4 THE CHIMPANZEE. 



Africa. The young one had an aged appearance, somewhat 

 like that of an old bent negro, and this appearance was in- 

 creased by a spare beard of short white hairs growing on his 

 muzzle, and by the deep furrows on his cheeks. His age, how- 

 ever, was, according to the test of his dentition, not more than 

 eighteen or twenty months. His frame was thick- set and broad, 

 but the abdomen, as in the orang-outan, was protuberant. 



His lively and playful actions resembled those of a child 5 but 

 though very watchful and inquisitive, he was neither mischievous 

 nor petulant. He delighted to assume a variety of attitudes on 

 his swing, giving the beholder some idea of the agility with 

 which he might have been swinging and climbing among the 

 branches of his native forest. Sometimes he would stand in the 

 swing, grasping the rope with the hind feet, and, holding with 

 one hand, then he would swing by one foot or hand, or turn a 

 summerset over the rope. When tired of this play, he would 

 roll about the floor, climb the bars, or hobble about very 

 quickly, generally assisting himself by resting the knuckles of the 

 two first fingers of the hand on the ground, to do which he 

 stooped his shoulders slightly forward j but he frequently walked 

 perfectly upright. His gait was a sort of waddle, and at each 

 step the whole foot was raised at once, and again set down flat at 

 once. He would often stamp. Sometimes, while firmly grasping 

 with the broad and strong hind-feet the back of a chair or a 

 perch, he would fall completely backwards, and then raise him- 

 self again into his previous upright position ; a gymnastic 

 performance displaying his strong muscular powers. 



He would play with the keepers in the most familiar manner, 

 now running round them, now dodging them, now climbing up 

 them, and embracing them. When tickled smartly, his eyes 

 twinkled, the corners of his half-opened mouth were drawn 

 upwards, and his teeth displayed, while at the same time he 

 uttered a chuckling noise. If this was not laughter, expressive 

 of agreeable bodily sensations caused by external circumstances, 

 it was certainly the nearest approach to it which any inferior 

 animals ever exhibit. 



