One of their halts was made on the bank of a river famous for the abundance of fish in its waters. A liberal supply was bought for the porters, and during the entire day of the stoppage everybody regaled himself on finny food till he wished no more. The river was too deep to be forded, and the crossing was made partly by boats, and partly by means of an enormous weir, erected for the purpose of trapping fish. The weir extended about two-thirds the way across, and the rest of the bridge consisted of a single long and slender pole, resting on the forked stump of a tree. The weir was made by setting long poles in the river, and weaving twigs between them in a sort of basket-work. It was rather risky business walking on the top of the weir, or on the pole that formed the rest of the bridge, as a pedestrian might easily lose his balance and topple into the river. The porters had no trouble in maintaining their equilibrium, as they are accustomed all their lives to walk or run in narrow paths, and carry burdens more or less heavy on their heads or shoulders. Only one of them fell into the water, and it fortunately happened that his load was of a nature that was not injured by wetting. The instruments and other valuable things were ferried over, and the donkeys were forced to swim from bank to bank. When it came the turn of Frank and Fred to cross they boldly walked over, each carrying a balancing-pole, after the manner of the circus-performer. Doctor Bronson said the boat was good enough for him, as he was not inclined to emulate the acrobat and run the chance of being soaked in the stream. Frank suggested that it would be a good thing to have a troupe of trained monkeys to transport burdens across a stream of this sort. The imitative character of the monkey was well known, and perhaps he could be induced to copy the example of the negroes, and accompany the porters, with a burden suited to his size and strength. Doctor Bronson replied that all efforts to teach habits of industry to the monkey had failed, and he feared the proposal of his nephew would never amount to anything. Apropos of the youth's scheme he told the following anecdote: "I heard once, in New Orleans," said he, "a story of how a planter endeavored to have his cotton gathered by monkeys. "He had a large crop of cotton coming to maturity, and there was a scarcity of laborers. While studying what to do he thought of the peculiarities of the monkey and his habits of imitation. Hearing of the arrival of a ship from South America with a large cage full of monkeys, he proceeded to buy the entire lot. There were twenty-five healthy monkeys in the cage, and he immediately shipped them to his plantation.