APPENDIX. 609 



sequel, that some of the monkey tribe (the ape, to wit) have been 

 brought forward to share the noble boon of reason, with the lord of 

 the creation itself. 



I have already written largely on the monkey tribe. But as the 

 gorilla has lately caused a considerable sensation among our learned 

 naturalists, and has been said to possess qualities which it never could 

 possess, and to perform feats which it never could perform, I in- 

 tend to confine my remarks to this hitherto misrepresented and un- 

 offending animal alone. America produces no apes throughout its 

 whole extent. In the remote regions of the Old World we are to look 

 for the abode of this harmless animal. There it exists, from the barren 

 rock of Gibraltar, quite into the fertile forests on each side of the 

 equator. 



The eastern parts of Asia, and the western of Africa, are famous 

 for their enormous apes. The one from Borneo is of a yellow-red 

 colour, whilst that from the river Gaboon and its adjacent regions 

 is black. There are none larger than these as yet discovered. The 

 eastern ape is called the orang-outang. That from the west is 

 known by the name of gorilla, probably a corruption from the 

 Portuguese. Both these giant apes are magnificent in stature, mild 

 in disposition, and shy on the approach of man. 



In habits and propensities they perfectly agree. In anatomy they 

 differ somewhat; but this difference can only interest those who 

 find gratification in splitting a hair, and in producing words quite 

 hard enough to set one's teeth on an edge. 



If we are to put credence in that which modern naturalists have 

 written concerning the gorilla, we must at once concede to it the 

 reasoning powers of rational man ; and allow it to possess an 

 amount of strength far surpassing anything that Hercules himself 

 ever did or could perform. 



Fancy this supposed ferocious brute, although a frugiverous animal 

 and noways addicted to touch animal food, occasionally waylaying 

 man, and condemning him to immediate strangulation. We are 

 gravely told, that "the natives of the Gaboon country hold the 

 gorilla in great dread, fearing it even more than the lion itself, on 

 account of its furtively murderous disposition. Concealed amongst 

 the thick branches of the forest trees, the gorilla, itself unseen, 



2 Q 



