THE BARBARY APE 5 



fresh blood was introduced from Africa by Gen, 

 Sir W. Codrington, the total number in 1864 

 beino- about a dozen individuals. Since then, the 

 Gibraltar apes have increased slowly: in 1875 

 they consisted of eight adults with several young 

 ones, and in 1880 they numbered twenty-five 

 all told. 



AlthouQfh some naturalists have assumed the 

 Gibraltar colony to be a last survival of the 

 numerous bands of Pliocene times, it seems that 

 Africa and not Europe is the true home of the 

 Barbary ape. Mr. Busk, who found plenty of 

 bones of the serval cat and other North African 

 species in the ancient breccia of Gibraltar, failed 

 to discover any remains of Macacus znnuus, and 

 concluded that the Rock monkeys had been 

 imported — comparatively recently — from across 

 the straits. In Africa the Barbary ape occurs in 

 Morocco and also in Algeria, from the Chiffa 

 River as far as the eastern boundaries of Kabylia, 

 being thus widely, if not abundantly, distributed. 

 The pretty little village of Stora, near Philippeville, 

 is now known chiefly as a charming resort for 

 tourists, and also as a centre for the sardine-curing 

 industry : in earlier times, as Desfontaines found 

 at the end of the eighteenth century, it was 

 remarkable rather for the troops of wild monkeys 

 which covered the trees with their 

 numbers. 



