_Papio_, Erxleb., Syst. Regne Anim., p. 15 (1777).
_Cynocephalus_, Lacép., Mem. de l'Inst. iii., p. 490 (1801). Type, _P.
sphinx_ (Geoffr.).
The members of this genus may easily be recognised by their very Dog-like
face, their muzzle being greatly elongated and truncated at the end, with
the nostrils set in the truncated termination. Their eyes are directed
downwards along the visage. In form and massiveness of body and in length
of tail they vary very much. Their fore- and hind-limbs are nearly equal in
length, and consequently they progress on all fours, with the palms of the
hands and the soles of the feet flat to the ground. Their "fore-paws" are,
however, very efficient _hands_, which some species use very dexterously in
turning over stones in their search for food. Their feet are long. Their
hair is grizzled or ringed with various colours.
The facial region of the skull is more developed in this genus relatively
to the flattened brain-case, than in other Monkeys. In several of the
species longitudinal osseous ridges are developed on the bones of the upper
jaws, especially in the adult males, adding to the hideousness of the
countenance of these animals. The neck is elongated. The _radius_ is longer
than the _humerus_ (or arm-bone), and the elbow projection of the _ulna_
(of the fore-arm), named the _olecranon_ process, is prolonged upwards
beyond what occurs in Man. The thumb, though relatively shorter than in
Man, is much {254}longer proportionately than in other Monkeys, reaching to
the middle of the first joint of the forefinger.
Both halves of the liver are much sub-divided.
Gestation lasts seven months, and the young are suckled for six months.
The Baboons are the lowest of the Catarrhine or Old World Monkeys. Most of
them are large, ferocious, dangerous, and gregarious animals, and when
disturbed or alarmed they give utterance to screams, barks, and guttural
murmurs.
Both Dr. Emil Holub and Sir Richard Burton have spoken of the ferocity of
the Baboons. "The South African farmers," says the first-named naturalist,
"complain of these animals as a great and perpetual nuisance." They were
always on the look-out, and no sooner was a field or a garden left
unguarded than they would be down at once, breaking through the hedges and
devouring the crops. They were likewise very destructive amongst the Sheep.
If a shepherd happened to leave his post for ever so short a time, or even
to fall asleep, the Baboons, who had been watching their chance from the
heights, would be down upon the flock in the valley, and, seizing the Lambs
and ripping up their stomachs with their teeth, would feast upon the milk
they contained, then leaving the poor mangled victim writhing on the
ground. Then they would lose no time in repeating the terrible operation
upon another. "About the middle of the morning," says Dr. Holub, "we
started eastwards in the hope of catching the herd at their
drinking-place.... When we had advanced some distance along the hill we
found ourselves approaching the pool ... and could distinctly hear the
hoarse barking of the Baboons. Looking across to the opposite side, about
300 yards away, we caught sight of a herd of seven, only four of them
full-grown; {255}they seemed to pause and scan us carefully before they
decamped to a glen on the right. With all speed we followed them.... As one
of our party had only small shot, and the other nothing but a stick, I
insisted upon their remaining close at my side, knowing that a full-grown
Baboon, when infuriated, is as dangerous a foe as a Leopard.... Behind one
of the embankments we took our position. Only a few minutes had elapsed
when we could distinctly recognise them as a herd of Baboons. The boy said
he was quite sure that they were on their way to the water; but to our
surprise they did not make any further advance. A quarter of an hour
passed--half an hour--still no symptom of their approach. All at once, as
if they had started from the earth by magic, at the open end of the pond,
not sixty yards from our place of ambush, stood two huge males.... Being
anxious to watch the movements of the animals I refrained from firing, and
determined to see what would follow next. Both Baboons sprang towards the
water, and leaning down, drank till they were satisfied; then, having
gravely stretched themselves, they stalked away solemnly on all fours in
the direction of the herd. There was little doubt, therefore, that they had
been sent forward to reconnoitre; for as soon as they got back, the entire
herd put itself in motion, and made its way towards the pond. There were
mothers taking care of their little ones; there were the half-grown
animals, the boys and girls of the company; but there did not seem to be
more than three or four full-grown males. At first only one Baboon at a
time came to the water's edge, and having taken its draught retired to the
rest; but when about ten of them had thus ventured separately, they began
to come in small groups, leaving the others rolling and jumping on the
sand.... It was not {256}long before two males--the same, I had no doubt,
which we had noticed before--came and squatted themselves one on each side
of the little creek.... Crack went my rifle. But instead of either of them
dropping, the two Baboons started up; by a mutual instinct they both
clutched their noses, gave a ringing bark and scampered off. The whole herd
took the alarm, and joining in the shrieking clamour were soon lost to
sight."
On another occasion Dr. Holub and his servant had a _rencontre_ with a herd
of Baboons. He writes:--"We caught sight of them in one of the glens. They
were on the further side, and being anxious to obtain a specimen of their
skulls, I fired and killed one Baboon; but unfortunately for me, the
creature fell into the river. At my second shot I wounded two more. This
induced the right wing of the herd to retreat; but the main body kept their
ground, and the left flank, moreover, assumed the aggressive, and commenced
pelting us so vigorously with stones, that, remembering that I had only one
cartridge, I considered it far more prudent to withdraw than to run the
risk of a hand-to-hand encounter." On a still further occasion the same
well-known traveller says: "I was turning to leave the ravine when some
stones came pattering down the rocks in my direction. I soon became aware
that the stones were being designedly aimed at me; and, looking up, I saw a
herd of Baboons."
"The Nyanyi or Cynocephalus," writes Sir Richard Burton in his "Lake
Regions of Central Africa," "in the jungles of Usukuma attains the size of
a Greyhound, and, according to the natives, there are three varieties of
colour--red, black and yellow. They are the terror of the neighbouring
districts; women never dare to approach their haunts; they set the
{257}Leopard at defiance, and when in a large body, they do not, it is
said, fear the Lion."
"Baboons often show their passion," as Mr. Darwin has related, "and
threaten their enemies in a very odd manner, namely, by opening their
mouths widely, as in the act of yawning. Mr. Bartlett has often seen two
Baboons, when first placed in the same compartment, sitting opposite to
each other, and then alternately opening their mouths; and this action
seems frequently to end in a real yawn. Mr. Bartlett believes that both
animals wish to show to each other that they are provided with a formidable
set of teeth, as is undoubtedly the case. As I could hardly credit the
reality of this yawning gesture, Mr. Bartlett insulted an old Baboon and
put him into a violent passion; and he almost immediately thus acted....
Baboons likewise show their anger, as was observed by Brehm with those
which he kept alive in Abyssinia, in another manner, namely, by striking
the ground with one hand, 'like an angry man striking the table with his
fist.' I have seen this movement with the Baboons in the Zoological
Gardens; but sometimes the action seems rather to represent the searching
for a stone or other object in their beds of straw.... With several species
of Baboons, the ridge of the forehead projects much over the eyes, and is
studded with a few long hairs, representing our eyebrows. These animals are
always looking about them, and in order to look upwards they raise their
eyebrows. They have thus, as it would appear, acquired the habit of
frequently moving the latter. However this may be, many kinds of Monkeys,
especially the Baboons, when angered, or in any way excited, rapidly and
incessantly move their eyebrows up and down, as well as the hairy skin of
their foreheads."
{258}Baboons are confined to the African continent and to Arabia, to the
region, indeed, termed Ethiopian, as defined by Sclater and Wallace. They
live chiefly on the ground, especially in rocky and barren hills, and less
frequently among trees, for which their equally long front and hind limbs
are not so well adapted. Mr. H. H. Johnson, C.B., now H.M. Commissioner in
Nyasa-land, found, however, on his Kilimanjaro Expedition, that Baboons
were singularly abundant in the big trees at Taveita, on the rise to that
mountain. Their food consists of fruits and Lizards, but principally of
insects, which they search for under stones, turning these over with their
hands. They are, indeed, nearly omnivorous, as the reader will have
gathered from Dr. Holub's observations.