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bread and margarine—when João arrived, Alda accompanying him. Alda was slim, like his father, eighteen years old with much lighter-toned skin, almost caramel colored. He had a big, open face and an attentive air, as if he were curious about everything he saw. He was not particularly bright, but he was very keen. I asked him what had happened about his military service.
    â€œNo, no,” he said with a relieved grin. “Too many soldiers now. War he finish soon.”
    â€œOh yes?” This was news to me. “What do you think?” I asked João.
    He was less sanguine. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “They say UNAMO is finish…but you still remain with FIDE and EMLA.”
    â€œUNAMO is finish,” Alda said with some emphasis. “They catch them at Luso, near the railway. Kill plenty plenty.”
    â€œWho caught them?”
    â€œThe federals…and FIDE.” He made diving sounds, his caramel hands swooping. “Gasoline bombs.”
    I reflected on this. “I thought FIDE was against the federals.”
    â€œYes, they are,” Alda said patiently, “but they both don’t like UNAMO.”
    â€œI give up,” I said. “Let’s go.”
    It was cool this early in the morning—sometimes I thought I saw my breath condense, just for an instant. The sky was white and opaque with misty cloud, the light even and shadowless. A heavy dew on the grass turned my dun leather boots chocolate in seconds. We walked through the silent camp, heading south.
    As we passed Hauser’s cabin I heard my name called. I turned. Hauser stood in the doorway wearing an unattractively short toweling dressing gown.
    â€œGlad I caught you,” he said. He handed me back my specimen bottle, clean and empty. “Most amusing. Did you think it up by yourself or did that genius Vail help you?”
    â€œWhat’re you talking about?” I said coldly. I can be as frosty as the best of them.
    â€œYour feeble joke.” He pointed at the specimen bottle. “For your information, the last meal your chimp enjoyed appeared to be a chimpburger.” His thin false smile disappeared. “Don’t waste my time, Dr. Clearwater.”
    He went back into his cabin, haughtily. João and Alda looked at me with eager surprise: they rarely witnessed our arguments in the camp. I raised my shoulders, spread my palms and looked baffled. This needed further thought. We set off once more.
    Â 
    Eugene Mallabar had started the Grosso Arvore Research Project in 1953. It began modestly, as a field study to flesh out some chapters in his doctoral thesis. But the work fascinated him and he stayed on. He was joined two years later by his wife, Ginga. Between them their investigations into the society of wild chimpanzees, and their scrupulous and original field studies, soon brought scientific acclaim and increasing public renown. This became genuine celebrityhood, on Mallabar’s part, when he published his first book, The Peaceful Primate , in 1960. Television films and documentaries followed and Grosso Arvore, along with its telegenic founder, thrived and grew. Research grants multiplied, eager Ph.D. students offered their services and governmental influence broke through the hitherto impenetrable barriers of red tape that had stood in the way of real expansion. Soon Grosso Arvore became a pioneering national park and game preserve, among the first in Africa. Then came the international success of Mallabar’s next book, Primate’s Progress . Invitations, citations and honors followed; Mallabar became the recipient of a baker’s dozen of honorary doctorates; there was a biennial cycle of lucrative lecture tours in America and Europe; Mallabar chairs in primatology were established in Berlin, Florida and New Mexico. Eugene Mallabar’s place in the annals of science and ethology was secure.
    The essence of the Mallabar approach to the study of