a man or woman as those of nineteen or twenty in our more northern clime. Their height, when full grown, is said to be between four and five feet; indeed, I was credibly informed that a male Chimpanzee, which had been shot in the neighbourhood and brought into Free Town, measured four feet five inches in length, and was so heavy as to form a very fair load for two men, who carried him on a pole between them. The natives say that in their wild state their strength is enormous, and that they have seen them snap boughs off the trees with the greatest apparent ease, which the united strength of two men could scarcely bend. The Chimpanzee is, without doubt, to be found in all the countries, from the banks of the Gambia in the north to the kingdom of Congo in the south, as the natives of all the intermediate parts seem to be perfectly acquainted with them. From my own experience, I can state that the low shores of the Bullom country, situated on the northern shores of the river near Sierra Leone, are infested by them in numbers quite equal to the commonest species of Monkeys. I consider these animals to be gregarious; for when visiting the rice farms of the Chief Dalla Mohammadoo, on the Bullom shore, their cries plainly indicated the vicinity of a troop, as the noise heard could not have been produced by less than eight or ten of them. The natives also affirmed that they always travel in strong bodies, armed with sticks, which they use with much dexterity. They are exceedingly watchful; and the first one who discovers the approach of a stranger utters a protracted cry, much resembling that of a human being in the greatest distress. The first time I heard it I was much startled; the animal was apparently not more than thirty paces distant, but had it been but five I could not have seen it, from the tangled nature of the jungle, and I certainly conceived that such sounds could only have proceeded from a human being, who hoped to gain assistance by his cries from some terrible and instant death. The native who was with me laid his hand upon my shoulder, and pointing suspiciously to the bush, said, ‘Massa, Baboo live there!’ and in a few minutes the wood appeared alive with them, their cries resembling the barking of dogs. My guide informed me that the cry first heard was to inform the troop of my approach, and that they would all immediately leave the trees, or any exalted situation that might expose them to view, and seek the bush; he also showed evident fear, and entreated me not to proceed any further in that direction. The plantations of bananas, pampaws, and plantains, which the natives usually intermix with their rice, constituting the favourite food of the Chimpanzee, account for their being so frequent in the neighbourhood of rice fields. The difficulty of procuring live specimens of this genus arises principally, I should say, from the superstitions of the natives concerning them, who believe they possess the power of ‘witching.’”