. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 14i ^'ArVRAL HISTORY. Mansfield Parkyns asserts that tlie cle\criiess of these Baboons ilepenJs in some measure upon theii- power of reason, and not entirely on that iiLstinct with which all ariimals are endowed, and which serves them only to procure the necessaries of life and to defend themselves against then- enemies. In proof he relates an incident, of which he was an eye-witness, " At Khartum, the capital of the provinces of Upper Nubia, I saw a man showing a large male and two females of this breed, who per- formed several cleve
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. 14i ^'ArVRAL HISTORY. Mansfield Parkyns asserts that tlie cle\criiess of these Baboons ilepenJs in some measure upon theii- power of reason, and not entirely on that iiLstinct with which all ariimals are endowed, and which serves them only to procure the necessaries of life and to defend themselves against then- enemies. In proof he relates an incident, of which he was an eye-witness, " At Khartum, the capital of the provinces of Upper Nubia, I saw a man showing a large male and two females of this breed, who per- formed several clever tricks at his command. I entered into conversation with him as to their sagacity, the mode of teaching them, and various other topics relating to them. Speaking of his male Monkey,, he said that he was the most dexterous thief imaginable, and that every time he was exhibited he m rm^. stole dates and other provisions sufficient for his food for the day. In proof of this he begged me to watch him for a few minutes. 1 did so, and presently the keeper led him to a spot where a date-seller was sitting on the gi'ound with his basket beside him. Here his master put him through his evolutions, and although I could perceive that the Monkey had an eye to the fruit, yet so completely did he dis- guise his intentions, that no careless obsei-\-er would have noticed it. He did not at first apjiear to care about approaching the basket, but gradually brought himself nearer and nearer, till at last he got quite close to the owner. In the middle of one of his feats he suddenly started up from the ground on â which he was lying stretched out like a corpse, and utterivig a ciy as if in pain or I'age, fixed his eyes full on the face of the date-seller, and then, without moving the rest of his body, stole as many dates as he could hold in one of his hind hands. The date man, being stared out of countenance, and his attention diverted by this extraordinary movement, knew nothing about the theft t
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