OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



committing. He was seven feet high, with a 

 broad expanded chest, and narrow waist. His 

 chin was fringed with a beard that curled neatly 

 on each side, and formed an ornamental rather 

 than a frightful appendage to his visage. His 

 arms were long even in proportion to his height, 

 but his legs were much shorter. Upon the 

 whole he was a wonderful beast to behold, and 

 there was more about him to excite amazement 

 than fear. His hair was smooth and glossy, and 

 his whole appearance showed him to be in the 

 full vigour of youth and strength." 



The chimpanzee 13, is a native 

 of Western Africa, to the extent 

 of ten or twelve degrees north, 

 and as much south of the torrid 

 zone. Its sagacity is even greater 

 than that of the orang-outang. 

 The chimpanzee is descrihed as 



13 



living in troops, which resist the 

 attacks of wild beasts, and even 

 drive off elephants when they 

 intrude upon their haunts. It is 

 said that they build huts, and 

 arm themselves with clubs, and 

 that they walk upon two hands 

 or four, as occasion may require. 



Lieut. Matthews, who resided for some time 

 at Sierra Leone, describes the chimpanzees as 

 social animals. He says : " They generally take 

 up their abode near some deserted town or vil- 

 lage where the papau-tree grows in abundance, 

 of the fruit of which they are very fond. They 

 build huts nearly in the form in which the na- 

 tives build their houses, which they cover with 

 leaves ; but these are only for the females and 

 young to lie in ; the rna'es always lie on the 

 uitside. If one of them is shot, the rest imrae- 



. ♦ 8 



i diately pursue the destroyer of their friend, and 

 ! the only means to escape their vengeance is to 

 ! part with your gun, which they directly seize 



upon with all the rage imaginable, tear it to 



pieces, and give over the pursuit." 



There are numerous tribes of 

 baboons and monkeys, the latter 

 being the smallest of the quadru- 

 mana, many of them are easily 

 tameable. The monkey tribes 

 are in reality the masters of the 

 forests where they abound ; they 

 easily escape from the larger 

 animals of the forest, by climbing 

 to the tops of the trees, which 

 they do with great nimbleness. 

 The only animals they have to 

 dread, are serpents, who make 

 perpetual war upon them, watch- 

 ing for them when they are asleep, 

 and swallowing them whole. 



They are all fond of sweets, and show a parti- 

 cular predilection for the pleasant juice of the 

 palm-tree and the sugar-cane; but when it hap- 

 pens that these fail, or that a different kind of 

 food becomes more agreeable, they have recourse 

 to insects and worms ; and sometimes such as 

 inhabit the coasts descend to the sea-shores, 

 where they feast on -oysters, crabs, &c. The 

 crafty and ingenious manner in which they ob- 

 tain ihese is thus effected. The oysters of the 

 tropical climates being larger than ours, the 

 monkeys, when they reach the sea-side, pick up 

 stones, and thrust them between the opening 

 shells, which being thus prevented from closing, 

 the cunning animals then eat the tish at their 

 ease. In order to attract the crabs, they put 

 their tails to the holes in which they have taken 

 refuge ; and when the crabs have fastened on 

 the lure, the monkeys suddenly withdraw their 

 tails, and thus drag their prey on shore.* 



Carnaria — B, C, I>. 



This order includes an immense 

 assemblage of quadrupeds with 

 claws ; possessing also incisor, 

 canine, and molar teeth. It is ar- 

 ranged into three sub-orders ; 1. 

 Cheiroptera, B ; 2. Insectivora, c ; 

 3. Carnivoi'a, D. 



All the animals of the cheiro- 

 ptera possess wings formed by 

 an extension of the skin over 



* Mu»ui<5er'» Treasury of Natiral ' ist ry. 



