THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 95 



very lives depend upon these intuitions, or " instincts " 

 as you call them. 



When finding water for my master, I would run forward 

 and range about, ever and anon standing upright and 

 sniffing the air. Then, if I saw a blade of grass I plucked 

 it up and smelt it, as well as any small plant I might see. 

 By the smell of these I sometimes got a mysterious feeling 

 that I must go off in a certain direction. Anyway, if there 

 was water either above ground, or close underground any- 

 where in the neighbourhood, I always found it. 



CLEAN AND TIDY HABITS 



We baboonfolk are very particular about our appearance. 

 We cannot bear to be dirty. Most of the other folk of 

 mountain, veld, and forest haven't got the sense to free 

 themselves from parasites, although all of them have their 

 particular kind of way to keep themselves clean in other 

 ways. You see, all us monkeyfolk are very nearly human, 

 and we have learned to use our hands and our brains like 

 the humanfolk. During our rambles we often get covered 

 with baby ticks so tiny that they can hardly be seen. These 

 little fellows burrow their heads into our skins, and suck 

 our blood. We don't let them stay there long, though. 

 As soon as we get back to our rocky ledges, and when we 

 see that our leader, or another responsible person is doing 

 sentry-go, we examine every inch of our skins. It takes a 

 long time, but we like to be always doing something, and 

 cannot bear to be still for long. When we have searched 

 every portion of our bodies that we can reach with our eyes 

 and hands, we do what is needful for each other, because, you 

 see, we cannot reach our own backs or heads. 



Our children are so impatient to get away to play that 

 we have to hold them forcibly down. Sometimes they 

 begin to howl and try to escape, so we just turn them over 



