26 
ALMOST HUMAN 
A very little thing Avill suffice to set a whole cageful in an uproar, 
for once a pair begin a dispute, the rest wish to join in without leave, 
and, usually, before peace is restored, they are all willing to get out of 
it as unostentatiously as possible. One morning a boy went into a cage 
containing thirteen of these monkeys, and of course, their inquisitive 
little minds would not allow him to work without their supervision. One 
of them, bolder than the rest, came down to him and grinned in a very 
cheeky fashion in the boy’s face. Thinking he would scare the bold 
little thing away he waved his broom and cried: “Hoo!” The monkey 
instantly screamed in fright, and before the boy could move to defend 
himself the whole thirteen were swarming over him, biting him viciously 
from head to foot. In a moment he was covered with blood, and he 
had to lift his broom and knock them about like ninepins in his efforts 
to save himself. It was not until eight or nine of them lay panting on 
the floor that the rest thought of saving their skins by flight. He was 
badly mauled, and although that is many years ago, there are scars 
from that fight still to be seen on his face, and every year, about the 
time of the encounter, he has trouble with them. After that day he 
could never enter the cage without using the broom to defend himself, 
and usually he had to knock one or two down before the others decided 
it was wise to remain at the other end. 
A RECORD JUMP. 
One day a sooty Mangabey monkey got out of his cage, and as soon 
as he saw that his new-won liberty was likely to be of very short 
duration, he ran up the highest pine tree in the gardens. The tallest 
branch was at least thirty feet above the ground, but he ran agilely up 
and out on to its extremity. A keeper volunteered to go up after him, 
and looked like a steeplejack as he balanced on the slender branch, but 
he went gamely along until he got within touch of the monkey ; but, when 
he saw that escape otherwise was impossible, the intrepid little thing 
sprang lightly off the bough and made a leap that all who watched 
thought must end in fearful mutilation on the hard pathway below. He 
not only sprang to the ground from that height, but he propelled himself 
in some mysterious fashion out for about twenty feet into the air before 
he began his descent. As he touched earth they rushed to his assistance, 
but movement was momentarily paralysed by the surprise of seeing him 
get up, hold one foot affectionately in his hand for a second, and then 
limp off, as determined as ever to safeguard his hard-won freedom. He 
gave the keepers a long and tiring run before he was finally captured 
