A HAPPY FAMILY. 



F all the wild creatures that dwell amid the dense forests or rocky fastnesses 

 of tropical lands, none are more interesting than the various species of Mon- 

 keys and Baboons. Nothing escapes the scrutiny of these most imitative 

 of animals ; and they follow faithfully, with a ludicrous gravity that is exceedingly 

 comical to witness, the actions of anyone who has attracted their attention. Baboons 

 live together in small colonies of one or more families, generally presided over by 

 some hoary-headed, grave, old patriarch, who preserves order in his little community 

 by the most summary methods, restraining the juvenile members from any unseemly 

 tricks, and awing them into silence by the dignity of his presence, assisted in some 

 degree by the infliction of sundry buffets and bites. They are bold and cunning, 

 and frequently commit great ravages in the gardens and corn-fields that may be in 

 the vicinity of their accustomed abodes. 'The plundering parties are formed and 

 led with great skill ; sentinels keep watch to apprise the busy thieves of the 

 approach of unwelcome intruders, and the fields are stripped of their crops with 

 great rapidity, and the booty carried away. Eatable articles are not the only things 

 that they seize upon. An instance is recorded of a number of Baboons having 

 carried an infant off to some neighbouring mountains. On being pursued, they 

 were found seated gravely in a circle round the child, which was rescued without 

 having sustained any injury. Doubtless they were having a serious consultation 

 over the new acquisition to their numbers, and debating whether or not it would 

 make a creditable addition to their family. 



