76 SAVAGE SUDAN 



Heaven, this night is over and pain gradually lessening ; 

 but I'm swollen all over like a putrid rhino cheek-bones, 

 knuckles, and such-like landmarks have ceased to exist ; 

 eyes entirely bunged up, and feeling stiff and sore from top 

 to toe but no fever, Gracias a Dios" Even eight days 

 later I had not entirely recovered the use of my left eye. 1 

 What the larger monkeys were remains unproven ; but 

 shortly thereafter I had opportunity of making acquaint- 

 ance with the other kind under the following (less parlous) 

 circumstances : 



GRIVET MONKEY. 



Some elephants had been feeding on a spiny cactus-like 

 plant that abounds in these forests the sort that grows 

 in half-disconnected sections and is often parasitic, hanging 

 in festoons from tree to tree. The incident had occurred 

 weeks before, during the rains ; yet great husks of fibrous 

 substance, chewed and disgorged, lay scattered around. 



This cactus-growth stretched in a belt right across 

 our course. We were seeking a passage through the 

 barrier when, in a tree just beyond it and not 20 yards 

 away, appeared a startled black face strangely human. 

 For one instant our eyes met, and by the white eyebrows 

 and bushy whiskers I recognised a grivet. In a flash the 

 creature had sprung from sight. Quickly we found a way 

 through the obstruction and saw, across an open beyond, 

 two monkeys bounding away. Off dashed my Baggara 

 like greyhounds, forcing the greybeards into the nearest 

 clump of trees. With wondrous agility they leaped from 

 tree to tree, but were presently at fault and I shot both ; 

 indeed, three monkeys fell, for, unbeknown to me, the 

 female had a young one clasped around her neck and 

 breast. They proved to be grivets (Certkopitkecus 



1 Cases have occurred when both men and donkeys have been killed 

 outright by bees. An instance of their ferocity and power is amusingly 

 related in Schweinfurth's Heart of Africa, i., pp. 73-75 and 81. See also 

 Deuteronomy, i. 44. 



