APE, Simia; in Hebrew Koph. Interpreters agree concerning the signification of this word. The Scripture a says, that Solomon’s fleet, among other things, brought back Ivory and Apes. The Greek Writers speak of a sort of Ape which was to be seen in Ethiopia, and upon the Red Sea, called Kephos, or Keipos, or Kebos1, a name which comes pretty near the Hebrew, Kuph or Koph. The Kepus had hands and feet like a Man’s, the face of a Lion, and the body of a Panther. It was about the size of a Roe-buck. The Egyptians of Babylon in Egypt adored a kind of Ape, which Strabo2 calls Keipos3.
An Ape, of all animals, comes nearest to the figure of a Man. There are several sorts of them; some with, and others without a tail. Some have a head, or long snout, like a Dog’s; others have a rounder head, and a flatter nose. The toes of their feet are as long as their fingers; they have generally red hair, inclining to be greenish. There are some in Indostan all white; others are red upon their backs, but their breast, belly, and inside of their thighs and arms, are white or grey. These Creatures have a thousand stratagems to defend and save themselves. They live commonly upon the tops of trees, leaping from one branch to another with admirable dexterity. On both sides their jaws they have pockets where they lock up every thing which they wou’d keep. The females never have more than one young one, which they carry upon their backs, as a Mother does her Child. When they wou’d give it suck, they take it in their paws, and present the breast to it, like a Woman.
The Egyptians are not the only people who have adored Apes. They are still worshiped in many places of the Indies. Maffeus4 describes a magnificent Temple dedicated to the Ape, with a portico designed for receiving the Victims which are sacrificed to it; and supported by seven hundred columns not inferior, as he says, to those of the Pantheon at Rome. When5 the Portugueze, in 1554, pillaged the Isle of Ceylan, there was a magnificent Temple upon the top of Pike Adame, or Mount Adam, wherein they found nothing but a little box full of gold and jewels, with an Ape’s tooth. The Kings of the Country were desirous of redeeming this tooth, which they worshiped, and offered seven hundred thousand Ducats for the purchase of it. But the Bishop hindred them from accepting the offer, had the tooth burnt, and the ashes thrown into the sea6. The Inhabitants of Goa did not dare to kill an Ape, no more than a Serpent. They believed them to be Spirits created by God with an intention to afflict Mankind, and punish them for their sins.
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