ORAN OTAN. 7 



Mr. Vosmaer's account of the manners of an 

 Oran Otan brought into Holland in the year 1776, 

 and presented to the Prince of Orange's mena- 

 gerie, is so curious and satisfactory, that I shall 

 extract it from his accurate publication on that 

 subject ; and shall also accompany it by two excel- 

 lent figures of the animal, with which he has illus- 

 trated his work ; and these, together with an ac- 

 curate copy of the young Pongo, described and 

 figured by Dr. Tyson under the name of the pyg- 

 my ; and of that preserved in the British Museum , 

 figured by Edwards ; and, lastly, the elegant and 

 expressive representation of M. Allans and, in his 

 edition of Buffon, will, it is presumed, give the 

 clearest and most satisfactory ideas of these extra- 

 ordinary animals, which the present state of our 

 knowledge on the subject will permit us to ob- 

 tain. 



This animal, says M. Vosmaer, was a female : 

 its height was about two Rhenish feet and a half. 

 It shewed no symptoms of fierceness or malignity, 

 and was even of a somewhat melancholy appear- 

 ance. It was fond of being in company, and 

 shewed a preference to those who took daily care 

 of it, of which it seemed to be sensible. Often 

 when they retired it would throw itself on the 

 ground, as if in despair, uttering lamentable cries, 

 and tearing in pieces the linen within its reach. 

 Its keeper having sometimes been accustomed to 

 sit near it on the ground, it took the hay of its 

 bed, and laid it by its side, and seemed, by every 

 demonstration, to invite him to be seated near. 



