254 ALLEN’S NATURALIST’S LIBRARY. 
longer proportionately than in other Monkeys, reaching to the 
middle of the first joint of the forefinger. 
Both halves of the liver are much sub-divided. 
Gestation lasts seven months, and the young are suckled for 
six months. 
The Baboons are the lowest of the Catarrhine or Old World 
Monkeys. Most of them are large, ferocious, dangerous, and 
gregarious animals, and when disturbed or alarmed they give 
utterance to screams, barks, and guttural murmurs. 
Both Dr. Emil Holub and Sir Richard Burton have spoken 
of the ferocity of the Baboons. ‘The South African farmers,” 
says the first-named naturalist, ““complain of these animals as 
a great and perpetual nuisance.” ‘They were always on the 
look-out, and no sooner was a field or a garden left unguarded 
than they would be down at once, breaking through the hedges 
and devouring the crops. ‘They were likewise very destructive 
amongst the Sheep. If a sh-pnerd happened to leave his post 
for ever sc short a tmié; or even to fall asleep, the Baboons, 
who had been watching their chance from the heights, would 
be down upon the flock in the valley, and, seizing the Lambs 
and ripping up their stomachs with their teeth, would feast 
upon the milk they contained, then leaving the poor mangled 
victim writhing on the ground. Then they would lose no 
time in repeating the terrible operation upon another. ‘ About 
the middle of the morning,” says Dr. Holub, “ we started 
eastwards in the hope of catching the herd at their drinking- 
place. . . . When we had advanced some distance along 
the hill we found ourselves approaching the pool . . . and 
could distinctly hear the hoarse barking of the Baboons. 
Looking across to the opposite side, about 300 yards away, we 
caught sight of a herd of seven, only four of them full-grown ; 
