They had long tails, which some of them carried high in the air, and flourished about in a very eccentric manner.
Totty was by no means alarmed.

She knew what sort of animals they were.
She knew they were _baboons_.

They were of the species known as the "pig-faced" baboon or "chacma" (_Cynocephalus porcarius_), which is found in nearly every part of South Africa where there are high cliffs with caves and crevices--the favourite dwelling-places of the baboon.
Of all the monkey tribe the baboons, or dog-headed monkeys (_cynocephali_), are the most disgusting in form and features.

Who does not feel disgust when regarding the hideous mandrill--the drill--the hamadryas--or even the chacma?
And all these are baboons.
The baboons are peculiar to Africa, and there are six well-known species of them:--the common baboon of North Africa, the "papion" of the south and western coast, the "hamadryas" or "tartarin" of Abyssinia, the "mandrill" and "drill" of Guinea, and the "chacma" of the Cape colony.
The habits of these animals are as disgusting as their appearance.

They may be tamed, and made "pets" of; but dangerous pets they are, as they will, upon the slightest provocation, bite the hand that feeds them.
Their great strength of body and jaw, and their long canine teeth, give them a dangerous power which they often make use of.