BABOON. 



271 



Animals have not the means of communicating to 

 us their codes " de juri belli ct pacts," in any other 

 way than by showing hostilities when we break the 

 laws ; and it' even the capricious baboon shall bite, 

 or the multitude of them in the trees shall pelt the 

 stranger with sticks, or even descend and put him to 

 death, it is the man who, in all cases, is in fault, and 

 not the animal. The man has his reason and deli- 

 beration, and should see the result before he begins ; 

 the animal acts from present circumstances only ; and 

 when those which command or controul its action 

 occur, act it must, ignorant and heedless of the con- 

 sequences as it is of the cause. 



These remarks are not to be considered as in any 

 way a special pleading in favour of the baboons. 

 They are ugly animals certainly, and the very ugliest 

 of an ugly nation, both in their appearance and their 

 habits ; but it is just as absurd to impute vice, or the 

 perversion of reason, to them, as it is to impute the 

 exercise of reason to the better tempered and more 

 genteel mannered apes. But the baboons have their 

 part to perform in wild nature, are as admirably suited 

 for the performance of it, and perform it as well, as 

 any other race of animals. It may be that their so- 

 ciety is not agreeable to man, as there are not very 

 many animals of the wild forest which have that 

 character ; but animals which have this character 

 shun man rather than seek him : they fall back when 

 he takes possession ; and when he cultivates to a 

 high degree, they vanish. If, therefore, they ever 

 become offensive or dangerous to man, the offence 

 and danger are always of his own seeking. 



The baboons, arc, as has been said, all rather 

 powerful animals. The average size is about that of 

 a wolf, but some arc considerably larger. Of their 

 manners in a state of nature very little is known ; and, 

 unless in so far as difference of size gives them 

 different degrees of strength and daring, they appear 

 to be very much tiie same. There are about six 

 species ; but some of them are not very well defined. 



1. The LITTLE BABOON (Cynoccphalus babonius} is 

 a smaller species than any of the others, and has not 

 the nose quite so far prodaccd. It is found in 

 Northern Africa, but keeps in sequestered places, 

 and does not appear to be very numerous. The 

 general colour of the fur of this species is described 

 as being greenish yellow, and the face of a pale flesh 

 colour. 



2. The GUINEA BABOON (C. papio) is found on 

 the coasts of most parts of the country after which it 

 is named. The probability is, that this, and it may 

 be also some of the others have been described as dif- 

 ferent, species, on account both of their size and their 

 colour. Baboons come slowly to maturity, not at- 

 taining their full size till they are at least eight or 

 nine years of age ; and as the muzzle continues pro- 

 portionally elongating all the time of their growth, 

 while the young ones are much more nimble in their 

 motions and gentle in their dispositions than the 

 adults, they are readily mistaken for different species, 

 the more so that, if captured and brought to Europe, 

 they rarely live till any very material change takes 

 place in them. When full grown this species attains 

 the height of about four feet. It has the fur yellowish 

 brown, with large flesh-coloured callosities on the 

 hinder extremities, and the face black. The tail is 

 about seven inches long, strong, thick, and crooked ; 

 the whole of the anterior part of the body is very strong 

 and muscular ; so that, it can take a very powerful 

 grasp.aud also strike with the hand, and cut and wound 



with the nails. There is but one cub at a birth, which 

 he .female nurses long and with great care, and 

 :arries very pertinaciously in her arms even when 

 exposed to considerable danger. In addition to its 

 vegetable food, this species is said to be very fond of 

 eggs, and to rob the nests of the larger birds which 

 ld in trees. They are also said to invade the 

 limitations of the people in considerable troops, and 

 not to be very easily driven off. Some of their achieve- 

 ments in this w r ay, are, however, like many other 

 points of their history, probably a little exaggerated. 

 3. The GREY or DOG-FACED BABOON (C. Hy- 

 madyrasC) is a much larger species, growing to the 

 leight of five feet or more ; and it is said to be 

 very fierce and mischievous. The hair of the ge- 

 neral covering is pale ash ; but it is freckled over 

 with minute dusky specks on the individual hairs, 

 which give the whole a dull and somewhat chang- 

 ing shade. The hair round the face is very long, and 

 flows over the neck and shoulders like a mantle. 



Grey Baboon. 



This species is found in the east of Africa, and in 

 the opposite part of Arabia, especially in the finely- 

 wooded hills of Yemen, where it often does con- 

 siderable damage to the coffee gardens. Wherever 

 there are woods or otherwise pastures to suit it, it ex- 

 tends along the whole south of Arabia to the Persian 

 Gulf. The full-grown males are very formidable in 

 defence ; and they are even said to be often the first 

 to attack, though, upon the principle already alluded 

 to, we cannot accurately know the point at which 

 they are prompted to act upon the defensive, and 

 therefore we may consider attack that which is really 

 defence on their part. The nose and muzzle of this 

 species are very much produced ; the face, as well 

 as the hands, are black. There appears to be some 

 differences of colour, and also in the degree of pro- 

 duction of the hair which composes the mantle at 

 different ages, or different stages of the growth, and 

 these have led to some confusion. The tail, too, is 

 much longer than that of the other baboons, and more 

 resembles the tail of a monkey. The habits of the 

 animal, as well as the general characters, especially 

 those of the head, are, however, strictly those of a 

 baboon, and the manners are such as not to be easily 

 mistaken. 



4. The PIG-FACED BABOON (C. porcarius} is an in- 

 habitant of Southern Africa, and plentiful in some 

 parts of the colony at the Cape. They, however, 



