346 ECONOMIC MAMMALOGY 



ferocious as they are reputed to be, and the stories of their carrying 

 off women and holding them captive are mythical. 1 



The grivet (Ceropithecus aethiops), of Africa, "does great damage 

 to the small plantations of the Wagosha, Gurre and other tribes who 

 inhabit the banks of the Somali rivers." 2 Baboons "ravage the crops 

 and tear open new-born lambs to get at the milk inside them; and 

 where the natives are timid and unable to harm them, they become 

 wantonly savage and aggressive and attack and even kill women and 

 children. In Uganda, Cunningham had once been asked by a native 

 chief to come to his village and shoot the baboons, as they had just 

 killed two women, badly bitten several children, and caused such a 

 reign of terror that the village would be abandoned if they were not 

 killed or intimidated. He himself saw the torn and mutilated bodies of 

 the dead women/' 3 



It is said that the dog-faced baboon (Cyanocephalus hamadryas) in 

 Somaliland lives "entirely on wild fruits and roots." 4 Chimpanzees are 

 said to be fond of ants and ant cocoons. 5 Lemurs usually feed chiefly 

 on vegetation of various kinds and fruits, with some insects and other 

 food. Many species of monkeys subsist largely on insects, but take also 

 small reptiles, birds, eggs, fruits and other food, and are sometimes 

 destructive to crops. 6 "The big black and white monkeys (Colubus) 

 ate nothing but leaves." 7 The Somali lemur (Galago gallarum) feeds 

 chiefly on seeds, fruit and insects. 8 



The flesh of monkeys is eaten in many regions, and in Brazil it is 

 said to be more delicious than that of any other Brazilian native mam- 

 mal and is much sought after by the natives. 9 



Some monkey skins make very fine robes and coats. At a single sale 

 in London 30,000 monkey skins were sold. 10 In 1892, 180,000 skins 

 of the Colobus monkeys were exported from the Gold Coast of Africa, 

 and the slaughter was so great that five years later only 1067 were 



1 Aschemeier, On the gorilla and the chimpanzee, Journ. Mammalogy, n, 90-92, 

 1921. Akeley, Gorillas, real and mythical, Natural History, xxm, 429-447, 1923- 



2 Drake-Brockman, The mammals of Somaliland, p. 3, 1910. 



'Roosevelt, African game trails, pp. 218-219, 1910. Percival, Concerning baboons, 

 Journ. East Africa and Uganda Nat. Hist. Soc., No. 14, p. 415, 1919. Northcote, 

 Baboons attacking children, ibid., No. 16, pp. 60-6 1, 1921. 



4 Drake-Brockman, The mammals of Somaliland, p. 4, 1910. 



e Bequaert, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., XLV, 328-329, 1922. 



"Jennison, Natural history: animals, pp. 1-49, 1927. Ingersoll, The life of ani- 

 mals, pp. 24-37, 1907. 



7 Roosevelt, African game trails, p. 363, 1910. 



8 Drake-Brockman, The mammals of Somaliland, p. 7, 1910. 



9 Holt, Monkeys as human food, Journ. Mammalogy, iv, 193-194, 1923. 



10 Lucas, Ann. Kept. U. S. Natl. Museum for 1889, p. 611. 



