THE TRUE BABOONS 125 



are armed with tusks of the most formidable dimensions. Indeed, a bite from one 

 of these animals must be almost, if not quite, as severe and dangerous as a leopard's ; 

 and there are instances on record where leopards have been successfully attacked and 

 mastered by a few old male baboons. 



The great size of the head, coupled with their general bodily conformation, 

 renders all the baboons much less capable of assuming and maintaining the 

 erect posture than any of the other Old World monkeys. They are, indeed, 

 accustomed to go almost invariably on all fours ; and when on tolerably flat ground 

 can gallop at a pace that requires a horse to overtake them. When brought to 

 bay, a baboon will, however, stand on its hind-quarters to defend itself more 

 readily. 



In the wild state scarcely any kind of food comes amiss to baboons ; 

 and although the bulk of their nutriment may take the form of seeds, 

 fruits, roots, and the gum which exudes from the stems of many of the African 

 acacias, they also search for and eat insects, lizards, and birds' eggs. In regions 

 where cultivated lands exist much harm is done by the nocturnal excursions of bab- 

 oons. During such raids most travelers agree in saying that a certain number of 

 the troop are selected to act as sentinels and to give timely warning of the approach 

 of an enemy. How much credence is to be given to the statements that on these 

 occasions the marauders are accustomed to range themselves in long lines leading 

 from the cultivated ground to their homes, and to pass the stolen plunder from hand 

 to hand, it is not for us to decide. 



In disposition all the baboons are the reverse of amiable, and they are ac- 

 customed to fly into paroxysms of fury at any object which enrages or excites 

 them ; but some of the species are capable of being more or less completely tamed, 

 and even learning a certain number of tricks ; and it appears that members of one 

 species were habitually tamed by the ancient Egyptians. 



We shall have occasion again to refer to the early period at which baboons 

 must have been known to the Egyptians, and we have already mentioned that they 

 take their scientific name from their ancient Greek title. To show that they were 

 known in Europe at least two centuries ago, we extract an account which, though 

 often quoted, is so interesting and so quaint that it will bear another repetition. 

 This work is by one I,udolph, and relates to the ancient Ethiopia, the modern 

 Abyssinia ; the English translation being published in the year 1684. " Of apes," 

 writes L,udolph, " there are infinite flocks up and down in the mountains, a thou- 

 sand and more together ; there they leave no stone unturned. If they meet with 

 one that two or three cannot lift, they call for more aid, and all for the sake of the 

 worms that lie under ; a sort of diet which they relish exceedingly. They are 

 very greedy after emmets. So that having found an emmet-hill, they presently 

 surround it, and, laying their fore-paws with the hollow downward upon the ant- 

 heap, as fast as the emmets creep into their treacherous palms, they lick 'em off 

 with great comfort to their stomachs ; and there they will lie till there is not an 

 emmet left. They are also pernicious to fruit and apples, and will destroy whole 

 fields and gardens unless they be carefully look'd after. For they are very cunning, 

 and will never venture in till the return of their spies, which they send always be- 



