104 SAFARI 



wait a few feet away for a lion to have his fill of a 

 carcass and then come up for a meal without 

 objection from the larger animal. This, the natives 

 say, is the way the lion pays the jackal for his help. 



But the wretched hyena does not stand in so well. 

 I have seen one slink up when he thought the lion 

 had gone away. Scarcely had he begun to feed when 

 the big cat was after him. Once under such circum- 

 stances I saw a lion overtake a hyena and administer 

 a blow that must have maimed the scalawag for life. 



Around our Lake Paradise home we have 

 thousands of baboons. Not all are in one herd, but 

 in smaller groups or clans. In a way they are the 

 most entertaining of all the animals we know, because 

 they are grotesquely like htiman beings. 



They are forever screeching and rowing and fight- 

 ing among themselves when they turn in at night. 

 Apparently there is a new series of combats every 

 evening to see who will get the best crotches and 

 branches for sleeping on. 



In one of our nearest groups there is a big male 

 whom I have come to know because he seems so to 

 resent the presence of Osa and me in the neighbor- 

 hood. He chatters and shakes his long arms when 

 he sees us, and retreats, hurling maledictions on our 

 heads. 



The baby baboons %,re very cute, but lead a terrible 

 life, being mauled all over the place by their elders. 



