492 The Outline of Science 



against an enemy. The members of the vegetarian herd trample 

 the carnivore to death. A small monkey attacked by an eagle has 

 no chance, but his cries bring a crowd of comrades to his aid, and 

 they may tear the bird of prey to pieces. Moreover, when there 

 is a herd, there is the possibility of having sentinels or outposts, 

 which warn the main body when danger draws near. The Rabbit 

 knocks loudly on the ground with its feet and the Marmot whistles 

 "danger." Whenever there is division of labour there is a sound- 

 ing of the social note. Thus when baboons are retreating the rear- 

 guard is formed by the old males, and Brehm tells the fine story 

 of the way in which they faced the dogs of his hunting party and 

 kept them at bay while the females retreated. 



But one little monkey about half a year old had been left be- 

 hind. It shrieked loudly as the dogs rushed towards it, but 

 succeeded in gaining the top of a rock before they had 

 arrived. Our dogs placed themselves cleverly, so as to cut 

 off its retreat, and we hoped that we might be able to catch it. 

 But that was not to be. Proudly and with dignity, without 

 hurrying in the least, or paying any heed to us, an old male 

 stepped down from the security of the rocks towards the 

 hard-pressed little one, walked towards the dogs without 

 betraying the slightest fear, held them in check with glances, 

 gestures, and quite intelligible sounds, slowly climbed the 

 rock, picked up the baby-monkey, and retreated with it, be- 

 fore we could reach the spot, and without the visibly discon- 

 certed dogs making the slightest attempt to prevent him. 

 While the patriarch of the troop performed this brave and 

 self-sacrificing deed, the other members, densely crowded on 

 the cliff, uttered sounds which I had never before heard from 

 baboons. Old and young, males and females, roared, 

 screeched, snarled, and bellowed all together, so that one 

 would have thought they were struggling with leopards or 

 other dangerous beasts. I learned later that this was the 

 baboons' battle-cry; it was intended obviously to intimidate 

 us and the dogs, possibly also to encourage the brave old 

 giant, who was running into such evident danger before 

 their eyes. 



