88 



A NEW HISTORY OF 



where a descent to the ground would neither be 

 advantageous nor necessary. 



During the time which I passed in the apart- 

 ment of the large red orang-outang, which 

 attracted, so much interest, so much admiration, 

 and ultimately so much disgust, I really considered 

 him to be quite out of his sphere. As he moved 

 to and fro, he did it with a sort of reeling motion, 

 and his gait was remarkably awkward : and when 

 he stood on two legs, his figure was out of all 

 proportion. You might see at once, that, nature 

 never intended him for a biped. To us mortals 

 alone, has the Creator granted the sublime privilege 

 of standing upright. " Os homini sublime dedit," 

 &c. In his movements on the floor, he had the 

 appearance as though he were swung in the loins. 



But, no sooner had he ascended the large 

 artificial tree, which had been so aptly prepared for 

 him, than his countenance underwent a visible 

 change ; and all seemed to go rightly with him, as 

 though by magic. 



He swang with amazing ease, and apparently in 

 excellent humour, by one arm, from branch to 

 branch, imitating the pendulum of a clock : then, 

 he would spring to another branch, and alight on 

 it, upon all fours, with astonishing agility and 

 steadfastness ; and often he came down a sloping 



