st touching and
impassioned address. The sounds which she used, and the gestures with
which she accented them, as far as I could determine, were the same as
those used by Dago and Pedro in their remarks to me as above described,
except that Dodo delivered her lines in a much more impressive manner
than either of the others. [Sidenote: DODO AND HER KEEPER] I asked the
keeper to go into the cage with me, and see if he could take her into
his hands. We entered the cage, and after a little coaxing she allowed
him to take her into his arms, and after caressing her for a while, and
assuring her that no harm was meant, she would put her slender little
arms about his neck, and cuddle her head up under his chin like an
injured child. She would caress him by licking his cheeks and chattering
to him in a voice full of sympathy, and an air of affection worthy of a
human being. During most of this time she would continue her pathetic
speech without a moment's pause, and was not willing under any
conditions to be separated from him. The only time at which she would
ever show any anger at me, or threaten me with assault, would be when I
would attempt to lay hands on her keeper, or release him from her warm
embrace. At such times, however, she would fly at me with great fury,
and attempt to tear my very clothes off, and on these occasions she
would not allow any other inmate of the cage to approach him, or to
receive his attention or caresses. The sounds which she uttered were
pitiful at times, and the tale she told must have been full of the
deepest woe. I have not been able up to this time to translate these
sounds literally, but their import cannot be misunderstood. My belief is
that her speech was a complaint against the inmates of the cage, and
that she was begging her keeper not to leave her alone in that great
iron prison, with all those big, bad monkeys, who were so cruel to her.
One reason for believing this to be the nature of her speech, is that in
all cases where I have heard this speech and seen these gestures made,
the conditions were such as to indicate that such was its nature. It
has, however, every appearance of love-making of the most intense type.
It is quite impossible to describe fully and accurately the sounds, and
much more so the gestures, made on these occasions, so that the reader
would be impressed as with the real act and speech. Dodo would stand
erect on her feet, cross her hands on her heart, and in the mos