It would have been nice to have a monkey for a pet, so I talked two of the guys into helping me set a trap. We found a tree that was thin enough to be bent over by climbing up to the top. We tied a rope to the top of the tree with a noose at the bottom and with the bait in the center. Any pulling on the bait would trip the rope and the tree would spring up with the monkey secured by the noose.

The next day we went to see if my monkey was caught. I looked at the tree and there, held by the noose, was a monkey’s leg. Two natives were standing there shaking their heads. They then climbed the tree and showed me how to set the trap so it would not snap a monkey’s leg off. They had the coil that I made to use up the extra length and tied it into a bundle. They smiled and looked at me like I was the dumbest white man they had ever saw.

On one of our patrols, I herd a whimper and saw little monkey who was alone and in some kind of trouble. I picked him up and he was not frightened of me. There was a little blood on one side of his head, but he was not injured. We looked around for its mother, but there were not any monkeys in the area. When we got back to the barracks I fed him and he became attached to me and where ever I went he tagged along.

A week or so later we were being replaced by another troop and we were going back to Fort Clayton. I asked the Sergeant who was replacing me if he would like to have the monkey, He said sure and tried to take the monkey off my shoulder. The monkey objected and jumped on my head making all kind of noises. As the Sergeant pulled him off my head the monkey gave me good wetting. It burned as it ran down my neck and I ran for the showers.