THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MOSES 95 



called that he could be seen by him, and it was there- 

 fore useless to reply. 



The speech of these animals is very limited, but it 

 is sufficient for their purpose. It is none the less 

 real because of its being restricted, but it is more 

 difficult for man to learn, because his modes of 

 thought are so much more ample and distinct. Yet 

 when one is reduced to the necessity of making his 

 wants known in a strange tongue, he can express 

 many things in a very few words. I have once been 

 thrown among a tribe of whose language I knew less 

 than fifty words, but with little difficulty I succeeded 

 in conversing with them on two or three topics. 

 Much depends upon necessity, and more upon 

 practice. - In talking to Moses I mostly used his own 

 language, and was surprised at times to see how 

 readily we understood each other. I could repeat 

 about all the sounds he made except one or two, but 

 I was not able in the time we were together to 

 interpret all of them. These sounds were more than 

 a mere series of grunts or whines, and he never 

 confused them in their meaning. When any one of 

 them was properly delivered to him, he clearly under- 

 stood and acted upon it. 



It was never any part of my purpose to teach a 

 monkey to talk, but after I became familiar with the 

 qualities and range of the voice of Moses, I deter- 

 mined to see if he might not be taught to speak a 

 few simple words of human speech. To effect this 

 in the easiest way and shortest time, I carefully 

 observed the movements of his lips and vocal organs 



