to strike MS. If, while prospect
ing, we came across trees bearing
strange fruit or nuts, we would wait
until the monkeys came along. then
| if they ate, We could do likewise, for
what the monkey eats. man can safe
ly eat This knowledge we gained
from the natives.
Delicious Tidbit
Upon one OCCASION while off on
five days prospecting tour it became
necessary to shoot something for our
dinner. The South American monkey
is the most delicious meat imaginable.
| This is easily understood when one
stops to think that they eat only nuts
and fruit. A diet of rich Brazil nuts
! or cocoanuts, with little fruit, should
produce fine favored meat. Just be-
| fore noon we saw several fine speci-
ments of the Agwata-the natives
name for the species of monkey which
has never been seen in captivity-for
the reason that they cannot live very
far north of the equator They stand
between three and four feet in height.
The face is entirely free from hair.
The head and back is covered with
| long, black, silky hair. The monkey
fur used in making ladies' furs and
trimmings, is taken from the Agwata.
They are the most gentle animal
have met with, quite as much so as
the proverbial lamb. One Of my ne
groes fired at what he thought to be
the finest of the group. When we
reached it we found that she held her
baby clasped to her breast, nursing.
The mother was dead, the baby un-
hurt.
A Sorry Lot.
The little fellow fought against be-
ing taken from his mother, but soon
yielded to kindly treatment. We were
a sorry lot OF men. Needless to say
we ate no meat for dinner. The moth.
er was buried and never afterward
was monkey shot at by the men Of
our camp. The baby thrived on con.
densed milk. | made a nursing bottle
out of large bulb syringe. At sight
of this improvised bottle he would
jump with glee. He slept in my ham,
mock until he grew too large, then
had house made for him He was
a constant source of surprise and
amusement, up and waiting every
morning for the cook, walk to the
creek, help draw water, take hold of
the bucket as though assisting with
the burden, take cloth or brush,
scrub the dining table and initiate
'the men in manner unbelievable.
think that in time I could have taught
him some sort of language, but the
greatly dreaded bush fever caught me.
was obliged to leave the country,
parting was imperative as the North
American climate meant certain death
for my friend Agwata.
OF all the animals with the Fore
paugh.Sells shows, none attract and