THE MACAQUES. 7 



In reply to inquiries about the present condition of the 

 Barbary Apes {Macacus iniius) on the Rock, Dr. Sclater re- 

 cords in 1893 that General Sir Lothian Bell, the Governor of 

 Gibraltar, had informed him "that they were now distinctly 

 increasing in numbers. He had himself counted as many as 

 thirty in one group, and, according to some reports, there were 

 altogether as many as double that number on the Rock. In 

 fact they were so numerous, and their depredations had be- 

 come so serious that a short time ago an agitation had been 

 got up for their reduction in numbers, and it would perhaps be 

 necessary to thin them a little, but their extermination was 

 quite out of the question, and would not be thought of." 



These animals are remarkably affectionate parents, the 

 mother constantly tending her single young one, while the 

 males may often be seen carrying about some of the babies of 

 the troop. When young the " Rock Ape " is playful and 

 gentle ; but, when old, becomes ill-natured and vicious. 



When angry their jaws are moved up and down with great 

 rapidity, while they give utterance to loud and harsh cries. 

 The males fight with their strong canine teeth and their long 

 and strong, though flat, nails, with which they are capable of 

 inflicting deep wounds on each other. When in a good temper 

 their voice is generally soft ; but Mr. Darwin observed in the 

 Zoological Gardens that a specimen there, when pleased, made 

 a shrill note, and likewise drew back the corners of its mouth, 

 apparently through the contraction of the same muscles as with 

 human beings. The skin of the lower eyelids also became much 

 wrinkled. " At the same time it rapidly moved its lower jaw 

 or lips in a spasmodic manner, the teeth being exposed ; but 

 the noise produced was hardly more distinct than that which 

 we call silent laughter. Two of the keepers affirmed that this 



