Among some savage nations, Apes are considered’ 
the principal divinities, and temples are erected to theii 
honour. When the Portuguese plundered an erection of 
this kind in Ceylon, they found the tooth of an Ape in a 
small golden casket, which the natives held in such vene- 
ration, that they offered 700,000 ducats for its redemp- 
tion ; but the viceroy rejected this offer, as favouring of 
idolatry, and ordered the precious relic to be burnt. 
3 
