THE HAM ADR YAS. 
137 
(Thoth) on Egyptian monuments was exact. The uncouth -looking male is, indeed, a formidable- 
looking animal, something between a Lion and a French Poodle in appearance, with long hair over his 
shoulders and fore-parts. Their impudence was excessive, and the day before they had come into the 
commissariat enclosure and commenced pilfering the grain. 
Subsequently the Baboons were found up the country, at an elevation of 9,000 feet, and wherever 
there were passes leading from the coast to the table lands, there they abounded, and it was evident 
that they kept close to the sides of the rocky ravines. The herds vary in number; some cannot 
include less than 250 to 300 Monkeys of all ages. The old males are always most conspicuous animals, 
all the fore-part of their body being covered with long hair. They usually take the lead when the 
troop is moving, some of them also bringing up the rear ; others placing themselves on high rocks or 
VIEW IN ABYSSINIA. 
bushes, and keeping a sharp look-out after enemies. A troop collected on a rocky crag presents a 
most singular appearance. Sometimes large numbers were seen assembled around springs in the 
evening near Senate, where the want of water was great. On such occasions, every jutting rock and 
every little stone more prominent than the rest was occupied by a patriarch of the herd, who sat with 
the gravity and watchfulness befitting his grizzled hair, waiting patiently until the last of his human 
rivals had slaked his thirst and that of his cattle. Around, the females were mainly occupied in 
taking care of the young, the smaller Monkeys amusing themselves by gambolling about. Occasionally, 
if a young Monkey became too noisy, or interfered with the repose of one of his seniors, he “ caught it” 
in most unmistakable style, and was dismissed with many cuffs, a wiser if not a better Monkey. It 
feeds on wild fruits, berries, and seeds, and often on the buds of trees and on young shoots. On the 
highlands, troops of them were frequently seen in the fields, engaged in searching for a small tuber, 
the root of the edible Cyperus , which was also the resource of the half-starved men and women 
in the country of the Tigre. 
These Baboons climb heavily and clumsily, but run, or rather gallop, well and steadily, without 
