THE COURAGE OF THE BABOON.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXV, Issue 94, 20 April 1904, Page 2

THE COURAGE OF THE BABOON.

A distinguished German naturalist who has made - a special study of monkeys throughout the world, tells the following story of adventure with baboons in Africa: Our dogs, beautiful, slender greyhounds, accustomed to fight successfully with hyenas and other beasts of prey, rushed toward the baboons, which, from a distance, looked more like beasts of prey than like monkeys, and drove them hastily up the precipices to right and left. But only the females took to flight; the males turned to face the dogs, growled, beat the ground with their Lands, opened their mouths wide, showed their glittering teeth, and looked at their adversaries so furiously and maliciously that the hounds, battle-hardened and usually bold, shrank back discomfited, and almost timidly sought safety beside us. Before we had succeeded in atirring them up to show fight, the position of the monkeys had changed considerably, and when the dogs charged a second time, nearly all the herd were in safety. But one little monkey about half a year old had been left behind. It shrieked loudly as the dogs rushed toward it, but succeeded in gaining the top of a rock before they had arrived. Our dogs placed themselves cleverly» so as to cut off its retreat, and we thought that they would catcfkit. That was not to be. Proudly and with dignity, without hurrying in the least, or r-sying any heed to us, an old male stepped down from the security of the rocks toward the hard-pressed little one, walked toward the dogs without bet: „y----ing the slightest fear, held them in check with glances, gestures, and sounds that seemed almost intelligible speech, slowly climbed the rock, picked up the baby monkey, and retreated with it before we could reach the spot, and without the slightest attempt to prevent him on the part of the dogs. While the patriarch of the troop performed this brave and unselfish deed the other members, densely crowded on the cliff, uttered sounds which I had never before heard from baboons. Old and young, males and females, roared, screeched, snarled, and bellowed all together, so that one would have though that they were / struggling with leopards or other dangerous beasts.N I learned later that this was the monkeys' battlecry. It was intended to intimidate us and the dogs, possibly also to encourage the brave old giant who was running into such evident danger before their eyes.