MONKEYS. 179 



quest of nuts and biscuits, which they sometimes carried for 

 him. He had a great antipathy to the smaller tribe of mon- 

 keys, and would throw them overboard if he could ; but in his 

 general habits and disposition there is much docility and good 

 nature, and when not annoyed he is extremely inoffensive. 

 He approaches, upon the whole, nearer to the human kind 

 than any other animal." 



An enormous Oran-otang, of the height of seven feet, and 

 of a proportionate bulk, was, after many attempts, killed un- 

 der a tree from which it had fallen, in consequence of several 

 bullet wounds, at Ramboon, on the western coast of Sumatra, 

 having, as is supposed, wandered from the large and almost 

 impenetrable forest situated about two days' journey inland. 

 The skin of this extraordinary creature is preserved in the 

 museum of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta : it is of a dark 

 leaden color, covered unequally with brownish red, shaggy and 

 glossy hair, which is long on the flanks and shoulders. The 

 head was well proportioned to the body, the nose prominent, 

 the eyes large, and the mouth rather larger in proportion than 

 that of man ; the chin was fringed with a curling beard, 

 reaching from ear to ear, and the visage by no means disgust- 

 ing. His chest was wide and expanding, and waist rather 

 slender ; his legs rather short, as compared with his arms ; 

 the feet and hands had very nearly the human form, except 

 that the thumbs were smaller, and situated higher towards 

 the wrists than in man. His walk was erect, but waddling, 

 and not quick, unless when his hands were used to assist, or a 

 branch of a tree, to push himself along, his chief agility being 

 shown in climbing trees, and springing from branch to branch 

 when pursued. The perfect state of his teeth showed that he 

 was young, and in full vigor. He was without any vestiges 

 of a tail. 



THE PITHECOS, OR PIGMY. 



By the testimonies of the ancients, the Pithecos seems to be 

 the most gentle and docile of all the Monkey kind that was 



