254 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



longer proportionately than in other Monkeys, reaching to the 

 middle of the first joint of the forefinger. 



Both halves of the liver are much sub-divided. 



Gestation lasts seven months, and the young are suckled for 

 six months. 



The Baboons are the lowest of the Catarrhine or Old World 

 Monkeys. Most of them are large, ferocious, dangerous, and 

 gregarious animals, and when disturbed or alarmed they give 

 utterance to screams, barks, and guttural murmurs. 



Both Dr. Emil Holub and Sir Richard Burton have spoken 

 of the ferocity of the Baboons. " The South African farmers," 

 says the first-named naturalist, " complain of these animals as 

 a great and perpetual nuisance." They were always on the 

 look-out, and no sooner was a field or a garden left unguarded 

 than they would be down at once, breaking through the hedges 

 and devouring the crops. They were likewise very destructive 

 amongst the Sheep. If a shepherd happened to leave his post 

 for ever so short a time, or even to fall asleep, the Baboons, 

 who had been watching their chance from the heights, would 

 be down upon the flock in the valley, and, seizing the Lambs 

 and ripping up their stomachs with their teeth, would feast 

 upon the milk they contained, then leaving the poor mangled 

 victim writhing on the ground. Then they would lose no 

 time in repeating the terrible operation upon another. "About 

 the middle of the morning," says Dr. Holub, "we started 

 eastwards in the hope of catching the herd at their drinking- 

 place. . . . When we had advanced some distance along 

 the hill we found ourselves approaching the pool . . . and 

 could distinctly hear the hoarse barking of the Baboons. 

 Looking across to the opposite side, about 300 yards away, we 

 caught sight of a herd of seven, only four of them full-grown ; 



