MONKEYS. 



PLATE XXIII. 



Class Mammalia. Order //. duadrumana ; having four 

 hands. Family L Apes. Latin Name Pithecus. 

 THE Monkey tribe is very numerous, and is usually classed 

 by naturalists in three divisions. Those which have no tails 

 are termed Apes, and those which have short tails are denom- 

 inated Baboons ; but by far the most numerous division con- 

 sists of those which have long tails, and which are known by 

 the general name of Monkeys. 



THE ORAN-OTANG, OR THE PONGO AND THE JOCKO. 



Oran-otang is the name this animal bears in the East In- 

 dies ; Pongo, its denomination at Loando, a province of Con- 

 go ; and Kukurlacks in some parts of the East Indies. We 

 shall present the Oran-otang and the Jocko together, because 

 they are, possibly, but one and the same species. We have 

 seen the small Oran-otang, or the Jocko, alive, and we have 

 preserved its skin, but we can only speak of the Pongo, or 

 great Oran-otang, from the accounts travellers have given us 

 of it. Battel assures us, " that, excepting his size, the Pongo 

 is exactly like that of a man in all his proportions : he is as 

 tall (he says) as a giant ; his face is like that of a man, the 

 eyes deep sunk in the head, the hair on each side extremely 

 long, the visage naked and without hair, as are also the ears 

 and the hands ; the body is lightly covered and scarcely dif- 

 fering from that of a man, except that there are no calves to 

 the legs. Still, however, the animal is seen to walk on his 

 hinder legs : he sleeps under trees, and builds himself a hut, 

 which serves to protect him against the sun, and the rains of 

 the tropical climates of which he is a native : he lives only 

 upon fruits, and is not carnivorous ; he cannot speak, although 



