THE MONKEY FAMILY. 



87 



orang-outang, anything but true and satisfactory. 

 It seems to have been made up, partly from what 

 has been observed of the animal, when in a state 

 of captivity, and partly from the reports of travel- 

 lers. Such reports, nine times out of ten, contain 

 a strong infusion of the marvellous; and they 

 ought to be received with caution, and be sifted most 

 diligently by those naturalists whose delicate state 

 of health, or domestic arrangements, prevent them 

 from visiting the countries where monkeys abound. 



He quotes, but seems to condemn at the same 

 time, a great Northern master in zoology, who 

 upon the reports of certain voyagers tells us, that 

 the " orang-outang is not deprived of this faculty 

 (speech), and that it expresses itself by a kind 

 of hissing words." 



But, our author himself doubts that there is 

 such an animal of " hissing words ;" nay, he even 

 denies its existence ; and he conjectures, that it 

 might possibly have been a white negro, or what 

 is usually styled a chacrelas. 



This animal could not possibly have been a 

 white negro, because a white negro is a human 

 being to all intents and purposes, and he has no 

 need to express himself by a kind of cc hissing 

 words." By the way, a white negro is a rare 

 phenomenon : — still it differs from its sable fellow 



