nimble gentry can't get above me, and I'll tie myself up there so long as I'm above 'em, I'm safe.

This conclusion was forthwith acted upon. I didn't like that panther to stand there watching me, though; so I picked up some round pebbles that were strewed along the hill-side, and took deliberate aim at his face. The first one cut the moss just above his head. He looked up, with a quick movement and low growl, evidently wondering prodigiously where it came from. He had no suspicion of me at all, and looked down again very friendlily and inquisitively.

I tried it again. This time I struck the limb near him, and the stroke rang sharply. He clapped his paw over the place, clawed it, and smelt. The simple fellow didn't look at me at all. I felt almost ashamed to be imposing upon him so. But while he was thus engaged, I sent another: this whistled past him on the other side. He wheeled and clawed at the sound. At last I struck him, plumb! He saw the pebble fall, and go rolling down the hill; with a savage growl, he leaped out of the tree after it, and went chasing it down into the valley. It was clear he thought the place bewitched; for he didn't come back again until it had grown quite dark, if he came even then.

I took some of the choicer pieces of the bear and hung them to a swinging limb, where they would be out of reach, and then ascended the oak. I climbed until I got so high, that, by standing straight, I could look out above the top, and see the stars all round. The moon, too, was just wheeling up from behind the mountains. It all looked too much like old times to be pleasant just then; so I dodged my head beneath the shade of the moss again, and made my arrangements on the most accommodating forks for the night. That settled, I went to sleep counting the answers to the nearest panther's cry, guessing how many there were to the acre, or wondering whether the "rattle! rattle! snap! snap!" of the wolves was considered a legitimate chorus to "tu whit! tu whoo!" by the San Saba owls.

Before I got tired of conjecturing about the owls, they came flapping and hooting about the tree tops, and shining their great eyes curiously at me, as they went by. Then the moon got up overhead, and that narrow little valley, which looked so pretty in the morning sunshine, now lay along the deep bosom of the

shadow, in the light, braiding them like a silver ribbon. Those graceful little creatures stepping across it-one, two, three-they are ocelots, spotted like a pard. What a carouse is going on down there over that bear's carcass. How their eyes do sparkle and flash green flames, as they spit and claw at each other over the bones! But look at that pack of wolves sitting off there in the moonlight. How they fidget, and whine, and lick their chops! They dare not come nearer.

Daylight came at last, and, as the coast was clear, I got down. My tit-bits that I had hung on the branches were gone-poached by the panthers. This was especially unpleasant, as I already began to feel symptoms of hunger. I had tasted nothing since daylight the previous morning: but they say an empty stomach for long wind, and I was likely to need all the wind I could raise before I got across the prairie.

Pernicious, hurtful.

Apprise, inform.

Artifice, trick, expedient.

Boys' Magazine.

Inquisitive, prying, curious.
Ingenious, clever, inventive.
Competitor, rival.

KEES, THE BABOON (AFRICA).

WHENEVER we found fruits or roots with which my Hottentots were unacquainted, we did not touch them till Kees, our pet baboon, 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 of his class, 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, 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 up 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 not to meet either with honey or 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 tasty 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 calculations, and I came upon him sooner than I expected, he endeavoured to hide the root. In which case I compelled him, by a box on the ear, to give me up my share. But this treatment caused no malice between us; we remained as good friends as ever. In order to draw these roots out of the ground, he employed a very ingenious method, which afforded me much amusement. He laid hold of the herbage with his teeth, stemmed his forefeet against the ground, and drew back his head, which gradually pulled out the root. But if this expedient, for which he employed his whole strength, did not succeed, he laid hold of the leaves as before, as close to the ground as possible, and then threw himself heels over head, which gave such a concussion to the root, that it never failed to come out.

When Kees happened to tire on the road, he mounted upon the back of one of the dogs, which was so obliging as to carry him whole hours. One of them, however, which 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 the dog exerted all their speed to overtake us. The latter, however,

gave

him the start, and kept a good look-out for him, that he might not serve him in the same manner again. In fact, Kees enjoyed a certain authority over 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 them a box on the ear, which compelled them immediately to retire to a respectful distance.

Serpents excepted, there were no animals of whom Kees stood in such great dread as of his own species, perhaps owing to a consciousness that he had lost a portion of his natural capacities. Sometimes he heard the cry of the other apes among the mountains, and, terrified as he was, he yet answered them. But if they approached nearer, and he saw any of them, he fled with a hideous cry, crept between our legs, and trembled all over. It was very difficult to compose him, and it was some time before he recovered from his fright.

Like other domestic animals, Kees was addicted to stealing. He understood admirably well how to loosen 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 to the tent until it grew dark. Once, as I was about to dine, and had gathered the beans, which I had boiled for myself, and put them into 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 my tent. In 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 show himself. On the following day, also, he was not seen by any of us, and, in consequence, I began to grow seriously uneasy about him, apprehensive that he might be lost for ever. But on the third day, one of my people, who had been to fetch water, informed me that he had seen Kees in the neighbourhood, but that as soon as the animal espied him, he had

concealed himself again. I immediately went out and beat the whole neighbourhood with my dogs. All at once, I heard a cry like that which Kees used to make when I returned from shooting, and had not taken him with me. I looked about, and at length espied him endeavouring to hide himself behind the large branches of the trees. I now called to him in a friendly kind of voice, and made motions to come down to me; but he could not trust me, and I was obliged to climb up the tree to fetch him down. He did not attempt to escape, and we returned together to my quarters. Here he expected to receive his punishment, but I did nothing, because it would be of no use.

Ineffectual, without result, futile. Affect, pretend.
Accusation, charge.

Chastisement, flogging, correction.

When exhausted with the heat of the sun, and the fatigues of the day, with throat and mouth covered with dust and perspiration, I was ready to sink gasping to the ground, in tracks destitute of shade, and longing even for the dirtiest ditch-water; but after seeking long in vain, lost all hope of finding any in the parched soil; in such distressing moments, my faithful Kees never moved from my side. We sometimes got out of our carriage, and then his sure instinct led him to a plant. Frequently the stalk was falling off, and then all his endeavours to pull it out were in vain. In such cases he began to scratch in the earth with his paws, but as that would also have proved ineffectual, I came to his assistance with my dagger, or my knife, and we honestly divided the refreshing root with each other.

An officer wishing one day to put the fidelity of my baboon, Kees, to the test, pretended to strike me. At this, Kees flew in a violent rage, and from that time he could never endure the sight of the officer.

When any eatables had been pilfered at my quarters, the fault was always laid first on Kees, and rarely was the accusation unfounded. For a time the eggs were constantly stolen, 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 had announced by her cackling that she had