THE MAGOT. 49 



slightest alarm. But with the aid of a moderately good telescope, their movements may be 

 watched, and are very amusing. 



When in their native wilds, the Magots live in large flocks, each band seeming to be under 

 the orders of some chosen leader. They are very intelligent, and possessed of a large share of 

 the cunning that belongs to the monkeys, and which, when aided by their strength of muscle, 

 agility of limb, and quickness of sight, keeps them in tolerable security from foes, and enables 

 them to make raids upon cultivated lands without suffering the penalty due to their 

 crimes. 



The enemies which these creatures hold in greatest dread are the climbing felidse ; and on 

 the approach of one of these animals, the colony is instantly in a turmoil. The leaders yell 



- i .-r-v^a-va?^'-'--..- -amr' 



- 



MAGOT, OK BAEBARY APB.-/ntw ecawlatai. 



- 







their cry of alarm and give the signal for retreat, the mothers snatch up their little ones, the 

 powerful males range themselves in battle array, and the whole body seeks a place of refuge. 



Open attacks are little feared by the Magots, as their combined forces are sufficiently 

 powerful to repel almost any enemy. But at night, when they are quietly sleeping, the crafty 

 foe comes stealing along, and climbing up the trees or rocks on which the Magots are sitting 

 asleep, strikes down its unsuspecting prey. 



When young, the Magot is tolerably gentle ; and as it is sufficiently intelligent to learn 

 many tricks, it is frequently brought to Europe, and its accomplishments exhibited before the 

 public. But this state of comparative domesticity is only for a time, and as the bodily frame 

 becomes more developed, so does the Magot lose its gentle nature, and put on a sullen and 

 fierce deportment. Captivity seems to exert a terribly depressing influence over the animal 

 as soon as it becomes fitted by nature for its wild independence ; and as the stimulus to the 

 mind is removed by the restrictions under which the animal is placed, the mind loses its 

 spring, and the creature is deserted by the apt intelligence that characterizes its wild state, and 

 for which it has no need in its hopeless thraldrom. 



This monkey is not very widely spread, for with the exception of the Rock of Gibraltar, 

 it seems to be confined to Northern Africa. Some authors state that it is found in India, 

 China, and even the entire African continent, but it seems clear that there has been some 



