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.”
[Illustration: SACRED BABOON.]
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.
[Illustration: YOUNG HAMADRYAS. (_From the Zoological Gardens._)]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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