This is a large and ferocious species of ape, common in the south of
Africa, and Asia.
_Le Vaillant's Baboon._--This celebrated traveller, while in Africa,
had a dog-faced baboon, whom he called _Kees_. He accompanied his
master in his wanderings, and of his way of life we have the following
sketches: "I made him," says Le Vaillant, "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 flavor, or of a
pernicious quality, and left them untasted. The ape 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 appetite, 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
a-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 appetite 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. But Kees was no fool. As soon as he
found such a root, and I was not near enough to seize upon my share of
it, he devoured it in the greatest haste, keeping his eyes all the
while riveted on me. He accurately measured the distance I had to pass
before I could get to him, and I was sure of coming too late.
Sometimes, however, when he had made a mistake in his calculation, and
I came upon him sooner than he expected, he endeavored to hide the
root--in which case, I compelled him, by a box on the ear, to give me
up my share.
"When Kees happened to tire on the road, he mounted upon the back of
one of my dogs, who was so obliging as to carry him whole hours. One of
them, that was larger and stronger than the rest, hit upon a very
ingenious artifice, to avoid being pressed into this piece of service.
As soon as Kees leaped upon his back, he stood still, and let the train
pass, without moving from the spot. Kees still persisted in his
intention, till we were almost out of his sight, when he found himself
at length compelled to dismount, upon which both the baboon and dog
exerted all their speed to overtake us. The latter, however, gave him
the start, and kept a good look-out after him, that he might not serve
him in the same manner again. In fact, Kees enjoyed a certain authority
with all my dogs, for which he perhaps was indebted to the superiority
of his instinct. He could not endure a competitor if any of the dogs
came too near him when he was eating, he gave him a box on the ear,
which compelled him immediately to retire to a respectful distance.
"Like most other domestic 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 space 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 trespass 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 forever. But, on the third day, one of my people, who had
been to fetch water, informed me that he had seen Kees in the
neighborhood; but that, as soon as the animal espied him, he had
concealed himself again. I immediately went out and beat the whole
neighborhood 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, endeavoring 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.
"When any eatables had been pilfered at my quarters, the fault was
always laid first upon Kees; and rarely was the accusation unfounded.
For a time, the eggs, which a hen laid me, were constantly stolen away,
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
leaped 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 assuming a very innocent look; in
short, he employed all his art to deceive me with respect to his
design. His hypocritical manoeuvres 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 chastisement 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 endeavored 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 got hold of the egg, he endeavored to run with it to a
tree, where, having devoured it, he threw down the shells upon his
adversary, as if to make game of him. In that case, the dog returned,
looking ashamed, from which I could conjecture the unlucky adventure he
had met with.
"Kees was always the first awake in the morning, and, when it was the
proper time, he aroused 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."
_A droll Mimic._--A clergyman of some distinction, in England, had a
tame baboon, which became so fond of him, that, wherever he went, it
was always desirous of accompanying him. Whenever, therefore, he had to
perform the service of his church, he was under the necessity of
shutting it up in his room.
Once, however, the animal escaped, and followed his master to the
church; and, silently mounting the sounding-board above the pulpit, he
lay perfectly still till the sermon commenced. He then crept to the
edge, and, overlooking the preacher, imitated his gestures in so
grotesque a manner, that the whole congregation was unavoidably made to
laugh.
The minister, surprised and confounded at this levity, severely rebuked
his audience for their conduct. The reproof failed of its intended
effect. The congregation still laughed, and the preacher, in the warmth
of his zeal, redoubled his vociferation and action. This last the ape
imitated so exactly, that the congregation could no longer restrain
themselves, but burst into a long and loud roar of laughter.
A friend of the preacher at length stepped up to him, and pointed out
the cause of this apparently improper conduct; and such was the arch
demeanor of the animal, that it was with the utmost difficulty that the
parson himself could maintain his gravity, while he ordered the sexton
to take the creature away.
MISCELLANEOUS ANECDOTES.--Immense troops of baboons inhabit the
mountains in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope, whence they
descend to the plains, to devastate the gardens and orchards. In their
plundering excursions they are very cunning, always placing sentinels,
to prevent the main body from being surprised. They break the fruit to
pieces, cram it into their cheek-pouches, and keep it until hungry.
Whenever the sentinel discovers a man approaching, he sets up a loud
yell, which makes the whole troop retreat with the utmost precipitation.
They have been known to steal behind an unwary traveller resting near
their retreats, and carry off his food, which they would eat at a
little distance from him; and with absurd grimaces and gestures, in
ridicule, offer it back; at the same time greedily devouring it.
The following account is given by Lade: "We traversed a great mountain
in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope, and amused ourselves with
hunting large baboons, which are very numerous in that place. I can
neither describe all the arts practised by these animals, nor the
nimbleness and impudence with which they returned, after being pursued
by us. Sometimes they allowed us to approach so near that I was almost
certain of seizing them. But, when I made the attempt, they sprang, at
a single leap, ten paces from me, and mounted trees with equal agility,
from whence they looked at us with great indifference, and seemed to
derive pleasure from our astonishment. Some of them were so large that,
if our interpreter had not assured us they were neither ferocious nor
dangerous, our number would not have appeared sufficient to protect us
from their attacks.
"As it could serve no purpose to kill them, we did not use our guns.
But the captain levelled his piece at a very large one, that had rested
on the top of a tree, after having fatigued us a long time in pursuing
him; this kind of menace, of which the animal, perhaps, recollected his
having sometimes seen the consequences, terrified him to such a degree,
that he fell down motionless at our feet, and we had no difficulty in
seizing him; but when he recovered from his stupor, it required all our
dexterity and efforts to keep him. We tied his paws together; but he
bit so furiously, that we were under the necessity of binding our
handkerchiefs over his head."
The common baboon is very numerous in Siam, where they frequently sally
forth in astonishing multitudes to attack the villages, during the time
the peasants are occupied in the rice harvest, and plunder their
habitations of whatever provisions they can lay their paws on. Fruits,
corn, and roots, are their usual food, although they will also eat
flesh. When hunted, baboons often make very formidable resistance to
dogs--their great strength and long claws enabling them to make a stout
defence; and it is with difficulty a single dog can overcome them,
except when they are gorged with excessive eating, in which they always
indulge when they can.
Some years ago, Mr. Rutter, doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept
a tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chain unknown
to him. In the night, climbing up into the belfry, it began to play
with, and ring the bell. Immediately the whole place was in an uproar,
some great danger being apprehended. Many thought that the castle was
on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay; and the soldiers
began actually to turn out, when it was discovered that the baboon had
occasioned the disturbance. On the following morning, a court-martial
was summoned, when Cape justice dictated, that, "Whereas Master
Rutter's baboon had unnecessarily put the castle into alarm, the master
should receive fifty lashes;" Mr. Rutter, however, found means to evade
the punishment.
The following circumstance is characteristic of the imitative
disposition of the baboon: The army of Alexander the Great marched, in
complete battle array, into a country inhabited by great numbers of
these apes, 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 manoeuvre, imagined at first that it was the
enemy, prepared to receive them.
The ape-catchers of Africa, it is said, take a vessel filled with
water, and wash their hands and face in a situation where they are sure
to be observed by the apes. After having done so, the water is poured
out, and its place supplied by a solution of glue; they leave the spot,
and the apes then seldom fail to come down from their trees, and wash
themselves in the same manner as they have seen the men do before them.
The consequence is, that they glue their eyelashes so fast together,
that they cannot open their eyes, or see to escape from their enemy.
The ape is fond of spirituous liquors, and these are also used for the
purpose of entrapping them. A person places, in their sight, a number
of vessels filled with ardent spirits, pretends to drink, and retires.
The apes, ever attentive to the proceedings of man, descend, and
imitate what they have seen, become intoxicated, fall asleep, and are
thus rendered an easy conquest to their cunning adversaries.
The people of India make the proneness of apes to imitation useful;
for, when they wish to collect cocoa-nuts, and other fruits, they go to
the woods where these grow, which are generally frequented by apes and
monkeys, gather a few heaps, and withdraw. As soon as they are gone,
the apes fall to work, imitate every thing they have seen done; and
when they have gathered together a considerable number of heaps, the
people approach, the apes fly to the trees, and the harvest is conveyed
home.
Apes and monkeys, in many parts of India, are made objects of religious
veneration, and magnificent temples are erected to their honor. In
these countries, they propagate to an alarming extent; they enter
cities in immense troops, and even venture into the houses. In some
places, as in the kingdom of Calicut, the natives find it necessary to
have their windows latticed, to prevent the ingress of these intruders,
who lay hands without scruple upon every eatable within their reach.
There are three hospitals for monkeys in Amadabad, the capital of
Guzerat, where the sick and lame are fed and relieved by medical
attendants.
Bindrabund, a town of Agra, in India, is in high estimation with the
pious Hindoos, who resort to it from the most remote parts of the
empire, on account of its being the favorite residence of the god
Krishna. The town is embosomed in groves of trees, which, according to
the account of Major Thorn, are the residence of innumerable apes,
whose propensity to mischief is increased by the religious respect paid
to them, in honor of Hunaman, a divinity of the Hindoo mythology,
wherein he is characterized under the form of an ape. In consequence of
this degrading superstition, such numbers of these animals are
supported by the voluntary contributions of pilgrims, that no one dares
to resist or molest them. Hence, access to the town is often difficult;
for, should one of the apes take an antipathy against any unhappy
traveller, he is sure to be assailed by the whole community, who follow
him with all the missile weapons they can collect, such as pieces of
bamboo, stones, and dirt, making at the same time a most hideous
howling.
A striking instance of the audacity of the ape, in attacking the human
species, is related by M. Mollien, in his Travels in Africa. A woman,
going with millet and milk to a vessel, from St. Louis, which had been
stopped before a village in the country of Golam, was attacked by a
troop of apes, from three to four feet high; they first threw stones at
her, on which she began to run away; they then ran after her, and,
having caught her, they commenced beating her with sticks, until she
let go what she was carrying. On returning to the village, she related
her adventure to the principal inhabitants, who mounted their horses,
and, followed by their dogs, went to the place which served as a
retreat to this troop of marauders. They fired at them, killed ten, and
wounded others, which were brought to them by the dogs; but several
negroes were severely wounded in this encounter, either by the stones
hurled at them by the apes, or by their bites; the females, especially,
were most furious in revenging the death of their young ones, which
they carried in their arms.
D'Obsonville, speaking of the sacred haunts of apes in different parts
of India, says that, in the course of his travels through that country,
he occasionally went into the ancient temples, in order to rest
himself. He noticed always that several of the apes, which abounded
there, first observed him attentively, then looked inquisitively at the
food which he was about to take, betraying, by their features and
gestures, the great desire which they felt to partake of it with him.
In order to amuse himself upon such occasions, he was generally
provided with a quantity of dried peas; of these he first scattered
some on the side where the leader stood,--for, according to his
account, the apes always obey some particular one as their
leader,--upon which the animal gradually approached nearer, and
gathered them eagerly up. He then held out a handful to the animal;
and, as they seldom meet a person who harbors any hostile intentions
against them, the creature ventured slowly to approach, cautiously
watching, as it seemed, lest any trick might be played upon him. At
length, becoming bolder, he laid hold, with one of his paws, of the
thumb of the hand in which the peas were held out to him, while, with
the other, he carried them to his mouth, keeping his eyes all the while
fixed upon those of M. d'Obsonville.
"If I happened to laugh," he observes, "or to move myself, the ape
immediately gave over eating, worked his lips, and made a kind of
growling noise, the meaning of which was rendered very intelligible to
me by his long, canine teeth, which he occasionally exhibited. If I
threw some of the peas to a distance from him, he sometimes seemed
pleased to see other apes pick them up; though, at other times, he
grumbled at it, and attacked those who approached too near to me. The
noise which he made, and the apprehensions he showed, though they
might, perhaps, proceed in some measure from his own greediness,
evidently proved, however, that he feared I might take advantage of
their weakness, and so make them prisoners. I also observed, that those
whom he suffered to approach the nearest to me were always the largest
and strongest of the males; the young and the females he obliged to
keep at a considerable distance from me."