Chapter 10

Having premised this, I have taken into consideration _Caspar Bartholine Senior_ his _Opusculum_ _de Pygmæis_, and _Jo. Talentonius_'s Dissertation about them: and upon examination do find, that neither the Humane Authorities, nor Divine that they alledge, do any ways prove, as they pretend, the Being of _Men Pygmies_. St. _Austin_, who is likewise quoted on their side, is so far from favouring this Opinion, that he doubts whether any such Creatures exist, and if they do, concludes them to be _Apes_ or _Monkeys_; and censures those _Indian Historians_ for imposing such Beasts upon us, as distinct Races of _Men_. _Julius Cæsar Scaliger_, and _Isaac Casaubon_, and _Adrian Spigelius_ utterly deny the Being of _Pygmies_, and look upon them as a Figment only of the Ancients, because such little Men as they describe them to be, are no where to be met with in all the World. The Learned _Bochartus_ tho' he esteems the _Geranomachia_ to be a Fable, and slights it, yet thinks that what might give the occasion to the Story of the _Pygmies_, might be the _Nubæ_ or _Nobæ_; as _Isaac Vossius_ conjectures that it was those _Dwarfs_ beyond the Fountains of the _Nile_, that _Dapper_ calls the _Mimos_, and tells us, they kill _Elephants_ for to make a Traffick with their Teeth. But _Job Ludolphus_ alters the Scene, and instead of _Cranes_, substitutes his _Condors_, who do not fight the _Pygmies_, but fly away with them, and then devour them.

Now all these Conjectures do no ways account for _Homer's Pygmies_ and _Cranes_, they are too much forced and strain'd. Truth is always easie and plain. In our present Case therefore I think the _Orang-Outang_, or _wild Man_, may exactly supply the place of the _Pygmies_, and without any violence or injury to the Story, sufficiently account for the whole History of the _Pygmies_, but what is most apparently fabulous; for what has been the greatest difficulty to be solved or satisfied, was their being _Men_; for as _Gesner_ remarks (as I have already quoted him) _Sed veterum nullus aliter de Pygmæis scripsit, quàm Homunciones esse_. And the Moderns too, being byassed and misguided by this Notion, have either wholly denied them, or contented themselves in offering their Conjectures what might give the first rise to the inventing this Fable. And tho' _Albertus_, as I find him frequently quoted, thought that the _Pygmies_ might be only a sort of _Apes_, and he is placed in the Head of those that espoused this Opinion, yet he spoils all, by his way of reasoning, and by making them speak; which was more than he needed to do.

I cannot see therefore any thing that will so fairly solve this doubt, that will reconcile all, that will so easily and plainly make out this Story, as by making the _Orang-Outang_ to be the _Pygmie_ of the Ancients; for 'tis the same Name that Antiquity gave them. For _Herodotus_'s [Greek: andres agrioi], what can they be else, than _Homines Sylvestres_, or _wild Men_? as they are now called. And _Homer_'s [Greek: andres pygmaioi], are no more an Humane Kind, or Men, then _Herodotus_'s [Greek: andres agrioi], which he makes to be [Greek: theria], or _wild Beasts_: And the [Greek: andres mikroi] or [Greek: melanes] (as they are often called) were just the same. Because this sort of _Apes_ had so great a resemblance to Men, more than other _Apes_ or _Monkeys_; and they going naturally erect, and being designed by Nature to go so, (as I have shewn in the _Anatomy_) the Ancients had a very plausible ground for giving them this denomination of [Greek: andres] or [Greek: anthropoi], but commonly they added an Epithet; as [Greek: agrioi, mikroi, pygmaioi, melanes], or some such like. Now the Ancient _Greek_ and _Indian Historians_, tho' they might know these _Pygmies_ to be only _Apes_ like _Men_, and not to be real _Men_, yet being so extremely addicted to _Mythology_, or making Fables, and finding this so fit a Subject to engraft upon, and invent Stories about, they have not been wanting in furnishing us with a great many very Romantick ones on this occasion. And the Moderns being imposed upon by them, and misguided by the Name of [Greek: andres] or [Greek: anthropoi], as if thereby must be always understood an _Humane Kind_, or _real Men_, they have altogether mistaken the Truth of the Story, and have either wholly denied it, or rendered it as improbable by their own Conjectures.

This difficulty therefore of their being called _Men_, I think, may fairly enough be accounted by what I have said. But it may be objected that the _Orang-Outang_, or these _wild_ or _savage Men_ are not [Greek: pygmaioi], or _Trispithami_, that is, but two Foot and a quarter high, because by some Relations that have been given, it appears they have been observed to be of a higher stature, and as tall as ordinary Men. Now tho' this may be allowed as to these _wild Men_ that are bred in other places; and probably enough like wise, there are such in some Parts of the Continent of _Africa_; yet 'tis sufficient to our business if there are any there, that will come within our Dimensions; for our Scene lies in _Africa_; where _Strabo_ observes, that generally the Beasts are of a less size than ordinary; and this he thinks might give rise to the Story of the _Pygmies_. For, saith he[A] [Greek: Ta de boskaemata autois esti mikra, probata kai aiges, kai kynes mikroi, tracheis de kai machimoi (oikountes mikroi ontes) tacha de kai tous pygmaious apo tes touton mikrophyias epenoaesan, kai aneplasan.] i.e. _That their Beasts are small, as their Sheep, Goats and Oxen, and their Dogs are small, but hairy and fierce: and it may be_ (saith he) _from the [Greek: mikrophyia] or littleness of the stature of these Animals, they have invented and imposed on us the_ Pygmies. And then adds, _That no body fit to be believed ever saw them_; because he fancied, as a great many others have done, that these _Pygmies_ must be _real Men_, and not a sort of _Brutes_. Now since the other _Brutes_ in this Country are generally of a less size than in other Parts, why may not this sort of _Ape_, the _Orang-Outang_, or _wild Man_, be so likewise. _Aristotle_ speaking of the _Pygmies_, saith, [Greek: genos mikron men kai autoi, kai oi hippoi.] _That both they and the Horses there are but small_. He does not say _their_ Horses, for they were never mounted upon _Horses_, but only upon _Partridges, Goats_ and _Rams_. And as the _Horses_, and other _Beasts_ are naturally less in _Africa_ than in other Parts, so likewise may the _Orang-Outang_ be. This that I dissected, which was brought from _Angola_ (as I have often mentioned) wanted something of the just stature of the _Pygmies_; but it was young, and I am therefore uncertain to what tallness it might grow, when at full Age: And neither _Tulpius_, nor _Gassendus_, nor any that I have hitherto met with, have adjusted the full stature of this _Animal_ that is found in those parts from whence ours was brought: But 'tis most certain, that there are sorts of _Apes_ that are much less than the _Pygmies_ are described to be. And, as other _Brutes_, so the _Ape-kind_, in different Climates, may be of different Dimensions; and because the other _Brutes_ here are generally small, why may not _they_ be so likewise. Or if the difference should be but little, I see no great reason in this case, why we should be over-nice, or scrupulous.

[Footnote A: _Strabo Geograph_. lib. 17. p.m. 565.]

As to our _Ape Pygmies_ or _Orang-Outang_ fighting the _Cranes_, this, I think, may be easily enough made out, by what I have already observed; for this _wild Man_ I dissected was Carnivorous, and it may be Omnivorous, at least as much as _Man_ is; for it would eat any thing that was brought to the Table. And if it was not their Hunger that drove them to it, their Wantonness, it may be, would make them apt enough to rob the _Cranes_ Nests; and if they did so, no doubt but the _Cranes_ would noise enough about it, and endeavour what they could to beat them off, which a Poet might easily make a Fight: Tho' _Homer_ only makes use of it as a _Simile_, in comparing the great Shouts of the _Trojans_ to the Noise of the _Cranes_, and the Silence of the _Greeks_ to that of the _Pygmies_ when they are going to Engage, which is natural enough, and very just, and contains nothing, but what may easily be believed; tho' upon this account he is commonly exposed, and derided, as the Inventor of this Fable; and that there was nothing of Truth in it, but that 'twas wholly a Fiction of his own.

Those _Pygmies_ that _Paulus Jovius_[A] describes, tho' they dwell at a great distance from _Africa_, and he calls them _Men_, yet are so like _Apes_, that I cannot think them any thing else. I will give you his own words: _Ultra Lapones_ (saith he) _in Regione inter Corum & Aquilonem perpetua oppressa Caligine_ Pygmæos _reperiri, aliqui eximiæ fidei testes retulerunt; qui postquam ad summum adoleverint, nostratis Pueri denum annorum Mensuram vix excedunt. Meticulosum genus hominum, & garritu Sermonem exprimens, adeo ut tam Simiæ propinqui, quam Statura ac sensibus ab justæ Proceritatis homine remoti videantur_. Now there is this Advantage in our _Hypothesis_, it will take in all the _Pygmies_, in any part of the World; or wherever they are to be met with, without supposing, as some have done, that 'twas the _Cranes_ that forced them to quit their Quarters; and upon this account several Authors have described them in different places: For unless we suppose the _Cranes_ so kind to them, as to waft them over, how came we to find them often in Islands? But this is more than can be reasonably expected from so great Enemies.

[Footnote A: _Paul. Jovij de Legatione Muschovitar_. lib. p.m. 489.]

I shall conclude by observing to you, that this having been the Common Error of the Age, in believing the _Pygmies_ to be a sort of _little Men_, and it having been handed down from so great Antiquity, what might contribute farther to the confirming of this Mistake, might be, the Imposture of the Navigators, who failing to Parts where these _Apes_ are, they have embalmed their Bodies, and brought them home, and then made the People believe that they were the _Men_ of those Countries from whence they came. This _M.P. Venetus_ assures us to have been done; and 'tis not unlikely: For, saith he,[A] _Abundat quoque Regio ipsa_ (sc. Basman in Java majori) _diversis Simiis magnis & parvis, hominibus simillimis, hos capiunt Venatores & totos depilant, nisi quod, in barba & in loco secreto Pilos relinquunt, & occisos speciebus Aromaticis condiunt, & postea desiccant, venduntque Negociatoribus, qui per diversas Orbis Partes Corpora illa deferentes, homines persuadent Tales Homunciones in Maris Insulis reperiri. Joh. Jonston_[B] relates the same thing, but without quoting the Author; and as he is very apt to do, commits a great mistake, in telling us, _pro Homunculis marinis venditant_.

[Footnote A: _M. Pauli Veneti de Regionibus Oriental_. lib. 3. cap. 15. p. m. 390.]

[Footnote B: _Jo. Jonston. Hist. Nat. de Quadruped_. p.m. 139.]

I shall only add, That the Servile Offices that these Creatures are observed to perform, might formerly, as it does to this very day, impose upon Mankind to believe, that they were of the same _Species_ with themselves; but that only out of Sullenness or cunning, they think they will not _speak_, for fear of being made Slaves. _Philostratus_[A] tells us, That the _Indians_ make use of the _Apes_ in gathering the Pepper; and for this Reason they do defend and preserve them from the _Lions_, who are very greedy of preying upon them: And altho' he calls them _Apes_, yet he speaks of them as _Men_, and as if they were the Husbandmen of the _Pepper Trees_, [Greek: kai ta dendra oi piperides, on georgoi pithekoi]. And he calls them the People of _Apes_; [Greek: ou legetai pithekon oikein demos en mychois tou orous]. _Dapper_[B] tells us, _That the Indians take the_ Baris _when young, and make them so tame, that they will do almost the work of a Slave; for they commonly go erect as Men do. They will beat Rice in a Mortar, carry Water in a Pitcher_, &c. And Gassendus[C] in the Life of _Pieresky_, tells us, us, _That they will play upon a Pipe or Cittern, or the like Musick, they will sweep the House, turn the Spit, beat in a Mortar, and do other Offices in a Family_. And _Acosta_, as I find him quoted by _Garcilasso de la Vega_[D] tells us of a _Monkey_ he saw at the Governour's House at _Cartagena_, 'whom they fent often to the Tavern for Wine, with Money in one hand, and a Bottle in the other; and that when he came to the Tavern, he would not deliver his Money, until he had received his Wine. If the Boys met with him by the way, or made a houting or noise after him, he would set down his Bottle, and throw Stones at them; and having cleared the way he would take up his Bottle, and hasten home, And tho' he loved Wine excessively, yet he would not dare to touch it, unless his Master gave him License.' A great many Instances of this Nature might be given that are very surprising. And in another place he tells us, That the Natives think that they can speak, but will not, for fear of being made to work. And _Bontius_[E] mentions that the _Javans_ had the same Opinion concerning the _Orang-Outang_, _Loqui vero eos, easque Javani aiunt, sed non velle, ne ad labores cogerentur_.

[Footnote A: _Philostratus in vita Apollonij Tyanæi_, lib. 3. cap. I. p. m. 110, & 111.]

[Footnote B: _Dapper Description de l'Afrique_, p.m. 249.]

[Footnote C: _Gassendus in vita Pierskij_, lib. 5. p.m. 169.]

[Footnote D: _Garcilasso de la Vega Royal Commentaries of Peru_, lib. 8. cap. 18. p. 1333.]

[Footnote E: _Jac. Bontij Hist. Nat. & Med_. lib. 5. cap. 32. p.m. 85.]

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[NOTE.--A few obvious errors in the quotations have been corrected, but for the most part they stand as in Tyson, who must, therefore, be held responsible for any inaccuracies which may exist.]