Uncle Dick and Lisa's Old Time Animal Tales

Walking carelessly through their haunts I strewed some grain upon a suitable place, on which I dug with my knife a few round holes about four inches deep. Coming back to the spot in half an hour, I dropped grain into each hole, and left a noose round one of them, concealed with earth. The other end of the line was in bush. I was there in a short time, and monkeys were busy picking up the grain. An old fellow would look into a hole and chatter. By and by a plucky little fellow popped in his paw and out again. Next time he got the corn and then others dipped in till they finished the hole. In due course they got to the noose, with some chatter and the same results till the line was pulled. A sudden scream, a general bustle, while the captive was hauled home and enveloped in a horse-rug. By this time the troops ran up in the trees, screaming and shaking the boughs most ferociously, following me as I went away with the lost one kicking till he was tried. I believe this noose plan is frequently practiced. I once caught a monkey on the Trimluck Hill Fort that fell down the face of the scarp, knocking his head against the projections till he was brought up with a thud on a slab. He was nearly senseless when I picked him up. No bones were broken. In a few minutes I let him go to his relatives who had never ceased letting him know where they were. He crawled quietly up the sharp rock, and seemed to be received with anger. Possibly they only wished to know what had been said to him by the fellow without a tail.