IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



excited. Their hair became erect on their backs ; the 

 sounds or words they uttered were quick and showed 

 anger. They seemed as if getting ready for a fight. 



What was the cause of this sudden change in their 

 conduct? 1 asked myself. I was soon to know. I 

 heard in the distance a noise as if a troop of monkeys 

 were coming in our direction, the noise made by the 

 bending of the branches as the monkeys leaped from 

 one to another. It became louder and louder. 



Soon this noise was responded to by the loud cries 

 of the troop of nkagos near me. The monkeys that 

 were approaching answered them, and I recognized 

 their cries to be those of the mondis. They knew 

 the tree and had come to feed upon its fruits. They 

 were too late. The best had been eaten by the 

 nkagos, who also knew the time when the fruits were 

 to be ripe and had come ahead of the mondis. 



The mondis were furious, and advanced boldly 

 towards the tree, led by their old and trusted chiefs. 

 The nkagos had made up their minds to fight and 

 finish the repast they had begun. They had not 

 yet filled their pouches. The mondis jumped on 

 the tree, and a fight ensued among all the monkeys. 

 There were terrible shrieks and some pretty hard 

 bitings. The nkagos were getting the worst of the 

 fight, when I raised my gun, aiming at a mondi that 



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