THE MACAQUES 55 



BARBARY APE (Macacus inuus). 

 Coloured Plate II. Fig. 2. 



The Macaques are chiefly found in India, China, Japan, 

 and the Malay Archipelago ; but the Barbary Ape, popularly 

 called the Magot, inhabits North-west Africa, and is 

 particularly interesting in that it is the only example of 

 the monkey tribe which is found in Europe, where it is 

 confined to the Rock of Gibraltar. How it came there 

 is not known with any certainty. Ages and ages ago 

 Gibraltar and North Africa were joined by a narrow neck 

 of land, just as England and France were connected where 

 is now the Strait of Dover ; and as the climate of the South 

 of Spain is practically that of Northern Africa, there would 

 be no cause for wonder in the Barbary Ape taking up its 

 quarters there. It is, however, far more likely that the 

 animal was introduced into Spain by the Moors when they 

 conquered the country in the eighth century ; or the present 

 Gibraltar apes may be descendants of tame ones that escaped 

 from captivity to renew their wild life. 



The Magot is largely dog-like in appearance ; it measures 

 upwards of two feet in length, and is generally about the 

 size of a bull terrier. It has large cheek pouches which it 

 loses no opportunity of stuffing with food. Its coat is grey 

 with a yellowish tinge ; it is quite tailless. Some of the 

 Asiatic Macaques have a ruff of long hair round the neck, 

 but in the Magot it is comparatively short. 



In North Africa the animal is quite common, and it does 

 much damage to crops in Algeria and Morocco. On the 

 Rock it often plays havoc in the gardens, and it would not 

 be tolerated but for the amusement it affords, though owing 

 to its shyness, its antics can only be well observed through 

 a good telescope. Sometimes it has been found necessary 

 to thin their numbers ; on the other hand, the European 

 specimens would at some periods have died out but for the 

 introduction of fresh blood from Africa. The animal is 

 gregarious, and sometimes considerable numbers of them 

 can be seen climbing the precipitous sides of the Rock, the 

 females carrying their young on their backs, as they search 

 for lizards and insects. 



