146 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



through the bamboos and forest till at last, in the 

 middle of the night, I got to the village, and found 

 my two men in great anxiety. I went into the 

 hut and remember nothing till next morning, 

 about 10 a.m., when the natives gave me a chicken 

 and Arum roots to satisfy a raging hunger. 



That day I crawled a few hundred yards into 

 the jungle while my men were seeking the things 

 left up the hill, and sat down on a fallen log to 

 watch the forest. Such moments can be but 

 rarely permitted to a conscientious naturalist, 

 whose whole time should be spent in feverishly 

 grabbing things not seen before and wild chases 

 after flighty and restless insects ; but they are 

 very pleasant when one can allow oneself a rest. 

 A beautiful bird, which I believe to be a touracoo, 

 ran up and down a branch, using its broad ex- 

 panded tail as a balance. A troop of monkeys 

 were feeding not far off, and seeing me perfectly 

 still, came quite close. They were probably a 

 species of Cercopithecus, with brown fur and 

 white eyebrows and imperial. Their expression is 

 very melancholy and depressed. Eight or nine of 

 the older males came within five or ten yards, 

 and regarded me severely ; then they would 

 slowly produce an enormous smile with an ex- 

 tremely comic effect. This is intended to frighten 

 the observer, and is quite a common habit of 

 monkeys. I have seen, e.g., the Colobus monkey 

 doing the same thing. 



