THE VILLAGE PET l8l 



to one house, sat down at the door for a moment, looking 

 inside, and then moved slowly along to the next, which he 

 entered. Within a minute he appeared at the door, holding 

 the cloth that the woman wore tied around her, and in this 

 manner led her to his master. He was next sent to bring 

 a certain boy. This he did in a similar manner, except that 

 the boy had on no clothing of any kind, and the ape held 

 him by the leg. 



During all these feats the man talked to him, as far as I 

 could tell, in the native language only ; though he declared 

 to me that some of the words that he had used were those 

 of the ape's own speech. However, he said that many 

 words that the ape knew were of the native speech, and 

 that the ape had no such words in his language. One 

 thing that especially impressed me was a sound which I 

 have elsewhere described as meaning "good " or " satisfac- 

 tion," which this man said was the word which these apes 

 use to mean "mother." My own servant had told me the 

 same thing, but I am still of the opinion that they are mis- 

 taken in the meaning of the sound, although it is almost 

 exactly the same as the word for mother in the native 

 speech. The difference being in the vowel element only, 

 it is possible, I grant, that the word may have both mean- 

 ings. A little later one of the women came to the door of 

 a house and said, in the native language, that something 

 was ready to eat ; whereupon the children and the ape at 

 once started. In the mean time she set in front of the house 

 an earthen pot, containing boiled plantains, from which all 

 the children and the ape alike helped themselves. In brief, 

 the ape was a part of the family and was so regarded by 



