THE MANDRILL 59 



and Baboon mummies show that its body was embalmed ; 

 but it does not follow that the animal was an object of 

 idolatrous worship, any more than is the lion of England, 

 the dragon of St. George, the eagle of France, and a host 

 of other animal forms that are used as national emblems. 



On the West Coast of Africa a troop of Baboons one 

 night swooped down upon a station and carried off a 

 baby while the nurse was absent from her charge. It 

 is easy to imagine the mother's agony of mind while she 

 waited hour after hour for the return of the party of 

 men who had set out to rescue the child. They were un- 

 successful, and could do nothing further until daylight. 

 The father of the child was on a visit to a distant settle- 

 ment and was in ignorance of the incident. Providentially, 

 as he returned home, he encountered the Baboons, and in 

 the moonlight he saw that the biggest one carried a bundle 

 from which was emitted a little cry. The next moment 

 the officer spurred his horse to charge into the midst 

 of the apes, intending to ride down the one that carried 

 the bundle. When the big brute dropped it to escape 

 into the bush, the man dismounted, to find that he had 

 rescued his baby boy, fortunately no whit the worse for 

 the terrible experience. 



It is claimed for the Baboon that it can be trained to 

 render useful service to man. It has been taught to draw 

 light vehicles ; colonists have utilised it to serve as a watch- 

 dog on lonely farms ; and on a South African railway a 

 lame employee taught a tame animal to set the signals. The 

 Baboon is certainly sufficiently strong to perform even 

 rather laborious tasks, but its uncertain temper will always 

 prove a bar to its useful employment. 



MANDEILL (Cynocephalus mormon). 

 Coloured Plate II. Fig. 5. 



The Mandrill, or Rib-nosed Baboon, is extraordinarily 

 hideous. It approaches a stature of three feet ; its bulk is 

 great and its strength tremendous. It is the largest, most 

 ferocious, and most powerful of the whole genus. Its 



