THE MAN-LIKE APES. 67 



limb to limb at a great distance, and leap with astonishing 

 agility. It is not nnnsnal to see the ' old folks ' (in the 

 language of an observer) sitting under a tree, regaling 

 themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while their ' chil- 

 dren ' are leaping around them, and swinging from tree to 

 tree with boisterous merriment.. 



" As seen here, they cannot be called gregarious, sel- 

 dom more than five, or ten at most, being found together. 

 It has been said, on good authority, that they occasionally 

 assemble in large numbers, in gambols. My informant 

 asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged ; 

 hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old 

 logs, which is done in the latter case with equal facility 

 by the four extremities. They do not appear ever to act 

 on the offensive, and seldom, if ever really, on the defen- 

 sive. When about to be captured, they resist by throw- 

 ing their arms about their opponent, and attempting to 

 draw him into contact with their teeth." (Savage, 1. c. p. 

 384.) 



With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very ex- 

 plicit in another place : 



" Siting is their principal art of defence. I have seen 

 one man who had been thus severely wounded in the feet. 



" The strong development of the canine teeth in the 

 adult would seem to indicate a carnivorous propensity ; 

 but in no state save that of domestication do they mani- 

 fest it. At first they reject flesh, but easily acquire a 

 fondness for it. The canines are early developed, and 

 evidently designed to act the important part of weapons 

 of defence. When in contact with man almost the first 

 effort of the animal is — to hite. 



" They avoid the abodes of men, and build their hab- 

 itations in trees. Their construction is more that of nests 

 than huts, as they have been erroneously termed by some 



2* 



