Show BABOON A LARGE AND FEROCIOUS SPECIES OF APE COMMON IN VIE THE SOUTH OF AFRICA AND ASIA le c anCs baboon this celebrated traveler while in hi af ica had a dog faced baboon whom he called kees he his master in his wanderings de rings and of his way of life we have the following sketches 1 I 1 made him says le vaillant my taster whenever we found foy nd fruits or 1 roots with which my hottentots Hotten tots tos were unacquainted we did not touch them till kees had tasted them if lie threw them away we conch concluded ded that they were either oka oa disagreeable navor flavor or of a pernicious quality and left them t the ape possesses a peculiar property wherein lie 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 everything 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 apprised of the approach of an enemy eyen even though the dogs perceived nothing of it the latter at length learned learn ed to rely upon him with such confidence that they slept on in perfect tranquility I 1 often took kees with me when I 1 went a hunting and when he saw me preparing for sport sp orthe lie exhibited the most lively demonstrations of joy an on the way he would climb into the trees to look for gum of which lie he was very fond sometimes he discovered to me honey deposited in the cliffs of rocks or hollow trees but if he happened to have met wi h neither honey nor gum and his appetite had become sharp by his running about I 1 always witnessed a ludicrous scene in those cases he looked for roots roofs which lie he ate with great greediness especially a particular kind which to his cost I 1 also found to be very well tasted and refreshing and therefore insisted upon sharing with him but kees was no fool As soon as lie he found such a root and I 1 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 m me e he accurately measured the distance I 1 had to pass before I 1 could get to him and I 1 was sure of coming too late sometimes however when he ha had made a mistake iu in his calculation and I 1 came upon him sooner than he expected he endeavored to hide the root in which case i compelled wm him by a box on the ear car to give me up pay my share when kees happened to tire on the road he mounted upon the back of one of my dogs who was so obliging us as to carry him whole hours one of them that thai was larger and str stronger ongar 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 lie he stood s ill and let the tram train pass pas I 1 s without moving from the spot kees still p persisted in his bisin in ten ion till we were almost out of his sight when he found hin himself self at length compelled to demount di mount upon which both bolh the baboon and dog exerted all their speed to overtake us the latter however gave him the start and kept a good lookout look out after him that he might not serve him in the same manner abdin in fact kees enjoyed a certain authority with all dogs for which he be perhaps was indebted to the superiority of his instinct he could not endure a comp competitor otil or if any of the dogs camo came too near him when he was eating he gave him a box on the ear which compe compelled I 1 him immediately to retire to a respectful distance like most other domestic animals kees was addicted to stealing sealing he understood admirably well how to loose the springs 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 1 myself sometimes whipped him but then he ran away and did not return again to the tent until it grew dark once as I 1 was about to dine and had put the beans which I 1 had boiled for myself upon a plate I 1 heard the voice of a bird with which I 1 was not acquainted I 1 left my dinner standing seized my gun and ran out of the tent after the space of about a quarter of an hour I 1 returned with the bird in my hand but to my astonishment found not a single bean upon the plate kees had stol stolen len 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 1 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 oil the following day also he was not seen by any t f us and in consequence I 1 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 bad seen kees in the neighborhood but that as soon as the animal espied hirn him he had concealed himself again I 1 immediately went out ont and beat the whole neighborhood with my dogs all at once I 1 heard a cry like that which kees used to make when I 1 returned from my shooting and had not taken him with me 1 I looked about and at length espied him endeavoring to hide himself himself behind the large branches of a tree I 1 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 1 was obliged to climb up the tree to fetch him he did not attempt to fly and we returned together to my quarters here lie expected to receive his punishment but I 1 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 1 wished to ascertain whether I 1 had to attribute this loss also to him for this purpose I 1 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 hearda the hens 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 maneu manoeuvres only confirmed my sus pinions pic ions and in order in my turn to deceive him I 1 pretended not to attend to him and turned my back to the bush where the hen ben was cackling upon which lie he immediately sprang to the place I 1 ran after him and came up to him at we too moment when he had broken the egg and was swallowing it having caught the thief in the fact I 1 gave him a good beating upon the spot but this severe chastisement did not prevent liis his soon stealing fresh laid eggs again As I 1 was convinced that I 1 should never bo be able to break kees off his natural vices and that unless I 1 chained him up every morning I 1 should never get an aa egg I 1 endeavored to acco accomplish my purposes in another manner I 1 trained one of my dogs as soon as the hen aen cae cackled kled to run to the nest and bring me the egg vit libut breaking it in a few days the dog had learned his lu s lesson but kees as soon as he heard the he hen cackle ran with hi hin i to the nest A contest now took place lace between them who should have the egg often tile the dog was foiled although he was the stronger of the two if he gained tile the victory lie ran joyfully i to mo me with the egg and put it into my hand kees nevertheless followed him and did not cease to gum g um ble and make threatening grimaces at him till he saw me take the egg as if he was comforted for tile loss of his booty by his 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 1 could conjecture the unluckily ly adventure he had met with kees was always the first awake in the morning and when it was the proper time he aroused the logs dogs who were accustomed to hia 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 |