Note 67 — APES AND MONKEYS.
Margaret R. Thomson translation
[Note 67] p. 286.—Monkeys on the Rock of Gibraltar.
A letter written in 1880 by an officer in Gibraltar to the Field newspaper and quoted in vol. i. of the Royal Natural History gives the number living on the Rock at that time as twenty-five, among whom were only two adult males. There had been several gangs of them at one time, but they had done so much damage in the town gardens that they had been nearly exterminated by means of traps and poison. But in 1856, when their numbers had been reduced to four or five, a garrison order was issued forbidding further destruction of them, and since that time they have been strictly preserved and regularly counted. In 1863, four were imported from Africa, and after a time were admitted as members of the band. Another attempt was made in 1872 to reinforce their numbers, but it was unsuccessful.