THE APES AND MONKEYS. 



they give no heed to anything and utterly forget 

 safety in their eagerness to gratify their greedy ap- 

 petites. In this way the cleverest Apes are gov- 

 erned by their passions precisely as many people 

 are. It is doubtful whether this gives us a right to 

 underrate their intellect. 



Where Apes I n former periods of the world the 

 are Apes inhabited a larger portion of the 



Found. globe than they do at present. Now 

 they are limited to the warm countries, a hot climate 

 seeming to be a condition essential to them. Bab- 

 oons are sometimes found rather high in mountains 

 and appear to endure a lower temperature than is 

 generally supposed ; but nearly all the rest of the 

 Apes are extremely sensitive to cold. Each conti- 

 nent possesses its own species, though Asia and 

 Africa have one in common. In Europe there is 

 only one kind, and that is limited to one troop which 

 lives on the Rocks of Gibraltar, under the protection 

 of the garrison. Australia has no Apes. Gibraltar is 

 not the highest northern point where Apes are found, 

 for a Japanese Macaque probably extends his wan- 

 derings as far as the 37th degree of north latitude. 

 To the south the Apes go as far as the 35th degree, 

 but only in the Old World. In America they oc- 

 cupy a belt of land extending as far north as Chi- 

 huahua in Mexico, and as far south as Catamasca in 

 the Argentine Republic, inhabiting besides Mexico 

 the Central American states and portions of all the 

 countries of South America except Uruguay. 



The home of an individual species is usually 

 within rather narrow boundaries, though it hap- 

 pens that there are corresponding varieties in two 

 countries that are far apart on the same continent. 



Most of the Apes live in forests, but a few are 

 .sometimes found on rocky mountains. Their ex- 

 tremities are adapted to climbing, and trees are 

 naturally their favorite haunts ; the mountain Apes, 

 however, climb trees only when compelled to do so. 



Agility and Apes are doubtless the liveliest and 



Predatory most agile of all Mammals. While on 

 Traits. their hunt for food, they do not know 

 repose. The variety of their diet alone would call 

 for great activity in the search, for almost every 

 thing eatable comes handy to them. Fruit, onions, 

 roots, seeds, nuts, buds, leaves and juicy plants form 

 their staple food ; eggs and young Birds are dainties 

 not to be despised. So there is always something 

 to be caught, or plucked, something to be smelled 

 or tasted, enjoyed or- thrown away. Such investiga- 

 tions require a great deal of moving about. Their 

 ideas as to personal property are extremely hazy. 

 " We do the sowing, the Monkeys see to the reap- 

 ing," is a common saying among the Arabians of 

 East Soudan. Fields and gardens are regarded by 

 them as extremely agreeable places of rest, and are 

 pillaged to the utmost. Each Monkey destroys ten 

 times more than he eats. Neither locks nor bolts, 

 fences nor walls, can keep these thieves out. They 

 force the locks and climb the walls, and what cannot 

 be eaten is taken away, including gold and jewelry. 

 One must have seen a pillaging band of Monkeys to 

 understand how a farmer can half die with rage over 

 their visits, or, rather, visitations. To an onlooker a 

 troop showing themselves at the climax of their 

 agility during such a raid presents, indeed, a very 

 interesting spectacle. They run, jump, climb, swing 

 themselves, and, in case of necessity, swim. The 

 feats performed on trees are incredible. Only the 

 Man-shaped Apes and the Baboons are clumsy ; all 

 the others are perfect clowns ; they seem nearly able 



to fly ; jumps of twenty-five or thirty feet are child's 

 play to them. From the top of a tree they will jump 

 down a distance of thirty-five feet, seize the end of a 

 branch, which will go down with their weight ; at its 

 rebound they will give themselves a mighty impulse, 

 and using the tail or their hind limbs as a rudder, go 

 flying through the air like an arrow. The minute 

 they land somewhere, they go on, paying as much 

 heed to the sharpest of thorns as if they were dis- 

 porting themselves on smooth parterre. A tree is to 

 them a most comfortable pathway. They climb up 

 and down, under a branch or over it ; if they are 

 thrown into a tree, they seize the first twig they can 

 find, patiently wait till it is at rest, and then climb up 

 on it, as if they were on terra firrna. If the branch 

 breaks, they take another ; if this also breaks, a third 

 one does for them, and if they have a fall they are 

 not disconcerted in the least. If they cannot reach 

 a thing with their hands they use their feet, and the 

 Broad Noses (American Monkeys) have recourse to 

 their tail. The tail is always used as a rudder in 

 long jumps, and serves a variety of other purposes 

 besides, sometimes forming a ladder for another 

 Monkey. With the American Monkeys the tail may 

 be considered as the fifth, nay, the first hand. The 

 Monkey may twist it around the bough of a tree and 

 rock to and fro on it ; he may use it to get food out 

 of narrow holes and crevices ; he uses it as a ladder, 

 and lastly, this useful member serves its owner as a 

 hammock for an after-dinner nap. 



Climbing Climbing is the only movement that 

 and shows off the agility and gracefulness 



Walking. f t he Apes. Even the Man-shaped 

 Apes are wonderful in this respect, though their 

 climbing is more after human fashion. Their walk 

 is always more or less clumsy. The Guenons, Ma- 

 caques and Marmosets walk the best of all ; the first 

 mentioned can even run for a short time, and so fast 

 that an ordinary Dog could not overtake them ; but 

 even the Baboons hobble along in the funniest sort 

 of way. The walking of the Man-shaped Apes is 

 hardly deserving of that name. While the first walk 

 on the soles of their feet, the latter lean on the 

 knuckles of their hands, and bend their body over 

 in such a way that the feet practically have their 

 position between the hands. 



Apes in Some kinds are excellent swimmers, 

 the others sink in water like a piece of lead. 



Water. Among the first are the Guenons, of which 

 Brehm saw several specimens crossing the Blue Nile 

 with the greatest ease ; among the last are probably 

 the Baboons and the Howlers. Those which cannot 

 swim are remarkably afraid of water. A family of 

 Howlers was once found on a tree, isolated by an 

 inundation. They were half starved, yet did not dare 

 start out for the nearest tree, that was barely sixty 

 feet distant. Ulloa, a writer on Brazilian animals, 

 has invented a pretty little bridge for the poor 

 Monkeys that cannot swim and it would be of great 

 service to them, if only they would use it. He tells 

 us that each Howler grasps another's tail, the whole 

 band forming a chain. The Monkey at one end 

 holds fast to the top of a tree at one shore, and 

 through the combined efforts of all, the chain is 

 swung back and forth till the last Monkey at the 

 other end is in a position to seize the branch of a 

 tree on the other shore. On this artificial bridge the 

 younger and weaker ones cross first, and then the 

 first Monkey draws the others after him. Prince, 

 Wied, a very conscientious observer, gives this story 

 its right name, calling it " a funny fable." 



