QUADRUMANA. 13 



mess was brought on deck it was a constant attend- 

 ant, and would go round and embrace each person, 

 while it uttered loud yells, and then seat itself among 

 them to share the repast. It sometimes expressed 

 its anger by a barking noise like a dog, at others it 

 would cry like a froward child, and scratch itself 

 most vehemently. When any favourite morsels were 

 given to it, sweetmeats especially, it expressed its 

 satisfaction by a sound like ' hem ! ' in a grave tone. 

 The variety of its tones seems to have been small. 

 It was active and cheerful in warm latitudes, but 

 languor came on as it left the torrid zone ; and, on 

 approaching our shores, it manifested a desire for a 

 warm covering, and would roll itself carefully up in 

 a blanket when it went to rest. It generally went 

 on all fours, and never placed the palms of its fore- 

 hands on the ground, but, closing its fists, rested on 

 its knuckles. It did not seem fond of an erect pos- 

 ture, which it rarely assumed, though it could run 

 nimbly on two feet for a short distance. In this 

 case it appeared to aid the motion of its legs by 

 grasping its thighs with its hands. It had great 

 strength in the fingers of the fore-hands ; for it 

 would often swing by them on a rope for upwards of 

 an hour without intermission. When first procured, 

 it was so thickly covered with black hair, that the 

 skin of the body and limbs was not visible till the 

 long hair was blown apart. It ate readily every 

 sort of vegetable food, but at first did not appear to 

 relish flesh, though it seemed to take pleasure in 



