386 QUADRUMANA. 



it, much as he desired the fruit, would he venture to approach the lurk- 

 ing-place of his foe. At last, the basket and snake were removed, and 

 the apple placed upon a chair ; then, after a most cautious and keen 

 scrutiny, and many doubts and misgivings, the timid creature at length 

 ventured to take the offered prize. " He manifested," says Mr. Broderip, 

 " aversion to a small living Tortoise ; but nothing like the horror which 

 he betrayed at the sight of the Snake. I was induced to shew him the 

 former, by the account of the effect produced by the Testudinata on the 

 Asiatic Orang, whose habits are so admirably described by Dr. Abel 

 and Captain Methuen, who brought the animal to England." It may 

 here be observed, that the surprise, or fear, which the first sight of a 

 Tortoise produces on these animals, soon wears off: Tortoises were 

 kept in the room both with the Chimpanzee and the Orang; and, 

 though the first impression produced was surprise, not unmixed with fear, 

 they soon became indifferent to the presence of the crawling reptiles. The 

 Chimpanzee did not manifest toward other animals the same fear as he 

 did toward the Snake. In the same room was a Maltese, or hairless, 

 female Dog, with a litter of young ; and, notwithstanding the snarling and 

 barking of their mother, he would often intrude upon her kennel, take up 

 the puppies, one by one, gravely look at them, and replace them with the 

 utmost gentleness. When tired with his exertions, his usual custom was 

 to retire to a bed of blankets, in a corner of his cage, and there cover- 

 ing himself up, and crossing the arms over the chest, bury the face upon 

 them, and thus settle to sleep. 



In 1839, the Zoological Society obtained possession of another 

 specimen (a young male), procured in the Bullom country, the mother 

 having been shot in the capture : it, however, lived only for a short 

 time. An account of its manners and habits, while in the possession 

 of Lieut. Sayers, who brought it to England, is published in the Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. 1839, p. 28 : to this account is added a notice of the man- 

 ners of the Chimpanzees in a state of nature, according to the informa- 

 tion collected by him in their country. He observes, that trees are 

 ascended (as he is led to conclude) by these animals, only for food or 

 observation : from the natives he learned that " they do not reach their 

 full growth till between nine and ten years of age ; which, if true, brings 

 them extremely near to the human species ; as the boy or girl of West Africa, 

 at thirteen or fourteen years old, is quite as much a man or woman as at 

 the age of nineteen or twenty in our more northern clime. Their height, 

 when full grown, is said to be between four and five feet : indeed, I was 

 credibly informed that a male Chimpanzee, which had been shot in the 

 neighbourhood, and brought into Free Town, measured four feet five 

 inches in length ; and was so heavy as to form a very fair load for two 

 men, who carried him on a pole between them. The natives say that, in 



