258 APES AND MONKEYS 



and the noise he was making with it prevented him from 

 either smelling or hearing her. I could not warn him with- 

 out alarming her. If he could have seen her before she 

 made the attack, I should have left him to take his chances 

 by flight or by battle. I should have been glad of an 

 opportunity to witness such a combat and to study the 

 actions of the belligerents, but I could not consent to see 

 a friendly dog taken at such disadvantage. She was now 

 rapidly covering the distance between them, and the dog 

 had not yet discovered her. 



When she reached a point within about ten feet of him 

 I determined to break the silence. I cocked my rifle. The 

 click of the trigger caught her attention. I think this was 

 the first that she was aware of my presence. She instantly 

 stopped, turned her face and body towards the cage, and 

 sat down on the ground in front of it. She gave me such 

 a look that I almost felt ashamed for having interfered. 

 She sat for more than a minute staring: at me as if she had 

 been transfixed. There was no trace of anger or fear, but 

 the look of surprise was on every feature. I could see her 

 eyes move from my head to my feet. She scanned me as 

 closely as if her purpose had been to purchase me. At 

 length she glanced at the dog who was still gnawing the 

 bone, then turned her head uneasily, as if to search for 

 some way of escape. She then rose and retraced her steps 

 with moderate haste. She did not run, although she lost 

 no time. From time to time she glanced back to see that 

 she was not pursued. She uttered no sound of any kind. 



From the time this ape came in view until she departed 

 was about four minutes, and during that time I was 



