276 CAMPS IN THE CARIBBEES. 
Darwin —in my monkey chain there was not one 
missing link. 
At last they disappeared below the plantain-tops, 
and I could hear the old chief marshalling them at 
the foot of the cliff. “Hark!” whispered the little 
negro by my side, “he old man counting him ma- 
cague.” ‘True enough, the old man was counting his 
flock ; there was silence immediately after the descent, 
broken by grunts, as old gray-back tallied them off — 
“ump, ump, ump — go!” 
It really seemed as though he gave the word; and 
there is no doubt he did, as, at the last grunt, there 
wasa scampering, and the monkeys scattered them- 
selves through the grove. Not so with the ancient; 
he duly felt the weight of responsibility, and did not 
join the rest in their sport or search for food, but as- 
cended the ladder of vines, and perched himself in the 
fork of a limb overlooking the whole field. 
During this time I was most assuredly excited. By 
darting forward, when that chain of monkeys was sus- 
pended in mid-air, I could have got two good shots 
into them before they dispersed. But at least two 
motives restrained me: first, I wished to observe their 
actions; second, I shrank from killing creatures so 
human-like. The temptation was so strong, however, 
that I could only withhold myself by great effort, and 
was trembling with excitement. Again, what if there 
was some remote relation in that throng? or — what 
was more probable — some descendant of an ancestor 
in common with the little negro crouching by my side? 
Such thoughts restrained me. 
Meanwhile, the grove was. alive with monkeys, 
tearing down bunches of bananas and _ plantains, 
