10 THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 



emitted under stress of great alarm or in case 

 of assault, in which I find a close resemblance 

 to the vowel "i" short, as in "it," 



After having acquired a sound or two I ex- 

 tended my field of operations, and began to try 

 my skill as a simian linguist on every specimen 

 with which I came in contact. 



In Charleston a gentleman owns a fine speci- 

 men of the brown Cebus whose name is Jokes. 

 He is naturally shy of strangers, but on my first 

 visit to him I addressed him in his native tongue, 

 and he really seemed to regard me very kindly; 

 he would eat from my hand and allow me to 

 caress him through the bars of his cage. 



He eyed me with evident curiosity, but inva- 

 riably responded to the word that I uttered in his 

 own language. On my third visit to him I de- 

 termined to try the effect of the peculiar sound 

 of "alarm" or "assault" which I had learned 

 from one of this species; but I cannot very well 

 represent it in letters. While he was eating 

 from my hand I gave this peculiar piercing note, 

 and he instantly sprang to a perch in the top of 

 his cage; thence in and out of his sleeping-apart-" 

 ment with great speed and almost wild with 

 fear. As I repeated the sound his fears seemed 



