244 THE BABOONS 



perpetually overshadowed, when one evening, 

 during dinner, I was informed that a Portuguese 

 soldier and a monkey desired to see me. I 

 accordingly descended to the court-yard of the 

 Consulate, and found a young corporal of cavalry 

 shedding bitter tears at the prospect of the 

 morrow's departure for Lisbon, which would 

 separate him from his comrade of several years' 

 standing, a large, formidable, singularly evil- 

 looking, yellow baboon named Joao. Touched by 

 the pathos of the unhappy man's manifest sorrow, 

 and not a little flattered at the confidence he 

 expressed that in my charge Joao would find a 

 comfortable home — a reflection which would 

 soften the poignancy of his grief — I consented, 

 not without some considerable misgiving, to 

 assume charge of him. 



From that evening I count most of the 

 bitterest moments I experienced whilst I resided 

 in the island of Mozambique. 



Joao was secured to a large tree which grew 

 in the middle of the quintal or court-yard of the 

 consular premises, and singularly enough, and as 

 though he had fully assimilated his late master's 

 valedictory exhortations, he and I became fast 

 friends. In fact I was practically his only one, as, 

 except to convey to him his daily food, none of 

 my servants dared to go near him. 



A few days later, whilst in the middle of some 

 important task, I received a coldly worded noti- 

 fication from the Commissioner of Police stating 

 that an immense and formidable monkey, said to 

 be mine, had gained its freedom and had prac- 



