OTHER APES
In the various records that constitute the history of these apes are
found many novel and incoherent tales, but all of them appear to rest
upon some basis of truth. In order to arrive at some more definite
knowledge concerning them, we may review the data at our command.
The first record in the annals of the world that alludes to these
man-like apes, is that of Hanno, who made a voyage from Carthage to
the west coast of Africa, nearly 500 years before the Christian era.
He described an ape which was found in the locality about Sierra
Leone. It is singular that the description which he gave of those apes
should coincide so fully with those known of the present day, but to
my mind it is quite certain that the ape of which he gives an account
was neither a gorilla nor chimpanzee, nor is there anything to show
that either of these ever occupied that part of the world, or that any
similar type has done so. It is clear from the evidence that the ape
described by him was not an anthropoid, but was the large, dog-faced
monkey technically called _cynocephalus_. These animals are found all
along the north coast of the Gulf of Guinea, but there is not a trace
of any true ape along it north of Cameroon River, which empties into
the sea about 4° north of the equator. Here begins the first trace of
the chimpanzee. In passing along the windward coast, casual reports are
current to the effect that gorillas and chimpanzees occupy the interior
north of there; but when these reports are sifted down to solid facts,
it always turns out to be a big baboon or monkey upon which the story
rests. Its likeness to man as described by Hanno was doubtless the work
of fancy, and the name _troglodytes_ which he gave to it shows that he
knew but little of its habits, or cared but little for the exactness of
his statements.
The account given by Henry Battel, in 1590, contains a thread of truth
woven into a web of fantasy. He must have heard the stories he relates,
or seen the specimens along the coast north of the Congo, and there are
certain facts which point to this conclusion. The name _pongo_ which
he gave to one of them belongs to the Fiot tongue, which is spoken by
the native tribes around Loango. Those people apply the name to the
gorilla, and is commonly understood to be synonymous with the name
_njina_, used by the tribes north of there, and always applied to the
gorilla. To me, however, it appears to coincide with the name _ntyii_
as used by the Esyira people for another ape which is described in the
chapter devoted to gorillas. It was from Loango that Dr. Falkenstein
secured an ape under that name in 1876. It is singular that Baron
Wurmb, in 1780, makes use of this same name _pongo_ for an orang. I
have not been able to learn where he acquired this name, but it appears
to be a native Fiot name, and the history of their language is fairly
well known for more than 400 years. The other name "Enjocko," given by
Battel to the other ape, is beyond a doubt a corruption of the native
name _ntyigo_ (ntcheego), and this name belongs north of the Congo
from Mayumba to Gaboon. He may have inferred that these apes occupied
Angola, but there is not a vestige of proof that any ape exists in that
part of Africa. Even the native tribes of that part have no indigenous
name for either one of these apes. Other parts of his account are
erroneous, and while he may have believed that those apes "go in bodies
to kill many natives that travel in the wood," and the natives may have
told him such a thing, the apes do not practise such a habit. With all
their sagacity they have no idea of the unity of action. If a band of
them were attacked, they would no doubt act together in their defence,
but it is not to be believed that they ever preconcert any plan of
attack. Neither do these apes ever assault elephants. He is one animal
they hold in mortal dread. I have incidentally mentioned elsewhere
the conduct of my two kulus on board the ship when they saw a young
elephant. Chico, the big ape that has also been mentioned, was often
vicious and stubborn. Whenever he refused to obey his keeper or became
violent, an elephant was brought in sight of his cage. On seeing it he
became as docile as a lamb, and showed every sign of the most intense
fear. Mr. Bailey himself told me of the dread both of his apes had for
an elephant. Battel was also wrong in the mode he described of the
mother carrying its young, and the apes using sticks or clubs.
The ape known as "Mafuka," which was exhibited in Dresden in 1875, was
also brought from the Loango coast, and it is possible that this is the
ape to which the native name _pongo_ really belonged. This specimen in
many respects conforms to the description of the _ntyii_ given, but the
idea suggested by certain writers that "Mafuka" was a cross between
the gorilla and chimpanzee is not, to my mind, a tenable supposition.
It would be difficult to believe that two apes of different species
in a wild state would cross, but to believe that two that belonged to
different genera would do so is even more illogical.
I may state here, however, again that some of the Esyira people advance
such a theory concerning the _ntyii_, but the belief is not general,
and those best skilled in woodcraft regard them as distinct species.
To quote, in pidjin English, the exact version of their relationship as
it was given to me by my interpreter while in that country, may be of
interest to the reader. I may remark, by way of explaining the nature
of pidjin English, that it is a literal translation of the native mode
of thought into English words. The statement was:
"_Ntyii_ be one: _njina_ be one: all two be one, one. _Nytii_ 'e one
mudder: _jnina_ 'e one mudder: all two 'e one, one. _Nytii_ 'e one
fader: _njina_ all same 'e one fader, 'e one. 'E all two one fader." By
which the native means to say that the _nytii_ has one mother and the
_njina_ has one mother, so that the two have two mothers, but both have
one father, therefore they are half-brothers.
The other version given in denial of this statement was as follows:
"_Nytii_ 'e one mudder: _njina_ 'e one mudder. 'E one, one. _Nytii_ 'e
one fader: _njina_ 'e one fader. 'E be one, one. All two 'e one, one.
_Nytii_ 'im mudder, _njina_ 'im mudder. 'E brudder. _Nytii_ 'im fader,
_njina_ 'im fader 'e brudder. All two 'e one, one."
The translation of this elegant speech is, that the _nytii_ has a
mother, and the _njina_ has a mother which are not the same but
sisters. The _nytii_ has a father, and the _njina_ has a father which
are not the same, but are brothers, and therefore the two apes are only
cousins, which in the native esteem is a remote degree of kinship.
The ape described by Lopez certainly belonged to the territory north
of the Congo, which coast he explored, and gave his name to a cape
about forty miles south of the equator, and it still bears the name
Cape Lopez. At that time, however, it is probable that most of the
low country now occupied by these apes was covered with water; that
the lakes of that region were then all embraced in one great estuary,
reaching from Fernan Vaz to Nazareth Bay, and extending eastward to
the Foot hills below Lamberene. There is abundant evidence to show that
such a state has once existed there, but it is not probable that these
apes have ever changed their latitude.
The name "soko" appears to be a local name for the ordinary type of
chimpanzee found throughout the whole range of their domain, and known
in other parts by other names.
In Malimbu the name "kulu" appears to apply to the same species, while
in the south-western part of their habitat that name, coupled with
the verb "kamba," is confined strictly to the other type. Along the
northern borders of the district to which that species belongs, but
where he is very seldom found and little known to the natives, he is
called Mkami tribe, "kanga ntyigo," to distinguish him from the common
variety to which the latter name only is applied.
The etymology of the name _kanga_ as applied to this ape is rather
obscure. In common use it is a verb with the normal meaning to "parch"
or "fry," and hence the secondary meaning to "prepare." Since this
ape is said to be of a higher order of the race, the term is used to
signify that he is "better prepared" than the other. That is to say, he
is prepared to think and talk in a better manner.
Another history of this word appears to be more probable. The ape to
which the name is applied lives between the Mkami country and the
Congo, and the name is possibly a perversion of kongo, and implies
the kind of _ntyigo_ that lives towards the great river of that name.
The etymology of African names is always difficult because there is
no record of them, but many of them can be traced out with great
precision, and some of them are unique.
The name M'Bouvé, as given by Du Chaillu, I have not been able to
identify. In one part of the country I was told that the word meant
the "chief" or head of a family. In another part it was said to mean
something like an advocate or champion, and was only applied to one
ape in a family group. The Rev. A. C. Goode, a zealous missionary who
recently died near Batanga, was stationed for twelve years at Gaboon.
During that time he travelled all through the Ogowe and Gaboon valleys.
He was familiar with the languages of that part, and he explained the
word in about the same way.
Whatever may be said concerning the veracity of Paul Du Chaillu, there
is one thing that must be said to his credit. He gave to the world
more knowledge of these apes than all other men put together had ever
done before, and while he may have given a touch of colour to many
incidents, and related some native yarns, he told a vast amount of
valuable truth, and I can forgive him for anything which he may have
misstated, except one. That is starting that story about gorillas
chewing up gun-barrels. It has been a staple yarn in stock ever since,
and the instant you ask a native any question about the habits of a
gorilla he begins with this.
In view of the fact that I have made careful and methodic efforts to
determine the exact boundary of the habitat and the real habits of
these two apes, I feel at liberty to speak with an air of authority.
I have acquired my knowledge on the subject by going to their own
country and living in their own jungle, and I have thus obtained their
secrets from first hands. With due respect to those who write books
and speak freely upon subjects of which they know but little, I beg
leave to suggest that if the authors had gone into the jungle and
lived among those animals instead of consulting others who know less
than themselves about it, many of them would have written in a very
different strain. I do not mean this as a rebuke to any one, but seeing
the same old stories repeated year after year, and knowing that there
is no truth in them, I feel it incumbent as a duty to challenge them.
I believe that in the future it will be shown that there are two types
of gorilla as distinct from each other as the two chimpanzees now
known. This second variety of gorilla will be found between the third
and fifth parallels south and east of the delta district, but west
of the Congo. I believe it was represented in the ape "Mafuka." My
researches among the apes have been confined chiefly to the two kinds
heretofore described, but I have seen and studied in a superficial
way the orang and the gibbon. I am not prepared as yet to discuss the
habits of those two apes, but as they form a part of the group of
anthropoids we cannot dismiss them without honourable mention.
The orang-outan, as he is called in his own country, is known to
zoology by the first of these terms alone. He is a native of Borneo and
Sumatra, and opinions differ as to whether there are two species or
only one.
The general plan of the skeleton of the orang is very much the same as
in the other apes. The chief points of difference are that it has one
bone more in the wrist and one joint less in the spinal column than is
found in man. He has thirteen pairs of ribs, which appear to be more
constant in their number than in man. His arms are longer and his legs
shorter in proportion to his body than the other two apes. The type of
the skull is peculiar, and combines to a certain extent more human-like
form in one part with a more beast-like form in another. The usual
height of an adult male is about fifty-one inches.
I have never had an opportunity of studying this ape in a wild state,
and have only had access to four of them in captivity, all of which
were young and most of them inferior specimens. He is the most obtuse
or stupid of the four great apes. And were it not for his skeleton
alone he would be assigned a place below the gibbon, for in point of
speech and mental calibre he is far inferior. The best authorities
perhaps upon the habits of this ape in a wild state are Messrs. W. T.
Horniday and R. A. Wallace.
The first and last in order of the anthropoid apes is the gibbon; he
is much smaller in size, greater in variety, and more active than
any other of the group. His habitat is in the south-east of Asia; its
outline is vaguely defined, but it includes the Malayan Peninsula and
many of the contiguous islands east and south of it.
The skeleton of the gibbon is the most delicate and graceful in build
of all the apes, and in this respect is as far superior to man as
man is to the gorilla, except for the long arms and digits. He is
the only one of the four that can walk in an erect position, but in
doing this the gibbon is awkward, and often uses his arms to balance
himself, sometimes by touching his hands to the ground, or at other
times raising them above his head or extending them on either side.
The length of them is such that he can touch the fingers to the ground
while the body is nearly if not quite erect. In the spinal column he
has two and sometimes three sections more than man. His digits are very
much longer, but his legs are nearly the same length in proportion to
his body as those of man. He has fourteen pairs of ribs.
The gibbon is the most active, if not the most intelligent, of all
apes. He is more arboreal in habit than any other. Many wonderful
stories are told of his agility in climbing and leaping from limb to
limb. One authentic report credits one of these apes with leaping
a distance of forty-two feet from the limb of one tree to that of
another. Perhaps a better term is to call it swinging rather than
leaping, as these flights are performed by the arms. Another account
is, that one swinging by one hand propelled himself a horizontal
distance of eighteen feet through the air, seizing a bird in flight,
and alighting safely upon another limb with his prey in hand.
There are several of this ape known, the largest of which is about
three feet high, but the usual height is not more than thirty inches.
The voice of one species is remarkable for its strength, scope and
quality above all other apes. Most of the members of this genus are
endowed with better vocal qualities than other animals. This ends
the list of the man-like apes, and next in order after them come the
monkeys, but we will deal with that subject more at length at some
future time.
The descent, as we have elsewhere observed, from the highest ape to the
lowest monkey presents one unbroken scale of imbricating planes; and we
have seen in what degree man is related to the higher ape. From whence
we may discern in what degree his physical nature is the same as that
of all the order to which he belongs. No matter in what respect he may
differ in his mental and moral nature, his likeness to them should at
least restrain his pride, evoke his sympathy, and share the bounty of
his benevolence. Let man realise to its full extent that he is one in
nature with the rest, and they will receive the benign influence of his
dignity without impairing it, while he will elevate himself by having
given it.