150 THE MONKEYFOLK OF SOUTH AFRICA 



So in consequence we have a sort of hereditary fear of 

 these canine creatures. 



One day we were having a game with our children, 

 when my friend spied a big dog approaching our cage. She 

 instantly raised a cry of warning. Our children rushed to 

 our arms, and clung to us in terror. My friend bounded 

 up to the far corner of the cage, where I had sought refuge 

 with my child. Dragging her twins from her breast, where 

 they were clinging tightly, she hastily asked me to look 

 after them. Seizing them, I hugged all three close in my 

 arms and placed my body betw^een them and the dog. 



Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that my friend had 

 advanced down to the foot of the sloping tree, near the 

 bars of the cage, and was facing the dog, daring him to 

 approach. So fierce were her cries, and so determined did 

 she look, that the dog turned and fled away. 



You mustn't think it is only humanfolk mothers who love 

 their children. We monkeyfolk love ours just as much, 

 and even more. We would at any time give up our lives 

 in defence of our children. Many a time the mother 

 monkeys of the clan I was a member of perished in the 

 endeavour to protect their children from some savage 

 wild beast, who had been lying in wait ready to pounce 

 upon some of the children when their mothers were off 

 their guard. 



We remained at the museum for six months or more. 

 One day we were caught and placed in a big box, and sent 

 away over the ocean to a distant country called Germany, 

 where we were placed in another cage at a place called a 

 " Zoo." We are still there, and like the Hfe all right, al- 

 though we often long to be back again in our native forests, 

 where the vegetation grows so beautiful, and the sun shines 

 so brightly. However, I suppose, we cannot have every- 

 thing we desire in this life on earth. We should all be 

 philosophical, and make the best of present circumstances. 



