[Illustration]
The events related in the preceding chapter occurred, as we have said,
about ninety years after the fight between the Monkeys and Snakes on
Cocoanut Hill. As the time of the Ammi is reckoned from this fight, we
shall go back, for awhile, to the affairs which immediately preceded it.
The Apes of all kinds had, till then, been roving promiscuously over the
country along with wild beasts of every description. The forests being
free to all, and likewise the swamps, there was a scene like that of the
jungles of Central Africa to-day. Land and water teemed with life, and
were animated with struggles for the food of the region. Gigantic lions,
tigers, woolly rhinoceroses, mastodons, cave-bears and other savage
beasts sported in their favorite element. Serpents were particularly
abundant, especially in the great Alligator Swamp, from which they
emerged to the high country to catch rabbits and other game. The Apes,
which were mostly vegetarians, did not at first interfere with the more
savage beasts hunting in these forests; so that there was an endless
variety of animals in the region of which we speak.
The Apes at this time lived mostly on trees, especially at night. This
was necessary on account of the more savage beasts which roamed over
the ground. When game became scarce the tigers and some other animals
attacked the Apes, and often killed them. The weaker animals which could
not climb the trees were generally in danger of becoming the prey of the
stronger ones.
This arboreal life became in time irksome to the Apes, many of whom
had made some progress in methods of living and hunting. These were,
accordingly, anxious to acquire a right to the ground, and security in
its possession. They had become so large that a fall from a tree was a
serious matter. Nor was a tree always convenient to climb when they were
in danger.
They could not, however, come to the ground while so many savage beasts
occupied it. A sleeping ape was liable to suffer death if met by a tiger,
especially in recent years when many fights occurred between the two. The
Apes, accordingly, conceived the project of ridding the country of the
more dangerous animals.
There were two principal species of Apes at this time, the Ammi, who
afterwards became known as men, and the Lali, who were the enemies of the
Ammi on the other side of the swamp; and, though there had come to be
marked differences between the two, (of which we shall presently speak,)
they were, at this time, both living together as Apes (the Man-Apes
of Biology), and were alike interested in ridding the country of the
stronger beasts.
A council was, accordingly, called to take measures for their common
welfare. In this council they gave their respective views without those
formalities which now attend such gatherings. They spoke mainly in
gestures and growls, which constituted all there was of language then,
(articulate speech not having been developed beyond a few broken sounds).
One, Shamboo, believed to be the great-grandfather of Sosee, was the
acknowledged leader of the Apes, and he directed the deliberations of
this assembly. Speaking in the manner indicated, this Ape harangued the
multitude to the following effect:
“Tailed Apes, upright Apes, Baboons and Monkeys of low degree: I am tired
living on trees. I am getting too old and fat to climb, and cannot go up
in the air every time I want to sleep. My eyes are bad, and can’t tell a
rotten limb from a sound one. Only two days ago, while eating a cocoanut,
the limb broke on which I was sitting, and I fell to the ground, striking
a porcupine; and there has been a sick monkey ever since. Just before the
big rain I was chased up a tree by a hyena, when, before I got out of
reach, he seized my tail, already reduced to a stump, and I had to let
go of either the tree or my tail. I stuck to the tree, but to-day I am
a tailless Ape! Why should the ground be conceded to tigers and snakes?
The earth was made for monkeys. Our food is mostly on the ground, and it
is easier to walk on a level than up and down. We can run faster than
we can climb. We cannot fly, like the birds, and there is no easy way
for such big folks to get up a tree. But we dare not come to the ground.
If we do we must fight some brute. The tigers want the earth; and we
can’t afford to maintain perpetual war. I am, therefore, for peace, and
so favor killing off our enemies. If the forces of the trees will but
combine, dropping their disputes about the milk that is in the cocoanut,
they can conquer the forces of the earth. Resolve, then, monkeys all, to
make a fight for the land, and not be so often found up a stump. True
to your ape-hood, join me in an oath to drive out the ground-beasts.
Everything in this valley will then be ours. We shall have the plants
and berries, and frogs, and little fishes. We can then lie down to sleep
without falling off, and run about without getting tired. Whoever loves
monkeykind will, therefore, follow my advice. Now, all of you who are
resolved to drive out the beasts which claim this land, swear with me by
scratching your top rib while I crack this butternut and eat the kernel.”
The eloquence of Shamboo gained the assembly to his proposition. Every
rib got a scratch, and the solemnity of the hour was felt in every
breast. An aged priest of the Mountain Apes bowed low his head, breathing
a blessing on the undertaking; and from that hour the savage beasts of
Cocoanut Hill were doomed.