The Word for Food in the Rhesus Dialect--The Rhesus Sound of
Alarm--The Dialect of the White-face--Dolly Varden, "Uncle
Remus," and others.
From a number of sounds uttered by the Rhesus monkeys, I finally
selected the word which, for many reasons, I believed meant food, and
was the equivalent in meaning to that word in the Capuchin tongue. The
phonetic character of the words differs very widely. The sound uttered
by the Rhesus, as nearly as I can represent it by letters, is "nqu-u-w."
The "u" sound is about the same as in the Capuchin word, but on close
examination with the phonograph it appears to be uttered in five
syllables very slightly separated, while the ear only detects two.
One of the most unique of my experiments I made in Central Park, in the
autumn of 1891. I secured a very fine phonograph record of the food
sound of the Rhesus monkeys belonging to the Park. During the following
night there arrived at the Park a shipment of Rhesus monkeys, just from
their home in the east of Asia. There were seven of these new monkeys,
three adult females and four babies, one of whom was left an orphan by
the death of its mother in her passage across the ocean. At my request
the superintendent had these monkeys stored in the vacant room in the
upper story of the Old Armoury building. They had never seen the monkeys
in Central Park, nor had they ever been brought near enough to the
monkey-house for them to learn by any means that any other monkeys were
about. About sunrise I repaired to this room, where I had my phonograph
placed in order, and I enjoined those who were present, by special
permission, not to do anything to attract the attention of the monkeys,
nor under any condition to show them any food or anything to drink.
Having arranged my phonograph, I delivered to them the sounds contained
on my cylinder which I had recorded on the day preceding. Up to this
time not a sound had been uttered by any inmate of the shipping cage.
The instant my phonograph began to reproduce the record, the seven new
monkeys began to answer vociferously. After having delivered this record
to them, I gave them time to become quiet again. I showed them some
carrots and apples, on seeing which they began to utter the same sounds
which they had uttered before, and this time I secured a good record of
their sounds to compare with the others.
[Sidenote: RHESUS MONKEYS]
The alarm-sound as given by the Rhesus is very energetic, but not so
shrill nor sharp as that of the Capuchin, nor have I discovered more
than one such sound. As they are not of a high order of intelligence,
nor kindly disposed unless kept in fear, I have not given them a great
amount of study, but their sounds come more closely to the range of the
human voice than do the sounds of the Cebus, which I regard as the
Caucasian of monkeys.
The Rhesus is not very intelligent, but when reared in captivity appears
to be capable of some degree of domestication. The adult reared in a
wild state shows many phases of vicious and uncongenial temper. When
well cared for, they are rather hardy and undergo training quite well.
They are not a handsome animal, being of a faded tan colour on the back,
merged into a yellowish white on the less exposed parts. They have large
cheek-pouches which, when not filled with food, allow the skin on the
neck and jaws to hang in folds, which give them an appearance of extreme
emaciation, and when full of food they are so distended as to present
rather an unpleasant aspect.
The sounds which the Rhesus utters in anger are harsh and unmusical,
while their sound for food is soft and sympathetic, and I have made a
machine which imitates it quite well. The Rhesus belong to the genus
_Macacus_, one of the oldest and largest of all Simian genera.
I have found the word in the dialect of the white-faced Cebus which
corresponds in value to those sounds described in the dialects of the
Capuchin and Rhesus monkeys meaning food, but I cannot give the faintest
idea of the sound by any combination of letters, nor have I as yet
devised any means by which I can imitate it. I recorded this sound on
the phonograph more than a year ago, but only within the last few months
have been able to tell its meaning.
[Sidenote: SOUND OF DANGER]
Another sound which is made by this species to express apprehension of
remote danger, such as an approaching footstep or some unusual sound, I
have also learned. It is very much the same phonetically as that sound
which he utters in case of great and sudden alarm, but uttered with much
less energy. It resembles slightly the alarm-sound of the Capuchin, but
up to this time I have not been able to make a good record of it.
Another sound which is peculiar to this species I think is used as a
kind of salutation or expression of friendship, which phonetically is
quite unlike the corresponding sound in any other dialect that I have
studied.
I must mention Dolly Varden, who belongs to this species, and with whom
I was at one time on very warm terms of friendship. Dolly was very fond
of me, and would laugh and play with me by the hour. Her laughter was
very human-like, except that it was silent, and in all our play during
the lapse of some weeks she never uttered a sound, not even so much as a
growl, although I tried by every possible means to induce her to talk.
It has occurred to me since that time that she may have been deaf and
dumb, but I did not think of testing her on these points while I had an
opportunity. It is not usual for monkeys to laugh in silence, although
they frequently laugh aloud like human beings; but it is not a common
thing for them to remain silent at all times and under all conditions.
Dolly was good-natured, playful, and always showed every sign of
pleasure at my visits.
[Sidenote: "UNCLE REMUS"]
In Central Park there is a monkey of this species which I call "Uncle
Remus." He is quite fond of me, and, for my amusement, he always wants
to whip a little baby monk in the same cage with him whenever I go to
visit them. This species belongs to the same genus as the Capuchin, but
they differ in mental calibre as widely as the Caucasian differs from
the Negro; but in this case the colours are reversed. I have seen a few
fairly intelligent white-faces and a great many very stupid Capuchins,
but, to strike an average from a great number of each kind, they will be
found very widely separated in brain power.
The white-faced Cebus always has a languid expression, and looks like
some poor, decrepit old man, who has borne a great burden of care
through a long life, and finds his toil and patience ill-requited and is
now awaiting his last call. He always has a sad face, and looks as if
his friends were false. His type of speech is very far inferior to that
of the Capuchin, and I do not regard him as a good subject for my work.
[Sidenote: JIM AND THE MANGABY]
I have learned the food sound in the dialect of the sooty Mangaby, but I
have not been able to record it sufficiently well to study; but it is
one of the most peculiar sounds in the whole range of Simian speech. The
phonetic elements are nearly like "wuh-uh-uh," but the manner in which
it is delivered is very singular. It appears to be intermixed with a
peculiar clucking sound, and each sound seems independent of the other,
although so closely joined in their utterance as to sound almost like
they were uttered simultaneously by separate means. It is a deep
guttural, below the middle pitch of the human voice, while the clucking
element appears much higher in pitch, and the whole sound is marked with
a strong tremolo effect. The syllables are uttered in rapid succession,
and this peculiar sound under different conditions is uttered in at
least three different degrees of pitch about an octave apart, but the
contour appears to me the same in each. This species talks but little,
is very shy, makes few friends, and is afraid of the phonograph; hence I
have never been able to make a good record of its voice. I was
cultivating the friendship of Jim, who recently died in Central Park,
and we were getting on the best of terms; but the little Mangaby that
survives him is very shy and suspicious. Immediately after Jim's death,
however, when I would visit the Garden, she would always jump on the
perch and take the same position that Jim had occupied whenever I would
feed him. During his lifetime, she always kept her distance and never
would take anything out of my hand, because she was afraid of him; but
as soon as he was out of the way she assumed his place, and would utter
the same sound that he had uttered at my approach. She evidently was
aware of the fact that Jim and I were friends, that I always gave him
something good to eat at that particular place in the cage, and that he
always sat in a certain position when I gave it to him. I do not regard
this species as very intelligent, nor their language as being of a high
type; but they have a very human-like face, almost without hair, and
very large and expressive eyes. They abound in West Africa, and have
been colonised with success in the island of Mauritius; they are not
very common in captivity, but much more so than some other species of
less interest.