small clump of trees at some distance. On the ground he seemed to move with difficulty, his pace was slow and wriggling, and he had frequently to use his hands to assist him in moving forward. When he reached the trees, however, his behaviour was different. "On being driven to a small clump, he gained by one spring a very lofty branch, and bounded from one branch to another with the swiftness of a common monkey, his progress being as rapid as that of a swift horse. After receiving five balls his exertions relaxed, and, reclining overpowered against a branch, he vomited a quantity of blood. The ammunition of the hunters being by this time exhausted, they were obliged to fell the tree in order to obtain him; but what was their surprise at seeing him, as the tree was falling, effect his retreat to another, with seemingly undiminished vigour! In fact, they were obliged to cut down all the trees before they could force him to combat his enemies on the ground, and when finally overpowered by numbers, and nearly in a dying state, he seized a spear made of a supple wood, which would have withstood the strength of the stoutest man, and broke it like a reed. It was

R

stated, by those who aided in his death, that the human-like expression of his countenance, and his piteous manner of placing his hands over his wounds, distressed their feelings so as almost to make them question the nature of the act they were committing. He was seven feet high, with a broad expanded chest and narrow waist. His chin was fringed with a beard that curled neatly on each side, and formed an ornamental rather than a frightful appendage to his visage. His arms were long, even in proportion to his height; but his legs were much shorter. Upon the whole, he was a wonderful beast to behold, and there was more about him to excite amazement than fear. His hair was smooth and glossy, and his whole appearance showed him to be in the full vigour of youth and strength."

The Chimpanzee has been found in Africa as well as in the Eastern isles. It is of a smaller size than the orang-outang. The head, shoulders, and back are covered with coarse black hair, and tufts of hair ornament the cheeks.

No full-grown specimen of this animal has yet reached Europe, the largest having measured only

three feet six inches, and, from the state of its dentition, it was evidently immature. It is of course impossible to judge of the character of such an animal in a state of confinement, the change of climate and of food incident to such a situation causing much variation. The few specimens which have reached Europe have evinced a degree of melancholy and submission which, perhaps, were foreign to their character in their native state.

The situation of Ophir, whence the fleets of Solomon brought apes along with precious commodities (1 Kings, x. 22; 2 Chron. ix. 21), has been a subject of much dispute among the learned; and various places in Arabia, eastern Africa, India, and in the Persian Gulf, have been successively pointed out as the ancient Ophir. Professor Heeren, in his learned work on the commerce of the Phoenicians, suggests that "It is very probable that this name, like those of Thule and others, did not designate any fixed place, but simply a certain region of the world, as the East or West Indies in modern geography. Thus Ophir may be understoood as a general name for the rich South country, including the shores of

Arabia, Africa, and India.” It is only on some such supposition that we can account for the three years' absence of the fleet, and the fact of its bringing home the products of several countries, one great difficulty in the inquiry having been that of finding, within such a reasonable distance as was consistent with the state of navigation at the period, a spot in which such products could be found. If Professor Heeren's hypothesis be admitted, we may conclude that the fleet went trading in various places, collecting the different commodities.

THE BADGER.

THE extremely defective state of a knowledge of the natural history of the East when our English translation of the Bible was made, has led to mistakes in the identification of some of the animals there mentioned, and, among others, of the badger. Some of the most learned biblical critics contend that the word which our translators have

ndered badger, is in reality the name of a colour,

the Chaldee version of the Bible alone rendering it an animal. Other commentators think that an animal is intended, but are unable to fix the species. Many modern interpreters, however, refer it to the badger.

The badger has a thick, squat, and heavy body, short legs, and a slender head. Its eyes are very small, and its ears are small and rounded. Its body is covered with thick, smooth fur, and when full grown attains to about two feet and a half in length. It is a quiet, inoffensive animal, feeding upon roots, grass, fruit, as well as insects, and other small animals, seldom moving abroad during day-light, but remaining concealed in its burrow, which it usually makes in a retired spot, concealing the entrance beneath the overhanging branches of some shrub, or tuft of herbage. From the retired habits of the badger, little is known of him in a state of nature, as he only begins to make his appearance when the day-light fails, or is seen creeping cautiously along the solitary upland, when the moon shines brightly enough to discover his dusky covering.

M. F. Cuvier has recorded an interesting ac