54 



THE MONKEYS OF THE OLD WORLD. 



the Black Ape ally it more closely than any of 

 the others to the macaques, and in particular 

 to the wanderoo, and thereby indicate its 

 Asiatic home. The more powerful thickset 

 frame and the terrestrial habits of life are 

 more marked characteristics in the others. 

 In a state of freedom the baboons never walk 

 upright, but always on all-fours, their hinder 

 quarters waggling from side to side. Many 

 of them have never been seen on trees, 

 others only very seldom, and especially when 

 bayed by dogs. Among the rocks on the 

 mountains, however, they show themselves 

 to be first-rate climbers, the smallest pro- 

 jection enabling them to take a firm foothold. 

 So far as our information goes, it would 

 seem that all baboons live mostly in con- 

 siderable troops, often numbering several 

 hundred, and in these there are always several 

 old males and females, so that the leadership 

 does not, as among most other monkeys, fall 

 to a single patriarch. This shows in itself, 

 beyond question, a great capacity for mutual 

 accommodation among the creatures, which 

 of course does not exclude the possibility of 

 sundry little quarrels and scrimmages. The 

 troop passes the night in caves in the rocks, 

 and in grottoes on inaccessible precipices, all 

 closely huddled together, and at sunrise they 

 slowly and deliberately quit their retreat in 

 search of food. Large stones are often over- 

 turned by their united efforts in order to seek 

 for any animals that may have crawled under 

 them, such animals forming, along with roots, 

 tubers, juicy leaves, and fruits, their chief 

 nourishment. After that the company bask 

 in the sun with their backs turned to the 

 wind, the older ones sitting on stones, while 

 the young tumble and play about. The old, 

 meanwhile, keep a careful watch all round; 

 the troop next go to some water to drink, 

 and after supper they betake themselves once 

 more to rest. For the most part a troop 

 sticks to the same feeding-ground, for some 

 time at least, but from time to time it changes 

 its ground. 



On the approach of any danger warning 

 sounds are heard, and the females and the 

 young then crowd together, while the old 

 males, like the champions of the ancient 

 Greeks, advance into the foremost of the 

 fight uttering fearful cries, bellowing, and 

 gnashing their teeth. A bold and proud 

 spirit with contempt of death is beyond ques- 

 tion a characteristic trait of the baboons, and 

 when Brehm records a case in which an old 

 Arabian male baboon gradually managed to 

 extricate a young one, which had been left 

 behind on a rock surrounded by dogs, from 

 the midst of its assailants and before the 

 very eyes of the hunters, inspiring by its 

 determined bearing both dogs and hunters 

 with such respect for its powers that no 

 attack was ventured on, we may well agree 

 with Darwin in saying that here was a proof 

 of heroism of which only few men were 

 capable. 



But the reverse side is not wanting. All 

 observers agree in describing the young 

 baboons as extremely docile, infinitely com- 

 ical, clever, sly, tricky creatures, while they 

 cannot find words enough to denounce the 

 abominations of all kinds that characterize 

 the old baboons. It is true that they are 

 all in the highest degree gross and sensual, 

 and probably it is not without good ground 

 that it is everywhere said by the natives that 

 the negresses are not safe from the attacks 

 of the large baboons. But if old baboons 

 in captivity are rightly depicted as treach- 

 erous, extremely ill-natured, intractable and 

 ready to bite, this development of character 

 may have its ground in the confinement, 

 which embitters the disposition of the in- 

 telligent creatures. For my own part it is 

 impossible for me to find in this defiant 

 reaction against unworthy treatment a proof 

 of natural depravity, and in the accounts 

 given of their habits in a state of freedom 

 I find no evidence of that, but only of their 

 social virtues and of their brotherly readiness 

 to stand by one another in presence of 



