no THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



fill of plunder, so often falls a victim to the piirsuing dogs that 

 monkey-trappers frequently rent an orchard for the special pur- 

 pose of capturing the retreating marauders. 



An equally effective method is that of the Abyssinian pet- 

 hunters, who decoy baboons by imitating the squeal of their 

 youngsters. In spite of their mischievous petulance, nearly all 

 the Old World species of our four-handed kinsmen are emotion- 

 ally sympathetic, and ever ready to rescue their v^ounded friends 

 at the risk of their own lives. At the cry of a captured baby- 

 baboon, the whole tribe of passionate four-fisters will rush in, re- 

 gardless of consequences, and a similar tendency of co-operation 

 may have given our hairy forefathers a superior chance of sur- 

 vival and secured their victory in their struggle for existence 

 against their feline rivals. Their list of original sins may have 

 included gluttony, covetousness, and violence of temper, but hard- 

 ly a penchant for wanton bloodshed. With the exception of the 

 fox-headed lemurs and the ultra-stupid marmosets, nearly all our 

 simian relatives evince symptoms of a character-trait which might 

 be defined as an instinctive aversion to cruelty. Menagerie monk- 

 eys indulge their love of gymnastics by frequent scuffles; but 

 the sight of a hona-fide fight awakens a chorus of shrieks express- 

 ing a general protest rather than an emotion of fear or even of 

 partisan interest, for in an open arena the stouter members of the 

 obstreperous community are sure to rush in and part the combat- 

 ants. That result, at least, forms a frequent intermezzo of the 

 circus-fights at the capital of Baroda (British India), where the 

 sport-loving prince pits all sorts of beasts and birds in single com- 

 bat, and often diversifies the proceedings by introducing an able- 

 bodied ape. 



Like Buddha Sakyamuni, my Cutch baboon extends his com- 

 passion to all suffering fellow-creatures. Orphaned kittens or^ 

 whining puppies straying within reach of his arm risk their lives 

 in his sympathetic embraces. He will hug even crippled rabbits 

 and half-drowned rats, and in his anxiety to relieve their ailments 

 will often resort to the expedient of instituting an entomological 

 inquest, searching their hides for vermin as a possible cause of 

 their distress. One of his temporary playmates, a pot-bellied young 

 Chacma baboon, aggravated his unpopularity by an incurable 

 penchant for peculation ; but the occasional penalties of his mis- 

 deeds were more than outweighed by the demonstrative sym- 

 pathy of his kinsman, who would snatch up the squealing little 

 monster and coddle him for hours, every now and then voicing 

 his protest against human methods of discipline in a shrill scream, 

 which his young protege never failed to accompany with an ap- 

 probative grunt. 



In Hindostan, where three varieties of sacred monkeys enjoy 



