Then He Took Up A Long Glass Of Beer And Began To Drink It
Eagerly, But As Mr. Low Disapproved
Of his being allowed to get tipsy a
second time, it was taken from him, upon which he took up
The breast of
a fricasseed chicken and threw it at the offender. The miscreant did
every kind of ludicrous thing, finishing by pulling everyone to go out
with him, as he always does at that hour; and when he had succeeded in
getting us all out was in a moment at the top of a high tree, leaping
from branch to branch, throwing himself on coffee shrubs below,
swinging himself up again in a flash, leaping, bounding! a picture of
agility, strength, and happiness. The usual morning gathering of Rajahs
and their followers, with Klings and Sikhs, was there, and I suspect
that they thought adult Europeans very foolish for being amused with
these harum-scarum antics.
A follower had brought a "baboon," an ape or monkey trained to gather
cocoa-nuts, a hideous beast on very long legs when on all fours, but
capable of walking erect. They called him a "dog-faced baboon," but I
think they were wrong. He has a short, curved tail, sable-colored fur
darkening down his back, and a most repulsive, treacherous, and
ferocious countenance. He is fierce, but likes or at all events obeys
his owner, who held him with a rope fifty feet long. At present he is
only half tame, and would go back to the jungle if he were liberated.
He was sent up a cocoa-nut tree which was heavily loaded with nuts in
various stages of ripeness and unripeness, going up in surly fashion,
looking round at intervals and shaking his chain angrily. When he got
to the top he shook the fronds and stalks, but no nuts fell, and he
chose a ripe one, and twisted it round and round till its tenacious
fibers gave way, and then threw it down and began to descend, thinking
he had done enough, but on being spoken to he went to work again with
great vigor, picked out all the ripe nuts on the tree, twisted them all
off, and then came down in a thoroughly bad, sulky, temper. He was
walking erect, and it seemed discourteous not to go and thank him for
all his hard toil.
As I write I see a fascinating sight: three black apes sitting under
the roof in such a position that I can only see their faces, and they
are all leaning their chins on a beam, and with their wrinkled faces
and gray beards are looking exactly like - - -. It is most interesting
to be among wild beasts, which, though tame, or partly so, are not in
captivity, and to see their great sagacity and their singular likeness
and unlikeness to us. I could dispense with the reptiles, though. Last
night there were seventeen lizards in my room and two in my slippers.
During the profound stillness of about 3 A.M., a crowd, hooting,
yelling, and beating clappers, passed not far off in the darkness, and
there was a sound of ravaging and rending caused by a herd of elephants
which had broken into the banana grounds.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 200 of 229
Words from 104703 to 105248
of 120530
