THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 83 



leopards or wild cats about, and humanfolk had never been 

 known to come so far into the stony valley, so I had no 

 fears for his safety. To make sure he didn't get into 

 mischief, I ordered two of the bigger boys to stay and look 

 after him. You know what boys are. As soon as we had 

 disappeared they went off hunting away down the valley, 

 taking my little son with them. It seems there happened 

 to be one of those naturalist humanfolk prowling about. 

 These fellows poke and spy into every cranny and corner, 

 and nothing misses their practised eyes. He spied the 

 three boy baboons and gave chase. They scampered off, 

 but my little son soon grew tired. Besides, he was terrified 

 out of his wits at seeing for the first time one of the dreaded 

 humanfolk, whom he had been told so much about. The 

 naturalist man caught him, and, turning, made off at a quick 

 pace, for he knew something about the habits of us baboon- 

 folk, and feared trouble. The two boy baboons fled in 

 terror, making the valley echo with their warning cries. 

 Hearing the noise, and fearing something had happened 

 to my child, I raised the alarm, and leading the way 

 clambered down the rocks and through the thorny bush, 

 closely followed by all the clan. Meeting the two boys, 

 we were breathlessly told what had happened, and shown 

 in what direction the robber had fled. 



With shouts of rage and indignation we rushed off in 

 pursuit. Turning the corner of the rocky valley we saw 

 that brigand speeding across the veld with my child clasped 

 to his breast. With loud yells and barks we followed. 

 Seeing us he fled along faster, but we steadily gained upon 

 him. Slowly he slackened his pace and we were jubilant, 

 for soon we knew he would be in our power, and then we 

 would wreak a terrible vengeance upon him. Realising his 

 danger, he dropped my child, and being relieved of the 

 weight, he fled along a little faster, while we paused to 

 ascertain if our little one had been injured. As we set 



