With Flashlight and Rifle -* 



go carelessly into the woods, plucking the grasses, picking 

 up stones, chasing locusts or other insects, or indulging 

 in various antics. 



I have sometimes noticed in the; midst of these herds, 

 or only a few feet away, impalla antelopes, dwarf ante- 

 lopes, and even waterbuck and ostriches. Especially 

 durino- the noontide hours are these animals thus accus- 



o 



tomed to disport themselves. 



Suddenly the scene changes. One of the animals 

 has either seen me or got wind ot me. A honey- 

 guide flutters around me suddenly with a cry ; another 

 bird betrays my position through its croaking ; and, like 

 lightning, the whole concourse of animals flee in all 

 directions amidst clouds of dust. The troop of monkeys 

 has been given the alarm by a kind of squeak of warning. 

 Those keeping watch on the tree-trunk come clown, and 

 the females and younger ones begin to take flight. At 

 length, with flowing manes and tails erect, the stout old 

 valiant fathers of families gallop off quickly, but keeping 

 on the alert the whole time. This alertness during flight, 

 and without stopping at all, is a characteristic peculiar to 

 baboons and spotted hyaenas. I have never noticed it in 

 any other animal. 



To me it seems a fact, about which there can be no 

 doubt, that baboons have a language of their own, and that 

 in danger the old animals give their commands by means of 

 some simple method of speech. During flight it is easy 

 to notice the workings of their social organisation. The 

 older monkeys dragoon the younger and more inex- 

 perienced into batches, regardless of thumps and cuffs, 



550 



