1. Oran Otan. 2. Baboon. 3. Four fingered Monkey. 4, Striated Monkey: 5, Slow Lemur..

Andrew Battel, a Portuguese traveller, who, two centuries ago, resided in Angola nearly eighteen years, informs us that these animals were very common in the woods of that country. Their bodies, he says, were covered, but not very thickly, with a dun-coloured hair; and their legs were without calves. They always walked upright, and generally, when on the ground, carried their hands clapsed on the hinder part of their neck. They slept in the trees, amongst which they formed a kind of arbour, to shelter themselves from the weather; and their food consisted principally of fruit and nuts. Battel says, that the inhabitants, when they travelled in the woods, were accustomed to make fires around the places where they slept, for the purpose of keeping at a distance various species of voracious animals; and that, at these fires, the Oran Otans would assemble in the mornings, and would sit by them till the last of the embers were expired. He describes these animals to be so powerful, that ten men would not have strength enough to hold one of them; and, consequently, the inhabitants could never catch the old ones alive. He states, what perhaps few persons will be inclined to believe, that when any of them die, the rest cover up the bodies with great branches of trees.

Among the woods on the banks of the river Gambia, the Oran Otans collect in troops of three or four thousand, and are excessively impudent and mischievous. Jobson, who gives the account, says, that whenever his party, in sailing along the river, passed the stations of these animals, they mounted the trees and gazed upon the men. Sometimes they would chatter and make a loud noise, at the same time shaking the trees with their hands, which they did with vast force and violence. At night, when the vessel was at anchor, the animals often took their stations on the rocks and heights above. When the men were on shore and met any of them, the old ones generally came forward and seemed to grin in their faces; but they always fled when an attack was made. One of them was killed from the boat, with a

gun, but before the boat could be got ashore, the others had carried away the dead body.

M. Le Compte informs us that, in the island of Borneo, these animals are hunted by persons of quality, somewhat in the same manner as stags are in Europe; and that, in his time, this kind of hunting was a favourite diversion of the king.

In a wild state the Oran Otans are said to be so savage and ferocious, that if a Negro be unfortunate enough to wander in the woods, and be discovered by them, they generally attack and kill him. With a piece of wood in their hands, or with their fists only, they are able to drive off even Elephants. They have been known to throw stones at persons who have offended them. Bosman informs us, that, behind the English fort at Wimba, on the coast of Guinea, several of these Apes attacked two of the company's slaves, overpowered them, and would have poked out their eyes with sticks, had not a party of Negroes happened to come up and rescue them.

It is asserted that, during the breeding season,' the males relinquish their habitations to the females and their offspring; and that, as soon as the young ones have attained a sufficient degree of strength to venture abroad, they hang on the breast of the mother, with their arms clasped fast about her. And it is believed that, whenever the females are killed, their young ones will always suffer themselves to be caught.

Gemelli Carreri relates a circumstance concerning these animals, which, if we could believe it correct, would almost induce us to suppose that they were not altogether destitute of reason. He tells us, that when the fruits on the mountains are exhausted, they frequently descend to the sea-coast, where they feed on various species of shell-fish, and in particular on a large species of oyster, which commonly lies open on the shore. "Fearful, however, of putting in their paws, lest the oyster should close and crush them, (he says,) they insert a stone within the shell: this prevents it

from closing, and they then drag out their prey and de vour it at leisure."

The following are accounts of the Oran Otan and Chimpanzee, in a state of captivity and domestication.

M. de la Brosse, a French navigator, who was in Angola in the year 1718, and who purchased from a Negro, two Oran Otans, remarks that these animals would sit at table like men, and eat there every kind of food, without distinction: that they would use a knife, a fork, or spoon, to cut or lay hold of what was put on their plate; and that they drank wine and other liquors. At table, when they wanted any thing, they easily made themselves understood to the cabin-boy; and when the boy refused to answer their demands, they sometimes became enraged, caught him by the arm, bit, and threw him down. The male was seized with sickness, and he made the people attend him as if he had been a human being. He was even bled twice in the right arm, and, whenever afterwards he found himself in the same condition, he held out his arm to be bled, as if he knew that he had formerly received benefit from that operation.

Two Chimpanzees were sent from the forests of the Carnatic, by a coasting vessel, as a present to the governor of Bombay. They, like the rest of the species, had many human actions, and seemed, by their melancholy, to have a rational sense of their captivity. They were scarcely two feet high, but walked erect, and had nearly the human form. The female was taken ill during the voyage, and died; and the male, exhibiting every demonstration of grief, refused to eat, and lived only two days afterwards.

When M. Le Guat was in Java, he saw a tall female Ape, which, no doubt, belonged to the present species. Her face, he says, had a distant resemblance to some of the grotesque female faces which he had seen among the Hottentots at the Cape of Good Hope. She made her bed very neatly every day, lay upon her side, and