MONKEY KIND. 293 



tellers who speak of them, mention their going 

 sometimes upon all-fours, and sometimes erect. 

 As their chief residence is among trees, they are 

 without doubt usually seen erect while they are 

 climbing ; but it is probable that their efforts to 

 escape upon the ground are by running upon the 

 hands and feet together. Schouten, who men- 

 tions their education, tells us that they are taken 

 in traps, and taught in the beginning to walk 

 upon their hind-legs, which certainly implies that 

 iq a state of nature they run upon all-fours. Add 

 to this, that when we examine the palms of their 

 hands and the soles of their feet, we find both 

 equally callous and beaten ; a certain proof that 

 both have been equally used. In those hot 

 countries where the apes are known to reside, 

 the soles of the Negroes' feet, who go barefoot, 

 are covered with a skin above an inch thick ; 

 while their hands are as soft as those of an Euro- 

 pean. Did tjie apes walk in the same manner, 

 the same exercise would have furnished them 

 with similar advantages, which is not the case. 

 Besides all this, I have been assured by a very 

 credible traveller, that these animals naturally 

 run in the woods upon all-fours ; and when they 

 are taken, their hands are tied behind them, to 

 teach them to walk upright. This attitude they 

 learn .after some time ; and thus instructed, they 

 are sent into Europe to astonish the speculative 

 with their near approaches to humanity, while it 

 is never considered how much is natural, and 

 how much has been acquired in the savage 

 schools of Benin and Angola. 



