THE APES OF GIBRALTAR.
Pro THE EDITOR or rue " SPECTATOR.") SIR,—Will you intercede for the apes of Gibraltar? It is stated in the Press that an order has been issued for their destruction or deportation. They are the sole representatives in Europe of the Barbary ape, and have been at Gibraltar for centuries, probably ever since the occupation by the Moors. Hitherto they have received the protection of the Government, and when, in 1908, they had dwindled to five females the Governor, Sir Frederick Forestier-Walker, caused another pair to be imported in order to save this most interesting tribe from extinction. My own garden and others sometimes suffered from their depredations, and an artillery officer at one time complained that the apes interfered with the drill of his battery. The wife of another officer was much alarmed by the sudden appearance of an ape in her room, looking over leer shoulder into the mirror. But such inconveniences were sub- mitted to for the sake of preserving the well-known and very interesting animal which has been so long connected with the history of the rock. I hope the present Governor may be persuaded to imitate his distinguished predecessor, and to
allow a small family of these apes to live in freedom on Mount
Calpe.—I am, Sir, &c., E. R. KENYON, Major-General Pradoe, Oswestry. (formerly Chief Engineer, Gibraltar).
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