166 THE OURANG OUTANG. 



man form. He generally walks upon all-fours, and seldom erect, 

 except through the influence of instruction and constraint. These 

 animals have short tails, long faces, and eyes deeply sunk in their 

 sockets : they are extremely ugly, and their disposition is char- 

 acterized by the most brutal fierceness. Some baboons are in 

 stature as tall as a man, and far superior in strength. 



The monkey kind is much less than the former, and appears 

 still further removed from the human species. They are an active, 

 lively, and mischievous race of animals, full of grimace and frolic- 

 srme gambols, fond of imitating human actions, prying and in- 

 quisitive, restless and troublesome, and exceedingly addicted to 

 thieving. They sit upon their posteriors, but never walk erect. 



THE OURANG OUTANG, OR WILD MAN OF 

 THE WOODS, 



Is found in the interior parts of Africa, in Madagascar, and 

 in some parts of the East Indies ; but the isle of Borneo is the 

 place where it chiefly abounds. It avoids mankind, and resides 

 only in the most solitary deserts. As this animal is the largest 

 of all the ape kind, it also bears the nearest resemblance to the 

 human form. Some of this species are said to exceed six feet 

 in height. They are active, strong, and intrepid. They live 

 wholly on fruits, nuts, and other spontaneous productions of the 

 warm countries which they inhabit. 



Several of these animals have been brought to Europe ; but 

 having been taken very young, it is probable that the coolness 

 of the climate both softens their fierceness, and obstructs their 

 growth ; and none have been seen in those parts of the world, 

 which exceeded five feet in height. Dr. Tyson, a learned phy- 

 sician and naturalist, gives an accurate description of one of the 

 species, which was brought from Angola into this country ; and 

 in order to give an idea of this extraordinary animal, we shall 

 delineate it in the words of that gentleman : 



" The body was entirely covered with hair, the colour of which 

 was perfectly black, and the texture of it bore a greater resem- 

 blance to the human, than to that of the brute : that which grew 

 upon the head and the chin, was considerably longer than the 

 rest. The face was like that of a man, the forehead longer, and 

 the head round : the upper and lower jaws were not so prominent 

 as in monkeys, but flat like that of the human race : the ears and 

 teeth had likewise a greater similitude to the man than the brute: 

 the bending of the arms and legs was the same : and in the 

 whole figure of the animal, an affinity might be traced. The 

 face, hands, and soles of the feet, were without hair ; and in the 

 palms of the hands, it had similar lines to those of the human 

 race. The internal conformation was equally similar, except 



