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LESSON 8
THE following account of a Senegal
monkey was written by a lady who was a passenger on board the ship in which it was brought to England: —
“We had several monkeys on board. but Jack, the cook’s monkey, was the prince of them all. At flrst Jack had been kept to one part of the deck by means of a cord; but as he grew tame he got more liberty, till at last he was allowed the whole range of the ship, excepting the captain’s and the passengers’ cabins.
“I was often awakened at an early hour by the quick trampling of feet on deck, and knew that it arose from a pursuit of Jack for some mischief he had been doing. He would snatch the caps offthe sailors’ heads, and steal their knives and other tools; which, if not very actively pursued, he would sometimes throw overboard.
“When breakfast was preparing, Jack used to take a seat in a corner, near the grate, and, when the cook’s back was turned, snatch up something from the flre, and conceal it He sometimes burned his flngers by these tricks, and this kept him quiet for a few days. But no sooner was the pain gone, than the same thing was done again.
“Two days in each week, the pigs, which formed part of our live stock, were allowed to run about the deck for exercise; and then Jack was as happy as the day was long.
“Hiding himself behind a cask, he would suddenly spring upon the back of one of them, which then scampered
round the deck in a fright. Sometimes Jack got upset, and if saluted
with a laugh from the sailors, he put on a look of wonder, as much as to say, ‘What can you have got to laugh at?’
“Besides Jack, we had on board three little monkeys with red skins and blue faces, and Jack would often get them all on his back at once, and carry them about the vessel. When, however, I began to pet these little creatures, he became jealous, and got rid of two of them by throwing them into the sea!
“One of his drollest tricks was performed on the poor little monkey that was left. One day, the men who had been painting left their paint and brushes on the upper deck. Jack enticed
the little monkey to him; then, seizing him with one hand, with the other he took the brush and covered him with white paint from head to foot!
“The laugh of the man at the helm called my attention to this; and as soon as Jack saw that he was discovered,
he dropped his dripping brother, and scampered up to the main-top, where he stood with his nose between the bars, looking at what was going on below.
“Jack was afraid to come down, and only after three days passed in his lofty place of refuge
did hunger force him to descend. He chose the moment when I was sitting on deck, and swinging himself by a rope, he dropped suddenly into my lap, looking so piteously at me for pardon, that I not only forgave him myself, but saved him from further punishment.
“Soon after this I took another vessel, and Jack and I parted, never to meet again.”
Among the rules of the port of London is one which forbids, under a heavy penalty,
the flring of a gun from any vessel lying there. An armed ship had just come in from a long voyage, during which she had touched at several places, and at each of them had flred a salute
on anchoring.
A monkey that was on board, naturally wondering why this was omitted when he saw the anchor dropped at London, resolved, rather than that it should not take place, that he would flre the salute himself!
Accordingly, while the attention of all on board was engaged with the arrival of the ship, he went to the cooking-place, and with the tongs took out a live coal, which he applied to the touch-hole of one of the guns; and forthwith the whole neighbourhood was startled by the roar of the cannon.
The captain of the vessel was prosecuted
for braking the law; and he could only clear himself by proving that the cannon had been flred by the monkey.
Where did Jack come from? To whom did he belong? What was he allowed when he grew tame? What tricks did he play on the sailors? How did he amuse himself with the pigs? How many other monkeys were on board? How did Jack play with them? What made him jealous of them? How did he get rid of two of them? What droll trick did he play on the remaining one?—What law was the captain of an armed vessel once tried for breaking? Who had fired the cannon? Why? How did the captain clear himself?
pas´-sen-ger ac´-tive-ly crea´-tures pit´-e-ous-ly
lib´-er-ty pre-par´-ing jeal´-ous pun´-ish-ment
al-lowed´ con- ceal´ per-formed´ voy´-age
a-wak´-ened ex´-er-cise seiz´-ing an´-chor-ing
tram´-pling sud´-den-ly at-ten´-tion en-gaged´