Some years ago, a soldier, who was doing duty at the castle of Cape Town, kept a tame baboon for his amusement. One evening it broke its chains unknown to him, and in the night it climbed up into the belfry, and began to play with and ring the bell.

Instantly the whole place was in an uproar; some great danger was feared. Many thought that the castle was on fire; others, that an enemy had entered the bay, and the soldiers actually began to turn out, when it was discovered that the mischievous baboon had caused the disturbance.

On the following morning a court-martial was held, when Cape justice decided that whereas the baboon had unnecessarily put the castle into alarm, its master should receive fifty lashes. The soldier, however, found someway to evade the punishment.