46 THE MONKEY TRIBE 



ness, while at the same time the outcries scare possible 

 enemies. It affects no particular sleeping place, except 

 when the female is nursing her young, at which times she 

 prepares a platform upon which to secure some measure of 

 comfort ; but these nurseries are seldom used more than 

 two or three nights in succession. 



Ignoring the usually exaggerated stories of the natives, 

 there is no doubt of the formidable nature of the Chim- 

 panzee ; it tyrannises over the district which it inhabits. The 

 leopard and other members of the cat tribe prey largely on 

 monkeys, but the leopard often finds its master in an adult 

 ape. The lion kills the biggest Chimpanzee with ease, but 

 we learn on the authority of Livingstone that it will not 

 eat the body. 



Captain Casati, the Italian traveller, relates many interest- 

 ing facts concerning the Chimpanzee in the little known 

 forests of the Aruwimi and Albert Nyanza regions. The 

 most expert hunters experience difficulty in capturing the 

 cautious animal. The Western Sandehs spread nets, and 

 under cover of darkness disturb the apes with loud cries 

 and the barking of dogs. The animals at once make a 

 precipitate retreat, only to fall into the nets, in which their 

 limbs become entangled. The hunters even then only 

 effect their purpose after the most strenuous and dangerous 

 struggles. The most successful traps of the Walegga tribe 

 take the form of big jars of intoxicating beer, which are 

 placed in the haunts of the Chimpanzees at night. With 

 the dawn the animals fight furiously among themselves for 

 possession of the jars, which the victors speedily empty. 

 The drunkards eventually fall into a deep sleep, when 

 the artful natives come out of hiding to tie the limbs of 

 their deluded prey. At Msua, on the shore of Albert 

 Nyanza, a body of troops was encamped in a dense wood. 

 During the night a drum was taken from under the nose of 

 a sentry, and the theft was assumed to be the work of a 

 daring native. During the next day, upon the top of a tall 

 tree an old Chimpanzee was discovered vigorously beating 

 the drum with a stick, in imitation of the action which 

 doubtless he had witnessed the day before. An attempt 

 was made to recover the instrument, but the ape avoided 



