Chapter V: Part 5

Thus we have given the most precise and perfect account we could collect of the great _orang-outang_, or _pongo_; and as magnitude is the only striking character in which it differs from the jocko, I must persist in my belief that they are of the same species; for two things are at least possible. 1. That the jocko may be a constant variety; that is, a much smaller race than that of the pongo; in fact, they are both of the same climate, they live in the same manner, and consequently ought to resemble each other perfectly, since they equally receive, and are subject to the same influences of earth and sky. Have we not an example of a like variety in the human species? The Laplander and Finlander, though living under the same climate, yet differ almost as much in size, and much more in other attributes, as the jocko differs from the great orang-outang. 2. The jocko, or small orang-outang, which we have seen alive, as well as those of Tulpius, Tyson, and others which have been transported into Europe, were, perhaps, only young animals which had not attained the whole of their growth. That which I saw was about two feet and a half high, and the Sieur Nonfouix, to whom it belonged, assured me that it was not above two years old; therefore, it possibly might have attained to the height of five feet if it had lived, supposing its growth to be proportionate to that of the human species. The orang-outang described by Tyson, was still younger, as it was not above two feet high, and its teeth were not entirely formed. Those of Tulpius and Edwards were nearly of the same size as that which I saw, therefore it is very probable that these animals, had they been at liberty in their own climate, would have acquired the same height and dimensions which travellers ascribe to the great orang-outang. From these circumstances we shall consider these two animals as belonging to one species, till a more precise knowledge of them shall be obtained.

The orang-outang which I saw walked always upright, even when carrying heavy burthens. His air was melancholy, his deportment grave, his movements regular, his disposition gentle, and very different from that of other apes. Unlike the baboon, or the monkey, whose motions are violent, and appetites capricious, who are fond of mischief, and only obedient through fear, a look kept him in awe. It may be urged that he had the benefit of instruction; but equally so had those with whom I mean to compare him, and yet neither the baboon, nor other apes, could be brought to obey without blows, while a word was enough for him. I have seen this animal give his hand to shew the company to the door that came to see him, and walk about as gravely with them, as if he formed one of the company. I have seen him sit down at table, unfold his napkin, wipe his lips, make use of a spoon or a fork to carry the victuals to his mouth, pour out its drink into a glass, and touch glasses with the person who drank with him; when invited to take tea, he would bring a cup and saucer, lay them on the table, put in sugar, pour out the tea, and leave it to cool before he drank it. All this I have seen him perform without any other instigation than the signs, or the commands of his master, and often of his own accord. He was gentle and inoffensive; he even approached strangers with respect, and appeared rather to solicit caresses than inclined to offer injuries. He was singularly fond of sweetmeats, which every body was ready to give him; and as he had a defluxion upon the breast, together with a cough, so much sugar contributed, no doubt, to shorten his life. He continued at Paris one summer, and died in London the following winter. He would eat almost every thing that was offered, but preferred dry and ripe fruits to all other aliments. He would drink wine, but in small quantities, and willingly left it for milk, tea, or any other sweet, or mild liquor. Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, had one of these animals presented to him, the figure and description of which is given by Tulpius, and who relates nearly the same circumstances respecting him as we have done. But if we would know what peculiar instincts belong to this animal, and distinguish him from the improvements he had received from his master; we must compare those facts which we have witnessed, with the relations which travellers have given who have seen this animal in a state of nature, and in captivity. M. de la Brosse, who bought two orang-outangs from a negro, and which were but a year old, does not mention their having been educated; on the contrary, he asserts, that they performed many of the above actions by natural instinct. "These animals, says he, sat at table like men, they eat every sort of food without distinction, made use of a knife, a fork, or a spoon, to eat their meat and help themselves; they drank wine and other liquors. We carried them on ship board, and when they were at table, they made signs to the cabin-boy expressive of their wants; and whenever the boy neglected or refused to give them what they wanted, they became in a passion, seized him by the arm, bit and then threw him down. The male was sea-sick, and required attendance like a human creature: he was even twice bled in the right arm; and every time afterwards, when he found himself indisposed, he held out his arm, as if conscious of having been relieved by that operation."

Henry Grose relates, "that these animals are to be met with to the north of Coromandel; that Mr. Horne, governor of Bombay, had two of them, a male and a female, sent him from a merchant of the name of Vancajee, who lived upon the sea-coast in that country, by Captain Boag, the master of a trading vessel; who, as well as some of his people, gave the following description of them: they were scarcely two feet high, but their form was entirely like the human: they walked erect upon their two feet, and were of a sallow white, without any hairs on any other part than those on which mankind generally have them. Many of their actions perfectly resembled the human, and their melancholy plainly evinced they felt the weight of their captivity. They made their bed very orderly in the cage in which they were sent on board the ship. When any person looked at them they hid those parts which modesty forbids to expose. Whether the sea air affected them, or they pined at their confinement, or whether the captain did not provide them proper food, the female first sickened and died, upon which the male shewed all the real signs of grief, and took the death of his companion so greatly to heart that he refused his food, and did not survive her more than two days."

Such was captain Boag's account to Governor Horne, on his return to Bombay; and upon being asked what he had done with their bodies, said he had thrown them overboard, not at the time thinking of preserving them. The governor was so desirous of possessing such a curiosity, that he sent to Vancajee, requesting him to procure more; to which Vancajee replied, he was afraid that would not be in his power, as they were caught upon the skirts of a forest about seventy leagues up the country, but they were so shy and cunning, that the inhabitants were scarcely able to take them, it not happening more than once in a century.

Francis Pyrard relates, "that in the province of Sierra Leona in Africa, there is a species of apes called _baris_, who are strong and muscular, and so very industrious, that, if properly fed and instructed, they serve as very useful domestics: they usually walk upright, will pound any thing in a mortar, fetch water from the river in little pitchers, which they carry on their heads; but if the pitchers be not taken off immediately on their return they let them fall to the ground; but when they see them broken, they begin to lament and cry for the loss." Father Jarrie says nearly the same, and almost in the same words. The testimony of Schouten agrees with Pyrard's, on the education of these animals. "When taken, he says, they are taught to walk erect on their hind feet, and to make use of those before as hands, for certain works, as rinsing glasses, carrying the beer, and waiting at table, turning the spits, and other domestic business." "I saw at Java (says Guat) a very extraordinary female ape; she was very large, and often walked erect on her hind feet, at which time she hid with her hands the parts which distinguish the sex. She had no hair on her face, except the eyebrows, and her face much resembled those grotesque ones of the Hottentot women which I have seen at the Cape. She made her bed every day with great neatness, slept with her head on a pillow, and covered herself with a quilt. When she had the head-ache, she would bind it round with a handkerchief, and it was amusing to see her thus dressed in bed. I could relate a number of other little circumstances which appeared extremely singular, but I own I did not admire them so much as most people; because I was aware of the design of bringing her to Europe to gratify curiosity, and was therefore inclined to suspect that she had been taught a number of these tricks, which the populace looked upon as natural to the animal. She died in our vessel about the latitude of the Cape. This ape greatly resembled the human species in figure, &c."

Gemelli Careri speaks of one he saw which cried like a child, walked erect on its hind-feet, and carried a mat under its arm, on which it laid down to sleep. "These apes (he adds) seem in some respects to be more sagacious than men; for when they no longer find fruits on the mountains, they descend to the seashore, where they catch and feed on crabs, oysters, and other shell-fish. There is a species of oyster, called _taclovo_, which weighs several pounds, and often lies upon the shores with its shell somewhat open; but this animal being sufficiently sagacious to suspect they may close upon him, if he uses his paws, first puts a stone between the shells, and then eats the oyster at his pleasure."

"On the coasts of the river Gambia (says Froger) there are apes larger and more mischievous than in any other part of Africa: the negroes are afraid of them, and they cannot travel alone where they frequent, without running a risk of being attacked by these animals, who make use of huge clubs. The Portuguese say that they frequently take away young girls of seven or eight years of age, and carry them up to the highest trees. Most of the negroes regard these animals as foreigners who are come to establish themselves in their country, and that their not speaking arises from a fear of being obliged to work." Another traveller remarks, that at Macacar there are apes which walk upon their hind-feet like the human species, that they go in numbers, and that an encounter with them often proves fatal.

Thus we have nearly given every particular circumstance concerning this animal which has been related by travellers who may be the most depended upon. I have given their accounts entire, because every passage is important in the history of a brute which has so great a resemblance to man; and in order to determine its nature with the greater certainty, we shall now mention those differences and conformities which divide him from or give him an approximation to the human species. The first external difference is the flatness of the nose, the shortness of the forehead, and the defect of prominence in the chin. The ears are proportionally too large, the eyes too close to each other, and the interval between the nose and the mouth too great: these are the only differences between the face of the orang-outangs and that of man. With regard to the body and limbs, the thighs are proportionally too short, the arms too long; the fingers too small, the palms of the hands too narrow, and the feet rather resemble the hands than the human feet. The parts of generation differ only from those of man, by their having no frænum to the prepuce; but in the females the organs externally are nearly like those of women.

Internally this animal differs from man in the number of its ribs; having thirteen, whereas man has only twelve. The vertebræ of the neck are also shorter, the bones of the pelvis narrower, the haunches more flat, and the orbits of the eyes sunk deeper. There is no spiny apophysis to the first vertebræ of the neck; the kidnies are rounder than in the human species, and the ureters have a different figure, as well as the bladder and gall-bladder, which are much longer and narrower. In almost every other part, as well externally as internally, there is so perfect a resemblance to those of the human species, that we cannot compare them without expressing our wonder and admiration, that from such a similar conformation and organization the same effects are not produced. For example, the tongue, and all the organs of the voice, are exactly the same as in man, and yet this animal does not speak; the brain is absolutely of the same form and proportion, and yet it does not think. Can there be a more convincing proof, that matter alone, however perfectly organized, cannot produce either speech or thought, unless animated by a superior principle? or, in other words, by a soul to direct its operations? Man, and the orang-outang, are the only animals which have calfs to their legs, and their posteriors formed for walking erect. They likewise are the only ones which have a broad chest, flat shoulders, and the vertebræ conformable to each other; and the only animals whose brain, heart, lungs, liver, spleen, stomach, and intestines, are perfectly alike, and who have a vermicular appendix. In short, the orang-outang has a greater resemblance to man than even to baboons or monkeys, not only by all the parts which I have indicated, but also by the largeness of the visage, the form of the cranium, the jaws, teeth, and other bones of the head and face; by the thickness of the fingers and thumb; by the shape of the nails; by the articulations of the joints, sternum, &c. So that since we find, by comparing this animal with those which resemble it most, such as the magot, baboon, or monkey, it has a greater conformity with the human than the animal species, which have all been mentioned under the general name of apes, the Indians are excusable for having associated it with man by the name of _orang-outang_, or the _wild man of the woods_. As some of the facts we have mentioned may appear suspicious to those who have not seen this animal, we shall support them by the authority of the two celebrated anatomists Tyson[M] and Cowper, who dissected it with a most scrupulous nicety, and have given the results of the comparisons they made of all its parts with the human species. I shall only observe, that the English are not confined, like the French, to one single word to denote animals of this kind: they have, like the Greeks, two different denominations, one for those without tails, which they call apes, and the other for those with tails, which they term monkeys. Those which Tyson speaks of by the word _apes_ must be the same animals as we have called pithecos, or pigmy, and the cynocephalus, or Barbary ape. I must also remark, that this author gives some characters of resemblance and difference which have not a sufficient foundation. I have therefore thought it necessary to make some observations on those particulars, as we cannot too minutely examine a creature, which, though it has the form of a man, nevertheless belongs to the brute species.

[Footnote M: The orang-outang bears a greater resemblance to man than to the apes or monkeys; because, 1. The hairs on his shoulders are directed downwards, and those on the arm upwards. 2. His face is broader and flatter than that of the apes. 3. The form of his ears resembles that of man, excepting the cartilaginous part being thin, like the apes. 4. His fingers are much thicker in proportion than the apes. 5. He is, in every particular, formed for walking erect, which apes are not. 6. His posteriors are thicker than those of apes. 7. He has calfs to his legs. 8. His breast and shoulders are broader than those of any ape. 9. His heels are longer. 10. He has a cellular membrane, like man, under the skin. 11. His peritonæum is entire. 12. His intestines are longer than those of apes. 13. The intestinal canal is of different diameters, as in man, and not nearly equal, as in apes. 14. His cæcum has a vermicular appendix, which is not the case in any other ape, nor is the neck of the colon so long as in the latter. 15. The insertions of the biliary and pancreatic ducts have but one common orifice in the orang-outang as well as in man, but in all apes and monkeys they are two inches asunder. 16. The colon is longer than that of the apes. 17. The liver is not divided into lobes as in the apes, but entire, like that of man. 18. The biliary vessels are also the same: as are, 19. The spleen. 20. The pancreas; and 21. The number of lobes in the lungs. 22. The pericardium is attached to the diaphragm, as in man. 23. The cone of the heart is more blunt than in apes. 24. He has no pouches at the bottom of the cheeks, as other apes have. 25. His brain is larger than that of apes, and formed exactly like the human brain. 26. The cranium is rounder, and double the size of that of monkeys. 27. All the sutures of the cranium are similar to those of man, which is not the case in other apes or monkeys. 28. He has the _os cribriforme_ and the _crista galli_, which the monkeys have not. 29. He has the _sella equina_ exactly the same as in man, while the apes and monkeys have it more prominent. 30. They have the _processus pteregoides_ like man, while the others have not. 31. The temporal bones, and the _ossa bregmatis_ are the same as in man, but in apes and monkeys these bones are of a different form. 32. The latter have the _os zygomaticus_ large, whereas it is small in this animal. 33. The teeth, particularly the grinders, are more like man's than those of the ape or monkey, as also are, 34. The transverse apophyses of the vertebræ of the neck, and the sixth and seventh vertebræ. 35. The vertebræ of the neck are not perforated as in apes, but entire as in man. 36. The vertebræ of the back and their apophyses, are the same as in man; and in the lower vertebræ, there are only two inferior apophyses, but in the apes there are four. 37. As in man there are only five lumber vertebræ, but in monkeys there are six or seven. 38. The spinal apophyses of the lumber vertebræ are straight as in man. 39. The _os sacrum_ is composed of five vertebræ, as in man, but in apes or monkeys of only three. 40. As in man, the _coccix_ is composed of four bones, and not perforated, whereas in apes, it is composed of a greater number of bones, all of which are perforated. 41. In the orang-outang, there are only seven true ribs, and the extremities of the false ribs are all cartilaginous and articulated with the vertebræ; but in apes and monkeys, there are eight true ribs, and the extremities of the false ribs are osseous, and their articulations are placed in the intestines between the vertebræ. 42. His iternum is broad like that of man, but which is narrow in monkeys. 43. The bones of the four fingers are thicker than those of apes. 44. The thigh bone is like that of man. 45. The rotula is round, long, and single, but double in the apes. 46. The heel _tarsus_ and _metatarsus_ are like those of man. 47. The middle toe is not so long as that of the apes. 48. The _obliquus inferior capitis_, _pyriformis_, and _biceps femoris_ muscles, are like those of man, but which are different in the apes or monkeys.

The orang-outang _differs_ from the human species more than from apes and monkey: 1. The thumb is proportionally smaller than that of man, but larger than that of the apes. 2. The palm of the hand is longer and narrower. 3. The toes approach those of the ape, by their length. 4. As he does by having the large toe of the foot placed at an inch distance from the next one, and which makes him rather be considered as a four-handed animal than a quadruped. 5. His thighs are shorter than those of man; and 6. His arms are longer. 7. The testicles are not pendulous. 8. The epiloon is larger. 9. The gall-bladder is longer. 10. The kidneys are rounder, and the ureters are also different from man. 11. The bladder is longer. 12. He has no _frænum_ to the prepuce. 13. The bone in the orbit of the eye is sunk deeper. 14. He has not the two cavities below the _tella turica_. 15. The mastoid and styloid processes are extremely small. 16. The bones of the nose are flat. 17. The vertebræ of the neck are short, flat before, and their spinal apophyses are not forked. 18. He has no spinal apophyses in the first vertebræ of the neck. 19. He has thirteen ribs on each side. 20. The _ossa ilia_ are longer, narrower, and less concave than in man. 21. He also wants the following muscles, which are found in man: the _occipitales_, _frontales_, _dilitatories alarum nasi seu elevotores labij superioris_, _interspinales calli glutæi minimi extensor digitorum pedis brevis et transversalis pedis_. 22. The following muscles are sometimes found in man, but not in the orang-outang, the _pyramidales_, _caro musculosa quadrata_, the long tendon and the fleshy body of the _palmaris_, the _attolens_, and _retrobans oriculam_. 23. The _elevator_ muscles of the claricles of the orang-outang are like those of the ape, and different from man; as are also 24. The muscles called, _longus colli_, _pectoralis_, _latissimus dorsi_, _glutæus maximus et medius_, _psoas magnus et parvus_, _iliacus_, _internus_, _et gasteronamius internus_. And 25. He differs from man in the figure of the _deltoides_, _pronator_, _radi teres_, _et extensor pollicis brevii_.--Tyson's Anat. of the Orang-Outang.]

1. Tyson gives, as a particular character of man and the orang-outang, the having the hair on their shoulders inclined downward, and that on the arms upwards. It is true that most quadrupeds have their hair directed downwards, or backwards, but this is not without some exceptions. The sloth and the smallest species of ant-eater have the hair on their anterior parts inclined backward, and that on the crupper and loins directed forwards; therefore this character carries no great weight in comparing the orang-outang with man.

2. The four first differences also in the passage I have quoted are very slight, or ill-founded. The first is the difference of size, which character is very uncertain, especially as the author himself observes that his animal was very young. The second, third, and fourth, are drawn from the form of the nose, the quantity of hair, and other trivial circumstances. It is the same with many others, which may be retrenched; for example, the twenty-first character is drawn from the number of the teeth. It is certain that both this animal and man have the like number of teeth, and if the one in question had only twenty-eight, it ought to be attributed to its youth, for we know that the human race have not more in the early part of their days.

3. The seventh difference is likewise very equivocal; the scrotum of children is in general very tight, and this animal being young ought not to have had them pendulous.

4. The forty-eighth character of resemblance, and the twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth marks of difference, only denote the presence or shape of certain muscles, which as they vary in most individuals of the human species, ought not to be considered as essential characters.

5. Every difference and resemblance drawn from parts too minute, such as the apophyses of the vertebræ, or that are taken from the position and magnitude of certain parts, should be considered only as accessory characters; so that Tyson's whole anatomical table may be reduced to the essential differences and resemblances which we have already mentioned.

6. I have thought it necessary to point out other more general characters of this animal, some of which have been omitted by Tyson, and others but badly indicated. First, The orang-outang is the only one of all the apes that has no pouches within his cheeks on each side of the jaw, in which to put the provisions before they swallow them, for the inside of his mouth is perfectly like that of man. Secondly, the gibbon, the Barbary ape, and all the baboon and monkey kind, except the douc, have their posteriors flat, with callosities on them. The orang-outang is the only one which has those parts plump, and without callosities. The douc also has no callosities, but then his posteriors are flat and covered with hair, so that in this respect the douc forms the shade between the orang-outang and the monkeys; as the gibbon and magot form the same knot with respect to the pouches on each side of the jaw. Thirdly, the orang-outang is the only animal who has the calfs of the legs, and fleshy posteriors. This character shews that it is formed much better than any other animal to walk upright; but as its toes are very long, and its heels higher situated than in man, it runs with greater ease than it walks, and there would be occasion for artificial heels higher than those of our shoes to enable it to walk easily for a long time together. Fourthly, though the orang-outang has thirteen ribs, and man only twelve, this difference does not approximate it nearer to the baboon or monkey than it removes it from man, because the number of ribs varies in most of those species, some of them having twelve, others eleven, ten, and so on. So that the only differences between the body of this animal and that of man are reduced to two, viz. the figure of the bones of the pelvis, and the formation of the feet; these, therefore, are the only considerable parts by which the orang-outang bears a greater resemblance to the other apes than it does to the human species.

From this examination, which I have made with all the exactness I am capable of, we may form a tolerably correct judgment of this animal. If there were a step by which we could descend from human nature to that of the brutes, and if the essence of this nature consisted entirely in the form of the body, and depended on its organization, the orang-outang would approach nearer to man than to any other animal. Seated in the second rank of beings, if it could not command in the first, it would at least make others feel its superiority. If the principle of imitation, by which he seems so closely to copy the actions of man, were a result of thought or reason, this ape would be at a still greater distance from the brute species, and nearer the human; but, as we have observed, the interval which separates them is not trifling, and the resemblance in form, conformity of organization, and motions of imitation, which seem to result from those similitudes, neither bring it nearer the nature of man, nor raise it above that of the brutes.

_Distinctive Characters of this Species._

The orang-outang has no pouches on the sides of the jaws, no tail, nor any callosities on the posteriors, which last are plump and fleshy: all his teeth are similar to those of man: his face is flat, naked, and of a swarthy colour; his hands, feet, ears, breast, and belly, are also naked: the hair on the head descends on the sides of the temples like tresses; on his back and loins there is but a very small quantity of hair[N]: he is about five or six feet high, and always walks erect on his two hind feet. We have not been able to verify whether the females are subject to periodical courses like women: analogy will scarcely suffer a doubt to arise to the contrary.

[Footnote N: According to Pennant this hair is of a reddish colour, and shaggy.]

THE PITHECOS, OR PIGMY.

Aristotle says, "there are animals whose nature are ambiguous, and partake, in some measure, of the human and quadruped species; such as the pithecos, the kebes, and the cynocephali. The kebe is a pithecos with a tail; the cynocephalus is perfectly like the pithecos, but larger, stronger, and has a more pointed muzzle, approaching very near that of a bull-dog, from which it derives its name: its manners are also more ferocious, and its teeth stronger than those of the pithecos, and more resemble those of a dog." It is clear, from this passage, that neither the pithecos nor cynocephalus, mentioned by Aristotle, have any tail; for he says, that the pithecos with a tail, is called _kebe_; and that the cynocephalus resembles the pithecos in every particular, except the muzzle and teeth. Aristotle, therefore, speaks of two apes without tails, the pithecos and the cynocephalus; and of others with tails, which he calls _kebes_. Now, to compare what we at present know with what was known by Aristotle, we shall observe, that we have seen three species of apes without tails, namely, the orang-outang, the gibbon, and the magot, not one of which is the pithecos; for the two first were certainly unknown to Aristotle, being only found in the southern parts of Africa and India, which were not discovered till after his time: besides, they have very different characters from those he ascribes to the pithecos. But the third species, which we call the magot, or Barbary ape, is the cynocephalus of Aristotle, for it possesses all its characters; it has no tail, its muzzle is like that of a bull-dog, and its canine teeth are large and long. This animal is also found in Asia Minor, and in other provinces of the East, and with which the Greeks were well acquainted. The pithecos belongs to the same country, but we have not seen it, and know it only from the relations of travellers, and, although during twenty years, in which we have made the research of these animals our study, this species has not fallen under our inspection, yet we do not doubt but that it as really exists as the cynocephalus. Gesner and Johnston have given figures of this pithecos. M. Brisson mentions his having seen it, and he distinguishes it from the cynocephalus, which he also saw, and confirms Aristotle's remark that these two animals perfectly resemble each other in every respect, excepting the face, which is shorter in the cynocephalus than in the pithecos. We have already observed, that the orang-outang, the pithecos, the gibbon, and the magot, are the only animals to which we can apply the generic name of ape, being the only animals which have no tail, and rather choose to walk on two legs than four. The orang-outang, and the gibbon, are very different from the pithecos and the magot. But, as the two latter perfectly resemble each other, except in the length of the muzzle, and size of the canine teeth, they have been often taken for each other. They have always been mentioned by the common name of ape, even in languages which have one name for apes without tails, and another for apes which have tails. They are both called by the name of _aff_ in German, and _ape_ in English; and it is only among the Greeks that we find that each of these animals has a proper name. The word cynocephalus is rather an adjective than a proper substantive, for which reason we have not adopted it.

It appears from the testimonies of the ancients, that the pithecos, or pigmy, was the most gentle and docile of all the ape species that were known to them; and that it was common in Asia, as well as in Lybia, and in the other provinces of Africa, frequented by the Greek and Roman travellers. Therefore I presume that we must refer the following passages of Leo Africanus, and Marmol to the pigmy. They say, that the apes with long tails, which are seen in Mauritania, and are called by the Africans _mones_, come from the negro country; but that those without tails are found in great numbers, and are natives of the mountains of Mauritania, Bugie, and Constantine. "These animals, says Marmol, have feet and hands like a man, and, if I may be allowed the expression, a human face; they have an appearance of much vivacity, and seem very malicious. They live upon corn, herbs, and all sorts of fruits, to obtain which they sally forth in large troops, to plunder the gardens or fields; but before they venture out on these expeditions one of the company ascends an eminence, and surveys the country round. If there be no person near, he makes a signal by a cry, for his companions to proceed, remaining himself, however, at his station: but as soon as he perceives any one coming, he sets up a loud cry, and the whole company scamper off with the utmost precipitation, and jumping from tree to tree, retreat to the mountains. It is a great curiosity to see these animals retreat; for the females carry four or five young ones upon their backs, and with this heavy load, leap with great agility from branch to branch; yet great numbers of them are taken, by different snares, notwithstanding all their cunning. When they are angry, they bite furiously, but by coaxing, they are easily tamed. They do great damage to the gardens and fields, because they pluck, pull down, and tear up, every thing that comes in their way, whether ripe or not, and often destroy more than they can eat or carry away. Those that are tamed, perform things almost incredible, and imitate almost every human action!" Kolbe relates nearly the same facts with respect to the apes of the Cape of Good Hope: but the description and figure he gives of them, plainly prove they are baboons, having a short tail, a long muzzle, sharp nails, &c. they are also much larger and stronger than the apes of Mauritania. We may therefore presume, that Kolbe only copied this passage from Marmol, and applied the natural habitudes of the Mauritania pigmies to the baboons of the Cape of Good Hope.

The pithecos, the magot, and the baboon, were known to the ancients: these animals are found in Asia Minor, Arabia, Upper Egypt and in all the northern parts of Africa. This passage of Marmol may, therefore, be applied to all the three; but it is clear it does not agree with the baboon, for it says these apes have no tails; and what makes me of opinion that it is not a magot, but a pithecos, is, that the former is not easily tamed, that it commonly produces only two young ones, and not four or five, like that of which Marmol speaks; and the latter, being also less, must produce a greater number at a time. Besides the pithecos, or pigmy, is more gentle and docile than the magot, or Barbary ape, which is scarcely ever thoroughly tamed. From these reasons I am convinced, that we must not apply this passage in the above author to the magot, but to the pithecos; and the same remark may be made to a passage of Rubruquis, who, in his discourse of the apes of Cathay, says, "that they nearly resemble the human form in every particular; that their height is not above a foot and a half, and their body covered all over with hair; that they live in holes; that the natives take them, by putting strong and inebriating liquors in the places they inhabit; that a number of them come together to drink liquors, at the same time making a cry which sounds like _chinchin_, whence they have obtained the appellation of _chinchins_; and that having intoxicated themselves they fall asleep, when the hunters easily surprise and carry them away." These characters agree with the pithecos, and not at all with the Barbary ape. We have seen one of the latter alive, but never heard it pronounce the word _chinchin_. Besides it was above a foot and a half in height, and had a less resemblance to the human form than what this author asserts. We have the same reasons for applying Prosper Alpinus's figure and description to the pithecos, rather than to the magot. He asserts, that the small ape without a tail, which he saw in Egypt, was sooner and more easily tamed, and more sagacious, lively, and diverting, than those of any other kind. This plainly distinguishes it from the magot, which is a filthy, sullen, vicious, untractable animal, and is never fully tamed, so that the characters given by Prosper Alpinus to his ape without a tail, do not agree in any respect with the Barbary ape, and can belong to no other animal than the pithecos.

_Distinctive Characters of this Species._[O]

[Footnote O: This ape is about the size of a cat, of an olive brown above, and yellowish beneath. _Pennant._]

The pithecos, or pigmy, has no tail; his canine teeth are not proportionably larger than those of man; his face is flat, as are likewise his nails, which are rounded at the top like those of the human species; he walks erect, is about a foot and a half high, and of a gentle and tractable disposition. The ancients assert that the female is subject to a periodical emanation, and analogy leaves us no reason to doubt the fact.

THE GIBBON,[P] OR LONG-ARMED APE.

[Footnote P: _Gibbon_ is the name by which Mr. Dupleix sent us this animal from the East Indies. I thought at first that this was an Indian word, but in looking over the nomenclature of the monkey tribe, I found in a note of Dalechamp's upon Pliny, that Strabo has described the cephus by the word _Keipon_, from which, probably, _Guibon_, _Gibbon_, is derived. The passage of Pliny, with Dalechamp's note, is as follows: "Pompeii magni, primum ludi ostenderunt ex Ethiopia, quas vocant _cephos_[Q] quadem pedes posteriores pedibus humanis & cruribus, priores manibus fuere similes; hoc animal postea Roma non vidit."]

[Footnote Q: Cephos, _Strabo, lib._ xv. Keipon _vocat esseque tradit facie satyro similem_. Dal. Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. viii. cap. 19. Nota. _The_ cebus _of the Greeks, the_ cephos _of Pliny, which is pronounced_ kebus _and_ kephus, _might very possibly take its origin from_ koph, _or_ kophin, _which is the name of an ape in the Hebrew and Chaldean_.]

The Gibbon (_fig. 196._) always keeps itself erect, even when it walks on all four feet, its arms being as long as both its body and legs. We have seen one of these animals alive; it was but young, and not more than three feet high; we may therefore presume, that it had not attained its full size, and that when in a free state, it may grow to four feet. It has no appearance of any tail, and the character which evidently distinguishes it from all other apes, is the extraordinary length of its arms. It had a circle of white hair all round the face, which gave it a very remarkable appearance: its eyes are large but sunk deep in the head; its face is flat nearly resembling that of a man, and of a tawny colour, and its ears, though well proportioned, are naked. This animal, next to the orang-outang and the pithecos, would approach the nearest to the human form, were it not deformed by the excessive length of its arms: for man in a state of nature would have a strange appearance; his hair and beard, if they were neglected, would encircle his visage not unlike that which surrounds the face of the gibbon.

This ape appeared to be of a gentle and tractable disposition; its motions were neither too rash, nor too precipitate. It was fed on bread, fruit, almonds, &c. and calmly received the food that was presented. It was very averse to cold and wet, and did not live long after being brought into a foreign climate. It is a native of the East Indies, and particularly along the coasts of Coromandel, Malacca, and the islands of Molucca.[R] This animal is not to be met with in the less southern provinces, and there is every reason to conclude that the ape found in the kingdom of Ganaura, on the frontiers of China, ought to be referred to the gibbon, although it is called by some travellers _fefé_. This species varies both in size and colour, for there are two in the royal cabinet, one of which, although adult, is much smaller than the other, and is brown on those parts of the body where the other is black; but as they perfectly resemble each other in every other respect, we have not the least doubt that they both belong to the same species.

[Footnote R: P. le Comte says, that he saw at the Molucca islands, a species of ape, walking naturally on his two feet, and using his arms like a man. The face nearly resembled that of a Hottentot, but the body was covered all over with a sort of grey wool. It was exactly like a child, and expressed perfectly its wants and its desires. These apes are of a very mild disposition, and to shew their affection to any person whom they know, they embrace them and kiss them with singular transport. One of them which P. le Comte saw was at least four feet high, and very agile.]

_Distinctive Characters of this Species._

The gibbon has no tail; there are small callosities on his posteriors; his face is flat, brown, and surrounded with a circle of white hairs; his canine teeth are larger in proportion than those of man; his ears are naked; black, and round; his hair is black, brown, or sometimes grey with age; his arms excessively long; he walks erect, and is about two feet and a half, or three feet high. The female is subject to a periodical emanation.

THE MAGOT, OR BARBARY APE.

This animal, of all apes which have no tail, is that which can best bear with the temperature of our climate. We kept one for many years. In the summer it remained in the open air with pleasure; and in the winter might be kept in a room without any fire. It was filthy, and of a sullen disposition: it made use of grimace equally to shew its anger, or express its hunger: its motions were violent, its manners aukward, and its physiognomy more ugly than ridiculous. Whenever offended it grinned and shewed its teeth. It put whatever was given to it into the pouches of the cheeks, and commonly ate every thing that was offered, except raw flesh, cheese, or any thing that had undergone a kind of fermentation. When inclined to sleep it was fond of roosting on a wooden or iron bar. It was always kept chained, for, notwithstanding its long domesticity, it was neither civilized nor attached to its keepers. Apparently it had been badly educated, for I have seen others of the same species who were more sagacious, more obedient, more gay, and so tractable as to be taught to dance, keeping time, and suffer themselves quietly to be clothed.

_Engraved for Barr's Buffon._

This ape (_fig. 197._) is two feet and a half, or three feet high, in its erect posture; but the female is not so large as the male. It prefers to walk on all four rather than on two feet. When it sleeps it is almost always sitting; supporting itself on two very prominent callosities on its posteriors; and the anus being placed higher, his body is more inclined when sitting than that of man. It differs from the _pithecos_; first, in the form of its snout, which is thick and long, like that of a dog; whereas, the pithecos has a flat visage. Secondly, in having long canine teeth. Thirdly, its nails are neither so flat nor so round; and, fourthly, because it is larger, and of a more sullen and untractable disposition.

There are also varieties to be met with in this species. We have seen some of different sizes, with various coloured hair, and more or less bushy. Even the five animals of which Prosper Alpinus has given us the figures and descriptions, under the name of _cynocephali_, seem to be all magots, differing only in size, and some other characters too slight to form distinct species. The magot seems to be dispersed over every warm climate in the Old Continent, and is found in Tartary, Arabia, Ethiopia, Malabar, Barbary, Mauritania, and as far as the Cape of Good Hope.

It is, probably, this species of ape which Robert Lade speaks of in the following terms: "We travelled over a large mountain in the neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope, where we diverted ourselves with hunting large apes, which are there in great plenty. I am not able to describe the various arts practised by these animals, while we were in pursuit of them; nor their swiftness, nor the impudence with which they returned. Sometimes they suffered us to approach so nigh, that I thought myself certain of securing them, but when I made the attempt, the one I meant to seize would make a sudden leap, spring above ten paces from me, climb up a tree with the greatest agility, and then looking down upon us with perfect indifference, seem to derive pleasure from our astonishment. There were some so exceedingly large, that if our interpreter had not assured us that they were not of a ferocious nature, our number would not have appeared sufficient to have protected us from their attacks. As it would have been useless to kill them, we made no use of our guns; but the captain, taking aim at a very large one, which was seated on a tree, after having tired us with a long pursuit, he had no sooner presented his piece but the animal, probably from the remembrance of the execution of some of his companions by the like manner, was so greatly terrified, that it fell almost motionless at our feet, and we had not the least trouble in securing it; however when it revived we had occasion for all our strength and address to keep it, defending itself by biting those who came near, and we were at last under the necessity of covering its head with our handkerchiefs."

_Distinctive Characters of this Species._

The magot has no tail, though he has a small portion of skin, which has some appearance of one. He has pouches on the sides of his jaws, and thick callosities on his posteriors; canine teeth much longer in proportion than those of man; and the bottom part of the face turned up like that of a bull-dog: his visage is hairy or rather covered with a down: he is of a greenish brown on his body, and a pale yellow on the belly: he walks erect on his hind feet, but oftener on all four. He is about three feel and a half high, and there seems to be some of them still larger. The females have a periodical emanation.

THE PAPION[S], OR THE BABOON, PROPERLY SO CALLED.

[Footnote S: This word is derived from _Papio_, which is the name of this animal in modern Latin, and which has been here adopted to distinguish him from the other baboons.]

In man the physiognomy may deceive, and the figure of the body does not give an idea of the qualities of the mind; but in the brute creation we may always judge of their dispositions by their looks, and form a just conjecture of their internal qualities from their external form. For example, if we compare the ape and baboon we shall at once decide, that they greatly differ in their dispositions, and that the latter are infinitely more fierce, savage, and malicious, than the former. The orang-outang, which resembles man the most of any, approaches also nearest in intelligence, gentleness of manners, and pliancy of disposition. The magot, which is set further from the human figure, and approaches that of the brutes in form of its face and canine teeth, is wild, impetuous, and disobedient; but the baboon, which only resembles man in the hands, approaches still nearer, and is, in fact, of the savage tribe, having a tail, sharp nails, and a prominent muzzle. The baboon which I saw (_fig. 198._) was not so extremely ugly, yet it excited horror. It seemed exceedingly savage and ferocious, continually gnashing its teeth; fretting with rage and furiously restless. It was obliged to be confined in an iron cage, the bars of which it so forcibly moved with its hands, that the spectators were struck with apprehension. It was a squat animal, whose short limbs and compact body indicated vast strength and agility. The long hair with which it was covered seemed to add to its apparent volume; however it is in reality so great, that it could easily overcome more than a single man, unless properly armed.[T] It constantly appeared excited by that passion which renders the mildest animals furious. It was insolently lascivious, and seemed fond of affecting to gratify its strong desires in public. In some measure we may say that Nature seems to have provided him for this detestable and uncommon kind of impudence; for in all other animals these parts are somewhat covered with a veil; but in the baboon they are naked, and more conspicuous from the other parts of the body being covered with hair; its posteriors are quite naked; its genitals are pendulous, the anus uncovered, and the tail always elevated; and instead of feeling any shame it seemed to make a parade of its nakedness, presenting its posteriors oftener to the spectators than its head, particularly in the presence of women, before whom he displayed a matchless impudence, which could proceed only from the most immoderate desires. The magot, and some others of the ape species, have the same strong inclinations, but as they are less in size, and not so petulant, they are more easily corrected, whereas the baboon is quite incorrigible, and totally untractable.

[Footnote T: This probably is of the same species as the animal called tré tré tré tré at Madagascar, which is (says Flaccourt) as large as a calf of two years old; the head is round, with the face of a man; the fore and hind feet like an ape; the hair frizzly, the tail short, the ears like those of man: he resembles the _tamach_ described by Ambroise Paré; it is a solitary animal, the natives dread it very much.]

But however violent the desires of these animals may be, they do not breed in temperate climates. The female brings forth usually but one young at a time, which she carries in her arms, and clinging as it were to her breast: she is also subject to periodical emanations. These baboons though mischievious and ferocious, are not carnivorous; they principally feed upon fruits, roots, and corn. They generally assemble together in companies, for the purpose of sallying forth to commit their depredations on the neighbouring vineyards or orchards.