THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 149 



We eventually found ourselves at a town called Port 

 Elizabeth. We were carried along a street and taken into 

 a place full of all kinds of wonderful creatures. We were 

 terrified at first. We learned afterwards that they were 

 all stuffed. The place was the Port Elizabeth museum. 

 The museum-man took us out of our box and let us loose in 

 a large roomy cage with big branches inside. 



LIFE AT THE MUSEUM 



We soon lost our nervous dread of the humanfolk, for 

 they all looked so pleasant, and gave us cakes, sweets, fruits, 

 nuts, and other delicious foods. Hundreds of humanfolk 

 children used to come to see us nearly every day. The 

 boys saved up their coppers and bought monkey nuts for us. 

 The little girls begged cakes and fruit of their mothers, 

 and brought it as an offering to us. We began to grow 

 quite conceited, and I am afraid we were spoilt. We 

 began to imagine ourselves of vast importance, and thought 

 the humanfolk must surely have mistaken us for gods, and 

 this was their way of worshipping us. The humanfolk 

 children used to laugh till they cried, at the antics of our 

 children, who were now beginning to grow strong, and 

 would insist upon playing all kinds of games with us. The 

 twins were really too funny, though. The tricks they 

 played upon each other, and upon my boy, and even upon 

 us mother monkeys, were really so absurd at times, that 

 even a seasick person would have laughed. 



You humanfolk are fond of dogs. We hate them with 

 a bitter hatred, for they help the humanfolk to hunt us 

 down. Our tribe have an instinctive fear and dread of 

 dogs, and all of their tribe. You see, the dog is only a 

 tamed sort of a wolf, and in the far past the wolves and their 

 relations killed and ate our people whenever they got the 

 chance. 



