30 
ALMOST HUMAN 
she does not err on the side of mercy. If she manages to catch the 
baby-snatcher by the hand she nearly bites it off ; if by the scruff of the 
neck, the biting is accompanied by a nearly successful attempt at 
throttling. But this punishment does not involve the baby, so after all 
the only difference is that the offender’s punishment is forestalled and she 
has no excitement to mitigate its severity. Whether successful or not 
in the actual capture of the baby, the pleasure she derives from its 
possession is so slight that it is not worth the resultant suffering. 
Under these conditions a baby monkey’s life is not too happy. 
Frequently one dies as the result of injuries received in its too strenuous 
rescue. Then a most pitiful scene presents itself to the spectator. The 
mother hugs her dead baby as closely to her breast as she can while 
she mourns with unaffected sincerity. All the other monkeys comprehend 
what has happened in an astonishingly short time, and they crowd 
round her in a circle, watching the pathetic little form, but not making 
the slightest attempt to touch it. The keepers find it a task of incredible 
difficulty to get the body away. The monkeys guard it so sedulously 
that occasionally it will be almost falling to pieces before a lucky attempt 
brings success to their numberless efforts. As the rake goes cautiously 
along the floor towards the dead, the whole tribe surrounds it and jabber 
at the top of their voices as they endeavour to prevent the theft. If 
they can possibly pick up the disintegrating form they do so before it 
reaches the door, and the baffled men have to wait for another opportunity. 
But once it is taken out they turn their fury upon the keeper who has 
done it, and it is a long time before he dare go near them again. The 
same strong resentment is shown against any attempt to remove the 
body of an adult monkey. They seem to have a deeper sense of the 
desolation that follows death than any of the other animals, and dread 
the final parting from all that remains of the friend they have loved. 
EMUS AND CASSOWARIES 
COUSINS. 
The emu and cassowary are cousins to each other, and to the 
ostrich. Like the ostrich, they cannot fly, but can run with most 
astonishing swiftness. Mr. Wilkie once saw a whole band of horsemen 
give chase to an emu for sport, but although the hunters flew over logs, 
ditches and fences, the bird jumped them as easily as the horses, and 
eluded them, too, escaping with its life when the horses were beaten. 
