ach
nearer to the human species than any other quadruped I have ever seen.
These rascals, who are most abominable thieves, used to annoy us
exceedingly. Our barracks were under the hills, and when we went to
parade, we were invariably obliged to leave armed men for the protection
of our property; and, even in spite of this, they have frequently stolen
our blankets and great-coats, or anything else they could lay their
claws on. A poor woman, a soldier's wife, had washed her blanket and
hung it out to dry, when some of these miscreants, who were ever on the
watch, stole it, and ran off with it into the hills, which are high and
woody. This drew upon them the indignation of the regiment, and we
formed a strong party, armed with sticks and stones, to attack them,
with the view of recovering the property, and inflicting such
chastisement as might be a warning to them for the future. I was on the
advance, with about twenty men, and I made a _detour_ to cut them off
from caverns to which they always flew for shelter. They observed my
movement, and immediately detached about fifty to guard the entrance,
while the others kept their post, and we could distinctly see them
collecting large stones and other missiles. One old grey-headed one, in
particular, who often paid us a visit to the barracks, and was known by
the name of Father Murphy, was seen distributing his orders, and
planning the attack, with the judgment of one of our best generals.
Finding that my design was defeated, I joined the main body, and rushed
on to the attack, when a scream from Father Murphy was the signal for a
general encounter, and the host of baboons under his command rolled down
enormous stones upon us, so that we were obliged to give up the contest,
or some of us must inevitably have been killed. They actually followed
us to our very doors, shouting an indication of victory; and, during the
whole night, we heard dreadful yells and screaming; so much so, that we
expected a night attack. In the morning, however, we found that all this
rioting had been created by disputes about the division of the blanket,
for we saw eight or ten of them with pieces of it on their backs, as old
women wear their cloaks. Amongst the number strutted Father Murphy.
These rascals annoyed us day and night, and we dared not venture out
unless a party of five or six went together.

One morning, Father Murphy had the consummate impudence to walk straight
into the Grenadier barrac