54 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. iv. 



moreover, that in the Gaboon, her native home in Africa, 

 Miss Calva and the other young ladies of her acquaintance 

 display a great number of other accomplishments which, 

 though surprising to us, are there considered natural and 

 pleasing. 



The question of age where ladies are concerned is 

 always a matter of difficulty and delicacy. Even the 

 courteous Mr. Bartlett, whose name is so honourably asso- 

 ciated with the Zoo, pleaded lack of time to answer certain 

 impudent questions of mine as to Sally, who is, in some 

 sort, a ward of his. I prefer therefore to make no direct 

 statement on this delicate question, and content myself 

 with saying that she was of still tender age when she was 

 brought to the Zoo in October, 1883. 1 Since then she 

 has grown considerably in stature if not in beauty. Her 

 diet is beef-tea and cold boiled mutton. She is partial to 

 sandwiches, and enjoys her dessert of oranges, apples, and 

 especially bananas. 



I am not going to narrate any anecdotes of Sally's quaint 

 ways, or demonstrate her remarkable intelligence. I de- 

 sire that my readers should visit her themselves. But 

 in comparing her intelligence with that of the dog, for 

 example, I would have them remember that Toby and his 

 ancestors have been for centuries the companions of man, 

 and have had the advantages of his society, his training 

 and selection ; whereas poor little Sally is just a wild girl 

 of the woods, and has nothing to fall back upon but her 

 own native wit. 



Sally belongs to a group of animals known as the 

 anthropoid or man-like apes. These include the gorilla, 

 the true chimpanzee and Sally's more immediate relations, 

 all of which live in tropical Africa. They comprise also 



1 As these lines are passing through the press, I learn that poor Sally 

 has died at the Zoo, aged twelve years. 



