Chapter I: Apes, Monkeys, and Lemurs (1)

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THE MAN-LIKE APES.

ARABIAN BABOON.]

THE CHIMPANZEE.

Of all the great apes the CHIMPANZEE most closely approaches man in bodily structure and appearance, although in height it is less near the human standard than the gorilla, 5 feet being probably that of an adult male.

Several races of this ape are known, among them the TRUE CHIMPANZEE and the BALD CHIMPANZEE. The varieties also include the Kulo-kamba, described by Du Chaillu, and the Soko, discovered by Livingstone, who confounded it with the gorilla. But the variations in neither of these are sufficiently important to justify their being ranked as species.

The first authentic mention of the chimpanzee is found in "The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell." an English sailor taken prisoner by the Portuguese in 1590, who lived eighteen years near Angola. He speaks of two apes, the Pongo and the Enjocko, of which the former is the gorilla, the latter the chimpanzee. The animal was first seen in Europe in 1641, and described scientifically fifty-eight years later, but we are indebted to Dr. Savage, a missionary, for our first account of its habits, in 1847.

[_Parson's Green._

"JENNY," THE WELL-KNOWN CHIMPANZEE AT THE ZOO. A VERY CHARACTERISTIC POSE.

In this picture the rounded ear, human-like wrinkles on the forehead, and length of the toes should be noted.]

The chimpanzee, like the gorilla, is found only in Africa. The range includes West and Central Equatorial Africa, from the Gambia in the north to near Angola in the south, while it occurs in the Niam-Niam country to the north-west of the great lakes, and has been discovered recently in Uganda. The new Uganda Railway, which will open out the great lakes to the east, will bring English travellers well within reach of the nearest haunt of these great apes. It is on the likeness and difference of their form and shape to those of man that the attention of the world has been mainly fixed.

The chimpanzee is a heavily built animal, with chest and arms of great power. The male is slightly taller than the female. The crown is depressed, the chin receding, the ridges which overhang the eye-sockets more prominent than in man, less so than in the gorilla. The nose has a short bridge, and a flat extremity. The ear is large, and less human than that of the gorilla. The hands and feet are comparatively long; the digits are, except the thumb and great toe, joined by a web. The arms are short for an ape, reaching only to the knees. The teeth are similar to those of man, and the canines of only moderate size. The chimpanzee has thirteen pairs of ribs, and, like man, has a suggestion at the end of the vertebræ of a rudimentary tail. It walks on all-fours, with the backs of its closed fingers on the ground, and can only stand upright by clasping its hands above its head. The skin is of a reddish or brown flesh-colour, the hair black, with white patches on the lower part of the face. The bald chimpanzee has the top front, and sides of the face bare, exceedingly large ears, thick lips, and black or brown hands and feet.

The chimpanzee's natural home is the thick forest, where tropical vegetation ensures almost total gloom. But near Loango it frequents the mountains near the coast. It is a fruit-feeding animal, said to do much damage to plantations, but the bald race, at all events in captivity, takes readily to flesh, and the famous "Sally" which lived in the Zoo for over six years used to kill and eat pigeons, and caught and killed rats. The male chimpanzee builds a nest in a tree for his family, and sleeps under its shelter; when food becomes scarce in the vicinity, a move is made, and a new nest built. This ape lives either in separate families or communities not exceeding ten in number, and is monogamous.

As to the animal's courage, it is difficult to get accurate information, as the sins of the gorilla and baboon have often been laid on its shoulders, and information derived from natives is usually untrustworthy. Apparently the chimpanzee avoids coming into collision with man, although, when attacked, it is a formidable antagonist. Tales of chimpanzees kidnapping women and children need stronger evidence than they have yet obtained. The natives kill this ape by spearing it in the back, or by driving it into nets, where it is entangled and easily dispatched. According to Livingstone, the soko, as the chimpanzee is called in East Central Africa, kills the leopard by biting its paws, but falls an easy prey to the lion.

[_Aberdeen._

A YOUNG CHIMPANZEE.

This excellent photograph, by Major Nott, F.Z.S., is particularly good, as showing the manner in which these animals use their hands and feet.]

In captivity it is docile and intelligent, but usually fails to stand a northern climate for more than a few months. It is easily taught to wear clothes, to eat and drink in civilised fashion, to understand what is said to it, and reply with a limited vocabulary of grunts. Sally learnt to count perfectly up to six, and less perfectly to ten; she could also distinguish white from any colour, but if other colours were presented her she failed, apparently from colour-blindness. Of this ape the late Dr. G. J. Romanes wrote with something more than the enthusiasm of a clever man pursuing a favourite theme: "Her intelligence was conspicuously displayed by the remarkable degree in which she was able to understand the meaning of spoken language--a degree fully equal to that presented by an infant a few months before emerging from infancy, and therefore higher than that which is presented by any brute, so far at least as I have evidence to show." Romanes here speaks _only_, be it noticed, of ability to understand human speech--not to think and act. But this is in itself a great mark of intelligence _on human lines_. "Having enlisted the co-operation of the keepers, I requested them to ask the ape repeatedly for one straw, two straws, three straws. These she was to pick up and hand out from among the litter of her cage. No constant order was to be observed in making these requests; but whenever she handed a number not asked for her offer was to be refused, while if she gave the proper number her offer was to be accepted, and she was to receive a piece of fruit in payment. In this way the ape had learnt to associate these three numbers with the names. As soon as the animal understood what was required, she never failed to give the number of straws asked for. Her education was then completed in a similar manner from three to four, and from four to five straws. Sally rarely made mistakes up to that number; but above five, and up to ten, to which one of the keepers endeavoured to advance her education, the result is uncertain. It is evident that she understands the words seven, eight, nine, and ten to betoken numbers higher than those below them. When she was asked for any number above six, she always gave some number over six and under ten. She sometimes doubled over a straw to make it present two ends, and was supposed (thus) to hasten the attainment of her task." By no means all the chimpanzees are so patient as Sally. One kept in the Zoological Gardens for some time made an incessant noise by stamping on the back of the box in which it was confined. It struck this with the flat of its foot while hanging to the cross-bar or perch, and made a prodigious din. This seems to bear out the stories of chimpanzees assembling and drumming on logs in the Central African forests.

HEAD OF MALE GORILLA.

This is a photograph of one of the first gorillas ever brought to England. It was sent by the famous M. du Chaillu.]

THE GORILLA.

The name of this enormous ape has been known since 450 B.C. Hanno the Carthaginian, when off Sierra Leone, met with wild men and women whom the interpreter called GORILLAS. The males escaped and flung stones from the rocks, but several females were captured. These animals could not have been gorillas, but were probably baboons. Andrew Battell, already mentioned, described the gorilla under the name of Pongo. He says it is like a man, but without understanding even to put a log on a fire; it kills Negroes, and drives off the elephant with clubs; it is never taken alive, but its young are killed with poisoned arrows; it covers its dead with boughs. Dr. Savage described it in 1847. Later Du Chaillu visited its haunts, and his well-known book relates how he met and killed several specimens. But Mr. Winwood Reade, who also went in quest of it, declared that Du Chaillu, like himself, never saw a live gorilla. Von Koppenfels, however, saw a family of four feeding, besides shooting others. The late Miss Kingsley met several, one of which was killed by her elephant-men.

The gorilla has a limited range, extending from 2° north to 5° south latitude in West Africa, a moist overgrown region including the mouth of the Gaboon River. How far east it is found is uncertain, but it is known in the Sierra del Cristal. In 1851-52 it was seen in considerable numbers on the coast.

The gorilla is the largest, strongest, and most formidable of the Primates. An adult male is from 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet high, heavily built, with arms and chest of extraordinary power. The arms reach to the middle of the legs. The hands are clumsy, the thumb short, and the fingers joined by a web. The neck scarcely exists. The leg has a slight calf. The toes are stumpy and thick; the great toe moves like a thumb. The head is large and receding, with enormous ridges above the eyes, which give it a diabolical appearance. The canine teeth are developed into huge tusks. The nose has a long bridge, and the nostrils look downwards. The ear is small and man-like.

In colour the gorilla varies from deep black to iron-grey, with a reddish tinge on the head; old animals become grizzled. The outer hair is ringed grey and brown; beneath it is a woolly growth. The female is smaller--not exceeding 4 feet 6 inches--and less hideous, as the canines are much smaller, and the ridges above the eyes are not noticeable, a feature common also to the young.

Timid, superstitious natives and credulous or untrustworthy travellers have left still wrapped in mystery many of the habits of this mighty ape, whose fever-stricken, forest-clad haunts render investigation always difficult, often impossible. Many tales of its ferocity and strength are obviously untrue, but we think that too much has been disbelieved. That a huge arm descends from a tree, draws up and chokes the wayfarer, must be false, for intelligent natives have confessed to knowing no instance of the gorilla attacking man. That it vanquishes the leopard is probable; that it has driven the lion from its haunts requires proof. Nor can we accept tales of the carrying-off of Negro women; and the defeat of the elephants, too, must be considered a fiction.

But we must believe that this ape, if provoked or wounded, is a terrible foe, capable of ripping open a man with one stroke of its paw, or of cracking the skull of a hunter as easily as a squirrel cracks a nut. There is a tale of a tribe that kept an enormous gorilla as executioner, which tore its victims to pieces, until an Englishman, doomed to meet it, noticing a large swelling near its ribs, killed it with a heavy blow or two on the weak spot.

Gorillas live mainly in the trees on whose fruit they subsist; they construct a shelter in the lower boughs for the family, and as a lying-in place for the female. The male is said to sleep below, with his back against the tree--a favourite attitude with both sexes--to keep off leopards. On the ground it moves on all-fours, with a curious swinging action, caused by putting its hands with fingers extended on the ground, and bringing its body forward by a half-jump. Having a heel, it can stand better than other apes; but this attitude is not common, and Du Chaillu appears to have been mistaken when he describes the gorilla as attacking upright.

In captivity only immature specimens have been seen--Barnum's great ape being one of the larger forms of chimpanzee. Accounts vary as to the temper of the gorilla, some describing it as untamable, while others say it is docile and playful when young. There is an American tale that a gorilla over 6 feet high was captured near Tanganyika, but nothing more has reached us about it.

When enraged, a gorilla beats its breast, as the writer was informed by a keeper, who thus confirmed Du Chaillu's account. Its usual voice is a grunt, which, when the animal is excited, becomes a roar.

[_Hamburg._

A MALE GORILLA.

This photograph of the largest gorilla known was taken immediately after death by Herr Paschen at Yaunde, and gives an excellent idea of the size of these animals as compared with Negroes. The animal weighed 400 lbs.]

THE ORANG-UTAN.

This great red ape was mentioned by Linnæus in 1766, and at the beginning of the last century a specimen living in the Prince of Orange's collection was described by Vosmaer.

There are three varieties of the ORANG, called by the Dyaks MIAS-PAPPAN, MIAS-RAMBI, and MIAS-KASSU, the third of which is smaller, has no cheek-excrescences, and very large teeth. Some naturalists recognise a pale and a dark race.

Most of our information is due to Raja Brooke and Dr. Wallace. The species is confined to Borneo and Sumatra, but fossils have been found in India of this genus, as well as of a chimpanzee. The orang is less man-like than the chimpanzee and gorilla. In height the male varies from 3 feet 10 inches to 4 feet 6 inches, the female being a few inches shorter. It is a heavy creature, with large head--often a foot in breadth--thick neck, powerful arms, which reach nearly to the ankles, and protuberant abdomen. Its legs are short and bowed. The forehead is high, the nose fairly large, the ears very human. The throat is ornamented with large pouches, and there are often callosities on the cheeks. The fingers are webbed, the thumb small, the foot long and narrow, the great toe small and often without a nail. The brain is man-like, and the ribs agree in number with those of man; but there are nine bones in the wrist, whereas man, the gorilla, and the chimpanzee have but eight. The canine teeth are enormous in the male. The hair, a foot or more long on the shoulders and thighs, is yellowish red: there is a slight beard. The skin is grey or brown, and often, in adults, black.

[_Berlin._

YOUNG ORANG-UTANS.

It will be seen here, from the profile, that the young anthropoid ape has only the upper part of the head at all approaching the human type.]

The orang is entirely a tree-living animal, and is only found in moist districts where there is much virgin forest. On the ground it progresses clumsily on all-fours, using its arms as crutches, and with the side only of its feet on the ground. In trees it travels deliberately but with perfect ease, swinging along underneath the branches, although it also walks along them semi-erect. It lives alone with mate and young, and builds a sleeping-place sufficiently low to avoid the wind. Its food is leaves and fruit, especially the durian; its feeding-time, midday.

No animal molests the mias save--so say the Dyaks--the python and crocodile, both of which it kills by tearing with its hands. It never attacks man, but has been known to bite savagely when brought to bay, and it is very tenacious of life, one being found by Mr. Wallace still alive after a fall from a tree, when "both legs had been broken, its hip-joint and the root of the spine shattered, and two bullets flattened in neck and jaws."

In captivity young orangs are playful and docile, but passionate. Less intelligent than chimpanzees, they may be taught to eat and drink nicely, and to obey simple commands. One in the Zoo at present has acquired the rudiments of drill. They will eat meat and eggs, and drink wine, beer, spirits, and tea. An orang described years ago by Dr. Clarke Abel was allowed the run of the ship on the voyage to England, and would play with the sailors in the rigging. When refused food he pretended to commit suicide, and rushed over the side, only to be found under the chains.

[_Berlin._

BABY ORANG-UTANS AT PLAY.]

The orang is the least interesting of the three great apes; he lacks the power and brutality of the gorilla and the intelligence of the chimpanzee. "The orang," said its keeper to the writer, "is a buffoon; the chimpanzee, a gentleman."

It is worth remark that, although all these apes soon die in our menageries, in Calcutta, where they are kept in the open, orangs thrive well.

[_Berlin._

TWO BABY ORANG-UTANS. THE TUG-OF-WAR.]

THE GIBBONS.

Next after the great apes in man-like characters come a few long-armed, tailless apes, known as the GIBBONS. Like the orang-utan, they live in the great tropical forests of Asia, especially the Indian Archipelago; like the latter, they are gentle, affectionate creatures; and they have also a natural affection for man. But it is in mind and temperament, rather than in skeleton, that the links and differences between men and monkeys must be sought. It will be found that these forest apes differ from other animals and from the true monkeys mainly in this--that they are predisposed to be friendly to man and to obey him, and that they have no bias towards mischief, or "monkey tricks." They are thoughtful, well behaved, and sedate.

THE LARGEST GORILLA EVER CAPTURED.

This huge ape, 5 feet 5 inches high, measures a distance of over 8 feet from finger to finger.]

The SIAMANG, one of the largest of the long-armed, tailless gibbons, lives in the Malay Archipelago. The arms of a specimen only 3 feet high measured 5 feet 6 inches across. This, like all the gibbons, makes its way from tree to tree mainly by swinging itself by its arms. But the siamang can _walk_ upright and run. One kept on board ship would walk down the cabin breakfast-table without upsetting the china. The WHITE-HANDED GIBBON is found in Tenasserim, south-west of Burma. This ape has a musical howl, which the whole flock utters in the early mornings on the tree-tops. In Northern India, in the hills beyond the Brahmaputra, lives another gibbon, the HULOCK. One of these kept in captivity soon learnt to eat properly at meals, and to drink out of a cup instead of dipping his fingers in the tea and milk and then sucking them. The SILVERY GIBBON kept at the Zoological Gardens was a most amiable pet, and had all the agility of the other gibbons. It is very seldom seen in this country, being a native of Java, where it is said to show the most astonishing activity among the tall cane-groves. One of the first ever brought to England belonged to the great Lord Clive. The AGILE GIBBON is another and darker ape of this group.

The list of the man-like apes closes with this group. All the gibbons are highly specialised for tree-climbing and an entirely arboreal life; but it is undeniable that, apart from the modifications necessary for this, such as the abnormal length of the arms, the skeleton closely resembles that of a human being. In their habits, when wild, none of these apes show any remarkable degree of intelligence; but their living is gained in so simple a way, by plucking fruits and leaves, that there is nothing in their surroundings to stimulate thought. They do not need even to think of a time of famine or winter, or to lay up a stock of food for such a season, because they live in the forests under the Equator.

[_Notting Hill._

WHITE-HANDED GIBBON.

This gibbon is found in the forests of the Malay Archipelago.]

[_Notting Hill._

HULOCK GIBBON.

The great length of arm in comparison with the body and head should here be noted.]

MONKEYS.

THE DOG-SHAPED MONKEYS.

After the gibbons come a vast number of monkeys of every conceivable size, shape, and variety, which naturalists have arranged in consecutive order with fair success. Until we reach the Baboons, and go on to the South American Monkeys and the Lemurs, it is not easy to give any idea of what these monkeys do or look like merely by referring to their scientific groups. The usual order of natural histories will here be followed, and the descriptions will, so far as possible, present the habits and appearance of the monkeys specially noticed.

HEAD OF PROBOSCIS MONKEY.

A native of Borneo. Next to the orang-utan, the most striking monkey in the Malay Archipelago.]

This great family of true monkeys contains the Sacred Monkeys, or Langurs, of India, the Guerezas and Guenons of Africa, the Mangabeys, Macaques, and Baboons. Most of them have naked, hard patches of skin on the hindquarters, and the partition between the nostrils is narrow. Some have tails, some none, and they exhibit the most astonishing differences of size and shape. Perhaps the most grotesque and astonishing of them all is the PROBOSCIS MONKEY. It is allied to the langurs, and is a native of the island of Borneo, to which it is confined; its home is the west bank of the Sarawak River. It is an arboreal creature, living in small companies. Mr. Hose, who saw them in their native haunts, says that the proboscis monkeys kept in the trees overhanging the river, and were most difficult to shoot. "I saw altogether about 150 of these monkeys, and without a single exception all were in trees over the water, either lake, river, or in submerged forest. As long as they are in sight, they are very conspicuous objects, choosing the most commanding positions on open tree-tops. Once I saw thirteen in one tree, sitting lazily on the branches, as is their habit, sunning themselves, and enjoying the scenery." They are very striking animals in colour, as well as in form. The face is cinnamon-brown, the sides marked with reddish brown and white, the belly white, the back red-brown and dark brown. Next to the orang-utan, these are the most striking monkeys in the Malay Archipelago.

The greater number of the species intermediate between the gibbons and the New World species are called "DOG-SHAPED" MONKEYS. We wonder why? Only the baboon and a few others are in the least like dogs. The various SACRED MONKEYS of India are often seen in this country, and are quite representative of the "miscellaneous" monkeys in general. Most of them have cheek-pouches, a useful monkey-pocket. They poke food into their pouches, which unfold to be filled, or lie flat when not wanted; and with a pocketful of nuts or rice on either side of their faces, they can scream, eat, bite, or scold quite comfortably, which they could not do with their mouths full. The pouchless monkeys have only their big stomachs to rely on.

The ENTELLUS MONKEY is the most sacred of all in India. It is grey above and nutty brown below, long-legged and active, a thief and an impudent robber. In one of the Indian cities they became such a nuisance that the faithful determined to catch and send away some hundreds. This was done, and the holy monkeys were deported in covered carts, and released many miles off. But the monkeys were too clever. Having thoroughly enjoyed their ride, they all refused to part with the carts, and, hopping and grimacing, came leaping all the way back beside them to the city, grateful for their outing. One city obtained leave to kill the monkeys; but the next city then sued them for "killing their deceased ancestors." In these monkey-infested cities, if one man wishes to spite another, he throws a few handfuls of rice on to the roof of his house about the rainy season. The monkeys come, find the rice, and quietly lift off many of the tiles and throw them away, seeking more rice in the interstices.

CROSS-BEARING LANGUR AND YOUNG.

A forest monkey of Borneo.]

This is not the monkey commonly seen in the hills and at Simla. The large long-tailed monkey there is the HIMALAYAN LANGUR, one of the common animals of the hills. "The langur," says Mr. Lockwood Kipling in his "Beast and Man in India," "is, in his way, a king of the jungle, nor is he often met with in captivity. In some parts of India troops of langurs come bounding with a mighty air of interest and curiosity to look at passing trains, their long tails lifted like notes of interrogation; but frequently, when fairly perched on a wall or tree alongside, they seem to forget all about it, and avert their heads with an affectation of languid indifference."

In India no distinction is made between monkeys. It is an abominable act of sacrilege to kill one of any kind. In the streets holy bulls, calves, parrakeets, sparrows, and monkeys all rob the shops. One monkey-ridden municipality sent off its inconvenient but holy guests by rail, advising the stationmaster to let them loose at the place to which they were consigned. The station, Saharanpur, was a kind of Indian Crewe, and the monkeys got into the engine-sheds and workshops among the driving-wheels and bands. One got in the double roof of an inspection-car, and thence stole mutton, corkscrews, camp-glasses, and dusters. Among many other interesting and correct monkey stories of Mr. Kipling's is the following: "The chief confectioner of Simla had prepared a most splendid bride-cake, which was safely put by in a locked room, that, like most back rooms in Simla, looked out on the mountain-side. It is little use locking the door when the window is left open. When they came to fetch the bride-cake, the last piece of it was being handed out of the window by a chain of monkeys, who whitened the hill-side with its fragments."

From India to Ceylon is no great way, yet in the latter island different monkeys are found. The two best known are the WHITE-BEARDED WANDEROO MONKEY and the GREAT WANDEROO. Both are grave, well-behaved monkeys. The former has white whiskers and a white beard, and looks so wise he is called in Latin _Nestor_, after the ancient counsellor of the Greeks. Nice, clean little monkeys are these, and pretty pets. The great wanderoo is rarer. It lives in the hills. "A flock of them," says Mr. Dallas, "will take possession of a palm-grove, and so well can they conceal themselves in the leaves that the whole party become invisible. The presence of a dog excites their irresistible curiosity, and in order to watch his movements they never fail to betray themselves. They may be seen congregated on the roof of a native hut. Some years ago the child of a European clergyman, having been left on the ground by a nurse, was bitten and teased to death by them. These monkeys have only one wife." Near relatives of the langurs are the two species of SNUB-NOSED MONKEYS, one of which (see figure on page 18) inhabits Eastern Tibet and North-western China, and the other the valley of the Mekong.

MALE HIMALAYAN LANGUR.

A king of the Jungle, not often met with in captivity.]

THE GUEREZAS AND GUENONS.

This photograph is probably unique, as a gelada baboon has been rarely seen. It shows them at home looking for food on the ground under the bamboos and palms. It was taken by Lord Delamere in the East African jungle.]

Among the ordinary monkeys of the Old World are some with very striking hair and colours. The GUEREZA of Abyssinia has bright white-and-black fur, with long white fringes on the sides. This is the black-and-white skin fastened by the Abyssinians to their shields, and, if we are not wrong, by the Kaffirs also. Among the GUENONS, a large tribe of monkeys living in the African forests, many of which find their way here as "organ monkeys," is the DIANA, a most beautiful creature, living on the Guinea Coast. It has a white crescent on its forehead, bluish-grey fur, a white beard, and a patch of brilliant chestnut on the back, the belly white and orange. A lady, Mrs. Bowditch, gives the following account of a Diana monkey on board ship. It jumped on to her shoulder, stared into her face, and then made friends, seated itself on her knees, and carefully examined her hands. "He then tried to pull off my rings, when I gave him some biscuits, and making a bed for him with my handkerchief he then settled himself comfortably to sleep; and from that moment we were sworn allies. When mischievous, he was often banished to a hen-coop. Much more effect was produced by taking him in sight of the panther, who always seemed most willing to devour him. On these occasions I held him by the tail before the cage; but long before I reached it, knowing where he was going, he pretended to be dead. His eyes were closed quite fast, and every limb was as stiff as though there were no life in him. When taken away, he would open one eye a little, to see whereabouts he might be; but if he caught sight of the panther's cage it was instantly closed, and he became as stiff as before." This monkey stole the men's knives, tools, and handkerchiefs, and even their caps, which he threw into the sea. He would carefully feed the parrots, chewing up biscuit and presenting them the bits; and he caught another small monkey and painted it black! Altogether, he must have enlivened the voyage. The GRIVET MONKEY, the GREEN MONKEY, the MONA MONKEY, and the MANGABEY are other commonly seen African species.

MANTLED GUEREZA.

This group of monkeys supplies the "monkey muffs" once very fashionable. The species with white plumes is used to decorate the Kaffir shields.]

THE MACAQUES.

The MACAQUES, of which there are many kinds, from the Rock of Gibraltar to far Japan, occupy the catalogue between the guenon and the baboon. The COMMON MACAQUE and many others have tails. Those of Japan, and some of those of China, notably the TCHELI MONKEY, kept outside the monkey-house at the Zoo, and the JAPANESE MACAQUE, at the other entrance, are tailless, and much more like anthropoid apes. The Tcheli monkey is large and powerful, but other macaques are of all sizes down to little creatures no bigger than a kitten. Some live in the hottest plains, others in the mountains. The COMMON MACAQUE, found in the Malay Archipelago, is a strong, medium-sized monkey. The FORMOSAN MACAQUE is a rock-living creature; those of Japan inhabit the pine-groves, and are fond of pelting any one who passes with stones and fir-cones. The BONNET MACAQUE is an amusing little beast, very fond of hugging and nursing others in captivity. The BANDAR or RHESUS MONKEY, a common species, also belongs to this group. But the most interesting to Europeans is the MAGOT, or BARBARY APE. It is the last monkey left in Europe. There it only lives on the Rock of Gibraltar. It was the monkey which Galen is said to have dissected, because he was not permitted to dissect a human body. These monkeys are carefully preserved upon the Rock. Formerly, when they were more common, they were very mischievous. The following story was told by Mr. Bidcup: "The apes of the Rock, led by one particular monkey, were always stealing from the kit of a certain regiment encamped there. At last the soldiers caught the leader, shaved his head and face, and turned him loose. His friends, who had been watching, received him with a shower of sticks and stones. In these desperate circumstances the ape sneaked back to his old enemies, the soldiers, with whom he remained." Lord Heathfield, a former Governor of the Rock, would never let them be hurt; and on one occasion, when the Spaniards were attempting a surprise, the noise made by the apes gave notice of their attempt.

[_North Finchley._

DIANA MONKEY.

One of the most gaily coloured monkeys of Africa.]

THE BABOONS.

Far the most interesting of the apes in the wild state are the BABOONS. Their dog-like heads (which in some are so large and hideous that they look like a cross between an ill-tempered dog and a pig), short bodies, enormously strong arms, and loud barking cry distinguish them from all other creatures. The greater number--for there are many kinds--live in the hot, dry, stony parts of Africa. They are familiar figures from the cliffs of Abyssinia to the Cape, where their bold and predatory bands still occupy Table Mountain. They are almost the only animals which the high-contracting Powers of Africa have resolved not to protect at any season, so mischievous are they to crops, and recently to the flocks. They kill the suckling lambs, and tear them to pieces for the sake of the milk contained in their bodies.

[_Aberdeen._

BARBARY APE.

The last of the European monkeys; on this side of the Mediterranean it is only found on the Rock of Gibraltar.]

One of the best-known baboons is the CHACMA of South Africa. The old males grow to a great size, and are most formidable creatures. Naturally, they are very seldom caught; but one very large one is in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, at the time of writing. The keeper declares he would rather go into a lion's cage than into the den of this beast when angry. Its head is nearly one-third of its total length from nose to the root of the tail. Its jaw-power is immense, and its forearm looks as strong as Sandow's. Like all monkeys, this creature has the power of springing instantaneously from a sitting position; and its bite would cripple anything from a man to a leopard. The chacmas live in companies in the kopjes, whence they descend to forage the mealie-grounds, river-beds, and bush. Thence they come down to steal fruit and pumpkins or corn, turn over the stones and catch beetles, or eat locusts. Their robbing expeditions are organised. Scouts keep a look-out, the females and young are put in the centre, and the retreat is protected by the old males. Children in the Cape Colony are always warned not to go out when the baboons are near. When irritated--and they are very touchy in their tempers--the whole of the males will sometimes charge and attack. The possibility of this is very unpleasant, and renders people cautious.

[_Wishaw, N.B._

RHESUS MONKEY.

A young specimen of the common Bengal monkey.]

Not many years ago a well-known sportsman was shooting in Somaliland. On the other side of a rocky ravine was a troop of baboons of a species of which no examples were in the British Museum. Though he knew the danger, he was tempted to shoot and to secure a skin. At 200 yards he killed one dead, which the rest did not notice. Then he hit another and wounded it. The baboon screamed, and instantly the others sat up, saw the malefactor, and charged straight for him. Most fortunately, they had to scramble down the ravine and up again, by which time the sportsman and his servant had put such a distance between them, making "very good time over the flat," that the baboons contented themselves by barking defiance at them when they reached the level ground.

RHESUS MONKEY AND SOOTY MANGABEY.

The sooty mangabey (to the right of the picture) is gentle and companionable, but petulant and active.]

They are the only mammals which _thoroughly_ understand combination for defence as well as attack. But Brehm, the German traveller, gives a charming story of genuine courage and self-sacrifice shown by one. His hunting dogs gave chase to a troop which was retreating to some cliffs, and cut off a very young one, which ran up on to a rock, only just out of reach of the dogs. An old male baboon saw this, and came alone to the rescue. Slowly and deliberately he descended, crossed the open space, and stamping his hands on the ground, showing his teeth, and backed by the furious barks of the rest of the baboons, he disconcerted and cowed these savage dogs, climbed on to the rock, picked up the baby, and carried him back safely. If the dogs had attacked the old patriarch, his tribe would probably have helped him. Burchell, the naturalist after whom Burchell's zebra is named, let his dogs chase a troop. The baboons turned on them, killed one on the spot by biting through the great blood-vessels of the neck, and laid bare the ribs of another. The Cape Dutch in the Old Colony would rather let their dogs bait a lion than a troop of baboons. The rescue of the infant chacma which Brehm saw himself is a remarkable, and indeed the most incontestable, instance of the exhibition of courage and self-sacrifice by a _male_ animal.

GREY-CHEEKED MANGABEY.

One of the small African monkeys.]

CHINESE MACAQUE.

This monkey lives in a climate as cold as that of England.]

If the baboons were not generally liable to become bad-tempered when they grow old, they could probably be trained to be among the most useful of animal helpers and servers; but they are so formidable, and so uncertain in temper, that they are almost too dangerous for attempts at semi-domestication. When experiments have been made, they have had remarkable results. Le Vaillant, one of the early explorers in South Africa, had a chacma baboon which was a better watch than any of his dogs. It gave warning of any creature approaching the camp at night long before the dogs could hear or smell it. He took it out with him when he was shooting, and used to let it collect edible roots for him. The latest example of a trained baboon only died a few years ago. It belonged to a railway signalman at Uitenhage station, about 200 miles up-country from Port Elizabeth, in Cape Colony. The man had the misfortune to undergo an operation in which both his feet were amputated, after being crushed by the wheels of a train. Being an ingenious fellow, he taught his baboon, which was a full-grown one, to pull him along the line on a trolly to the "distant" signal. There the baboon stopped at the word of command, and the man would work the lever himself. But in time he taught the baboon to do it, while he sat on the trolly, ready to help if any mistake were made.

GRIVET MONKEY.

This is the small monkey commonly taken about with street-organs.]

BONNET MONKEY, AND ARABIAN BABOON (ON THE RIGHT).]

The chacmas have for relations a number of other baboons in the rocky parts of the African Continent, most of which have almost the same habits, and are not very different in appearance. Among them is the GELADA BABOON, a species very common in the rocky highlands of Abyssinia; another is the ANUBIS BABOON of the West Coast of Africa. The latter is numerous round the Portuguese settlement of Angola. Whether the so-called COMMON BABOON of the menageries is a separate species or only the young of some one of the above-mentioned is not very clear. But about another variety there can be no doubt. It has been separated from the rest since the days of the Pharaohs. It does not differ in habits from the other baboons, but inhabits the rocky parts of the Nile Valley. It appears in Egyptian mythology under the name of Thoth, and is constantly seen in the sculptures and hieroglyphs.

[_North Finchley._

RHESUS MONKEYS.

This photograph is particularly interesting. It was actually taken by another monkey, which pressed the button of Mr. Medland's camera.]

Equally strong and far more repulsive are the two baboons of West Africa--the DRILL and the MANDRILL. As young specimens of these beasts are the only ones at all easily caught, and these nearly always die when cutting their second teeth when in captivity, large adult mandrills are seldom seen in Europe. They grow to a great size, and are probably the most hideous of all beasts. The frightful nose, high cheekbones, and pig-like eyes are the basis of the horrible heads of devils and goblins which Albert Dürer and other German or Dutch mediæval painters sometimes put on canvas. Add to the figure the misplaced bright colours--cobalt-blue on the cheeks, which are scarred, as if by a rake, with scarlet furrows, and scarlet on the buttocks--and it will be admitted that nature has invested this massive, powerful, and ferocious baboon with a repulsiveness equalling in completeness the extremes of grace and beauty manifested in the roe-deer or the bird of paradise.

ORANGE SNUB-NOSED MONKEY.

This should be contrasted with the Proboscis Monkey.]

The natives of Guinea and other parts of West Africa have consistent accounts that the mandrills have tried to carry off females and children. They live in troops like the chacmas, plunder the fields, and, like all baboons, spend much time on the ground walking on all-fours. When doing this, they are quite unlike any other creatures. They walk slowly, with the head bent downwards, like a person walking on hands and knees looking for a pin. With the right hand (usually) they turn over every stick and stone, looking for insects, scorpions, or snails, and these they seize and eat. The writer has seen baboons picking up sand, and straining it through their fingers, to see if there were ants in it. He has also seen one hold up sand in the palm of its hand, and blow the dust away with its breath, and then look again to see if anything edible were left. Mandrills kept in captivity until adult become very savage. One in Wombwell's menagerie killed another monkey and a beagle. Mr. Cross owned one which would sit in an armchair, smoke, and drink porter; but these convivial accomplishments were accompanied by a most ferocious temper.

One of the earliest accounts of the habits of the Abyssinian baboons was given by Ludolf in his "History of Ethiopia." It was translated into quaint, but excellent old English: "Of Apes," he says, "there are infinite flocks up and down in the mountains, a thousand and more together, and they leave no stone unturned. If they meet with one that two or three cannot lift they call for more aid, and all for the sake of the Worms 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 soon as the Emmets creep into their treacherous palms they lick 'em off, with great comfort to their stomachs. And there they will lye till there is not an Emmet left. They are also pernicious to fruits and apples, and will destroy whole fields and gardens unless they be looked after. For they are very cunning, and will never venture in till the return of their spies, which they send always before, who, giving all information that it is safe, in they rush with their whole body and make a quick despatch. Therefore they go very quiet and silent to their prey; and if their young ones chance to make a noise, they chastise them with their fists; but if the coast is clear, then every one has a different noise to express his joy." Ludolf clearly means the baboons by this description.

[_Berlin_

PIG-TAILED MONKEY.

"Footing the line." Note how the monkey uses its feet as hands when walking on a branch.]

A more ancient story deals with Alexander's campaigns. He encamped on a mountain on which were numerous bands of monkeys (probably baboons). On the following morning the sentries saw what looked like troops coming to offer them battle. As they had just won a victory, they were at a loss to guess who these new foes might he. The alarm was given, and the Macedonian troops set out in battle-array. Then through the morning mists they saw that the enemy was an immense troop of monkeys. Their prisoners, who knew what the alarm was caused by, made no small sport of the Macedonians.

[_Berlin._

CHACMA BABOON.

This photograph shows his attitude when about to make an attack.]

THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS.

Something should be said of the alleged "speech of monkeys" which Professor Garner believed himself to have discovered. He rightly excluded mere sounds showing joy, desire, or sorrow from the faculty of speech, but claimed to have detected special words, one meaning "food," another "drink," another "give me that," another meaning "monkey," or an identification of a second animal or monkey. He used a phonograph to keep permanent record of the sounds, and made an expedition to the West African forests in the hope that he might induce the large anthropoid apes to answer the sounds which are so often uttered by their kind in our menageries. The enterprise ended, as might have been expected, in failure. Nor was it in the least necessary to go and sit in a cage in an African forest in the hope of striking up an acquaintance with the native chimpanzees. The little Capuchin monkeys, whose voices and sounds he had ample opportunity of observing here, give sufficient material for trying experiments in the meaning of monkey sounds. The writer believes that it is highly probable that the cleverer monkeys have a great many notes or sounds which the others do understand, if only because they make the same under similar circumstances, otherwise they would not utter them. They are like the sounds which an intelligent but nearly dumb person might make. Also they have very sharp ears, and some of them can understand musical sounds, so far as to show a very marked attention to them. The following account of an experiment of this kind, when a violin was being played, is related in "Life at the Zoo": "The Capuchin monkeys, the species selected by Professor Garner for his experiments in monkey language, showed the strangest and most amusing excitement. These pretty little creatures have very expressive and intelligent faces, and the play and mobility of their faces and voices while listening to the music were extraordinarily rapid. The three in the first cage at once rushed up into their box, and then all peeped out, chattering and excited. One by one they came down, and listened to the music with intense curiosity, shrieking and making faces at a crescendo, shaking the wires angrily at a discord, and putting their heads almost upside-down in efforts at acute criticism at low and musical passages. Every change of note was marked by some alteration of expression in the faces of the excited little monkeys, and a series of discordant notes roused them to a passion of rage." At the same time a big baboon, chained up near, evidently disliked it. He walked off in the opposite direction to the farthest limits of his chain.

[_Wishaw, N.B._

A YOUNG MALE CHACMA BABOON.

Note the protruding tusk in the upper jaw. A baboon sitting in this position of rest can instantly leap six or seven feet, and inflict a dangerous bite.]

HEAD OF MALE MANDRILL.

This is one of the most hideous of living animals. The natives of West Africa hold it in greater dislike even than the large carnivora, from the mischief which it does to their crops.]

BROWN CAPUCHIN.

The most intelligent of the common monkeys of the New World. It uses many sounds to express emotions, and perhaps desires.]

DRILL.

Only less ugly than the Mandrill. Its habits are the same.]

THE NEW WORLD MONKEYS.

Mention of the Capuchins takes us to the whole group of the New World Monkeys. Nearly all of these live in the tropical forests of Brazil, Guiana, Venezuela, and Mexico. They are all different from the Old World monkeys, and many are far more beautiful. The most attractive of the hardier kinds are the Capuchins; but there are many kinds of rare and delicate little monkeys more beautiful than any squirrel, which would make the most delightful pets in the world, if they were not so delicate. To try to describe the Old World monkeys in separate groups from end to end is rather a hopeless task. But the American monkeys are more manageable by the puzzled amateur. Most of them have a broad and marked division between the nostrils, which are not mere slits close together, but like the nostrils of men. They also have human-looking rounded heads. Their noses are of the "cogitative" order, instead of being snouts or snubs with narrow openings in them; and the whole face is in many ways human and intelligent. The HOWLER MONKEYS, which utter the most hideous sounds ever heard in the forests, and the SPIDER MONKEYS are the largest. The latter have the most wonderfully developed limbs and tails for catching and climbing of any living animals. As highly specialised creatures are always interesting, visitors to any zoological garden will find it worth while to watch a spider monkey climbing, just as it is always worth while to watch a great snake on the move. The tail is used as a fifth hand: the Indians of Brazil say they catch fish with it, which is not true. But if you watch a spider monkey moving from tree to tree, his limbs and tail move like the five fingers of a star-fish. Each of the extremities is as sensitive as a hand, far longer in proportion than an ordinary man's arm, and apparently able to work independently of joints. The monkey can do so many things at once that no juggler can equal it. It will hold fruit in one hand, pick more with one foot, place food to the mouth with another hand, and walk and swing from branch to branch with the other foot and tail, all simultaneously. These monkeys have no visible thumb, though dissection shows that they have a rudimentary one; but the limbs are so flexible that they can put one arm round behind their heads over on to the opposite shoulder, and brush the fur on their upper arm. The end of the tail seems always "feeling" the air or surroundings, and has hairs, thin and long, at the end, which aid it in knowing when it is near a leaf or branch. It is almost like the tentacle of some sea zoophyte. Gentle creatures, all of them, are these spider monkeys. One of them, of the species called Waita, when kept in captivity, wore the fur off its forehead by rubbing its long gaunt arms continually over its brow whenever it was scolded. The spider monkeys differ only in the degree of spidery slenderness in their limbs. In disposition they are always amiable, and in habits tree-climbers and fruit-eaters.

RED HOWLER MONKEY.

The males possess a most extraordinary voice.]

A SPIDER MONKEY

This monkey is specially adapted for arboreal life. The tail acts as a fifth hand.]

The CAPUCHINS are, in the writer's opinion, the nicest of all monkeys. Many species are known, but all have the same round merry faces, bright eyes, pretty fur, and long tails. There is always a fair number at the Zoological Gardens. They are merry, but full of fads. One hates children and loves ladies; another adores one or two other monkeys, and screams at the rest. All are fond of insects as well as of fruit. A friend of the writer kept one in a large house in Leicestershire. It was not very good-tempered, but most amusing, climbing up the blind-cord first, and catching and eating the flies on the window-panes most dexterously, always avoiding the wasps. This monkey was taught to put out a lighted paper (a useful accomplishment) by dashing its hands on to the burning part, or, if the paper were twisted up, by taking the unlighted end and beating the burning part on the ground; and it was very fond of turning the leaves of any large book. This it did not only by vigorous use of both arms and hands, but by putting its head under too, and "heaving" the leaves over.