16 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



Photo by C. Riid] 



RHESUS MONKEY 



N.B. 



A young specimen of the common Bengal monkey 



Like all monkeys, this creature has the power of 

 springing instantaneously from a sitting position ; and 

 its bite would cripple anything from a man to a 

 leopard. The chacmas live in companies in the kopjes, 

 whence they descend to forage the mealie-grounds, 

 river-beds, and bush. Thence they come down to steal 

 fruit and pumpkins or corn, turn over the stones and 

 catch beetles, or eat locusts. Their robbing expedi- 

 tions are organised. Scouts keep a lookout, the females 

 and young are put in the centre, and the retreat is pro- 

 tected by the old males. Children in the Cape Colony 

 are always warned not to go out when the baboons are 

 near. When irritated and they are very touchy in 

 their tempers the whole of the males will some- 

 times charge and attack. The possibility of this is 

 very unpleasant, and renders people cautious. 



Not many years ago a well-known sportsman 

 was shooting in Somaliland. On the other side of a 

 rocky ravine was a troop of baboons of a species of 

 which no examples were in the British Museum. 

 Though he knew the danger, he was tempted to 

 shoot and to secure a skin. At 200 yards he killed one dead, which the rest did not notice. 

 Then he hit another and wounded it. The baboon screamed, and instantly the others sat up, 

 saw the malefactor, and charged straight for him. Most fortunately, they had to scramble down 

 the ravine and up again, by which time the sportsman and his servant had put such a distance 

 between them, making " very good time over the flat," that the baboons contented themselves 

 by barking defiance at them when they reached the level ground. 



They are the only mammals which thoroughly understand combination for defense as well as 

 attack. But Brehm, the German traveler, gives a charming story of genuine courage and 

 self-sacrifice shown by one. His hunting dogs gave chase to a troop which was retreating 

 to some cliffs, and cut off a very young one, which ran up on to a rock, only just out of reach of 

 the dogs. An old male baboon saw this, and came along to the rescue. Slowly and deliberately 

 he descended, crossed the open 

 space, and stamping his hands on 

 the ground, showing his teeth, and 

 backed by the furious barks of the 

 rest of the baboons, he discon- 

 certed and cowed these savage 



o 



dogs, climbed on to the rock, 



picked up the baby, and carried 



him back safely. If the dogs had 



attacked the old patriarch, his 



tribe would probably have helped 



him. Burchell, the naturalist after 



whom Burchell's zebra is named, 



let his dogs chase a troop. The 



baboons turned on them, killed 



one on the spot by biting through w . r . h A . s . Rudtand & Smt 



the great blood-vessels of the RHESUS MONKEY AND SOOTY MANGABEY 



neck, and laid bare the ribs of The sooty mangabcy (to the right of the picture) is gentle and companionable, but petu- 

 lant and active 



