44 



A NEW HISTORY OF 



last -mentioned absurdity'; and more than once 

 have had to argue the point, with certain lovers of 

 the marvellous in natural history. They maintained 

 that the legs of these birds were too long to admit 

 of their being brought up under the body during 

 incubation ; and my arguers only gave in, by my 

 shewing them, that a corresponding length of thigh 

 in the heron and flamingo, allowed these birds to 

 sit upon their eggs, precisely as tomtits or house- 

 sparrows would do in propagating their breed. 



One traveller writes about apes feeding upon 

 " crabs, oysters, and other shell fishes/' Did 

 these fishes frequent the trees in the forest? 



" The apes along the banks of the river Gambia/' 

 says another, "are larger and more mischievous, 

 than in any other part of Africa : the negroes 

 dread them, and cannot travel alone in the country, 

 without running the hazard of being attacked by 

 these animals, who often present them with a stick 

 to fight/' 



Brave and bountiful apes of Gambia ! — your 

 magnanimity in offering a foe your own tough 

 club to fight you, puts me in mind of what 

 really did happen in the island of St. Domingo, 

 during the French revolutionary war. The Eng- 

 lish having made an assault, a Spanish officer, 

 starting from his bed in wild distraction, ran 



