RECORDING MONKEY SPEECH 39 



director ; but he entertained a great dislike for one of the 

 assistant keepers. He often told me some very bad things 

 about that man, though I con Id not understand what he 

 said. I shall long remember how this dear little monkey 

 used to cuddle under my chin and try to make me under- 

 stand some sad story which seemed to be the burden of his 

 life. He readily understood the sounds of his own speech 

 when repeated to him, and I made some of the best records 

 of his voice that I ever succeeded in making of any mon- 

 key. Some of them I preserved for a long time. They 

 displayed a wide range of sounds, and I studied them with 

 special care and pleasure, because I knew that they were 

 addressed to me. Being aware that the little creature was 

 uttering these sounds to me with the hope that I would 

 understand them, I was more anxious to learn just what 

 he really meant than if it had contained only something 

 addressed to another. This little simian was born in the 

 Amazon Valley, in Brazil, and was named for the late 

 emperor, Dom Pedro. 



At one time I borrowed from a dealer a little Capuchin 

 called Puck, and had him sent to my apartments, where I 

 had a phonograph. I placed the cage in front of the 

 machine, upon which had been adjusted the record of my 

 little friend Pedro. I concealed myself in an adjoining 

 room, where, through a small hole in the door, I could 

 watch the conduct of Puck. A string was attached to the 

 lever of the machine, drawn taut, and passed through an- 

 other hole in the door. By this means the machine could 

 be started without attracting the attention of the monkey 

 through his seeing anything move. When everything in 



