LEMURS 27 



which also contained a number of smaller monkeys. Being of a 

 very quarrelsome disposition, he was confined to a corner of the 

 cage by a strong chain, which was fastened to a belt round his 

 body. The other monkeys all knew the exact length of his chain, 

 and would sit and eat nuts an inch or two beyond his reach. This 

 always made him furiously angry, and, after chattering and 

 screaming with passion for a few moments, he would gather up 

 a quantity of straw, and hurl it furiously with both arms at his 

 tormentors. 



All the baboons are savage animals, and but slightly sensible to 

 kindness. They are sometimes tamed, it is true, when quite young, 

 and will learn to know their master, and follow him about like a 

 dog. But as they grow older they become more and more ferocious 

 in disposition, until at last it is dangerous to allow them to remain 

 at large; for even a small baboon is more than a match for an 

 unarmed man, who would be helpless against its powerful arms and 

 its terrible, sharp-edged teeth. 



LEMURS 



The great island of Madagascar is the home of the third group 

 of Primates, known as the Lemuroids, or lemur-like animals. Ages 

 ago, the vast forests that used at one time to exist in Britain were 

 inhabited by animals closely resembling the lemurs which are now 

 to be found in Madagascar, but they have long since disappeared ; 

 at the present day we must go to the sunny south if we wish to 

 visit the lemur at home. 



There are over fifty lemurs of various kinds, and the differences 

 between them are almost as great as between the many varieties of 

 monkeys. The true lemur is found only in Madagascar and the 

 neighbouring islands, but he has relations more or less closely 

 resembhng him in various parts of Africa and Asia. 



His brain is of a far lower order than that of the monkey, 

 and this no doubt is why his small foxy face has less expression 

 than that of his relative. But he is very interesting nevertheless, 

 and if kindly treated is harmless and even affectionate. 



