CHAPTER VIII.

THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS (_continued_). THE BABOONS.[60]

Early Accounts of the Baboon--Origin of the Name--Held as Sacred by the Egyptians--Used as the Emblem of Thoth--Brought into Europe in the Middle Ages--Their Literature--General Description of the Family--Structural Peculiarities--Brain--Skull--Geographical Distribution--THE SACRED BABOON--Found in great numbers in Abyssinia--Formidable Antagonists--Size and Colour of the Male and Female--Anecdotes--Propensity for Spirituous Liquors and Thieving--THE GELADA BABOON--THE PIG-TAILED BABOON--Usually called Chacma--Description of it--Its Ferocity in Captivity--Le Vaillant’s Monkey--THE SPHINX BABOON--Its Dexterity of Aim--THE ANUBIS BABOON--Its Locality and Food--Method of Running--THE COMMON BABOON--Often Found in Captivity--Anecdotes--Anatomical Peculiarities.

John Leo, an ancient traveller, who wrote about his perils and adventures in “his nine bookes,” says, regarding his experience of Africa, that “of Apes there are divers and sundry kinds, those which have tayles being called in the African tongue _Manne_, and those which have none _Babuini_. They are found in the woods of Mauritania, and upon the mountains of Bugia and Constantia. They live upon grasse, and come and goe in great companies to feed in the cornfields; and one of their companie, which standeth centinelle or keepeth watch and ward upon the borders, when he espyeth the husbandmen comming he cryeth out, and giveth, as it were, an alarm to his fellows, who every one of them flee immediately into the next woods, and betake themselves to the trees. The shee Apes carry their whelpes upon their shoulders, and will leape with them in that sort from one tree to another.”

This author, although he probably mixed up other Monkeys with his _Babuini_, gives the key to the derivation of the word baboon, which has been the subject of keen controversy amongst those who are curious in such matters. _Papio_ is the common term applied to these animals by the writers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: it is “dog latin” for _Babbo_, which in modern language would be rendered _Papa_, and _Babuino_ is the diminutive of _Babbo_. Doubtless these terms bear some important and hidden reference to the opinions of the African races upon their relationship and connection with the clever Apes, and upon their appreciation of the paternal habits of the patriarchs of the great companies who not only stand “centinelle,” but instil good discipline into the younger members of the family.

But long before John Leo lived, these _Babuini_ had been noticed and critically observed by Greek and Roman naturalists, and had received, on account of their especial character--their dog-shaped muzzle and head--the name Cynocephali, or Dog-headed Apes. The word comes from the Greek, and was frequently applied to Dog-headed people as well as Apes, and it is very applicable, for the whole aspect of the head, and especially of the prolonged snout, cut short at the end in the Ape, greatly resembles that of some Dogs. Earlier still, the ancient Egyptians engraved its figure in stone, made metal images of it, drew it on papyrus, and even made mummies of their dead bodies. Hermopolis was especially the city devoted to the worship of the Dog-headed, for in those early days such was their grandeur in Egyptian eyes, and such the folly of mankind. Symbolism was carried to an excess, its foundations being as mysterious as meaningless, and it therefore came to pass that the Dog-headed were mixed up with literature and astronomy.

That admirable investigator and popular exponent of the sculptures and hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, writes that “The Cynocephalus Ape, which was particularly sacred to Thoth, held a conspicuous place among the sacred animals of Egypt, being worshipped as the type of the god of letters, and of the moon, which was one of the characters of Thoth. It was even introduced into the sculptures as the god himself, with ‘Thoth, Lord of Letters,’ and other legends inscribed over it; and in astronomical subjects two Cynocephali are frequently represented standing in a boat before the sun, in an attitude of prayer, as emblems of the moon. Their presence in a similar boat with a Pig probably refers to them as types of the divinity, in whose honour that animal was sacrificed; the moon and Bacchus, according to Herodotus, being the sole deities to whom it was lawful to immolate Swine, and that only at the full moon. But the presence of Cynocephali was not confined to Thoth or the moon. On two sides of the pedestals of the obelisks of Luxor four Cynocephali stand in the same attitude, as if in adoration of the deity to whom those monuments were dedicated; a balustrade over the centre doorway of the temple of _Amun_ at Medinet-Aboo is ornamented with the figures of these animals; and a row of them forms the cornice of the exterior of the great temple dedicated to _Ra_ at Aboomubel. Sometimes a Cynocephalus placed on a throne as a god holds a sacred Ibis in its hand; and in the judgment-scenes of the dead it frequently occurs seated on the summit of the balance as the emblem of Thoth, who had an important office on that occasion, and registered the account of the actions of the deceased. The place where this animal was particularly sacred was Hermopolis, the city of Thoth. Thebes and the other towns also treated it with the respect due to the representative of the Egyptian Hermes, and in the necropolis of the capital of Upper Egypt, a particular spot was set apart as the cemetery of the sacred Apes. Mummies of the Cynocephalus were put up in a sitting posture, which is usually that given to the animals in the sculptures when representing the god Thoth; and its head forms one of the covers of the four sepulchral vases deposited in the tombs of the dead. It was then the type of the god _Hopi_, one of the four genii of _Amenti_, who was always figured with the head of a Cynocephalus. Many of this species of Ape were tamed and kept by the Egyptians, and the paintings show that they were even housed for useful purposes.”

Elsewhere the same author informs us that “the Cynocephalus is synonymous with the hieroglyphic of letters; and we even find it holding the titles and fulfilling the office of Thoth, which shows that it was not only the emblem, but also the representative of the deity.” “Thoth in one of his characters corresponded to the moon, and in the other to Mercury. In the former he was the beneficent property of that luminary, the regulator and supervisor of time, who presided over the fate of man and the events of his life; in the latter the god of letters and the patron of learning, and its way of communication between gods and men. It was through him that all mental gifts were imparted to man. He was, in short, a deification of the abstract idea of the intellect, or a personification of the intellect of the deity.”

The judgment-scenes found in the tombs and on the papyri show that the good actions of the deceased are placed in a row on one side of the balance, and the figure or emblem of Truth on the other. Anubis, the director of the weight, proceeds to ascertain the claims for admission into the region of Amenti, and if on being weighed he is found wanting, he is rejected, and Osiris, the judge of the dead, inclining his sceptre in token of condemnation, pronounces judgment upon him, and condemns his soul to return to earth, under the form of a Pig, or some other unclean animal. Placed in a boat, it is removed under the charge of two Monkeys, who open out to it a new term of life. The Monkeys drawn have tails, and are evidently Dog-headed.

Baboons were brought from Africa, and sold in all directions in Europe by the merchants of the Middle Ages, and it was thought to be out of the fashion not to have an Ape in one’s establishment. They were dressed up, and sometimes admitted to feasts, and taught manly kinds of tricks and good behaviour. Broderip hunted up an odd story, which refers to an Ape in the sixteenth century, which did a vast deal of mischief very unintentionally. In the play of _Much Ado About Nothing_, as readers of Shakspere will doubtless remember, Benedick is said by the lively-spirited Beatrice to have stated that she got her wit out of the Hundred Merry Tales--“And that I had my good wit out of the ‘Hundred Merry Tales.’” What this book was could hardly be decided; some thought that it was Boccaccio’s “Decamerone,” but they appear to have been printed by John Restell, the title being, “A C. Mery Talys.” The wit is well enough in these “tayles” to make Benedick wince under Beatrice’s imputation. One story is headed, “Of the Welcheman that delyvered the letter to the Ape.” The first lines are wanting, but there is enough to make it appear that a master sends his Welsh retainer with a letter to the chief justice, in order to obtain a favour for a criminal who had been in the writer’s service, with directions to the said Welshman to return with an answer. “This Welcheman came to the chefe justyce place, and at the gate saw an Ape syttynge there in a cote made for hym, as they use to apparell Apes for disporte. This Welcheman dyd of his cappe, and made cortsye to the Ape, and said, ‘My master recommendeth him to the lord your father, and sendyth him here a letter.’ This Ape toke this letter and opened it and lokyd upon the man, makynge many mockes and noyes as the propertyes of Apes is to do. This Welcheman because he understood him not, came agayne to his master, accordynge to his commandes, and told hym he delyvered the letter unto the lorde chief justice sonne, who was at the gate in a furred cote. Anone hys master asked him what answer he brought. The man sayd he gave him an answer, but it was French or Laten, for lie understode him not. ‘But syr,’ quote he, ‘ye nede not to fere, for I saw in his countenance so muche that I warrant you he wyll do your errand to my lorde his father.’ This gentleman in truste thereof made not any further suite, for lacke thereof his servaunt that had done the felonye within a month after was rayned at the king’s benche and corte, and afterwards hanged.” In the punishment for matricide the criminal was placed in a case with an Ape, Cock, and Serpent, and either buried alive or drowned and the dislike of the first two creatures was much enlarged upon in some ancient authors.

In the _Merchant of Venice_ there is allusion made to the fanciful notion of Monkey--and probably it was Ape--keeping. Shylock has lost his daughter, and Tubal comes to give him news of her fast living, and of Antonio.

_Tubal._ One of them showed me a ring, that he had of your daughter for a Monkey.

_Shylock._ Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubal: it was my turquoise; I had it of Leah, when I was a bachelor: I would not have given it for a wilderness of Monkeys.

In a “New History of Ethiopia, being a full and accurate description of the Kingdom of Abyssinia, vulgarly” (writes Broderip), “though erroneously, called the Empire of Prester John, by the learned Job Ludolphus” (1682), there is a grand engraving of Apes, with this superscription:--

“1. Scrambling about the mountains.

2. Remoeving great huge stones to come at the wormes.

3. Sitting upon Ant-hills and devouring the little creatures.

4. Throwing sand or dust in the eyes of wild beastes that came to sett upon them.”

The following is illustrated by the above:--

“Of Apes there are infinite flocks up and down in the mountains thereabout, a thousand and more together: there they leave no stone unturned. If they meet with one that two or three cannot lift, they call for more, and all for the sake of the wormes that lye under: a sort of dyet which they relish exceedingly. They are very greedy after Emmets; so that having found an Emmet-hill, they presently surround it, and laying their fore paws with the hollow downward upon the Ant-heap, as fast as the Emmets creep into their trecherous palmes, they lick them off with great comfort into their stomachs; and there they will lye til there is not an Emmet left. They are also pernicious to fruit and apples, and will destroy whole fields and gardens unless they be carefully looked after. For they are very cunning, and will never venture in till the return of their spies, which they send always before, and who, giving information that all things are safe, in they rush with their whole body, and make a quick dispatch. Therefore they go very quiet and silent to their prey, and if their young ones chance make a noise, they chastise them with their fists, but if they find the coast clear, then every one has a different noise to express his joy. Nor could there he any way to hinder them from further multiplying, but that they fall sometimes into the ruder hands of the wild beasts, which they have no other way to avoid but by a timely flight, or creeping into the clefts of the rocks. If they find no safety in flight, they make a virtue of necessity, stand their ground, and filling their paws full of dust or sand, fling it full in the eyes of their assailant, and take to their heels again.”

It will be seen that there is much truth and a great deal of romance in this narrative.

The Baboons have had their name given by the Dutch to a plant. The “_Babianer_,” which botanists have turned into the genus _Babiana_, is a common group of plants which is found in South Africa.

One kind, the _Babiana sulphurea_, greatly resembles in its flower the common Gladiolus of our gardens, but it has round, stiff-coated seeds. The sword-shaped leaves arise from an underground bulb-like root, which buds near its point so as to rise in the ground to the surface, and the flowers are very handsome. The plants flourish in the soil of the great plains of the Cape of Good Hope, where they are exposed for two or three months to rain, but where afterwards and for the rest of the year the earth becomes so dry that hardly a vestige of vegetation remains. The Baboons, when they roamed over these plains formerly, used to dig up the root and eat it voraciously.

The Baboons are more brute-like than the rest of the Monkeys in appearance, and therefore have not that singular resemblance to man which many of the others possess either generally or in their faces. Their dog-shaped head, a long muzzle, and a curious fulness on each side of the long nose, distinguish them at once from any other Quadrumana. With one or two exceptions the nostrils are quite at the end of the muzzle, and are separated by a narrow piece of gristle; they rather project beyond the nostril, and can be placed close to the ground as the Baboon runs along to follow or track a scent. Their eyes are close together, and are deeply set, their ears are moderately large, and their neck is rather long, and as their common position is squatting on the hinder quarters like a Dog, the long muzzle is kept straight out, or occasionally is hung down over the chest. They have a short body, which seems compressed at the sides, and the shoulders are wide, the chest being capacious. As they run very much like Dogs, the hind-quarters are strong, and the hinder limbs longer than the front ones, and have a decided heel and strong muscles. They trot and canter, but rarely bound or jump over the ground, and they scramble and climb up rocks with the aid of the power of prehension, which is great even in the hinder extremities, the thumb being strong but short. When standing on all-fours, the shoulders are high, and the body slopes slightly to the tail, which is stuck high up, and some have short and others long tails.

They have the cheek-pouches, and the curious callosities on their stern, which sometimes are very large and vividly coloured; and their hair is many-coloured, being long or short according to the species. The tail is curved upwards close to its origin, and then it droops downwards when the Baboon is quiet in mind and body; but when excited, it sticks out and is flourished about with great vigour. Sometimes ended with a tuft, in some kinds it is not, and in one or two of the great Dog-headed there is no tail, or only a miserable rudiment of it. In spite of their brutal looks--for the faces of some are swollen out, or rather the side of the nose, and coloured and ridged in a marvellously ugly manner--they are very interesting, on account of their habits, cleverness, sociability amongst themselves, and their courage. Usually very amiable and full of fun when young, they afford much amusement when kept well and treated with kindness. They like to be petted, and will present their backs to be scratched, and may be taught to beg for food, to hold things, and to play endless tricks. This “jolly” disposition is seen amongst the wild youngsters, who are ever on the watch for an occurrence of mischief and practical joking, the sedate behaviour of their elders affording opportunities for endless mummeries and impudences. What can be more tempting to a young and light-hearted Cynocephalus than to disturb the solemn thoughts of the patriarch of the troop? There sits the elder of elders on his haunches, his tail outspread behind, the long nose slightly stuck up, and the fine long mane, lion-like, encircling the throat and covering the shoulders. Perched upon a block of stone, higher than the rest, he is an object of reverential awe to the elders of the band. But often enough some restless little Ape, after squatting on a stone and mimicking the Nestor of the tribe, forgets himself, and after much dodging here and there, and running to and fro, ventures to pull that sacred tail as only Monkeys pull. All the rage of Thoth is, however, slumbering in that quiet old male. His cares and watchings have triumphed over any gaiety he ever had. Making no allowances for the follies of youth, he pounces without wavering on the offender. Squeals, squeaks, and howls follow the cuffs, pinches, and bites, and the little wretch makes off to the bosom of his mother, who snarls, grins, and shows her teeth, using language awful in monkeydom, and mutterings not loud but deep. The mothers in the immediate neighbourhood sympathise and proclaim their indignation with low grunts and much pantomime suggestive of reprisals, but they all know better than to do anything of the sort, as they have experienced the weight of the paternal arm themselves so often.

With age, any amiability of disposition is replaced by ferocity and greedy brutality, and is particularly increased in captivity, as the temper is usually severely tried by the tricks and teasings of the visitors.

The Cynocephali, although they are placed after the different genera already described in the scheme of classification, have some very singular structural resemblances with the higher Apes and with man, besides those which render them more like the quadrupeds, such as the flesh-eaters or Carnivora. Several of these will be noticed in describing some of the kinds of Baboons; but it may be stated here that the bend in the back observed in the Chimpanzee and other Apes, which resembles that of a very young child more than that of a man, does not exist in these Dog-headed Apes. Their bones bend in and the upper part of the back bends out, as in man, so that there is a more or less graceful double curve. This is evident when any Baboon places himself up against the wires of his cage to be scratched--a treat under all circumstances. Moreover, the Baboon has another human resemblance, which is also observable in the Orangs, but not in the Troglodytes. In man, if a line be drawn down the spine and another drawn down the sacrum bone (that which unites the haunch-bones together behind), they will not meet and form a straight line, but will cut each other, so as to produce a decided angle. This is slightly seen in the Orangs, but it is very evident indeed in the Baboons. On the contrary, there is no angle formed in the Gorilla and Chimpanzee. Again, in man, the sacrum bone is curved, the hollow of the bend looking forwards. This is the case in the Baboon and also in the Siamang; but the curvature is much less in the great Apes or Troglodytes; furthermore, this sacrum bone is relatively very broad in the Baboon.

Now, these are not simply anatomical curiosities, and they are really of some interest to the youngest naturalist who cares to try and puzzle out what these things really mean. Either they have a meaning or they have not. If they are freaks of Nature or the results of chance, then there is nothing more to be said; or if they are deeply connected with the method of life or the habits of the creatures, they may be said to have been given for a purpose. But the notions about chance and freaks belong to a bygone age, for Nature works neither by accident nor by impulses, but by law. So there must be some meaning in these things, and the key to their comprehension is the gradual change of form and of structure which has been undergone in the long ages during which one animal has become altered so as to depart greatly from the parent stock, and to assume what is called a new specific shape--to become a new kind. And in the new kind there are relics of the old form--pieces of bone here and there; muscles, tendons, or useless teeth, and such things, which are, as it were, part of the coat-of-arms to enable the genealogist to trace the history of the family.

In the Baboons there is a curious condition of the first bone of the neck (the atlas, or first vertebra, on which the head rests). It is a massive ring of bone, down the centre of which the great nerve (spinal cord) of the spine passes, and it becomes stouter with age, and the central hole is all the smaller. It has a small spinous process, to which there is a muscular attachment, which tends to keep up the heavy skull and long nose. A good short back-bone, not over pliant, is necessary to the Baboon, and a provision is made in order to produce this; for the bodies of the vertebræ are found to be larger and longer as they are further down the spine. This is what occurs in man and in the Gibbons, but it is only slightly noticed in the higher Apes--the Troglodytes and Orangs. The Baboon may be said to have sometimes only eighteen back and loin vertebræ, and twelve or thirteen are rib-bearing, and the spines of these bones are strong and often expanded or flattened at their ends; moreover, the last spines project forwards and the others backwards. All this arrangement is especially ape-and animal-like, and refers to the strengthening of the muscles used in moving on all-fours. There is of course a tail to be considered, and in the shortest there are from five to eight bones, or modified vertebræ, and whether short or long, the muscles of the tail are all to be met with at its root.

Such clever animals ought to have well-formed brains, and yet not so elaborately constructed as those of the Anthropomorpha, whose movements are more varied, and who can walk erect for a longer or shorter time. It is found that the brain of the Baboon, although less complicated, or rather less perfectly formed, than that of the Chimpanzee and Orang, is singularly like those of the Guenons and Macaques in the surface markings and convolutions, and, in fact, the brains of these animals agree in all essential points. The principal convolutions and fissures which are noticed in the Troglodytes exist, but the external perpendicular fissure is strongly marked, and all the little brain is covered by the cerebrum, or brain proper.

There is no mistaking a Baboon’s skull; it is large for a Monkey, and the face part is always one-half of the whole, the brain-case being cast in the shade, as it were, by the huge upper and lower jaws, and their fine armament of teeth. In old males the length of face is much greater than one-half, and the front of the upper jaw is stuck out considerably. But in all there is a swelling of the upper jaw-bone, just in front of the orbit and on each side of the nose-bones, which sometimes is vast and at others turned into a ridge. It is this which is covered by the curious tints and colours in some. The jaws seem pinched in, just above the upper grinding teeth, and then comes this swelling. Strong teeth exist in the upper jaw, and the canine, or eye teeth, more than an inch in length, are long, slender, curved, and sharp. The front or incisor teeth are large, the middle ones being the largest, and the three grinders have sharp projections on them which are not readily worn. As the eyes are close together, the orbits are only separated by the forehead (frontal) bone and the united nose-bones (nasals). These cavities are, moreover, broad, and look a little outwards, and they open into the strange swollen muzzle. The ridges over the orbits are great, and the opening for the nose is triangular; the forehead recedes, and is rounded, and the side-bones of the brain-case are bulged out. Underneath, the skull looks very long; the hinder nostril opening is small, and the palate is arched. As the animal eats a variety of food, and fights often, his lower jaw is very strong. It is large and wide behind, and compressed in front. The chin is deep, and so is the side of the jaw close to it, but further back it is less so; and the joint process (condyle) is wide and very flat usually. The lower canines are not as large as the upper, and they fit into a space (diastema) in front of the great canines of the upper jaw. The back teeth are remarkable for their size, the last in the lower jaw having five points, and the others four. The tooth (pre-molar) next to the canine is pushed backwards and sharpened in a curious manner by the action of the great upper canine, which comes down in front of it when the jaw is closed.

The Baboons are found widely dispersed about Africa, and those which have been best observed live on the west coast, on the east in Abyssinia, and extending downwards to the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope. Frequenting mountains and woody places, and rather avoiding forest land, they come within range of the great Carnivora of the plains and uplands, and suffer in consequence, the Leopard especially making the young its prey whenever it has an opportunity. They extend into Arabia. A little black one, differing in its kind from its African congeners, lives in the Island of Celebes, in the Philippines, and in the Islet of Batchian, close by. Some kinds differ but slightly from one another, and those of one part of the African continent appear to resemble those of other portions in their several shapes and habits, and yet to have different-coloured hair, hence much confusion has arisen regarding the races of the species of the genus. This has been increased by the fact that the females differ much from the males, and hence more species have been formed by naturalists than is correct. Probably there are twelve species.

The possession of a good tail constitutes a very good characteristic, and by the presence or comparative absence of this member the group or genus may be divided into two.

In the division which possess a tail, which is never very long, often rather short, and sometimes tufted and sometimes not, are the most numerous species, and such kinds as the Hamadryas, Gelada, Sphinx, and Pig-tailed Baboons are well known. In the nearly tail-less division are the great Mandrill, the Drill, and the Black Baboon.

THE SACRED BABOON, THE THOTH OF THE EGYPTIANS.[61]

During the march against Magdala and Theodore, in the Abyssinian campaign, this great Dog-faced Baboon was frequently seen, and its habits were noticed by Blanford, the naturalist to the Expedition. Like most, if not all, of its fellow Baboons, this interesting creature prefers sandy ground to the dense forest land. They very rarely are seen on trees, they avoid woods, and keep mainly in the open country, preferring rocky precipices. This was the kind of country principally traversed by the army, and hence the Baboons afforded some amusement during the hot marches, and they were met with everywhere from the plains around Annesley Bay, where the disembarkation took place, to the top of the Dalanta plateau, although most abundantly in the tropical and sub-tropical portions of the district. On rising one morning after a march of some sixteen miles from Annesley Bay, Blanford saw a singular spectacle. A large troop of Baboons, at least two hundred in number, were hunting for any corn dropped upon the ground the place where the horses had been picketed. They were the first of the great Dog-faced Apes which had been seen, although they became familiar enough afterwards. There was no mistaking them, for their likeness to the engravings of the Sacred Ape (Thoth) on Egyptian monuments was exact. The uncouth-looking male is, indeed, a formidable 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 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 round springs in the evening near Senafé, 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 till 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 around. 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.

The Baboon 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 Tigré.

These Baboons climb heavily and clumsily, but run, or rather gallop, well and steadily, without bounding movements, and hence their locomotion differs much from that of many kinds of Monkeys. Doubtless they unite in such large troops in order to defend themselves against their enemies, and the old males are combative and grave. From their size and great power of jaw they are most formidable antagonists, and their boldness in resenting injury is said to be in proportion to their power. There are many stories of their attacking men. During the time before the Abyssinian Expedition sailed, a well-known German and two companions were surrounded by a large herd, which barred their path, and were so threatening that he was obliged to shoot one in self-defence. Even then, although they fell back, they did not run away. On the other hand, there were no instances known of these Baboons attacking any other of the expeditionary force. Near the passes the Baboons became very wary, for they were often fired at.

The Hamadryas Baboons are not entirely vegetable feeders, although they usually live on fruits and grain, or on buds and succulent stems; yet it appears to be true that they like insects now and then, and share them as delicacies. The old ones march about gravely, turning over stone after stone, but if there is a large stone which one cannot turn over, as many as can stand round it turn it with a will together, capsize it, and share the booty. The old males, who act as sentinels, are extremely watchful, and cry out with a peculiar note when there is danger; but this is only done when absolutely requisite, for silence is insisted on during their expeditions. Thus, when they plunder a garden in Abyssinia, they follow their leader without noise, and if an impudent young one makes a noise he receives a slap from the others to teach him silence and obedience. But as soon as they are aware that there is no danger, all show their joy by making as much noise as possible.

The Hamadryas grows to the size of a large Pointer Dog, and measures rather more than four feet when standing erect, and about two feet and a half when sitting. The face is very long, naked, and of a dirty flesh-colour, with a ring of lighter tint round the eyes. The nostrils, as in the Dog, are separated by a slight furrow, and they open quite at the end of the snout, which projects slightly beyond the lip. The head, neck, shoulders, and all the fore parts of the body as far as the loins are covered with long shaggy hair; that on the hips, thighs, and legs is short, and contrasted with the former has the appearance of having been clipped, so that the whole animal bears some resemblance to a French Poodle. The hair of the back of the head and neck is upwards of a foot in length, and forms a long mane which falls back over the shoulders, and at a distance looks something like a full short cloak. The whiskers are broad and directed downwards so as to conceal the ears; their colour, as well as that of the fore part of the body, head, and mane, is a mixture of light grey and dusky colour, each hair being marked with numerous delicate rings of the colours. The short hair of the thighs and extremities is of a uniform colour of dusky brown, and a dark brown line passes down the middle of the back. The feet are rusty brown, and the hands are jet black. The tail is about one-half of the length of the body, and is carried drooping as in other Baboons; it is terminated by a tuft of long brown hair.

The female equals the male in point of size, but has no mane, being uniformly covered with short hair of deep olive-brown slightly mixed with green. She has a bearish look, and it is evident that the colours of both sexes are admirably adapted to hide them when crawling amongst rocks, or hiding away in holes and under ledges of stone. All have a wild, grunting bark, almost approaching a roar; and they possess laryngeal pouches or air sacs, which pass amongst the muscles of the neck and reach even into the armpits. The pouch communicates by one opening into the membrane above the larynx, and between its cartilage and the so called hyoid bone at the base of the tongue, and they, therefore, resemble those of the Semnopitheci.

Mansfield Parkyns gives some very interesting and explicit statements about the intelligence and discipline of the Baboons. He says--“The Monkeys, especially the Cynocephali, who are astonishingly clever fellows, have their chiefs, whom they obey implicitly, and a regular system of tactics in war, pillaging expeditions, robbing cornfields, &c. These Monkey forays are managed with the utmost regularity and precaution. A tribe coming down to feed from their village on the mountain (usually a cleft in the face of some cliff) brings with it all its members, male and female, old and young. Some--the elders of the tribe distinguishable by the quantity of mane which covers their shoulders, like a Lion’s--take the lead, peering cautiously over each precipice before they descend, and climbing to the top of every rock which may afford a better view of the road before them. Others have their posts as scouts on the flanks or rear, and all fulfil their duties with the utmost vigilance, calling out at times, apparently to keep order among the motley pack, which forms the main body, or to give notice of the approach of any real or imagined danger. Their tones of voice on these occasions are so distinctly raised, that a person much accustomed to watch their movements will at length fancy--and perhaps with some truth--that he can understand their signals.

“The main body is composed of females, inexperienced males, and the young of the tribe. Those of the females who have small children carry them on their back. Unlike the dignified march of the leaders, the rabble go along in a most disorderly manner, trotting on and chattering without taking the least heed of anything, apparently confiding in the vigilance of their scouts. Here a few of the youth linger behind to pick the berries off some tree, but not for long, for the rear-guard coming up forces them to regain their places. Then a matron pauses for a moment to suckle her offspring, and not to lose time dresses its hair whilst it is taking its meal. Another younger lady, probably excited by jealousy, or by some sneering look or word, pulls an ugly mouth at her neighbour, and then, uttering a shrill squeal highly expressive of rage, vindictively snatches at her rival’s leg or tail with her hand, and gives her, perhaps, a sharp bite in the hind-quarters. This provokes a retort, and a most unladylike quarrel ensues, till a loud bark of command from one of the chiefs calls them to order. A single cry of alarm makes them all halt and remain on the _qui vive_ till another bark in a different tone reassures them, and they then proceed on their march.

“Arrived at the cornfields, the scouts take their position on the eminences all around, while the remainder of the tribe collect provision, with the utmost expedition, filling their cheek-pouches as full as they can hold, and then tucking the seeds of corn under their armpits. Now, unless there be a partition of the collected spoil, how do the scouts feed?, for I have watched them several times, and never observed them quit for a moment their post of duty till it was time for the tribe to return, or till some indication of danger induced them to take to flight. They show also the same sagacity in searching for water, discovering at once the places where it is most readily found in the sand, and then digging for it with their hands just as men would, relieving one another in the work, if the quantity of sand to be removed be considerable. Their dwellings are usually chosen in clefts of rocks, and are always placed so high that they are inaccessible to most other animals, and sufficiently sheltered from the rain. The Leopard is their worst enemy, for being nearly as good a climber as they, he sometimes attacks them, and then there is a tremendous uproar. I remember one night, when outlying on the frontier, being disturbed in my sleep by the most awful noises I ever heard, at least they appeared as such, exaggerated by my dreams. I started up thinking it was an attack of negroes, but soon recognised the voices of my Baboon friends from the mountain above. On my return home I related the fact to the natives, who told me that a Leopard was probably the cause of all this panic. I am not aware how he succeeds amongst them. The people say that he sometimes manages to steal a young one and make off, but that he seldom ventures to attack a full-grown Ape. He would doubtless find such an one an awkward customer; for the Ape’s great strength and activity, and the powerful canine teeth with which he is furnished, would render him a formidable enemy, were he, from desperation, forced to stand and defend his life. It is most fortunate that their courage is only sufficiently great to induce them to act on the defensive. This indeed they only do against a man when driven to it by fear, otherwise they generally prefer prudence to valour. Had their combativeness been proportioned to their physical powers, coming as they do in hordes of two or three hundred, it would have been impossible for the natives to go out of the village, except in parties, armed, and instead of little boys, regiments of armed men would be required to guard the cornfields.”

A traveller, relating his experience with these Baboons, writes as follows:--

“The first band I saw was just resting after their morning ramble. I had seen the tall forms of the males from some distance, but had taken them for rocks, as these Apes resemble them when they are still. I was first undeceived by a repeated cry, which sounded like a shrill cry of ‘Kuck.’ All heads were turned our way, and only the young ones went on with their games. Probably the whole herd would have stopped in this attitude had not we had two Dogs with us that we kept to keep off hyænas from the house. These answered the cries of the Apes, and we immediately noticed a commotion among the herd. They started off and disappeared. Much to our astonishment, at the next bend of the road, we saw the whole band in a long row clinging on to what seemed a perpendicular rock. This was too much for us, and we determined to have a shot at them. Unfortunately, the rock was too high for a sure aim. Anyhow, we hoped to disturb them. The first shot had a wonderful effect. A tremendous barking and shrieking was the answer. Then the whole band moved on, climbing over the rocks in a most astonishing manner, where it seemed almost impossible to find a footing. We fired about six shots, though it was impossible to be sure of hitting. It was most comical to see the whole band, at every shot, cling on to the rock as if they thought the earth would give way under them. The next turn we found them no longer on high ground, but in a valley where they were going through to get to the hills beyond. Part of the band had crossed, but most were still behind. Our Dogs stopped a minute, and then rushed in among the herd. So soon as they got there all the old males rushed from the rocks, formed a circle round the Dogs, and opened their mouths, beat the earth, and looked so fierce, that the Dogs retreated with all speed. Of course, we encouraged them to return to the fight, and in the meanwhile the Apes had got across the valley. As the Dogs returned to the attack there were only a few in the valley, and among them a young one of about six months old. As it saw the Dogs it cried out, and fled to the rocks, where our Dogs brought it to bay, and we flattered ourselves that we should catch it. Proudly and quietly, without troubling himself about us, came an old male back from the other side, walked fearlessly between the Dogs, climbed slowly up the rock, and took off the young one in triumph.”

Their regard for their mutual safety is even seen in captivity, for it has happened that when a Baboon, who has been extremely savage, unbearable, and mischievous in his comportment, had to be chained to be punished, the others tried to protect him.

“Many kinds of Monkeys,” writes Mr. Darwin, “have a strong taste for tea, coffee, and spirituous liquors; they will also, as I have myself seen, smoke tobacco with pleasure.” The wild Baboons of North-eastern Africa are often caught in consequence of their naughty propensity and love of a “drop.” The natives fill some vessels with strong beer, and put them out in places where they look particularly tempting to the thirsty. The Baboons, ever on the watch for something new and to steal, see the pitchers and pans, and of course just taste their contents. Feeling happy and enlivened, after a while they try again, and finally drink long and deeply, becoming in a short time decidedly tipsy, and unable to take care of themselves. Drunk and incapable would be the accusation against them by native police. Unfortunately for the tipplers their punishment is greater than the crime; and not only do they suffer all the miseries of headache, thirst, and bodily depression, but they lose their liberty also, and not for a time only. The natives, knowing that after a few hours they may expect to find the Baboons incapable of biting, fighting, or running away, go out and search for their victims, and bring them home and place them in durance vile. The next morning they awake to a sense of their condition. They hold their aching heads with both hands, and look with a most pitiable expression. Brehm saw some of them in this plight, and gives a most amusing description of their grimaces and laughable conduct. A little wine or beer was offered to some who had recovered from their debauch, but they would have nothing to do with it at the time. They turned away with disgust, but they relished the juice of some lemons which was given to them.

The Baboons, symbolical of learning, the observers of the moon in eclipse, and the companions of the bacchanalian jug, once so esteemed, worshipped, and mummified by the ancient Egyptians, have terribly fallen in social and religious reputation on the very spot of their former glories. In modern Egypt they may be seen in some houses where, at a fanciful kind of banquet, they have to sit around the room holding torches. And right bad torch-bearers they are, for every now and then some Baboon becomes aggressive, or some guest has a nice piece on his plate for which the Baboon longs, and the consequences are a departure of the light from its perpendicular, a slight motion amongst the row of curious candelabra, and oftentimes such disorder as can only be remedied by the timely application of the discipline of the stick. They are carried about to do tricks, and brutalised in every way.

Mansfield Parkyns asserts that the cleverness of these Baboons depends in some measure upon their power of reason, and not entirely on that instinct with which all animals are endowed, and which serves them only to procure the necessaries of life and to defend themselves against their enemies. In proof he relates an incident, of which he was an eye-witness. “At Khartûm, the capital of the provinces of Upper Nubia, I saw a man showing a large male and two females of this breed, who performed several clever tricks at his command. I entered into conversation with him as to their sagacity, the mode of teaching them, and various other topics relating to them. Speaking of his male Monkey, he said that he was the most dexterous thief imaginable, and that every time he was exhibited he stole dates and other provisions sufficient for his food for the day. In proof of this he begged me to watch him for a few minutes. I did so, and presently the keeper led him to a spot where a date-seller was sitting on the ground with his basket beside him. Here his master put him through his evolutions, and although I could perceive that the Monkey had an eye to the fruit, yet so completely did he disguise his intentions, that no careless observer would have noticed it. He did not at first appear to care about approaching the basket, but gradually brought himself nearer and nearer, till at last he got quite close to the owner. In the middle of one of his feats he suddenly started up from the ground on which he was lying stretched out like a corpse, and uttering a cry as if in pain or rage, fixed his eyes full on the face of the date-seller, and then, without moving the rest of his body, stole as many dates as he could hold in one of his hind hands. The date man, being stared out of countenance, and his attention diverted by this extraordinary movement, knew nothing about the theft till a bystander told him of it, and then he joined heartily in the laugh that was raised against him. The Monkey having very adroitly popped the fruit into his cheek-pouches, had moved off a few yards, when a boy in the crowd round him pulled him sharply by the tail. Conscience-stricken, he fancied that it had been done in revenge by the date-seller whom he had robbed; and so, passing close by the true offender and behind the legs of two or three others, he fell on the unfortunate fruiterer, and would no doubt have bitten him severely, but for the interference of his master, who came to the rescue.”

Although so clever, the Hamadryas is much more deficient in brain than the higher Apes, the Orang for instance. It is not so much developed in front, and the whole mass is not so high, but still it projects well over the little brain, or cerebellum. The convolutions are simpler, and although all the principal markings noticed even in man are present, still the smaller ones, and those which belong to structures which add to the superficial extent of the organ, are wanting. The ventricles and the posterior horn and its eminences are present, as is also that particularly monkey development, the fissure, which is called the external perpendicular.

Evidently the compressed form of the skull, which seems as if it had been pressed far above over the forehead, has much to do with the small bulk of the front of the brain, and this is also diminished by the projection of the orbits into the brain-case. The skull is certainly an ugly thing to look at, and is only surpassed by that of the full-grown Mandrill in want of elegance, of outline, and smooth configuration. The forehead and top of the skull are broad and flat, and the whole brain-case appears to slope off at the sides of the orbits, and then projects but little there, the broadest part of the skull being at the cheek-bone. The orbits are oblique, that is to say, they look forwards and outwards, and they are tolerably widely open. There is a great roundness and swelling of the upper jaw-bone from the cheek-bone to the long nasal bones, and the front jaw-bone (the pre-maxillary) is short and projecting. The shape of the skull resembles that of the Sphinx Baboon.

Their name, given to them by the naturalist, is as great a puzzle as are many others devoted to animals, for what possible connection can there be between the Hamadryads, the nymphs whose birth, life, and death were mysteriously united with the corresponding epochs in the growth of the oak-tree, and a most un-nymphlike creature which likes rocks, holes, and dens, but who neither cares for oaks nor acorns?

THE GELADA BABOON.[62]

These Baboons are quite as clever as the great Dog-faced kind, which has been immortalised by the ancient Egyptians, and every now and then troops of both come in contact and have great fights. The Gelada Baboon, with its long tail tufted at the end, and black limbs, has very long hair on its upper parts of a pale brown colour. This covers the head where there is a dark line from the forehead backwards, and also the shoulders and rump. This Baboon, moreover, has the nostrils opening high up in the face, and not close to the end of the upper jaw, as in the Hamadryas. Differing thus from the Hamadryas Baboons, each troop soon knows its comrades. Occasionally, when the fields are ripe with grain, the Geladas, perched upon their mountain homes, see the glowing and varied colours of the vegetation, and long for the luxuries of the plains. They descend and sometimes rob the farmers with impunity, and return after having committed a vast amount of mischief. But it happens that the great Dog-faced troops are out on the same errand, and the two sets of thieves speedily disagree. A fight ensues, and the Geladas roll down large stones, which the others try to avoid, and then they all rush together to close quarters, making a great uproar, and fighting with great fury. Some of these gallant Geladas had the audacity to stop a Serene Highness in his travels in Abyssinia, and very effectually, for some hours. A Duke of Coburg-Gotha was in a caravan which had to traverse the pass of Mensa, in Abyssinia, and as there were some of the Baboons perched in numbers on the sides of the high rocky ravine, some of the Europeans, who of course must try and kill something as often as possible, fired upon them. The Baboons retaliated in a most military manner, by rolling down stones in such quantity and of such a size that not only had the firing party to retire, but the passage of the caravan was stopped. They positively closed the pass against all comers for some time.

Darwin tells a laughable anecdote of a Baboon, but does not mention the kind. He saw in the Zoological Gardens a Baboon who always got in a furious rage when his keeper took out a letter or book and read it aloud to him; and his rage was so violent that, as Mr. Darwin witnessed, on one occasion he bit his own leg till the blood flowed.

THE PIG-TAILED BABOON, OR CHACMA.[63]

The Hottentots are familiar with one of the largest kinds of the Baboons, which reaches the size of an English Mastiff, and has superior strength, and they call it the T’chackamma, which has been reduced by Europeans to the “Chacma.” The colonists of the Cape of Good Hope districts called it the Black Ape, and then, from some fanciful resemblance of its tail to that of a Pig, the creature was dignified with the name _porcarius_.

The Chacmas are found in great troops, and they behave very much after the manner of the other large Baboons, their strength rendering them a terror to the Dogs of the colonists. In ascending the kloofs, or passes, in the mountains of South Africa, which are frequently steep, narrow, and dangerous, travellers often disturb great troops of these animals, which have been sunning themselves on the rocks. If not attacked they scamper up the sides of the mountains yelling and screaming. They resent being fired upon by rolling down stones.

The Chacma has a fine black tail, which is rather more than half the length of the body, and it has a tuft of long black hair at its tip. It is carried like that of the other long-tailed Baboons, being curved upwards at first, and then falling down straight. Nearly all the fur of the body is a uniform dark brown, almost black, mixed throughout with a dark green shade. It is long and shaggy, particularly on the neck and shoulders of the males. If a solitary hair be pulled out, it will be found to be very curiously ornamented. It has a root, like all hairs, springing from a little pimple under the scarf-skin, and its colour is at first of a light grey colour. Then it is marked with wide rings of colour, which are perfectly distinct, and they are alternately black and dark green, but sometimes they are intermixed with a few of a lighter or yellowish shade. The face and ears are naked, as are also the palms and soles, and there are small whiskers, grey in colour and brushed backwards. Naked as are the face, ears, and hands, the skin is of a very dark violet-blue colour, with a pale ring surrounding each eye. Strange to say, the upper eyelids are white.

In the adult the muzzle is very long in comparison with the skull, which is greatly flattened and contracted; but in the young, the size of the nose is not so apparent, and the head is rounder, and the brain case is larger in proportion. As age comes on, the brain is not increased in size correspondingly with the face.

There is no doubt that the old Baboons have a very fine sense of smelling, their noses are large, and the sentient surface is great; moreover, this gift has been tested and used to the advantage of many a wanderer and settler in the districts where water is scarce at the surface, but plentiful here and there, resting on rocks which are covered with sand or soil. The Baboon can find out water when even the Bushmen are quite at fault, and when other animals are dying of thirst. When a manageable Baboon is at hand, and people are in a dreary district searching for water, they lead him in the required direction suffering from thirst, and give him his liberty. He moves over the ground quickly, smelling here and there, or gallops with extended nostrils, now turning in one direction and now in another, quartering out his ground like a Dog. Sooner or later he stops and begins to dig with his hands, and then the people come up, and water is almost always found, and in quantity.

Although the young Chacmas are playful enough, and are full of nonsense and fun in captivity, they, like all their kindred Baboons, become surly, ferocious, and unsafe as they grow old and have their bodies perfectly developed to the perfection of baboonism. That is to say, when the face, jaws, and teeth become as large as they ever will be, and the body becomes as short and as muscular as possible. They then scowl at the visitor, and grind and show their great teeth at the slightest provocation, grumbling and growling also, and in fact, to quote the words of a very precise naturalist, “the fierceness and brutality of their character and manners correspond with the expression of their physiognomy.” Nevertheless, they are amenable to soft influences. In spite of their savage and untamable disposition, they are influenced by that most potent of all attractions. They are, in the language of the writer just quoted, “agitated by the passion of love or jealousy. In captivity they are thrown into the greatest agitation at the appearance of young females”--not females of the Baboon tribe, but those who, under all circumstances, are now called ladies. “It is a common practice,” continues the writer, “among itinerant showmen, to excite the natural jealousy of these Baboons by caressing or offering to kiss the young females who resort to their exhibitions, and the sight never fails to excite in these animals a degree of rage bordering on frenzy. On one occasion a large Baboon of this species escaped from his place of confinement in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, and far from showing any disposition to return to his cage, severely wounded two or three of his keepers who attempted to recapture him. After many ineffectual attempts to induce him to return quietly, they at length hit upon a plan which was successful. There was a small grated window at the back part of the den, at which one of the keepers appeared, in company with the daughter of the superintendent, whom he appeared to kiss and caress within view of the animal. No sooner did the Baboon witness this familiarity, than he flew into the cage with the greatest fury, and endeavoured to unfasten the grating of the window which separated him from the object of his jealousy. Whilst employed in this vain attempt, the keepers took the opportunity of fastening the door, and securing him once more in his place of confinement. Nor is this a solitary instance of the influence which women can exert over the passions of these savage animals. It is said that, generally untractable and incorrigible whilst under the management of men, it usually happens that Baboons are most effectually tamed and led to even more than ordinary obedience in the hands of women, whose attentions they often repay with gratitude and affection.”

There is another side to the picture, however, and probably about as true. “Travellers sometimes speak of the danger which women run who reside in the vicinity of the situation which these animals inhabit, and affirm that the negresses on the coast of Guinea are occasionally kidnapped by the Baboons; we are even assured that certain of those women have lived among the Baboons for many years, and that they were prevented from escaping by being shut up in caves in the mountains, where, however, they were plentifully fed, and in other respects treated with great kindness! It is to be observed, however,” writes this author, “that these accounts rest upon authority which is by no means unexceptionable; credible and well-informed modern travellers do not relate them, and even their older and more credulous predecessors give them only from hearsay.”

There is a curious connection between the growth of the hair on some parts of Monkeys and their combative habits. Thus these Baboons have a long mane, and that of the male is, of course, the longer; and these are perhaps the only Apes which seize each other by the nape of the neck with their long canine teeth, the males being the fighters. The mane, then, is clearly of advantage. On one occasion this propensity displayed itself on one of the higher animals who was not thus protected, in an attack by a Baboon on one of the keepers at the Zoological Gardens, the keeper unfortunately having no clothes on the back of his neck to act as a mane. The man was stooping down, when the Baboon suddenly pounced on him, and bit him most severely and dangerously in this exposed spot. During this savage and unexpected attack, the affectionate impulses of a little Monkey were of great use and service, for, seeing its keeper in danger, it bit the brute, and screamed in such a manner as to distract its attention, and to allow the man to escape.

All the Chacmas, however, are not furiously jealous, or fighters, or kidnappers of women, for many have excellent memories of kindnesses, and do not fail to express their gratitude. Thus Sir Andrew Smith was recognised by a Baboon at the Cape of Good Hope, with much evidence of satisfaction, after he had been absent for nine months. The females are also often very tender and affectionate. One of them, an old female, adopted a little Rhesus Monkey, and took all sorts of care of it; but when a young Drill and Mandrill were placed in the cage she seemed to perceive that those Monkeys, though distinct species, were her nearer relations, for she at once rejected the Rhesus, and adopted both of them. The young Rhesus was greatly discontented at being thus rejected, and it would, like a naughty child, annoy and attack the young Drill and Mandrill wherever it could do so safely; this conduct exciting great indignation in the old Baboon. Another female Baboon had so capacious a heart that she not only adopted young Monkeys of other species, but stole young Dogs and Cats, which she continually carried about. Her kindness, however, did not go so far as to share her food with her adopted offspring. An adopted kitten scratched this affectionate and selfish old thing, who certainly had a fine intellect, for she was much astonished at being scratched, and immediately examined the kitten’s feet, and without more ado bit off the claws!

Le Vaillant in his African travels was accompanied by a Monkey, which was probably one of these Chacmas. It lived on very good terms with cocks and hens, thus disproving the antipathy which tradition has handed down as existing between these very different creatures. He was amused at the one, and stole the eggs of the other. In fact, he not only tasted the eggs of his own accord, but was made to taste all sorts of fowls and nuts for the benefit of the travellers, who feared being poisoned. If this creature, which was called “Kees,” refused them, they were left untouched by those who had a very sensible opinion of his instinct. Besides being taster he was watch-dog. “By his cries,” writes the traveller, “and other expressions of fear, we were always informed of the approach of an enemy before my Dogs could discover it. They were so accustomed to his voice, that they slept in perfect security, and never went the rounds, on which account I was very angry, fearing that I should no longer find that indispensable assistance which I had a right to expect if any disorder or fatal accident should deprive me of my faithful guardians. However, when he had once given the alarm, they all stopped to watch the signal, and on the least motion of his eyes, or the shaking of his head, I have seen them all rush forward, and run far away in the quarter to which they observed his looks directed. I often carried him along with me in my hunting excursions, during which he would amuse himself climbing up the trees in order to search for game, of which he was remarkably fond. Sometimes he discovered honey in the crevices of rocks, or in hollow trees, but when he found nothing, when fatigue and exercise had whetted his appetite, and when he began to be seriously oppressed with hunger, a scene took place which appeared to me exceedingly comic. When he could not find game or honey, he searched for roots, and ate them with relish, especially one of a particular species, which, unfortunately for me, I found excellent and very refreshing, and which I wanted greatly to partake of. But Kees was very cunning. When he found any of this root, if I was not near him to claim my part, he made great haste to devour it, having his eyes directed all the time towards me. By the distance I had to go before I could approach him he judged of the time that he had to eat it alone, and I indeed arrived too late. Sometimes, however, when he was deceived in his calculation, and when I came upon him sooner than he expected, he instantly endeavoured to conceal the morsels from me; but by means of a blow well applied I compelled him to restore the theft; and in my turn becoming master of the envied prey, he was obliged to receive laws from the offended party. Kees entertained no rancour or hatred, and I easily made him comprehend how detestable was that base selfishness of which he had set me an example. To tear up these roots Kees employed an ingenious method, which afforded me much amusement. He laid hold of the tuft of leaves with his teeth, and pressing his four paws firmly against the earth, and drawing his head backwards, the root generally followed. When this method did not succeed, he seized the tuft as before, as close to the earth as he could, then throwing his heels over his head, the root always yielded to the jerk he gave it. In our marches, when he found himself tired, he got upon the back of one of my Dogs, which had the complaisance to carry him for whole hours together. One only, which was larger and stronger than the rest, ought to have served him for this purpose; but the cunning animal well knew how to avoid this drudgery. The moment he perceived Kees on his shoulders, he remained motionless, and suffered the caravan to pass on, without ever stirring from the spot. The timorous Kees still persisted; but as soon as he began to lose sight of us he was obliged to dismount, and both he and the Dog ran with all their might to overtake us. For fear of being surprised, the Dog dexterously suffered him to get before him, and watched him with great attention. In short, he had acquired an ascendency over my whole pack, for which he was perhaps indebted to the superiority of his instinct; for among animals, as among men, address often gets the better of strength. While at his meals Kees could not endure guests; if any of the Dogs approached too near him at that time, he gave them a hearty blow, which these poltroons never returned, but scampered away as fast as they could. It appeared to me extremely singular, and I could not account for it, that next to the Serpent, the animal which he most dreaded was one of his own species; whether it was that he was sensible that his being tamed had deprived him of great part of his faculties, and that fear had got possession of his senses, or that he was jealous and dreaded a rivalry in my friendship. Sometimes he heard others of the same species making a noise in the mountains; and notwithstanding his terror, he thought proper, I know not for what reason, to reply to them. When they heard his voice they approached; but as soon as he perceived any of them he fled with horrible cries; and running between our legs, implored the protection of everybody, while his limbs quivered through fear. We found it no easy matter to calm him; but he gradually resumed after some time his natural tranquillity. He was very much addicted to thieving, a fault common to almost all domestic animals; but in Kees it became a talent, the ingenious efforts of which I admired, and notwithstanding all the correction bestowed on him by my people who took the matter seriously, he was never amended. He knew perfectly well how to untie the ropes of a basket to take provisions from it; and, above all, milk, of which he was remarkably fond; more than once he has made me go without any. I often beat him pretty severely myself; but when he escaped from me, he did not appear at my tent till towards night.” “Milk in baskets!” why truly the term “basket,” as applied to a vessel for holding milk, appears to require some explanation; but it was really carried in baskets woven by the Yonaquas, of reeds so delicate and so close in texture that they might be employed in carrying water or any liquid. The abstraction of the milk may be considered as a kind of set-off against the appropriation of Kees’s favourite root by his master. The pertinacious way in which Kees bestrode Le Vaillant’s Dogs will recall to the remembrance of some a Monkey that was, and perhaps still is, riding about London in hat and feather, with garments to match, upon a great Dog, with the usual accompaniment of hand-organ and Pan’s pipe. Upon these occasions the Monkey evidently feels proud of his commanding position; but ever and anon we have seen him suffer from one of those sad reverses of fortune to which the greatest among us are subject. In the midst of the performance, while the organ and pipe are playing, and the Monkey has it all his own way, and, elevated with the grandeur that surrounds him, is looking in a supercilious manner at the admiring crowd, some good-natured but unlucky boy throws the Dog a bit of cake, in his zeal to pick up which the latter lowers his head and shoulders so suddenly as infallibly to pitch his rider over his head. We have thought more than once that there was a sly look about the Dog as he regarded the unseated Monkey, utterly confounded by his downfall, and the accompanying shouts of laughter from the bystanders.

The Pig-tailed Baboon being very clever, very agile, and able to use his jaws admirably in digging, eating, and fighting, should have a good skull, and certainly that of an adult, although useful is extremely ugly. The brain-case is even for a Baboon small in comparison with the rest of the skull, and it is hidden in front by the large prominences over the orbits; it swells out behind, and is marked by a side crest, which passes backwards to meet that of the other side from above each ear. The orbits are separated by a straight (vertical) ridge of bone, which gives a curious look to the face, and makes the eyes look straight to the front along the swollen nose. The openings for the nostrils in the skull (anterior nares) are large and rather oval, and the upper jaw is as it were nipped in above the grinders, and then swollen out above. The long nose bones (nasals) are separated by a slight depression from the great ridges of the upper jaw. The huge upper canine teeth are most extraordinary. They are slim, slightly curved, long (1½ inch), and sharp at the tip; when examined they are almost rapier-shaped or triangular in outline, the front of the triangle is grooved, and the back is a sharp cutting edge. The groove is for the top of the lower canine which works into it, and the sharp edge behind cuts upon the tooth in the lower jaw behind the lower canine (the first pre-molar), pushing it backwards and displacing it. These fangs are very terrible to look at, and yet it appears that their principal work is done with the back edge of the upper one grinding and cutting on the curiously-started tooth of the lower jaw. They are capital holders, root-cutters, and nut-crackers.

THE SPHINX BABOON.[64]

There is nothing much more amusing than to see a young Sphinx Baboon just a little irritated by some one who knows him. They are fine large creatures even when young, and have then an amiable expression of countenance, which they lose with the cares of old age. Greatly resembling the young of the Chacma, they have much the same disposition for play, and can be made a little jealous and fierce. Their colour differs, for their black face is encircled by a dark hair with a decided greenish tint, which is very universal, and upon this they appear to be arranged as different in kind. One in the Zoological Gardens was very active, running on all-fours well, and climbing up the wires of his cage to look at his neighbours. He would come to the side, and on being asked whether he would have a scratch, turned round and placed his back at the disposal of the scratcher, whose operations he much enjoyed; moreover, he put out his hands and feet for examination, and was very quiet. But he had a trick which was not only curious but instructive, as it explained how these Baboons can throw stones, and with good aim. Somebody who knew him came to see him with a lady and offered him a greengage, and when he was about to take it, pretended to give it to her. This excited the indignation of the Sphinx, who trotted off to the further end of his cage and seized a tin pot, which sometimes contained food or water. Taking it in both hands he ran towards the lady and threw it forcibly, and in a good line, at her. He followed his pot, and as it came back by rebounding from the wires he escaped it by straddling his legs. Then he came to the side and scolded much, and looked much put out. He soon forgave the injury, and submitted to having his back scratched with pleasure. Then the greengage was offered again, and before he could take it the fruit was presented to a Baboon in the next compartment. This led to the same result--a rush off to the end of the cage, a rummage for the pot, and a very good throw with both the hands. At length, when he had the fruit given to him he was perfectly content. His looks at the lady were certainly cross and angry enough. Evidently there is a good power of aiming, and as the object is thrown as the Baboon is moving it receives a considerable impetus.

The Sphinx Baboon, or _Cynocephalus sphinx_, inhabits Guinea, and is commonly seen in menageries, and stuffed in museums. As old age comes on its character alters as well as its aspect of countenance; it ceases to be familiar and becomes morose and ferocious. The skull of the Sphinx Baboon resembles, to a certain degree, that of the Hamadryas Baboon, but the orbits are decidedly oblique. There is the same filling up of the upper jaw-bones, and the cheek-bones do not project very much.

THE ANUBIS BABOON.[65]

These Baboons live a very peculiar life in the neighbourhood of Angola, a Portuguese settlement on the western coast of Africa. Instead of delighting in the dense woods and glades of the tropical country close by, where fruit, nuts, and roots exist in vast abundance, and where water is most plentiful, they prefer to inhabit a hilly district which is much cut up in all directions by deep dry gullies, and grand rocky ravines. The country is badly supplied with vegetation, and water is very scarce. There are a few prickly shrubs, a few roots of grass, and certain kinds of thick club-stemmed dwarf shrubs all bearing a few leaves, only during the few months of the year in which rain falls. During the rest of the year nothing is seen but bare rock and scorched leafless firewood. At distances far apart, water only exists in deep dry gullies under the sand. In the neighbourhood of the rivers on that part of the coast vegetation is most luxuriant, but the Monkeys prefer the arid country, living principally on the root and stem of one of the most extraordinary plants in the world--the Welwitschia.

The dog-like jaws of these Apes are very useful in gnawing the exposed roots of these plants, and they manage to nibble them just as a Sheep does a turnip. When thirsty they seek for water, and in company with Zebras and other animals excavate or scrape holes in the sand until it is found over the hard sub-rock.

They are very wary, and usually assemble in troops of fifteen or more, and when they move about they send forward one or two who act as scouts, and give signals to the main body about what is going on in front. Some time since a man opened a well at some copper-mines on the hills, and he soon found that the Baboons knew what he had done, for they came down to drink in bodies of thirty or forty.

They run very fast and on all-fours in a kind of sideway gallop, and the little ones ride on the backs of their dams, holding very tight and safely. It appears that there is some discipline going on amongst them when they are in bodies, for if a scout should happen not to signal danger or whatever is interesting to the whole band, the rest set upon him, and give him a good thrashing.

Some similar or perhaps the same kind of Baboon lives a more pleasant life than these in another district in the neighbourhood of Angola. There are some most extraordinary rocks which are situated some two hundred or more miles in the interior, and were mentioned more than two centuries ago in the books of missionaries and other travellers as great wonders of nature. They are the Black Rocks of Pungo Andongo. These rocks, rising on the outskirts of a district celebrated for its marvellous fertility and richness of vegetation, are arid-looking on the top, and dark, partly from the natural tint of the stone which is composed of gneiss. They encircle a valley, and extend over about ten square miles, being rugged, or in the form of gigantic pillars. Sloping away from the valley region with its great forests, they present precipitous sides towards it, and are broken up by ravines.

At first sight the stone of the precipices appears to be sterile or poor in vegetation, but the nearer the margin of the high land is approached the more luxuriant it becomes, the more flowery the open fields, and the more numerous the crystal brooks. Cultivation goes on here, and grain is carefully sewn, maize especially. In other parts of the valley a dense dark-green primeval forest reaches close to the precipitous and partly sterile walls of rock. The upper part of the precipices and rocks is, however, bare of any shrub or tree-like vegetation, and looks arid enough during the greater part of the year. Now all this is of great importance to the Baboon. He lives on the top of the rocks in hollows and under ledges of stone, and safely placed there in inaccessible places, he surveys the fertile scene below him, and selects the choicest of the fields for the supply of his food. Probably there would be no such oasis in the country were it not for a very curious plant which really gives the name to the “Black Rocks,” and which clothes the hills during the wet season. And if there were no fertile valley the Baboon would certainly not be found in this district. As the wet season progresses, the hills look blacker and blacker, their ruggedness disappears, and even the sterile faces of the precipices grow dark, and the vegetation of the valley appears to crowd up their slope. All this alteration is produced by the vigorous and indeed enormous growth of a singular plant called Scytonema. It retains much moisture within its tangles, and long after the rains have ceased to be felt and to influence the vegetation of the valley, the aridity of the district is antagonised or put off for a while by this interesting property. The Scytonema selects the bare rocks for its favourite locality, and these surround the valley with its teeming vegetation as with a great sponge, whose moisture prolongs the weeks of plant life and of active growth, and adds to a wonderful fertility. With plenty of running water, abundance of food, and a very safe shelter, the Baboons have great cause to thank the Scytonema. They flourish amongst the rocks, and are a terrible scourge to the inhabitants of the valley. Their cunning and boldness are remarkable, and are increased by their numbers. After surveying the growth of the choicest fields of Indian corn they assemble in great troops and destroy entire plantations in a single night.

THE COMMON BABOON.[66]

There is a Baboon which is much more commonly seen in menageries on the Continent than any other, and which is kept by the Arabian and Egyptian jugglers; yet it is by no means satisfactorily made out whether it is a particular species or only the young or even adult form of some one of those already described. It has a name, however, which ought to leave the identity of the creature in no doubt--it is the Common Baboon, or _Cynocephalus papio_. If it really comes from all the places whence it is said to be derived it lives over a vast district, and is to be found on the west or Guinea Coast inland, in Abyssinia, and on the Nile further north. Sir John Kirk found them in Zambesia in Eastern Equatorial Africa, and was told that the natives held them as sacred, and preserved them, calling them “Nyam” and “Manganja.” But probably the specimens from Guinea are these of the Sphinx Baboon, those from Abyssinia are the females of the Hamadryas or of Geladas and possibly there may be some in this district which really are true Papio Baboons.

They are very common in the half wild and tame condition; and as they often have to take care themselves in the midst of a very restless and half-starving set of men, their senses become sharpened, and their intelligence becomes exalted in a most curious manner. But nothing is known of them in the wild state.

They are large animals, and their hair is of a uniform yellowish-brown colour, slightly shaded with sandy or light red tints. The whiskers are of a light fawn colour, and the face, ears, and hands and naked and black; the upper eyelids are white and naked, and the tail is about one-half the length of the body, but it has no tuft. They have no mane, and the muzzle is not so prolonged as in the Hamadryas and Chacma Baboons; nevertheless, the cheeks are rather swollen, and in this there is a faint resemblance to the Mandrill, but they are not coloured, and the muzzle is thin beyond them, and as it were truncated. The ears are visible, and are black and hairless, but are somewhat pointed. All the underneath of the body and the under part of the limbs are covered with hairs of a brown colour. Some are of a greenish hue, and the hairs are not of one colour.

Buffon had one that was full grown, and it was as savage as well could be. It exhibited all the ferocity of disposition and intractability of nature common to the rest of its kind when full grown “It was not,” says he, “altogether hideous, and yet it excited horror. It appeared to be continually in a state of savage ferocity, grinding its teeth, perpetually restless, agitated by unprovoked fury. It was obliged to be shut up in an iron cage, of which it shook the bars so powerfully with its hands as to inspire the spectators with apprehension. It was a stout-built animal, whose nervous limbs and compressed form indicated great force and agility; and although the length and thickness of its shaggy coat made it appear to be much larger than it was in reality, it was nevertheless so strong and active that it might have readily resisted the attacks of several unarmed men.”

But although thus ferocious in old age, they are amusing, tractable, teachable, and even affectionate when young; they know and like their master, are orderly when with him, can be taught all sorts of tricks, and they even like the young of other animals as pets. There are of course all sorts of stories told about them, some of which are true, for they were told by reliable naturalists from the results of their own experience, but the majority have too much of the wonderful in them, and are clearly the results of Eastern imaginations. A distinguished naturalist and traveller took much pains with some Baboons, and learned much of their habits and curious tricks, and his first pupil was amusing enough. Of course Baboons differ like higher animals in their temper and lightness of disposition; some are grumpy and stupid, and others are as friendly and frolicsome as a genially-disposed Dog. One of these last came into his hands, and was, for a Baboon, quite amiable-looking, full of vivacity, and possessed of a vast amount of animal spirits and talent for the mischievous. He had a place set apart for him near one of the gates of the establishment in Egypt, where he acted as a sort of watch-dog. This duty he performed to perfection, and no one dared to attempt to enter without his leave. To those whom he knew he was polite, but to all others he was quite the reverse. Walking backwards and forwards in great ire when disturbed by anybody unknown to him, he finally stood stiffly on three of his legs, and hammered away at the floor with the knuckles of the other, just as a man raps a table when in a pet. His eyes glared, and he gave tongue in a fierce growling bark.

Sometimes he would put on a most enticing look, and seem most kindly disposed, seeking as it were the friendly notice of people; then out would come his hand for something nice to be given him, and if refused all his good looks departed, and he behaved more like a devil than a watch-dog, rushing at his enemy, and endeavouring to bite and scratch. He was on good terms with all the animals of the neighbourhood, but took a great dislike to some Ostriches which wandered about, and often came close to him, not apparently that they were necessarily unbeloved by Apes, but because they did him some very evil services most unintentionally. He liked to get on a wall under a quantity of straw, which protected him from the sun, and there he dozed away. Now the Ostrich had a very bad habit of trying to swallow or peck at everything; nothing comes amiss so that it can be swallowed; and they one and all are constantly poking here and poking there for most curious titbits. This was the case with the Ostriches in the Baboon’s neighbourhood, and it now and then happened that as they were on the search for a novelty they noticed his fine stout tail hanging from the top of the wall. Of course the first Ostrich which was near gave it a good peck with his strong beak, and doubtless a good pull also. This was a most uncalled-for liberty, and not only woke up the sleeper, and hurt him, but also offended his dignity. He awoke full of rage, and before the Ostrich could give a second peck at the gristly morsel the furious Baboon rushed from under the straw, seized his enemy by the neck, and cuffed his head most soundly. He hated Ostriches ever after. The same Baboon was taken on board a boat with the travellers, and exhibited a great fear of the water. After a while he got a little accustomed to it, and gradually was tempted to touch it. He used to go the whole length of his cord, which kept him safe and sound, and, clinging on, would just let one of his feet touch the glistening surface, and drag through the water. This trick he used to do when he was thirsty, for he sucked the water from off his foot.

He was very fond of young animals, and took upon himself the occupation of nurse, whether the mothers liked it, or the little ones cared for it or not. Thus, on once going through the streets of a town seated on the baggage-wagon, the Baboon was tied fast by a good long cord, which gave him much liberty. He saw by the side of the road a Dog with a litter of puppies, and immediately darted off, caught up one of them, and was returning before the mother had recovered from the shock produced by his audacity. She rushed after him as he retreated with the little puppy clasped to his bosom with one of his arms, and so vigorously did she pursue that the Baboon was placed in difficulty, and had to exercise all his resources to get out of her way with his charge. The wagon was on the move, and the rope was at its fullest length, when he suddenly took hold of it with the spare hand, and running himself clear, and alighting on his hind legs, met the attack of the furious Dog most bravely. So stoutly did he persist, that the natives rather took his part, and he retained the little Dog. Afterwards his master took it from him, and restored it, to his great disgust; and, indeed, he was extremely offended, and was sulky and out of temper for long afterwards. Doubtless, if some intelligent men, who were accustomed to treat animals properly, would undertake the education of Baboons, they would be successful to a considerable degree; and there is no reason why they should not be as useful to man as the Dog. But they are teased and worried into a premature and senile savageness when in captivity.

One of the plans of teaching a Baboon to like his master is to keep him constantly in the house where he is; the master feeds him, and is kind and never teasing to him, giving him, however, friendly scratches on the back, and having romps with him. Then, when he will answer to some name or call, and has become familiarised with all around, some one comes in with a whip and begins to talk loudly, and to order the Baboon out of the place. The creature is frightened, and is rather disposed to resist; whereupon the master makes his appearance, and pretends to take his part by opposing the intruder with violent gestures and threats, and making much of the poor brute. This has usually an excellent effect, and produces satisfactory results, the Baboon clinging henceforth to his friend. They are taught to help their masters in conjuring and juggling, and do some tricks well.

The skull of this Baboon has a face occupying about half of it, and the brain case is much contracted behind and at the sides of the brows, and is flattened behind and above, so that the top of the head and eyes look pressed down. There is a ridge at the back of the skull extending from each ear-bone to a little knot at the back part of the occiput. All the back of the head is marked by the impression of the muscles of the back and neck, and the space for the jaw muscles is large on the side. Underneath, the skull is very long, there is the usual small space for the opening of the nostrils into the throat, and the palate is long and arched. In a specimen in the British Museum there is a little hook of bone on one of the small hones at the base of the skull (internal pterygoid bone), which is seen also in man, and it is for a tendon of a muscle to pass around, the use of the muscle being to render the soft palate tense. Why this should be so well grown in this Baboon, whose voice is no better than others, is certainly strange. The face is made broad near the eyes by the projecting cheek-bones, and the orbits are broad, not widely open, and they are separated, as in some of the other Baboons, by a part of the forehead bone (frontal), and the upper part of the nose bones (nasals). The nostril opening is very triangular, and on either side is the broad smaller surface of the upper jaw-bone. The front bone of the upper jaw is very projecting. One is struck with the huge chin of the lower jaw, and how slanting and comparatively small are the jowl ends of it. Evidently from the great breadth of the back of the lower jaw, and its roughness for muscular attachments, it is a very strong one, the narrow part in front which holds the teeth being well moved up and down, and side to side, in biting and masticating.

Their hands are rather short, the fingers are black, and the third and fourth are of the same length; they are strong and hold well, the thumb, however, being of no very great assistance.