THE MONKEY FAMILY. 



45 



unarmed to the walls. There, he met one of 

 our jack tars, who happened to have a cutlass 

 in either hand. Jack, seeing hy the light of the full 

 moon that the officer had nothing wherewith to 

 defend himself, immediately offered him a cutlass. 

 The Spaniard, subdued hy such a noble, and by 

 such an unexpected act of generosity on the part 

 of the British tar, dropped on his knees, and 

 refused to take it. I question whether any ape in 

 all Gambia could have produced a scene like this. 

 To be serious, — an act like this argues reason and 

 reflection, both of which have been denied to the 

 brute creation, and only given by our Maker to 

 man, — " His own image and likeness." 



But let me proceed. "We might dispense," 

 another traveller remarks, " with seeing a number 

 of apes at Macacar, because a rencounter with 

 them is often fatal. It is always necessary to be 

 well armed to defend ourselves against their 



attacks They have no tails, and walk always 



erect, on their two hind feet like men." 



Our author styles these voyagers, who have given 

 us such questionable narratives, " the least credu- 

 lous ;" — and he adds, that "they deserve most 

 credit." 



Although I am not prone to take offence, (" non 

 ego paucis offend ar maculis,") at occasional inter- 



