human
What lovely, engaging little things they are! said Grandma Elsie, as the children carried them away,
gpt
Yes, said the Captain,
human
I think I have read that they are good-tempered,
gpt
Yes; they are said to be very amiable, anger seeming to be almost unknown to them. Did you not notice the almost infantile innocence in the expression of their countenances?
human
Yes, I did, she replied;
gpt
I have read, said Evelyn,
human
I was reading about the tee-tees not long ago, said Mrs. Lilburn;
gpt
Poor little darlings! I wish they could talk, exclaimed Grace.
human
I daresay they would make quite as good use of the power of speech as parrots do.
gpt
Possibly even better, said her father.
human
They seem to be more affectionate.
gpt
Do they live in flocks in their own forests, papa?
human
Yes, he replied,
gpt
I am very glad you bought those, papa, she said.
human
I think they will be a pleasure and amusement to us all.
gpt
So do I, said Lucilla,
human
So I think, said her father,
gpt
And it is really pleasant to see how delighted the children are with their new pets,
human
Yes, the Captain responded, with a pleased smile,
gpt
I am sure they will be kind to them, said Violet.
human
They were much interested in the monkeys we saw in going about the city. I saw quite a number of various species--some pretty large, but most of them small; some at the doors or windows of houses, some in canoes on the river.
gpt
Yes, I think we all noticed them,
human
Yes, said the Captain,
gpt
I saw several of the _midas ursulus_, a small monkey which I have read is often to be found here in Pará. It is, when full grown, only about nine inches long, exclusive of the tail, which is fifteen inches. It has thick black fur with a reddish brown streak down the middle of the back. It is said to be a timid little thing, but when treated kindly becomes very tame and familiar.
human
What do monkeys eat, papa?
gpt
I have been told the little fellows are generally fed on sweet fruits, such as the banana, and that they are also fond of grasshoppers and soft-bodied spiders.
human
They have some very large and busy ants in this country, haven't they, father?
gpt
Yes, replied the Captain.
human
Bates tells of some an inch and a quarter long and stout in proportion, marching in single file through the thickets. They, however, have nothing peculiar or attractive in their habits, though they are giants among ants. But he speaks of another and far more interesting species. It is a great scourge to the Brazilians, from its habit of despoiling the most valuable of their cultivated trees of their foliage. In some districts it is such a pest that agriculture is almost impossible. He goes on to say that in their first walks they were puzzled to account for mounds of earth of a different color from the surrounding soil; mounds, some of them very extensive, some forty yards in circumference, but not more than two feet high. But on making inquiries they learned that those mounds were the work of the saubas--the outworks and domes which overlie and protect the entrances to their vast subterranean galleries. On close examination, Bates found the earth of which they were made to consist of very minute granules heaped together with cement so as to form many rows of little ridges and turrets. And he learned that the difference in color from the earth around was because of the undersoil having been brought up from a considerable depth to form these mounds.
gpt
I should like to see the ants at work upon them,
human
It is very rarely that one has the opportunity to do so, said her father.
gpt
Mr. Bates tells us that the entrances are generally closed galleries, opened only now and then when some particular work is going on. He says he succeeded in removing portions of the dome in smaller hillocks, and found that the minor entrances converged, at the depth of about two feet, to one broad, elaborately-worked gallery or mine, which was four or five inches in diameter.
human
Isn't it the ant that clips and carries away leaves?
gpt
Yes, Bates speaks of that; says it has long been recorded in books on natural history, and that when employed on that work their procession looks like a multitude of animated leaves on the march. In some places he found an accumulation of such leaves, all circular pieces about the size of sixpence, lying on the pathway, no ants near it, and at some distance from the colony. 'Such heaps,' he says, 'are always found to have been removed when the place is revisited the next day. The ants mount the trees in multitudes. Each one is a working miner, places itself on the surface of a leaf, and cuts with its sharp, scissors-like jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches the leaf piece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to the ground, where a little heap accumulates until carried away by another relay of workers; but generally each marches off with the piece he has detached. All take the same road to their colony and the path they follow becomes, in a short time, smooth and bare, looking like the impression of a cart-wheel through the herbage.'
human
I am sorry the children have missed all this interesting information,
gpt
Never mind, my dear, said her husband,
human
Should it prove a storm of any violence we may be thankful that we are in this good, safe harbor,
gpt
And that we have abundance of good company and good reading matter,
human
Yes, responded her father,
gpt
The little monkeys are another, laughed Lucilla.
human
I think we will have some fun with them; and certainly the children are delighted with their new pets.
gpt
They certainly are engaging little creatures--very different from those we are accustomed to see going about our streets with organ-grinders,
human
I think you have not yet tired of your new pet, daughter?
gpt
No, indeed, papa, was the quick, earnest rejoinder,
human
I'm growing fonder of him every hour. Oh, he's just the dearest little fellow!
gpt
And so is mine, added Ned.
human
I think I'll name him Tee-tee; and as Elsie's is a little smaller than this, she is going to call him Tiny.
gpt
If papa approves,
human
I am well satisfied, returned their father.
gpt
You have begun your day rather earlier than usual, Captain Raymond went on, addressing the two children,
human
Yes, papa, we will,