44 



THE APES AND MONKEYS. 



was too quick for him. He seemed to be on 

 friendly terms with the Macaques, and sustained 

 very amicable relations with a female Baboon ; at 

 least, he was very attentive to the beauty, and, in 

 return, allowed her to look over his fur. 



According to Brockmann, no other Monkey is so 

 eligible to membership in a Monkey theatre as the 

 Black Baboon. He learns his part in play, retains 

 what he has learned, and "works" with real pleas- 

 ure. Yet he is not a regular member of the stage, 

 as he is a rare and expensive Monkey, especially if 

 one considers his frail health when in captivity. 



The Common Among the Baboons proper, the 

 Baboon, Chacma, Common Baboon ( Cynocepnalus bab- 



and Sphinx. uin) is the best known to me, though 

 only in captivity. He is not easily taken for the 

 Black Baboon, nor for other Monkeys that are pro- 



GELADA BABOON. With its immense mane, great canines and fierce eye this animal pre- 

 sents a formidable appearance, and its looks do not belie its character. Sometimes a troop of these 

 creatures encounters a body of Hamadryas when on a marauding expedition, and engage in desperate 

 battle. The legs of the Gelada are black and the mane is a pale brown. ( Cynocephalus gelada.) 



vided with manes ; but he closely resembles the 

 Chacma {Cyiwcephalus porcarius) inhabiting South 

 Africa, and the Sphinx ( Cynocepkalus sphinx) inhab- 

 iting western Africa. His smooth, even coat of fur 

 is of a yellowish olive-green color, every individual 

 hair being alternately dark and yellow, the under 

 part of the body is lighter, and the cheeks are whit- 

 ish. The face and ears assume a gray tint, the upper 

 eyelids are white, the hands brownish-gray ; the eyes 

 light brown. Adult males reach a shoulder height 

 of twenty-five to thirty inches, and counting from 

 the tip of nose to the end of tail are four feet, 

 eight inches long. We must not forget, though, 

 that the relatively thin tail comes in for one-third 

 of this length. The Chacma is considerably larger, 

 clumsier of motion and darker of hue, while the 



Sphinx is smaller but of decidedly stronger frame ;■ 

 his muzzle is shorter and shows a peculiar thicken- 

 ing of the cheek-bones, and his hair has dark-gray 

 and reddish brown ringlets. 



The mode of life and behavior of these three 

 Monkeys are very similar, and I therefore will speak 

 only of the Common Baboon. 



This Baboon is a native of the same belt of land 

 as the Hamadryas, but penetrates farther into the 

 centre of Africa. He inhabits Abyssinia, Kordofati 

 and other countries of central Africa and he is 

 found in troops. He is also common in German 

 Eastern Africa, according to Bohm and Reichard, 

 and goes as far to the southwest of Lake Tangan- 

 yika as the Upper Lualaba, if there is no case of mis- 

 taken identity in these reports. 



In his movements and his gait the Common Bab- 

 oon is typical of all the Baboons ; but his character 

 is rather better. He is a very clever animal, and, 

 when caught young, soon gets accustomed to his 

 keeper, is easily trained to perform certain duties, 

 and clings to his master, even in spite of bad treat- 

 ment. The female is of a gentler and more amiable 

 disposition than the male, which often turns upon 

 his keeper, while she lives with him on the inost 

 amicable terms. 



Story of The first Common Baboon that came 

 "Perm," a into my possession was named "Perro." 

 Captive Baboon, pje was a good-looking, pleasant 

 Monkey and grew to like me after a short interval 

 of three days. I made him guard 

 our doors, chaining him to the yard 

 gate. He soon selected a favor- 

 ite spot, from which he watched 

 the gate with extreme vigilance. 

 Only we, or our friends, were given 

 free access to the place ; strangers 

 were obstinately denied admission. 

 When the latter were suffered to go 

 in he would get very angry and he 

 always had to be held back until 

 the person had passed and gone 

 beyond his reach. At every oppor- 

 tunity he showed himself to be a 

 Baboon, from the top of his head 

 to the sole of his feet, with all the 

 characteristics, habits and nasty 

 traits of his kind. When in a rage, 

 he raised his tail, and stood on both 

 feet and one hand ; with the other 

 hand he would beat the ground, 

 reminding one of an angry Man 

 bringing his hand down violently 

 on the table, only that he did not 

 make a fist of it. With flashing 

 eyes and a loud yell he would then rush at his 

 opponent. Not infrequently he would, with con- 

 summate art, take on a kindly look, smack his 

 lips, something always intended as a token o£ 

 friendship, and put out his arms towards one to 

 whom he owed a grudge. If the intended victim 

 would then approach him, he quickly seized his 

 hand, drew it towards him and bit and scratched it. 

 He was friendly to all our -Other animal pets, except 

 the Ostriches, but these were really to blame for 

 the enmity existing between him and them. When 

 Perro's services as guard were not in demand, he 

 would usually sit on the wall, holding a piece of 

 straw matting over his head, as an umbrella. He 

 took no special care of his long tail, simply letting 

 it hang down the wall. Ostriches have a bad habit 



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