hey have an
especial dislike to wetting their hairy skins--although they would
undoubtedly swim if no other means could be found of getting to the
opposite bank--they have devised a method more suited to their tastes.
They leap from bough to bough, till they find one projecting in a line
with the trunk or branch of any tree inclining over the water from the
opposite side. The larger and stronger members of the tribe now
assemble, leaving the younger ones to gambol and frisk about among the
boughs, and amuse themselves in juvenile monkey fashion. One monkey--
the Hercules probably of the tribe--twisting his tail round the outer
end of the branch, now hangs by it with his head downwards, at his full
length. Another descends by the body of the first, round which he coils
his tail. A third adds another link to the chain: and thus, one by one
they increase its length, till the surface of the water is almost
reached. The chain now begins to oscillate backwards and forwards
towards the opposite bank, each movement increasing the length of the
arc, till the lower monkey, with fore-arms outstretched, reaches the
stem of the tree on the opposite bank. He grasps it tightly, gradually
clambering up, and drawing the line composed of his comrades after him,
till the monkey immediately below him is also able to seize the trunk,
and assist in dragging up the rest. They thus form an almost horizontal
bridge above the water. The rest of the agile tribe, now summoned from
their sports, begin to cross; the younger ones, in the exuberance of
their spirits, taking the opportunity of playing all sorts of pranks
during their passage over the bodies of their self-sacrificing elders--
giving many a sly pinch of the ear, or pull of the hair, for which they
well know they cannot at the moment receive punishment. Thus the whole
party--the mothers with their infants on their backs, and the other
juvenile members--cross in safety, and assemble among the branches to
watch the further proceedings.

The great difficulty now appears to be for the individuals composing the
bridge to get across without touching the water. Trusting to the
muscular power of their tails and limbs, they appear in no way daunted.
The monkeys which have hitherto formed the lower links of the chain,
still holding on by their tails to their friends, work their way up the
trunk and along a branch of equal or greater height than that on the
opposite side, to which the long