on Troglodytes Niger. 3S5 



sole of the foot. They are expert cUmbers, as one would 

 suppose, from their organization. In their gambols they 

 swing from limb to limb, to a great distance, and leap with 

 astonishing agility. It is not unusual to see ' the old folks,' 

 (in the language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling 

 themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while ' their children ' 

 are leaping around them and swinging from branch to branch 

 in boisterous merriment. 



" As seen here, they cannot be called gregarious, seldom 

 more than five or ten at most being found together. It has 

 been said on good authority, that they occasionally assemble 

 in large numbers, in gambols. My informant asserts that he 

 saw once not less than fifty so engaged ; hooting, screaming, 

 and drumming with sticks upon old logs, which is done in the 

 latter case, with equal facility by the four extremities. 



'•' They do not appear ever to act on the offensive, and sel- 

 dom if ever really, on the defensive. When about to be cap- 

 tured, they resist by throwing their arms about their oppo- 

 nent, and attempting to draw him into contact with the teeth. 

 Biting is their principal act of defence. I have seen one 

 man who had been thus severely wounded in the feet. 



" They are very filthy in their habits. In a state of domes- 

 tication they will eat their own excrements. It is a tradition 

 with the natives generally here, that they were once members 

 of their own tribe; that for their depraved habits they were 

 expelled from all human society, and, that through an obsti- 

 nate indulgence of their vile propensities they have degener- 

 ated into their present state and organization. They are, 

 however, eaten by them, and, when cooked with the oil and 

 pulp of the palm nut, considered a highly palatable morsel. 



'' They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in their 

 habits, and, on the part of the mother, much affection for 

 their young. The second female described, was upon a tree 

 w^hen first discovered, with her mate and two young ones, 

 (a male and female.) Her first impulse was to descend with 

 great rapidity and ' make off"' into the thicket with her mate 

 and female offspring. The young male remaining behind, 



42 



