MONKEY STORIES.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4605, 23 December 1875, Page 1 (Supplement)

MONKEY STORIES.

(From Good Words.) On board her Majesty's ship Euryalus, there was a large black monkey, with a long tail, for whom the master had a particular aversion; he was convinced that it would some day get at and injure the chronometer of which he was in charge, and he always kept his room fast locked. One day, however, the monkey crept in, carried off the chronometer, and rushed up the rigging with it in his hand, the poor master following with the tears in his eyes, while all the sailors in the ship were sent to try and catch the thief. Higher and higher they climbed, but still the monkey kept above them, and when they were within an inch of him he dropped from one part of the rigging to another, with only a glancing hold of the ropes, where nothing but a four-armed beast with a prehensible tail could follow. At last one active fellow climbed closer and closer, there was no outlet right or left, above or below, his haud was almost seizing the creature's leg, when suddenly the beast, seeing he was brought to bay, waved the chronometer viciously over his head, raised his arm as high as possible, and then flung it as far as he could into the sea. A monkey on board another Queen's ship fell overboard in very bad weather; the sea 'was so high that the captain refused to allow a boat to be lowered ; but the feeling of the sailors for their pet was so great that at last he gave way. They rowed round and round in vain, and were returning sadly up the ship's side, when they saw the monkey, who had climbed up by the chain of the rudder, mocking and grinning at them for their useless pains as he sat on the figure-head. Another monkey, Jocko, on board the , much petted by the sailors, was excessively jealous of a white kitten, which divided their affection with himself. One day the man on the bridge saw him creeping very stealthily round to where the kitten lay asleep in the natting ; suddenly he stretched out his hand and chucked her overboard before any one could interfere. "Jocko," said the narrator, angrily, "was an abominable beast. I could not bear him, he used to get drank and play underhand tricks ; still he was not altogether bad. A spaniel on board had had puppies, with which Jocko was extremely anxious to play ; the mother, however, would have nothing to say to him, and would not allow him to enter her den. One day, however, she had left her children alone for a moment, and coming back found Jocko sitting nursing all the puppies together in his arms, great, fat, heavy, lumbering lumps which ho could hardly lift." After this proof of good intention, the dog mother used to take her walks about the ship, contentedly leaving her children in his charge, Jocko seeming to consider himself regularly installed as nurse.