unlike as mere
sounds, but closely allied in meaning. The one just mentioned is used
under the stress of great fear, or in case of assault. It is a shrill,
piercing sound, very loud and very high in pitch. The second word,
"e-c-g-k," used only to express apprehension, or as a warning of the
approach of a thing they fear or do not like; and the last of these,
which is a guttural whisper, is used merely to call attention to the
approach of something which the monkey does not fear or dislike, which I
have spelt "c-h-i."

I have referred elsewhere, without describing it, to the sound which
Nellie used for calling, and which she employed when attempting to
dissuade my wife from going out and leaving her alone. It is a peculiar
sound, something like a whine, but very plaintive and suggestive. I
cannot represent it in letters.

[Sidenote: THE CAPUCHIN TONGUE]

There are many sounds about which I am yet in doubt, and some shades of
meaning are not clear, but these sounds described include the greater
part of my knowledge of the Capuchin tongue, and I shall now proceed to
the sounds of some of the other monkeys.

Standing on this frail bridge of speech, I see into that broad field of
life and thought which lies beyond the confines of our care, and into
which, through the gates that I have now unlocked, may soon be borne the
sunshine of human intellect. What prophet now can foretell the relations
which may yet obtain between the human race and those inferior forms
which fill some place in the design, and execute some function in the
economy of nature?

A knowledge of their language cannot injure man, and may conduce to the
good of others, because it would lessen man's selfishness, widen his
mercy, and restrain his cruelty. It would not place man more remote from
his divinity, nor change the state of facts which now exist. Their
speech is the only gateway to their minds, and through it we must pass
if we would learn their secret thoughts and measure the distance from
mind to mind.

CHAPTER XI.

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 ut