THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 91 



directions. Others manufacture a poisonous juice, which 

 they store up in cells within their bodies so that their 

 enemies, who have not grown wise from experience, get 

 poisoned when they eat those plants and die. We baboonfolk 

 know, by long experience, which plants are poisonous and 

 which are not. The crafty Bosjesmannen learned all this 

 nature-craft from us. When they came down into South 

 Africa, and began to vex us, many of them were poisoned. 

 They carefully watched us and ate the same kinds of plants, 

 berries, and other thing which we ate, and the only reward 

 we got from them was, they shot and ate us whenever they 

 got the chance. They chased us from our cave dwellings, 

 our favourite hunting-grounds, and took possession of our 

 springs and bees' nests, forcing us away into the bleakest 

 and most barren wildernesses, where we live even now, 

 for you white humanfolk are more to be feared by us than 

 the ancient pigmy Bosjesmannen. 



HOW I HELP MY MASTER 



Now, my master in his wanderings often runs quite out of 

 food ; so I go along with him and show him where to find 

 the nicest and most wholesome bulbs, fruits, and berries. 

 Often he and I have lived for many days at a time on nothing 

 else. At other times my master would be able to provide 

 plenty of meat by shooting animals with his gun. But 

 when he and his men had lived for a week or two on nothing 

 but flesh food, they began to get ill, and got a terrible 

 craving for vegetable food. Then we would scour the 

 country, and I would help my master to dig up the onion- 

 like plants, and collect the tender shoots of various shrubs, 

 which he put into a pot with some water and meat and 

 made a delicious stew of which I was passionately fond. 

 My master and I were real and true chums. I always 

 sat opposite him when he ate his meals, and he allowed 



