THE VERVET MONKEY OR BLUE APE 



child. She received the charge of shot in the back, 

 and came tumbling down through the branches, 

 clutching vainly at them as she fell. We drove off 

 the dogs, and turning to observe her we noticed that 

 she was cowering over her young one, still seeking 

 to protect it with her body. Hugging her baby tight 

 to her breast, she regarded us with a world of sadness 

 in her eyes, and with a gasp and a shudder she died. 

 We forgot for the moment that she was but a monkey, 

 for her actions and expression were so human, that 

 we felt we had committed a crime. Muttering an 

 oath, my friend turned and walked rapidly off, vow- 

 ing that this was the last time he would shoot a 

 monkey. " It's not sport, it's downright murder," 

 he declared, and I fervently agreed with him. 



I have often had Vervet Monkeys in captivity with 

 babies of various ages. When the youngster is very 

 young it clings tenaciously to the breast and side of 

 its mother. Its limbs and body are thin and spidery, 

 and the head is absurdly large for so small and frail- 

 looking a body. Its face is pink and wrinkled, like 

 that of an aged Hottentot, and habitually bears an 

 anxious fretted look. The females are quite friendly 

 when kept together in the same cage, and do not 

 interfere with each other's young ones. 



The baby monkey has a curious habit of sucking 

 the two teats of the mother simultaneously. These 

 are sufficiently close together to allow of this. This 

 habit is usually contracted when the youngster 

 begins to find the milk of its parent insufficient for its 



VOL. i 17 2 



