When in the hollow of His hand
All calm doth lie the deep,
Alone and out of sight of land,
Upon the wave I sleep;
Above, the sun resplendent shines;
Beneath, old ocean heaves;
I feel alike the smile of heaven
And some great heart that grieves.
I drift afar by sun and star;
I care not where I be
So long as throbs the giant flood
Of ocean under me.
The ancient sea my brother is
And well I know his moods;
For everywhere with him I fare
Throughout his solitudes.
I lay my heart unto his heart,
I soothe him with my wing;
I kiss the tide as I were bride,
And to him low I sing.
He speaks to me of mystery,
Of days when he was young,
Of sorrows old, of tales untold
By any other tongue.
I listen, yearn, and much I learn
Of nations now no more,
Of wrecks that sleep down in the deep
Or strew the rocky shore;
Of how grim Time makes him to mar
Whatever coast he laves.
Of how the sea he makes to be
So full of nameless graves.
Since goaded long by lashing winds,
He rushes forth in ire,
And welds as one the ships of Clyde
With those of crumbled Tyre;
And swallows down the king and clown
With equal appetite,
And hides them all, both great and small,
In his wide tombs of night.
Then screaming I above him fly
And hasten where he roars,
Within my breast the same unrest
As his proud bosom gores.
A thousand leagues I go with him
And glory in his power,
A thousand leagues I herald him
Through many a sleepless hour.
Then, calmer grown, we dream again,
And in some distant zone
A little season are as one,
Untroubled and alone.
For I am brother to the sea
And where he goes go I,
And when at last my days are past,
Within his breast I lie.
And I shall ever haunt his paths
About this aging earth,
And he to me, and I to him,
Shall sing of woe and mirth
Until gray Time shall be no more,
And every wave that weeps
Has learned to laugh and laughing, thrills
The bosom of the deeps.
—_C. G. B. in “The Chicago Record.”_
[Illustration: MIRIKI SPIDER MONKEY.
(Ateles hypoxanthus.)]
THE SPIDER MONKEY.
(_Ateles hypoxanthus._)
With his native guides a gentleman was traveling one day through one of
the wonderfully luxuriant tropical forests of eastern Brazil. They had
left the Amazon river and had come southeast to the province of
Maranhao, where the roots, grasses and plants sometimes weave themselves
into vegetable bridges so solid that a man may go some distance without
discovering that he has left the firm earth.
They had just passed over one of these natural bridges and had evidently
reached the edge of the hidden pool, as they came to a dense growth of
rosewood trees, and there they saw a most unique and peculiar sight. The
gentleman, being a stranger in Brazil, exclaimed with astonishment, for
hanging from the branches by their tails only, were a whole troop of
monkeys.
They were of slender build, with long, thin, sprawling limbs and small
heads, and they were indeed a most laughable and comical sight.
As soon as the gentleman recovered from his surprise he fired upon the
troop and succeeded in slightly wounding one which so maimed it that,
uttering a loud yell, it fell to the ground and he was able to secure
it. The others, frightened, quickly vanished, for their movements were
of surprising agility; they threw their long limbs about in the queerest
sort of a manner, using their tails in climbing more than their limbs,
seeming to feel their way with the tip of the tail and finding a place
for support, they swung themselves rapidly to the extreme tree tops and
were out of sight in less time than it takes to describe their flight.
When the troop could no longer be seen the gentleman examined his
wounded captive and from what he knew of the characteristics of the ape
family, to which all monkeys belong, he decided that without question he
had secured a specimen of the Spider Monkey.
It was a young mother and the baby monkey was clinging to her with its
little arms around her neck and legs around her hips in a way not to
impede her motions.
She was carefully examined by her captor and he soon decided that the
wound was not dangerous and that with care he might be able to take her
with her baby back with him to the United States.
So she now received the best of care. She was secured with a rope
attached to a bit of silken handkerchief which was carefully fitted to
her leg and soon recovering (for her captor was a skillful surgeon) she
became the pet of the company.
In length she was about four feet four inches and she was covered with a
dull yellowish woolly fur. Her face was quite brown, which proved that
she was still young, for the face grows dark gray in old age. In
examining the forepaw, in order to find a thumb, nothing was there
except a short stub devoid of a nail; her nose was broad and flat and
she had thirty-six teeth.
Surely she was a Miriki Spider Monkey and a fine specimen at that, but
as this variety is usually found only farther south in Brazil, her
captor was especially pleased to secure her.
It would take a long time to narrate all the interesting things which
one could say about her, but I must tell you what a devoted and lovely
mother she was to her helpless little baby. It was as funny a little
thing as you can imagine, ugly as possible, with proportionately long
arms and legs and a face so old looking and wrinkled that it reminded
one of an antiquated grandfather rather than of an infant monkey. She
would continually pet this little monster, lick its body, hug it and
fondle it; she would hold it in both hands as if admiring it and then
would rock it to sleep in her arms. The children of royalty could not
have more tender care and attention than the little Brazilian monkey
gave her offspring.
As it grew she allowed it a little freedom, and usually it was very
docile, obeying her every call; but when disobedient she would slap it
and give it a box on the ear; but this seldom happened, for a monkey
child is a model child and might serve as an example to many human
children.
But I think you would have found it extremely odd could you have seen
her eat. She would frequently take fruit, or anything offered, with her
long, prehensile tail, and curling the end around the object, would
convey it to her mouth. She would eat almost everything eaten by her
captors, but would not reject an occasional insect, spider, or even a
young bird.
Happiest when permitted to hang on the tree boughs, she would drink from
the overhanging branches without touching the ground. In fact she was
only perfectly at home when climbing around the trees, as she was
comparatively awkward when on the ground, walking on all fours in a
somewhat clumsy manner. Like all Spider Monkeys, she was of a gentle,
teachable disposition, for all South American monkeys lack many of the
mischievous and disagreeable traits of their African cousins, though as
a rule they are not as bright and vivid in color and are duller and more
indolent in their nature.
On the other hand the American monkeys do little damage to man, for the
vast forests which form their home (they are found in the warm countries
of Mexico, Central and South America, and never in a very high altitude)
provide for them so fully that they have no need of man’s help. The
natives depend very much on monkey meat as a food and hunt them with bow
and arrows, while travelers are often obliged to subsist upon monkey
roasts for weeks together and do not find them very bad fare.
Aside from the Miriki Spider Monkey, of which our little mother was so
interesting a specimen, the traveling party from time to time
encountered other species of the Spider Monkey, of which there are many.
All have similar characteristics but vary somewhat in size and color.
You will be interested to know that the monkey mother and her funny baby
were finally brought in safety to the United States, where as far as I
know, they are still living and are happy and much treasured pets.
John Ainslie.