Natural History in Anecdote Part 2

The Arabian Baboon.

The Arabian baboon is an animal with a history. It was worshipped by the Egyptians, who embalmed its body after death and set apart portions of their cemeteries for its use. Sacred to Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, the G.o.d of letters, the baboon sometimes represents that deity in Egyptian sculptures, where it is usually figured in a sitting posture, the att.i.tude in which its body was generally embalmed. The baboon was also held as emblematic of the Moon, and honoured symbolically in other connections. It is commonly represented in judgment scenes of the dead with a pair of scales in front of it, Thoth being supposed to exercise important duties in the final judgment of men. The baboon was held especially sacred at Hermopolis. According to Sir J. G. Wilkinson the Egyptians trained baboons to useful offices, making them torch-bearers at their feasts and festivals.

The Imitative Faculty of the Baboon.

Like others of the monkey tribes the baboon shows an extraordinary faculty for imitation. Captain Browne in his "Characteristics of Animals" says: "The following circ.u.mstance is truly characteristic of the imitative powers of the baboon:--The army of Alexander the Great marched in complete battle-array into a country inhabited by great numbers of baboons, and encamped there for the night. The next morning, when the army was about to proceed on its march, the soldiers saw, at some distance, an enormous number of baboons, drawn up in rank and file, like a small army, with such regularity, that the Macedonians, who could have no idea of such a manuvre, imagined at first that it was the enemy drawn up to receive them."

The Chackma Baboon.

The chackma lives among the mountains of the Cape of Good Hope, where he attains about the size of an English mastiff and even greater strength.

He descends to the plains on foraging expeditions, and, when not attacked, will usually make off on the approach of danger, but if aroused to anger can both show and use his teeth, and is far superior to the average English boy in throwing stones.

The Baboon's Utility.

Le Vaillant gives an interesting account of a chackma baboon which accompanied him through South Africa, and which bore the name of Kees.

He says: "I made him my taster. Whenever we found fruits or roots, with which my Hottentots were unacquainted, we did not touch them till Kees had tasted them. If he threw them away, we concluded that they were either of a disagreeable flavour, or of a pernicious quality, and left them untasted. The monkey possesses a peculiar property, wherein he differs greatly from other animals, and resembles man,--namely, that he is by nature equally gluttonous and inquisitive. Without necessity, and without appet.i.te, he tastes every thing that falls in his way, or that is given to him. But Kees had a still more valuable quality,--he was an excellent sentinel; for, whether by day or night, he immediately sprang up on the slightest appearance of danger. By his cry, and the symptoms of fear which he exhibited, we were always apprized of the approach of an enemy, even though the dogs perceived nothing of it. The latter, at length, learned to rely upon him with such confidence, that they slept on in perfect tranquillity. I often took Kees with me when I went hunting; and when he saw me preparing for sport, he exhibited the most lively demonstrations of joy. On the way, he would climb into the trees to look for gum, of which he was very fond. Sometimes he discovered to me honey, deposited in the clefts of rocks, or hollow trees. But, if he happened to have met with neither honey nor gum, and his appet.i.te had become sharp by his running about, I always witnessed a very ludicrous scene. In those cases, he looked for roots, which he ate with great greediness, especially a particular kind, which, to his cost, I also found to be very well tasted and refreshing, and therefore insisted upon sharing with him. In order to draw these roots out of the ground, he employed a very ingenious method, which afforded me much amus.e.m.e.nt. He laid hold of the herbage with his teeth, stemmed his fore feet against the ground, and drew back his head, which gradually pulled out the root.

But if this expedient, for which he employed his whole strength, did not succeed, he laid hold of the leaves as before, as close to the ground as possible, and then threw himself heels over head, which gave such a concussion to the root, that it never failed to come out.

The Tame Baboon.

"Serpents excepted, there were no animals of whom Kees stood in such great dread as of his own species,--perhaps owing to a consciousness of loss of natural capacity. Sometimes he heard the cry of other apes among the mountains, and, terrified as he was, he yet answered them. But, if they approached nearer, and he saw any of them, he fled, with a hideous cry, crept between our legs, and trembled over his whole body. It was very difficult to compose him, and it required some time before he recovered from his fright.

The Cunning of the Baboon

"Like all other animals, Kees was addicted to stealing. He understood admirably well how to loose the strings of a basket, in order to take victuals out of it, especially milk, of which he was very fond. My people chastised him for these thefts; but that did not make him amend his conduct. I myself sometimes whipped him; but then he ran away, and did not return again to the tent until it grew dark. Once, as I was about to dine, and had put the beans, which I had boiled for myself, upon a plate, I heard the voice of a bird with which I was not acquainted. I left my dinner standing, seized my gun, and ran out of the tent. After the s.p.a.ce of about a quarter of an hour I returned, with the bird in my hand, but, to my astonishment, found not a single bean upon the plate. Kees had stolen them all, and taken himself out of the way.

When he had committed any trespa.s.s of this kind, he used always, about the time when I drank tea, to return quietly, and seat himself in his usual place, with every appearance of innocence, as if nothing had happened; but this evening he did not let himself be seen. And, on the following day, also, he was not seen by any of us; and, in consequence, I began to grow seriously uneasy about him, and apprehensive that he might be lost for ever. But, on the third day, one of my people, who had been to fetch water, informed me that he had seen Kees in the neighbourhood, but that, as soon as the animal espied him, he had concealed himself again. I immediately went out and beat the whole neighbourhood with my dogs. All at once, I heard a cry, like that which Kees used to make, when I returned from my shooting, and had not taken him with me. I looked about, and at length espied him, endeavouring to hide himself behind the large branches of a tree. I now called to him in a friendly tone of voice, and made motions to him to come down to me.

But he could not trust me, and I was obliged to climb up the tree to fetch him. He did not attempt to fly, and we returned together to my quarters; here he expected to receive his punishment; but I did nothing, as it would have been of no use.

The Loyalty of the Baboon.

"An officer, wishing to put the fidelity of my baboon to the test, pretended to strike me. At this he flew in a violent rage, and, from that time, could never endure the sight of the officer. If he only saw him at a distance he began to cry, and make all kinds of grimaces, which evidently showed that he wished to revenge the insult that had been done to me; he ground his teeth; and endeavoured, with all his might, to fly at his face, but that was out of his power, as he was chained down. The offender several times endeavoured, in vain, to conciliate him, by offering him dainties, but he remained long implacable.

The Intelligence of the Baboon.

"When any eatables were pilfered, at my quarters, the fault was always laid upon Kees; and rarely was the accusation unfounded. For a time the eggs, which a hen laid me, were constantly stolen, and I wished to ascertain whether I had to attribute this loss also to him. For this purpose I went one morning to watch him, and waited till the hen announced, by her cackling, that she had laid an egg. Kees was sitting upon my vehicle; but, the moment he heard the hen's voice, he leapt down, and was running to fetch the egg. When he saw me, he suddenly stopped, and affected a careless posture, swaying himself backwards upon his hind legs, and a.s.suming a very innocent look; in short, he employed all his art to deceive me with respect to his design. His hypocritical manuvres only confirmed my suspicions, and, in order, in my turn, to deceive him, I pretended not to attend to him, and turned my back to the bush where the hen was cackling, upon which he immediately sprang to the place. I ran after him, and came up to him at the moment when he had broken the egg and was swallowing it. Having caught the thief in the fact, I gave him a good beating upon the spot, but this severe chastis.e.m.e.nt did not prevent his soon stealing fresh-laid eggs again. As I was convinced that I should never be able to break Kees off his natural vices, and that, unless I chained him up every morning, I should never get an egg, I endeavoured to accomplish my purpose in another manner; I trained one of my dogs, as soon as the hen cackled, to run to the nest, and bring me the egg, without breaking it. In a few days, the dog had learned his lesson; but Kees, as soon as he heard the hen cackle, ran with him to the nest. A contest now took place between them, who should have the egg; often the dog was foiled, although he was the stronger of the two. If he gained the victory, he ran joyfully to me with the egg, and put it into my hand. Kees, nevertheless, followed him, and did not cease to grumble and make threatening grimaces at him, till he saw me take the egg,--as if he was comforted for the loss of his booty by his adversary's not retaining it for himself. If Kees had got hold of the egg, he endeavoured to run with it to a tree, where, having devoured it, he threw down the sh.e.l.ls upon his adversary, as if to make game of him. Kees was always the first awake in the morning, and, when it was the proper time, he awoke the dogs, who were accustomed to his voice, and, in general, obeyed, without hesitation, the slightest motions by which he communicated his orders to them, immediately taking their posts about the tent and carriage, as he directed them."

The Bonnet Monkey.

The bonnet monkey is of the genus macacus, and is to be found in many parts of India. It is characterized by a bonnet, or cap of hair, which radiates from the centre of the crown. It is known as the _Macacus Radiatus_. Other species of the genus macacus are the _Rhesus_ monkey, the _Wanderoo_, the _Barbary Ape_ or _Magot_, and the _Macaque_.

Indian Monkeys.

Many stories are told of the audacity of the Indian monkeys in which those of the genus macacus come in for more than honourable mention.

Whether in their native haunts, or in European menageries, they are an endless source of amus.e.m.e.nt and not unfrequently one of annoyance. In their free state, they tax the ingenuity of native and European alike by their mischievous habits and thievish propensities. They climb upon the tops of the Bazaars and the slightest relapse from vigilance on the part of the shopkeepers is sure to be followed by the loss or spoliation of their wares. A common defence against these unwelcome intruders is to cover the roofs with a certain p.r.i.c.kly shrub, the thorns of which command respect even from monkeys. Mrs. Bowdich says: "In some places they are even fed, encouraged, and allowed to live on the roofs of houses;" but this would be where the goods of the householder were beyond their reach. "If a man wishes to revenge himself for any injury committed upon him," says Mrs. Bowdich, "he has only to sprinkle some rice or corn upon the top of his enemy's house or granary just before the rain sets in, and the monkeys will a.s.semble upon it, eat all they can find outside, and then pull off the tiles to get at that which has fallen through the crevices. This, of course, gives access to the torrents which fall in such countries, and house, furniture and stores are all ruined." Quoting from another writer, Mrs. Bowdich gives an amusing description of the way in which one of these monkeys watched his opportunity for making his descent upon a sweet-stuff shop. Taking up a position opposite the shop, "he pretended to be asleep, but every now and then softly raised his head to look at the tempting piles and the owner of them, who sat smoking his pipe without symptoms even of a doze.

In half an hour the monkey got up, as if he were just awake, yawned, stretched himself, and took another position a few yards off, where he pretended to play with his tail, occasionally looking over his shoulder at the coveted delicacies. At length the shopman gave signs of activity, and the monkey was on the alert; the man went to his back room, the monkey cleared the street at one bound, and in an instant stuffed his pouches full of the delicious morsels. He had, however, overlooked some hornets, which were regaling themselves at the same time. They resented his disturbance, and the tormented monkey, in his hurry to escape, came upon a thorn-covered roof, where he lay stung, torn, and bleeding. He spurted the stolen bonbons from his pouches and barked hoa.r.s.ely looking the picture of misery. The noise of the tiles which he had dislodged in his retreat brought out the inhabitants, and among them the vendor of the sweets, with his turban unwound, and streaming two yards behind him.

All joined in laughing at the wretched monkey; but their religious reverence for him induced them to go to his a.s.sistance: they picked out his thorns and he limped away to the woods quite crestfallen."

The Monkey Outdone.

The writer, from whom Mrs. Bowdich quoted the above story, gives a graphic account of the success of a stratagem he employed to rid himself of the unwelcome visits of his monkey friends. "Although," says he, "a good deal shyer of me than they were of the natives, I found no difficulty in getting within a few yards of them; and when I lay still among the brushwood they gambolled round me with as much freedom as if I had been one of themselves. This happy understanding, however, did not last long, and we soon began to urge war upon each other. The _casus belli_ was a field of sugar-cane which I had planted on the newly cleared jungle.

"Every beast of the field seemed leagued against this devoted patch of sugar-cane. The wild elephants came and browzed in it; the jungle hogs rooted it up, and munched it at their leisure; the jackals gnawed the stalks into squash; and the wild deer ate the tops of the young plants.

Against all these marauders there was an obvious remedy,--to build a stout fence round the cane-field. This was done accordingly; and a deep trench dug outside, that even the wild elephant did not deem it prudent to cross. The wild hogs came and inspected the trench and the palisades beyond. A bristly old tusker was observed taking a survey of the defences; but, after mature deliberation, he gave two short grunts, the porcine (language), I imagined, for 'No go,' and took himself off at a round trot, to pay a visit to my neighbour Ram Chunder, and inquire how his little plot of sweet yams was coming on. The jackals sniffed at every crevice, and determined to wait a bit; but the monkeys laughed the whole entrenchment to scorn. Day after day was I doomed to behold my canes devoured as fast as they ripened, by troops of jubilant monkeys.

It was of no use attempting to drive them away. When disturbed, they merely retreated to the nearest tree, dragging whole stalks of sugar-cane along with them, and then spurted the chewed fragments in my face, as I looked up at them. This was adding insult to injury; and I positively began to grow bloodthirsty at the idea of being outwitted by monkeys. The case between us might have been stated in this way. 'I have, at much trouble and expense, cleared and cultivated this jungle land,' said I. 'More fool you,' said the monkeys. 'I have planted and watched over these sugar-canes.' 'Watched! Ah, ah! so have we, for the matter of that.' 'But surely I have a right to reap what I sowed.'

'Don't see it,' said the monkeys; 'the jungle, by rights prescriptive and indefeasible, is ours, and has been so ever since the days of Ram Hanuman of the long tail. If you cultivate the jungle without our consent, you must look to the consequences. If you don't like our customs, you may get about your business. We don't want you.' I kept brooding over this mortifying view of the matter, until one morning I hatched revenge in a practicable shape. A tree, with about a score of monkeys on it, was cut down, and half a dozen of the youngest were caught as they attempted to escape. A large pot of _ghow_ (treacle) was then mixed with as much tarter emetic as could be spared from the medicine chest, and the young hopefuls, after being carefully painted over with the compound, were allowed to return to their distressed relatives, who, as soon as they arrived, gathered round them and commenced licking them with the greatest a.s.siduity. The results I had antic.i.p.ated were not long in making their appearance. A more melancholy sight it was impossible to behold; but so efficacious was this treatment, that for more than two years I hardly ever saw a monkey in the neighbourhood."

The Monkey Aroused.

Tavernier was once travelling from Agra to Surat with the English president, when pa.s.sing within a few miles of Amenabad through a forest of mangoes, they experienced the danger of provoking such companies. He says, "We saw a vast number of very large apes, male and female, many of the latter having their young in their arms. We were each of us in our coaches; and the English president stopped his to tell me that he had a very fine new gun; and knowing that I was a good marksman, desired me to try it, by shooting one of the apes. One of my servants, who was a native of the country, made a sign to me not to do it; and I did all that was in my power to dissuade the gentleman from his design, but to no purpose; for he immediately levelled his piece, and shot a she ape, who fell through the branches of the tree on which she was sitting, her young ones tumbling at the same time out of her arms on the ground. We presently saw that happen which my servant apprehended; for all the apes, to the number of sixty, came immediately down from the trees, and attacked the president's coach with such fury that they must infallibly have destroyed him if all who were present had not flown to his relief, and by drawing up the windows, and posting all the servants about the coach, protected him from their resentment." That diplomacy is better than war in dealing with bands of monkeys is shown by comparing the results of the foregoing experiences.

The Monkeys' Affection.

That monkeys are capable of very poignant feeling is shown by the following pathetic story. Mr. Forbes, in his "Oriental Memoirs,"

says:--"On a shooting party one of my friends killed a female monkey, and carried it to his tent, which was soon surrounded by forty or fifty of the tribe, who made a great noise, and in a menacing posture advanced towards it. On presenting his fowling-piece they retreated, but one stood his ground, chattering and menacing in a furious manner. He at length came close to the tent door, and finding that his threatenings were of no avail, began a lamentable moaning, and by every expression of grief and supplication seemed to beg the body of the deceased. On this it was given to him. He took it up in his arms, eagerly pressed it to his bosom, and carried it off in a sort of triumph to his expecting companions. The artless behaviour of this poor animal wrought so powerfully on the sportsmen that they resolved never more to level a gun at one of the monkey tribe."

American Monkeys.

To visit the family of the Cebidae we have to cross the Atlantic Ocean, and here we find characteristics with which the monkeys of the East are unfamiliar, while we miss others which are common to the monkeys of the old world. In pa.s.sing from East to West we lose the cheek-pouch characteristic and we find that of the prehensile tail. There are more than eighty species in the family of the Cebidae, divided into ten genera and grouped in four sub-families. The first of the sub-families includes the monkeys with prehensile tails.

The Capuchin Monkey.

The capuchins belong to the genus _Cebus_ which includes the majority of American monkeys. There are a number of species of which the Brown Capuchin (Brazil), the Wheeper Capuchin (Brazil), and the White-throated Capuchin (Central America) are the best known.

The Spider Monkeys.

The Spider Monkey is of the genus _Ateles_ and is one of the best known of the Cebidae family. In it the prehensile tail reaches its perfection.

It is a remarkably sensitive organ, answering the purpose, as the Rev.

J. G. Wood puts it, of "a fifth hand," being capable of use "for any purpose to which the hand could be applied," and for hooking out objects from places "where a hand could not be inserted." According to Mr. Wood they wrap their tails about them to protect themselves from cold, to which they are very sensitive, and hold on by them to the branches of trees with such tenacity that they remain suspended after death. The prehensile part of the tail is naked and of extreme sensibility. The tail is also used to preserve balance when walking erect, for which purpose it is thrown up and curled over. The appearance of these monkeys, as they leap from branch to branch in their native woods, swinging by their tails, and often hanging on to those of each other, until a living bridge is formed from tree to tree, is exceedingly picturesque.

The Howling Monkeys.

The Howling Monkeys form the single genus of the second sub-family of the Cebidae--the genus Mycetes. There are a number of species, popularly known as the "Golden Howler," the "Black Howler," &c. &c. They are chiefly characteristic for the attribute to which they owe their name.