Apes of the Rock

Commandomen searched Gibraltar, came in with disheartening news. Five more of the Rock's historic apes were dead! From 17, the Rock's monkey colony had recently shrunk to eight. Two of the bodies just found were those of Adonis, also called Scruffy, and Antonio. They were rival leaders of the pack, potential fathers of future generations. The bodies were beyond postmortem; there was no way of proving that it was an Axis poison plot.

The legend is that the British will hold Gibraltar only so long as the Barbary apes (Macaca sylvana, Europe's only native species) remain there. Since 1780, when the chattering monkeys warned the garrison of a Spanish attack, the apes of Gibraltar have been tenderly cherished. In 1872 a subaltern who shot two of them for stealing his wardrobe was court-martialed, required to apologize publicly. Nowadays the apes are free to roam the Rock's caves and roads. The military administration even includes an official charged with keeping the apes alive, healthy and procreative. He is known as "0. C. Apes."

Anxious to preserve the ape colony, the British recently brought in two males from Tetuan. They were called Monty and Ike (for obvious generals). Inexplicably, Ike died. For Monty, a female was flown from Algiers in a bomber. Her crate was labeled "On His Majesty's Service."

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