"The form of the orang-outang," fays the ingenious Smellie, "makes the nearest approach to the human; and the arts he employs for his defence, the actions he performs, and the fagacity he discovers, are so astonishing, that some philofophers have confider'd him as a real human being in the most debafe'd ftage of fociety." Man, indeed, by fome fingular and unaccountable accident or event, has acquired the art of forming articulate founds, and applying them to the expresfion of ideas and things, which, aded to his focial intercourfe, and the habits of civilize'd life, has raife'd him to a far fuperior and more elevateed rank: but this can be no folid objection to the present fystem, as language is no more natural to man than to many other animals, which actually make use of it: as the parrot, for inftance, the raven, the magpie, the jack-daw, and the tarling; and, posfiblely, even, the ourang-outang, and the rest of the monkey tribe.+

where he gives the feveral and refpective inftanceës in which his "orang-outang or Pygmie (not the best or neareft fpecies) more resemble'd a man than apes and monkeys," and vice versa. Compare, likewife, the engrave'd figure of the skeleton of this animal with that of a human being, and fee how much or little difference there is between them.

* Philofophy of natural history, i, 53.

The negros fay, of the monkeys, that they can fpeak if

No man, left to himself from the moment of his birth, would ever be able to utter an articulate

they wil, but are afray'd to confefs it, left they should be made to work and Goldsmith, from Buffon, gives a curious account of the Ouarine, a fpecies of monkey remarkable for the loudness and distinctness of their voice, and ftil more fo for the ufe to which they convert it. "I have, frequently, been a witness," fays Morgrave, "of their asfemblys and deliberations. Every day, both morning and evening, the ouarines asfemble in the woods, to receive inftructions. When all come together, one among the number takes the highest place on a tree, and makes a fignal, with his hand, to the rest to fit round, in order to hearken. As foon as he fees them place'd, he begins his difcourfe, with fo loud a voice, and yet in a manner fo precipitate, that, to hear him at a distance, one would think the whole company were crying out at the fame time: however, dureing that time, one onely is speaking, and all the rest observe the moft profound filence. When this has done, he makes a fign, with his hand, for the reft to reply; and, at that inftance, they raise their voiceës together, until, by another fignal of the hand, they are enjoin'd filence. This they as readyly obey; til, at laft, the whole assembly breaks up, after hearing a repetition of the fame preachment.” (History of the earth, iv, 226). This kind of monkey seems to be of the presbyterian or methodist perfuafion, which enthufiafts, at least, they appear to imitate in their religious exhortations. He, allfo, proves "that articulation is not natural to man ;" and that language was the invention of fociety, and rofe from natural inarticulate crys.

Doctor Tyfons Pygmie was "the most gentle and loveing creature that could be. Those that he knew a ship-board he would come and embrace with the greateft tenderness, opening

found; language or fpeech must be taught to (as it was, most probablely invented by) young children, and is the effect of education, not of nature: but of this more hereafter.

The translator of The history of voyagees, as citeëd by Rousseau, tels us that there is found in the kingdom of Congo a great number of those large animals call'd in the Eaft-Indies ourangoutang; forming a kind of middle order of beings between men and baboons.* Battel relates, that, in the forests of Mayomba, in the kingdom of Loango, there are two forts of monfters the bigest of which are call'd pongos, and the other enjokos. The former, fays he, are exactly like men, but much largeër and taller. Their face is human, but hath very hollow eyes. Their hands, cheeks and ears, are quite bare of hair to their eye-brows, which are very long. The other parts of their bodys are pretty hairy, and the hair is of a brown colour. In fine, the onely thing by which they can be distinguish'd from the human fpecies is the form of their legs, which

their bofoms, and clafping his hands about them; and, though there were monkeys abroad, 'twas observe'd he would never asfociate with them, and, as if nothing akin to them, allways avoid their company." (Anatomy, &c. p. 7.)

*Notes on Inequality of mankind.

have no calves.* They walk erect, holding the hair of their neck in their hands. They refide in the woods, where they fleep in the trees, makeing a kind of roof over them, to fkreen them from the rain....They march, fometimes, in companys, and kil the negros who traverse the forefts; and even attack the elephants that come to feed near their haunts, which they belabour, with fifts and sticks, and put to flight. When ful-grown, they are never takeën alive; being fo robuft that ten ordinary men would not be able to manage one of them. When one of thefe animals dyes, the others cover its body with a heap of leaves or branches of trees. Purchas ads, that, in the conversation he had with Battel, he was told by him, that a pongo carry'd off from him a little negro, who stay'd a whole month among thefe creatures. Battel has not defcribe'd the fecond kind of monfter. Dapper confirms that the kingdom of Congo is ful of thofe animals, which, in India, are call'd ourangoutang, or the inhabitants of the woods, and which the Africans call quojas morros [r. quoias

*This is the cafe of many a man. In our own country, "You have fent your calves to grass" is a proverbial pun, Doctor Tyfon, however, exprefsly fays "Our pygmie had calves in his legs." (Anatomy, &c. p. 23.)

morrou]. This creature, he fays, bears fo near a resemblance to man, that fome travelers have been foolish enough to think it might proceed from a woman with a monkey, a chimerical notion, explodeed, even, among the negros ; ... who tel very strange ftorys of this animal; asfureing us that the male wil not onely ravish women and girls, but that he hath the courage to attack men though they are arm'd.*

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"The monkeys, apes, and baboons [of the iland of Borneo]," fays captain Beeckman, " are of many different fhapes; but the most remarkable are thofe they call oran-ootans, which, in their language, fignifys men of the woods. These grow up to be fix feet high; they walk upright; have longer arms than men ; tolerablely' good faceës (handfomeër, i am fure, than fome Hottentots that i have feen); large teeth, no tails nor hair, but on those parts where it grows on human bodys. They are very nimble-footed, and mighty ftrong. They throw great stones, sticks, and billets at those persons that offend them. The natives do really believe that these were formerly men, but metamorphofe'd into beafts for their blasphemy. They told me many ftrange ftorys of them. I bought one, out of

* Rousfeaus Notes to his Inequality of mankind.