60 



THE CHACMA. 



a day or two, causes inevitable death. The fiery sun of the tropical regions, and the arid, 

 scorching atmosphere, absorb every particle of moisture from the body, and cause a constant 

 desire to supply the unwonted waste with fresh material, exactly where such a supply is least 

 attainable. 



Among these climates, the want of a proper supply of water is soon felt, the longing for 

 the cool element becomes a raging madness ; the scorched and hardened lips refuse their office, 

 and the tongue rattles uselessly in the mouth, as if both tongue and palate were cut out of 

 dried wood. 



The value of any means by which such sufferings can be alleviated is incalculable ; and the 

 animal of which we are speaking is possessed of this priceless faculty. 



When the water begins to run short, and the known fountains have failed, as is too often 

 the sad hap of these desert wells, fortunate is the man who owns a tame Chacma, or "Bavian," 



as it is called. The animal is first deprived 

 of water for a whole day, until it is furious 

 with thirst, which is increased by giving 

 it salt provisions, or putting salt into its 

 mouth. This apparent cruelty is, how- 

 ever, an act of true mercy, as on the Chac- 

 ma may depend the existence of itself and 

 the whole party. 



A long rope is now tied to the ba- 

 boon's collar, and it is suffered to run 

 about wherever it chooses, the rope being 

 merely used as a means to prevent the 

 animal from getting out of sight. The 

 baboon now assumes the leadership of the 

 band, and becomes the most important 

 personage of the party. 



First it runs forward a little, then 

 stops ; gets on its hind feet, and sniffs up 

 the air, especially taking notice of the 

 wind and its direction. It will then, per- 

 haps, change the direction of its course ; 

 and after running for some distance take 

 another observation. Presently it will 

 spy out a blade of grass, or similar object, 

 pluck it up, turn it on all sides, smell it, 

 and then go forward again. And thus the 

 animal proceeds until it leads the party to water ; guided by some mysterious instinct which 

 appears to be totally independent of reasoning, and which loses its powers in proportion as 

 reason gains dominion. 



The curious employment of the animal for the discovery of water, is mentioned by Captain 

 Drayson, R.A., in his interesting work, " Sporting Scenes among the Kaffirs of South Africa." 

 In the course of the same work he gives many life-like illustrations of baboon habits, whether 

 wild or tame. 



Of the daily life of the baboons, the following affords a graphic and amusing description. 

 " During the shooting trip with the Boers, I awoke before daybreak, and as I felt very cold 

 and not inclined to sleep, I got up, and taking my gun, walked to a little ravine, out of which 

 a clear, murmuring stream flashed in the moonlight, and ran close past our outspan. A little 

 distance up this kloof, the fog was dense and thick ; the blue and pink streaks of the morning 

 light were beginning to illuminate the peaks of the Draakensberg, but all immediately around 

 us still acknowledged the supremacy of the pale moonlight. I wanted to see the sun rise in 

 this lonely region, and watch the changing effects which its arrival would produce on the 

 mountains and plains around. 



BLACK MACAQUE. (See also cut on page 51.) 



