5C QUADRUMANA. 



(liiit;^ them to increase, now to diminish their speed. Witli all this bustle 

 tiicie is no symptom of alarm or cowardice, but a constant display ot per- 

 fect presence of mind. Danger docs not exist for them till man appears. 



When the leader has satisfied himself by examination that his troop 

 are once more in a safe spot, he utters iiis note of security. Then again 

 his followers are busy ; this time with ridding each other of thorns or 

 splinters which have run into tlieni during their flight. A monkey lays 

 himself out at full length on a bough, another examines him carefully 

 and tlioroughly, every tangle is loosened, every thorn extracted, any 

 vermin liiintcd out and eaten. These surgical performances ovei", the 

 troop returns without delay to the field whence it has just been 

 driven. Thus the natives can never leave their crops unwatched. No 

 means are left untried to keep off their terrible enemies, but human 

 resources and even charms or amulets are all in vain. "The apes," said 

 a venerable Sheik of the Soudan, "are godless and respect not the 

 words of the apostle of Ciod. Other creatures of the Lord respect his 

 prophet, the apes scorn him. If you hang an amulet in your field, the 

 clc|)liant will not touch it. Ili' is a just creature; the ape is a being 

 changed by God's wrath from a man into a liorror ; a son, grandson, 

 great-grandson of the evil one." 



The natives take them in nets ; and it is easy to siioot them lor one 

 who has the heart. Brehm writes : "I shot one straight in the face; it 

 fell from the tree, then sat up and witliout a cry or groan wiped away 

 the blood trickling from its wounds in such a human fashion and with 

 sucii noble, calm resignation, that I hastened to end its misery witii my 

 hunting-knife. From that day forward 1 have never shot an ape ; the 

 image of tiic dying creature iiaunts mc; I Iclt as if 1 luui murdered a 

 man." 



These apes are too active for most beasts of prey; the leopard alone 

 at times catches some unwary youngster. Birds of prey they repel by 

 combined action. A hooded eagle {S/>i::(ti-/os occipitnlis) was seen to seize 

 a young monkey. The little one held on to the branch with legs and 

 arms, screaming. At once there was an uproar; the eagle was sur- 

 rounded by ten big fellows who attacked witli angry visages and fearful 

 yells. The eagle soon dropped his prey, to struggle for his own safety; 

 tne ta;l feathers and back feathers that began to fly were proofs that he 

 fouorl some difficulty in escaping. Birds' nests the monkeys rob without 

 mercy; Imt in searching for nests in hollow trees they display great 



