16 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
Like all monkeys, this creature has the power of 
springing instantaneously from a sitting position ; and 
its bite would cripple anything from a man to a 
leopard. The chacmas live in companies in the kopjes, 
whence they descend to forage the mealie-grounds, 
river-beds, and bush. Thence they come down to steal 
fruit and pumpkins or corn, turn over the stones and 
catch beetles, or eat locusts. Their robbing expedi- 
tions are organised. Scouts keep a lookout, the females 
and young are put in the centre, and the retreat is pro- 
tected by the old males. Children in the Cape Colony 
are always warned not to go out when the baboons are 
near. When irritated—and they are very touchy in 
their tempers—the whole of the males will some- 
times charge and attack. The possibility of this is 
very unpleasant, and renders people cautious. 
Not many years ago a well-known sportsman 
was shooting in Somaliland. On the other side of a 
rocky ravine was a troop of baboons of a species of 
which no examples were in the British Museum. 
Though he knew the danger, he was tempted to 
shoot and to secure a skin. At 200 yards he killed one dead, which the rest did not notice. 
Then he hit another and wounded it. The baboon screamed, and instantly the others sat up, 
saw the malefactor, and charged straight for him. Most fortunately, they had to scramble down 
the ravine and up again, by which time the sportsman and his servant had put such a distance 
between them, making “very good time over the flat,” that the baboons contented themselves 
by barking defance at them when they reached the level ground. 
They are the only mammals which thoroughly understand combination for defense as well as 
attack. But Brehm, the German traveler, gives a charming story of genuine courage and 
self-sacrifice shown by one. His hunting dogs gave chase to a troop which was retreating 
to some cliffs, and cut off a very young one, which ran up on to a rock, only just out of reach of 
the dogs. An old male baboon saw this, and came along to the rescue. Slowly and deliberately 
he descended, crossed the open 
space, and stamping his hands on 
the ground, showing his teeth, and 
backed by the furious barks of the 
rest of the baboons, he discon- 
certed and cowed these savage 
dogs, climbed on to the rock, 
picked up the baby, and carried 
him back safely. If the dogs had 
attacked the old patriarch, his 
tribe would probably have helped 
him. Burchell, the naturalist after 
whom Burchell’s zebra is named, 
let his dogs chase atroop. The 
baboons turned on them, killed ee 
one on the spot by biting through Photo by A, 8, Rudland & Sons 
the great blood-vessels of the RHESUS MONKEY AND SOOTY MANGABEY 
neck, and laid bare the ribs of The sooty mangabey (to the right of the picture) is gentle and companionable, but petu- 
lant and active 
Photo by C Reid] (Wishaw, N.B, 
RHESUS MONKEY 
4d young specimen of the common Bengal monkey 
