276 Animal Life 
Near the village in which I recently lived for some months in Africa is a small plat 
of jungle, to which a large school of monkeys frequently came in search of a certain kind 
of the fruit that grew there. Near one of those trees is a thick cluster of bushes and 
vines, all twined and woven into one dense mass. Under cover of this I often concealed 
myself in order to watch them and study their sounds. The spot is one of rare, wild 
beauty, and aside from the attraction which the monkeys had for me there was a singular 
charm about the place that constantly allured me to it. I have often sat there alone for 
SEE Se kur, Reyaskse 
. SER SS Sa SES SS 4 
“In the course of time they had but little fear ot my presence.” 
hours. Even in the absence of the monkeys there was never a moment of the time when 
there was not some object of interest to occupy it. The whole jungle teems with life and 
action. Every nook of it is, within itself, a little world in which are fiercely fought the 
stern battles of life; dramas of love are played, real tragedies enacted, and at every instant 
some new secret is revealed to those who care to watch the myriads of strange, but real, 
beings that dwell within that empire of shadows and learn from them the devious ways 
——— 
