THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS— BABOON. 



45 



of snapping at everything that is not nailed or glued 

 to a spot, and so it often happened that one of the 

 birds would waddle up to Perro, reach out for the 

 hanging tail with its stupid head and snap it. In an 

 instant the straw-matting was thrown away with a 

 yell, and the Ostrich taken round its neck and given 

 a thorough shaking. The Monkey often could not 

 master his rage for a quarter of an hour after such 

 an occurrence. It was not very wonderful that he 

 administered a cuff or a blow to the birds whenever 

 he had the slightest chance. 

 Fondness of All our Baboons had, in common with 

 Baboons for the natives, a passionate fondness for 

 Strong Drink. Merisa, a kind of beer, manufactured 

 from the grain of the durra or dohhen. They were 



"'^1 



c?'^. 



HANDBILL. This is a native of the Gold Coast and inland regions o£ Africa, and is noted for 



huge callosities upon its cheeks, caused by swellings of the bones. The skin here is ribbed and has 

 ridges that are alternately light blue, scarlet and deep purple in color. The male is five feet high when 

 standing. The hair of the body is a black and olive-green above and silvery gray beneath. The Man- 

 drill is frequently seen in captivity in this country as well as in Europe. In old age the animal is very 

 brutal, and, in fact, under most favorable conditions it is very treacherous and likely for no cause to 

 assail the hand that feeds it. ( Cynocephalus mormon.') 



often drunk and in this way proved to me that the 

 Soudanese had told me the truth about the way Bab- 

 oons are captured. My Monkeys also drank red 

 wine, but whisky they scorned. Once we poured a 

 little wineglassful of this liquor into their mouths by 

 force. They had already been drinking some Me- 

 risa, and the effect of the combination soon showed 

 itself. They became completely drunk, made the 

 most fearful faces, and were boisterous and brutal ; 

 in a word, they presented a degrading caricature of 

 a brutish, drunken Man. The effects of the de- 

 bauch on the following morning were most dis- 

 tressing,[showing that with Baboons as with Men, 

 strong drink is in the highest degree demoralizing 

 and harmful ]. 



Great Courage Among my pets was a tame Lioness, 

 of the ;vho made the Guenons rather nervous. 

 Baboons. b^t did not strike terror to the hearts 

 of the courageous Baboons. They used to flee at 

 her approach, but when she really seemed to be 

 about to attack one of them, they stood their ground 

 fairly well. I have often observed them as they 

 acted in this way. My Baboons turned to flee be- 

 fore the Dogs, which I would set upon them ; but if 

 a Dog chanced to grab a Baboon, the latter would 

 turn round and courageously rout the former. The 

 Monkey would bite, scratch and slap the Dog's face 

 so energetically that the whipped brute would take 

 to his heels with a howl. More ludicrous still 

 seemed the terror of the Baboons of everything 

 creeping, and of Frogs. The sight of an innocent 

 Lizard or a harmless little Frog would bring them 

 to despair, and they would climb as high as their 

 ropes would permit, clinging to walls and posts in a 

 regular fit of fright. At the same time their curi- 

 osity was such that they had to take a closer look 

 at the objects of their alarm. Several times I brought 

 them poisonous Snakes in tin boxes. They knew 

 perfectly well how dangerous the 

 inmates of these boxes were, but 

 could not resist the temptation of 

 opening them, and then seemed 

 fairly to revel in their own trepi- 

 dation. 



"Atile," a I took another mem- 

 Tamed Baboon ber of this family 

 in Germany, along with me to 

 Germany. It was remarkably clev- 

 er, but also exceedingly mischiev- 

 ous; Our Dog had tyrannized 

 over us all his life, and had be- 

 come so sulky in old age that he 

 lived in peace with nobody, and 

 when he had to be punished he 

 snapped even at me. But in Atile 

 — that was my Baboon's name — 

 he found more than a match. 

 Atile thought it great fun to pro- 

 voke the poor Dog on all occa- 

 sions. When he was taking his 

 nap in the yard, stretched at full 

 length on the grass, the mischiev- 

 ous Monkey would softly creep 

 up to him, get hold of his tail, and 

 arouse him from his slumbers by 

 a sudden pull at that esteemed 

 member. The Dog would jump 

 up in a rage and with a growl and 

 bark rush at the Monkey. She (it 

 was a female) would calmly await 

 him, beating the ground with her 

 hand. Greatly to his anger he never could get at 

 her, for when he was near enough for biting, she 

 would jump over him and was again pulling his tail. 

 She would drive him perfectly insane through these 

 repeated insults, but he always had to sneak away 

 in the end, his tail between his legs. 

 Atlle's Clever- Her cleverness was really remarkable. 

 ness and She stole in a masterly way ; opened 

 Affection, ^nd shut doors and could untie intri- 

 cate knots, when she thought it worth her while. 

 Boxes she always opened and cleared of their con- 

 tents. We sometimes frightened her by putting a 

 little heap of powder before her on the floor, and 

 setting it on fire. She would give a shriek, when she 

 saw the flame leap up, and then jump as far back as 



