site to that of the cage through which the animal had to pass. But even so powerful a lure had no effect till a man approached the belle, and pretended to caress her. This was too much; the poor jealous dupe could not bear the sight. He darted furiously through the open door of his prison at the hateful intruder, and was instantly secured. This was treacherous; but as the Lords of the creation themselves, from Sampson down to the Macheaths, have been the victims of the dear delightful deluders, a Chacma has no right to complain.

Cunning appears to be a principal feature in the character of the wild baboons. In their attacks, they commence operations at a distance, and endeavour to terrify their foes by their cries. Bands of these marauders are stated to be cruel enemies to the planter, and the author last quoted even goes so far as to declare that they will watch their opportunity and destroy a plantation from motives of revenge.

In the short-tailed section, consisting of the Drill* and Mandrill,t we have a personification of brutality, with just enough of humanity about the caricature to make it painfully striking, and to remind us of

"All that the body perpetrates of bad."

The showmen name the Mandrill "the wild satyr of the woods," no infelicitous designation. "Happy Jerry," with his pipe of tobacco and glass of sling, was about as odious a looking monster as the debauched Falri himself.

The Gibbons, or long-armed Apes,‡ are, generally speaking, as mild and amiable as the Baboons are savage and disgusting. The entire absence of the tail is well compensated by the extraordinary length of the anterior extremities, and the agility of the tribe is quite surprising. They seem to represent in the old continent the Mycetes or Howling Monkeys of America. In some of the genus, which has hitherto been found only in India and its islands, the guttural sacs are so extensive as to be visible externally from their protrusion, and all of them howl.

These Gibbons, notwithstanding their long and sharp canine teeth and length of upper limb, present, in many of the species, a very human appearance; and, if all tales be true, rival the Orangs in their mimicry of human actions. Dr. Burrough's male Hoolock§ which came from Goalpara, on the Burrampooter river, would take hold of the Doctor's hand, and, assisting himself with his other arm, walk with him. He would come at his master's call, seat himself in a chair by his side at the breakfast-table, and help him

self to an egg, or to the wing of a chicken from the plate of the Doctor (who seems to have indulged in praiseworthy breakfasts), partaking of the coffee, chocolate, milk, tea, and other liquid adjuncts; sometimes, indeed, contenting himself, like the great Grimaldi, with dipping his fingers into the vessel and licking them, but, when thirsty in earnest, lifting the cup and drinking, not from the rim, but as a man drinks when he applies his mouth to the surface of a well or spring. Boiled rice, boiled bread and milk with sugar, plantains, bananas, and oranges were relished, but bananas seemed to gratify him most. He had, however, a low taste for insects, and would search into crevices for spiders; as for blue bottles, he would catch them in his hand with a dexterity worthy of the silly Single himself. The poor animal was very affectionate to the Doctor, who appears to have been a most kind-hearted protector, and used to comb and brush his pet, to the great delight of the latter, who always acknowledged his master's morning appearance with a loud, shrill, and often-repeated "Whoo!" But

"A favourite has no friend;"

and the poor monkey was killed by a blow across the loins with a small stick, inflicted by some lout of a servant-inadvertently, as it is said. There was another, a female about nine months old, in the possession of the Doctor, who did all that he could for his little patient in the way of castor oil, calomel, and warm baths, but she "died one day." The sufferer laboured under great pain and oppression in the chest; it is affecting to read of the eagerness with which she hurried back to the soothing comforts of the bath when she was removed from it, and lay there in comfortable quiescence as long as she was permitted.

Among these apes, there is a curious Sumatran form,* with the first and second fingers united up to the middle of the second phalanx. The Siamangs, as they are called, are supposed by the Malays to be conducted by a head or chief, who has the character of being the strongest of the party, and is believed to be invulnerable. Like other leaders, he directs their motions, and presides at their morning and evening howlings. Authors give very contradictory accounts of the disposition of this species. Some zoologists characterize the animal as stupid, dull, and inactive, whilst others describe it as being remarkably tractable and brisk, showing a lively affection towards those who behave kindly to it, and never so happy as when in society. The truth seems to be, as the groom said of the horses, "they've a got their different tempers just like we Christians.". At all events, the lady Siamangs

*

で

Hylobates syndactyla. Simia syndactyla, Raffles.

are most excellent mothers, and carefully preside over the ablutions of their little ones. These they carry to the banks of a stream, wash them thoroughly, notwithstanding their cries and kickings, and then wipe them dry, after the most approved methods of conducting the baby-toilette.

We now come to those forms of which such marvellous stories have been told. The Orangs, or "Wild men of the Woods," for a long time enjoyed a reputation almost human, a reputation kept up by the prints and drawings which formerly placed them almost uniformly in an erect position, and by the tricks which those brought to Europe were taught. But neither is the Asiatic nor the African Orang formed for erect progression. If left to themselves, they move on the ground most awkwardly, doubling their anterior hands, moving in their advance upon the knuckles, and resting upon the outward edge of the posterior feet. Among trees they are as active and rapid in their motions as they are clumsy and slow on the ground.

The anterior extremities of the Orang Utan* are nearly as long as they are in Hylobates; the hands, in this Asiatic, reach nearly to the heels. There is a marked difference between the skull of this species and the crania of Hylobates and of the Chimpanzee. The interparietal crest in Pithecus satyrus is as highly developed as it is in the carnivorous tribe, and the zygomatic arch is widely expanded; nor are these the only points of resemblance. In the Hoolock and in the Chimpanzee the skull is comparatively smooth and human on its outward surface.

Sumatra and Borneo are the principal localities where the Orang Utan has been hitherto found; and those which have been brought to Europe have exhibited a considerable degree of intelligence, though, as far as our experience and information go, not so high a degree as is manifested by the Chimpanzee. An Orang Utan, brought to England by Captain Methuen, made no attempt to escape when suffered to be at large before he was shipped, but became violent when incarcerated in a bamboo cage. He, at first, shook the rails violently, but, finding that they did not yield to his efforts, he tried them separately, pitched upon the weakest, and perseveringly worked at it till he broke it and regained his liberty. Then they tried to confine him by a chain fastened to a strong staple; he soon unfastened it, and ran off. Finding the incumbrance of the chain, as he dragged it after him, he collected it into one or two coils and threw it over his shoulder: this he did, as occasion required, till, finding that it slipped from his shoulder, he held it in his mouth. At last he was suffered to roam freely about the ship, and became a general favourite, from the grave

Pithecus satyrus.

playfulness of his manners, and his burlesque of human actions and passions. Among other feats he stole the captain's brandybottle, and did his best to throw a cage full of small monkeys overboard. This propensity to monkey-murder has been observed in most of the individuals who have had an opportunity of showing it as if the Orangs considered the monkeys libellous caricatures upon their more dignified development, and were eager to get rid of their irritating presence. When refused what he wanted he would roll himself on deck, and behave as naughtily as any froward child could; nay, if the refusal were persisted in, he would suddenly rise, and, uttering piercing screams, rush over the ship's side, as though, in his despair, he were going to throw himself into the sea. At first the captain and his crew actually thought that they had carried the joke too far, and driven their cheiroped shipmate to commit suicide; but, on searching, they found him concealed under the chains.

The individuals, however, brought to this country, give but a faint idea of the size and appearance of a full-grown Orang Utan. Mr. Owen, in his highly interesting memoir on the osteology of this species and the Chimpanzee, gives the height of the Orang Utan as under five feet; but, according to Dr. Abel, its stature when adult is, sometimes at least, much beyond that limit.

In the "Asiatic Researches," the Doctor lays before us an account of a scene in which one of these unfortunate Orangs was a principal actor, or rather sufferer; an account which no one can read without pain :

A party from a brig had, it appears, landed at Ramboon, on the north-west coast of Sumatra, to procure water. The place was much cultivated, and there were but few trees; on one of these trees they discovered a gigantic animal. They approached, and he came to the ground. They pursued, and he made for another tree at some distance, presenting to his pursuers a tall man-like figure covered with a fell of shining brown hair, moving almost erect with a waddling gait, sometimes assisting his progress with his hands, and sometimes by the impulse of a bough which he held. On gaining a small clump, he sprang at a bound to a lofty branch, and passed from one limb of the tree to another with the greatest ease and alacrity. They felt that, if the country had been well wooded, he must, in all probability, have escaped; for he travelled from tree to tree with the swiftness of a horse on the ground. Confined as he was to only a few trees, his movements were so quick that it was very difficult to take aim, and it was not till his hunters had cut down one tree after another, that they were able effectually to begin their butcher-work. Five balls pierced the wretched creature before his exertions relaxed;

then, reclining apparently exhausted, on one of the branches, he copiously vomited blood. Still he held on; and their ammunition being all expended, they proceeded to cut down the tree, convinced that he was so far gone that they could then secure him without trouble. The tree nodded to its fall; but, as it was falling, they, to their surprise, saw him gain another, and they were obliged to cut down all the trees before they could bring him to the earth. Even then, mangled as he was, he made a most determined defence against the numbers who attacked him with spears, large stones, and other missiles. He broke the shaft of one spear-it was made of a supple wood, and would have withstood the strength of the stoutest man—“as if it had been a carrot," to use the words of the narrator. Those who aided in this slaughter acknowledged that they were distressed by the human-like expression of his countenance, the piteous manner in which he applied his hands to his wounds, and the whole bearing of the dying combatant. They confessed that the sight was such as almost to make them question the nature of the act they were committing. He lay dead before them, upwards of six feet in length at the lowest computation, according to the

narrative.

We know not what view their worships of the learned societies may take of this transaction, for there is no telling how far a zeal for science may carry its votaries, but to the unlearned it must look rather murderous.

*

The captain, who furnished Dr. Abel with the details, stated that the creature was a full head taller than any man on board, measuring seven feet in what might be called his ordinary standing posture, and eight feet when suspended for the purpose of being skinned. Dr. Abel describes the skin, dried and shrivelled as it was, as measuring in a straight line, from the top of the shoulder to the part where the ancle had been removed, five feet ten inches; the perpendicular length of the neck, as in the preparation, three inches and a half; the length of the head, from the top of the forehead to the end of the chin, nine inches; and the length of the skin still attached to the foot, from the line of its separation from the leg, eight inches. "We thus," says Dr. Abel, obtain seven feet six inches and a half as the approximate height of the animal." These dimensions are startling, and far

* We remember to have heard of a clause said to have been in the directions given, many years ago, to a commander of an expedition of discovery, somewhat to the following effect::-"You are to avoid collision with the natives; but if, unfortunately, such an event should happen, and one of them should be killed, you will preserve the body in spirit and bring it home for examination."