146 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



By night they roost in trees, usually at a fair distance 

 from the ground. 



In captivity the Vervet is at first very timid and sus- 

 picious, which may partly account for its reputation 

 for being treacherous. I have kept a good many captive 

 Vervets, and have found that when once their confidence 

 has been gained they are most gentle and docile with 

 people they know. 



The intelligence of the Vervet cannot be compared 

 with that of the baboons ; still, we had a female for a 

 long time at Sabi Bridge which developed what appeared 

 to be almost a sense of humour. As, seated on her perch, 

 she ate her evening meal, fragments of the feast would 

 accidentally fall to the ground and be ravenously com- 

 peted for by the fowls, which, some of them, got into 

 the habit of regularly collecting at the spot about the 

 same hour. After a while, the monkey, having eaten 

 her fill, and filled her cheek pouches, began deliberately 

 to drop scraps of porridge one at a time into the crowd. 

 She did this quite slowly and reflectively, and seemed 

 to derive real amusement from the contests which she 

 created. The same monkey struck up a close friendship 

 with a pig, and the two would spend hours together. 



THE SAMANGO MONKEY. This species is darker in 

 colour than the Vervet, and there are no rufous patches 

 behind. The fur is very silky and handsome. It ex- 

 tends from the eastern part of the Cape Province, through 

 Portuguese East Africa, and the whole of Rhodesia. 

 Its northern limit is at present undefined, but it prob- 

 ably extends at least as far as the Rovuma. It is found, 

 as a rule, in thick forests, and in the dense bush which 

 clothes the sides of ravines and watercourses. 



SYKES' MONKEY. This very handsome monkey is 

 an inhabitant of east and south-east Africa, but is seldom 



