THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 45 



much walking about, they soon grow very fat. There were 

 also a few Hottentot or half-caste girls, two Hottentot 

 men, and several children of various shades of colour. 



We baboonfolk had a wholesome dread of the Boer and 

 his sons, and we had good cause, for many of my people 

 have been killed by them. You see, we used to help 

 ourselves to their mealies, which grew away out on the 

 veld, and which they said were theirs. This is a thing we 

 baboonfolk could never understand. I suppose it's because 

 our brains are not sufficiently developed. 



Well, anyway, I suppose they were just trying their 

 best to carry out the law, which one of your wise men 

 called "The Law of the Survival of the Fittest." If we 

 had dared, we would have eaten up everything on that 

 farm, but we had to be crafty, and scheme and think and 

 plan to avoid being killed by its defenders. You see, it is 

 a wonderful law of God that, unless we use our brains, 

 they won't grow. If we could get all our wants supplied 

 without any trouble or thinking, our race would very soon 

 grow so stupid, silly, and degenerate that our enemies 

 would very soon kill us all off — or else disease would. 

 That's what occurs with you humanfolk. When everything 

 you want is provided for you without any bother on your 

 part, then you have no desire to use your brains, and you 

 soon grow lazy and simple-minded. If I were a humanfolk 

 father, I would make my children use their brains and their 

 muscles, and feed them on plain nourishing foods, and make 

 them all, both boys and girls, learn a trade or profession 

 thoroughly. If I were rich, I wouldn't give them to under- 

 stand they were going to get a heap of money when they grew 

 up. I would tell them they must earn their own living. 



SEEKING AFTER THE FLESH POTS 



When boys grow up thinking that their father is going 

 to make their lives easy for them they get into the habit 



