In describing the animals of Sierra Leone, p. 51, this writer says:--

"I shall next describe a strange sort of animal, called by the white men

in this country Mandrill,* but why it is so called I know not, nor did

I ever hear the name before, neither can those who call them so tell,

except it be for their near resemblance of a human creature, though

nothing at all like an Ape. ([Footnote] *"Mandrill" seems to signify

a "man-like ape," the word "Drill" or "Dril" having been anciently

employed in England to denote an Ape or Baboon. Thus in the fifth

edition of Blount's "Glossographia, or a Dictionary interpreting the

hard words of whatsoever language now used in our refined English

tongue...very useful for all such as desire to understand what they

read," published in 1681, I find, "Dril--a stone-cutter's tool wherewith

he bores little holes in marble, etc. Also a large overgrown Ape and

Baboon, so called." "Drill" is used in the same sense in Charleton's

"Onomasticon Zoicon," 1668. The singular etymology of the word given by

Buffon seems hardly a probable one.) Their bodies, when full grown,

are as big in circumference as a middle-sized man's--their legs much

shorter, and their feet larger; their arms and hands in proportion. The

head is monstrously big, and the face broad and flat, without any other

hair but the eyebrows; the nose very small, the mouth wide, and the lips

thin. The face, which is covered by a white skin, is monstrously ugly,

being all over wrinkled as with old age; the teeth broad and yellow; the

hands have no more hair than the face, but the same white skin, though

all the rest of the body is covered with long black hair, like a bear.

They never go upon all fours, like apes; but cry, when vexed or teased,

just like children...."

(FIGURE 5.--"A Mandrill". Facsimile of William Smith's figure of the

"Mandrill," 1744.)

"When I was at Sherbro, one Mr. Cummerbus, whom I shall have occasion

hereafter to mention, made me a present of one of these strange animals,

which are called by the natives Boggoe: it was a she-cub, of six months'

age, but even then larger than a Baboon. I gave it in charge to one of

the slaves, who knew how to feed and nurse it, being a very tender sort

of animal; but whenever I went off the deck the sailors began to teaze

it--some loved to see its tears and hear it cry; others hated its snotty

nose; one who hurt it, being checked by the negro that took care of it,

told the slave he was very fond of his country-woman, and asked him

if he should not like her for a wife? To which the slave very readily

replied, 'No, this no my wife; this a white woman--this fit wife for

you.' This unlucky wit of the negro's, I fancy, hastened its death, for

next morning it was found dead under the windlass."

William Smith's 'Mandrill,' or 'Boggoe,' as his description and figure

testify, was, without doubt, a Chimpanzee.

(FIGURE 6.--The Anthropomorpha of Linnaeus.)

Linnaeus knew nothing, of his own observation, of the man-like Apes of

either Africa or Asia, but a dissertation by his pupil Hoppius in the

'Amoenitates Academicae' (VI. 'Anthropomorpha') may be regarded as

embodying his views respecting these animals.

The dissertation is illustrated by a plate, of which the accompanying

woodcut, Fig, 6, is a reduced copy, The figures are entitled (from left

to right) 1. 'Troglodyta Bontii'; 2. 'Lucifer Aldrovandi'; 3. 'Satyrus

Tulpii'; 4. 'Pygmaeus Edwardi'. The first is a bad copy of Bontius'

fictitious 'Ourang-outang,' in whose existence, however, Linnaeus

appears to have fully believed; for in the standard edition of the

'Systema Naturae', it is enumerated as a second species of Homo; "H.

nocturnus." 'Lucifer Aldrovandi' is a copy of a figure in Aldrovandus,

'De Quadrupedibus digitatis viviparis', Lib. 2, p. 249 (1645), entitled

"Cercopithecus formae rarae 'Barbilius' vocatus et originem a china

ducebat." Hoppius is of opinion that this may be one of that cat-tailed

people, of whom Nicolaus Koping affirms that they eat a boat's crew,

"gubernator navis" and all! In the 'Systema Naturae' Linnaeus calls it

in a note, 'Homo caudatus', and seems inclined to regard it as a third

species of man. According to Temminck, 'Satyrus Tulpii' is a copy of

the figure of a Chimpanzee published by Scotin in 1738, which I have

not seen. It is the 'Satyrus indicus' of the 'Systema Naturae', and

is regarded by Linnaeus as possibly a distinct species from 'Satyrus

sylvestris'. The last, named 'Pygmaeus Edwardi', is copied from the

figure of a young "Man of the Woods," or true Orang-Utan, given in

Edwards' 'Gleanings of Natural History' (1758).

Buffon was more fortunate than his great rival. Not only had he the rare

opportunity of examining a young Chimpanzee in the living state, but

he became possessed of an adult Asiatic man-like Ape--the first and the

last adult specimen of any of these animals brought to Europe for

many years. With the valuable assistance of Daubenton, Buffon gave

an excellent description of this creature, which, from its singular

proportions, he termed the long-armed Ape, or Gibbon. It is the modern

'Hylobates lar'.

Thus when, in 1766, Buffon wrote the fourteenth volume of his great

work, he was personally familiar with the young of one kind of African

man-like Ape, and with the adult of an Asiatic species--while the

Orang-Utan and the Mandrill of Smith were known to him by report.

Furthermore, the Abbe Prevost had translated a good deal of Purchas'

Pilgrims into French, in his 'Histoire generale des Voyages' (1748), and

there Buffon found a version of Andrew Battell's account of the Pongo

and the Engeco. All these data Buffon attempts to weld together into

harmony in his chapter entitled "Les Orang-outangs ou le Pongo et le

Jocko." To this title the following note is appended:--

"Orang-outang nom de cet animal aux Indes orientales: Pongo nom de cet

animal a Lowando Province de Congo.

"Jocko, Enjocko, nom de cet animal a Congo que nous avons adopte. 'En'

est l'article que nous avons retranche."

Thus it was that Andrew Battell's "Engeco" became metamorphosed into

"Jocko," and, in the latter shape, was spread all over the world, in

consequence of the extensive popularity of Buffon's works. The

Abbe Prevost and Buffon between them, however, did a good deal more

disfigurement to Battell's sober account than 'cutting off an article.'

Thus Battell's statement that the Pongos "cannot speake, and have no

understanding more than a beast," is rendered by Buffon "qu'il ne peut

parler 'quoiqu'il ait plus d'entendement que les autres animaux'"; and

again, Purchas' affirmation, "He told me in conference with him, that

one of these Pongos tooke a negro boy of his which lived a moneth with

them," stands in the French version, "un pongo lui enleva un petit negre

qui passa un 'an' entier dans la societe de ces animaux."

After quoting the account of the great Pongo, Buffon justly remarks,

that all the 'Jockos' and 'Orangs' hitherto brought to Europe were

young; and he suggests that, in their adult condition, they might be as

big as the Pongo or 'great Orang'; so that, provisionally, he regarded

the Jockos, Orangs, and Pongos as all of one species. And perhaps this

was as much as the state of knowledge at the time warranted. But how

it came about that Buffon failed to perceive the similarity of Smith's

'Mandrill' to his own 'Jocko,' and confounded the former with so

totally different a creature as the blue-faced Baboon, is not so easily

intelligible.

Twenty years later Buffon changed his opinion,* and expressed his belief

that the Orangs constituted a genus with two species,--a large one, the

Pongo of Battell, and a small one, the Jocko: that the small one (Jocko)

is the East Indian Orang; and that the young animals from Africa,

observed by himself and Tulpius, are simply young Pongos. ([Footnote]

*'Histoire Naturelle', Suppl. tome 7eme, 1789.)

In the meanwhile, the Dutch naturalist, Vosmaer, gave, in 1778, a very

good account and figure of a young Orang, brought alive to Holland, and

his countryman, the famous anatomist, Peter Camper, published (1779)

an essay on the Orang-Utan of similar value to that of Tyson on the

Chimpanzee. He dissected several females and a male, all of which, from

the state of their skeleton and their dentition, he justly supposes to

have been young. However, judging by the analogy of man, he concludes

that they could not have exceeded four feet in height in the adult

condition. Furthermore, he is very clear as to the specific distinctness

of the true East Indian Orang.

"The Orang," says he, "differs not only from the Pigmy of Tyson and from

the Orang of Tulpius by its peculiar colour and its long toes, but

also by its whole external form. Its arms, its hands, and its feet are

longer, while the thumbs, on the contrary, are much shorter, and the

great toes much smaller in proportion."* ([Footnote] *Camper, 'Oeuvres',

i. p. 56.) And again, "The true Orang, that is to say, that of Asia,

that of Borneo, is consequently not the Pithecus, or tailless Ape, which

the Greeks, and especially Galen, have described. It is neither

the Pongo nor the Jocko, nor the Orang of Tulpius, nor the Pigmy of

Tyson,--IT IS AN ANIMAL OF A PECULIAR SPECIES, as I shall prove in the

clearest manner by the organs of voice and the skeleton in the following

chapters" (l. c. p. 64).

A few years later, M. Radermacher, who held a high office in the

Government of the Dutch dominions in India, and was an active member of

the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences, published, in the second part

of the Transactions of that Society,* a Description of the Island of

Borneo, which was written between the years 1779 and 1781, and, among

much other interesting matter, contains some notes upon the Orang.

([Footnote] *Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap. Tweede

Deel. Derde Druk. 1826. The small sort of Orang-Utan, viz. that of

Vosmaer and of Edwards, he says, is found only in Borneo, and chiefly

about Banjermassing, Mampauwa, and Landak. Of these he had seen some

fifty during his residence in the Indies; but none exceeded 2 1/2 feet

in length. The larger sort, often regarded as a chimera, continues

Radermacher, would perhaps long have remained so, had it not been for

the exertions of the Resident at Rembang, M. Palm, who, on returning

from Landak towards Pontiana, shot one, and forwarded it to Batavia in

spirit, for transmission to Europe.

Palm's letter describing the capture runs thus:--"Herewith I send your

Excellency, contrary to all expectation (since long ago I offered more

than a hundred ducats to the natives for an Orang-Utan of four or five

feet high) an Orang which I heard of this morning about eight o'clock.

For a long time we did our best to take the frightful beast alive in the

dense forest about half way to Landak. We forgot even to eat, so anxious

were we not to let him escape; but it was necessary to take care that

he did not revenge himself, as he kept continually breaking off heavy

pieces of wood and green branches, and dashing them at us. This game

lasted till four o'clock in the afternoon, when we determined to shoot

him; in which I succeeded very well, and indeed better than I ever shot

from a boat before; for the bullet went just into the side of his chest,

so that he was not much damaged. We got him into the prow still living,

and bound him fast, and next morning he died of his wounds. All Pontiana

came on board to see him when we arrived." Palm gives his height from

the head to the heel as 49 inches.

(FIGURE 7.--The Pongo Skull, sent by Radermacher to Camper, after

Camper's original sketches, as reproduced by Lucae.)

A very intelligent German officer, Baron Von Wurmb, who at this time

held a post in the Dutch East India service, and was Secretary of the

Batavian Society, studied this animal, and his careful description of

it, entitled "Beschrijving van der Groote Borneosche Orang-outang of de

Oost-Indische Pongo," is contained in the same volume of the Batavian

Society's Transactions. After Von Wurmb had drawn up his description he

states, in a letter dated Batavia, Feb. 18, 1781,* ([Footnote] *"Briefe

des Herrn v. Wurmb und des H. Baron von Wollzogen. Gotha, 1794." that

the specimen was sent to Europe in brandy to be placed in the collection

of the Prince of Orange; "unfortunately," he continues, "we hear that

the ship has been wrecked." Von Wurmb died in the course of the year

1781, the letter in which this passage occurs being the last he wrote;

but in his posthumous papers, published in the fourth part of the

Transactions of the Batavian Society, there is a brief description, with

measurements, of a female Pongo four feet high.

Did either of these original specimens, on which Von Wurmb's

descriptions are based, ever reach Europe? It is commonly supposed

that they did; but I doubt the fact. For, appended to the memoir 'De

l'Ourang-outang,' in the collected edition of Camper's works, tome i.,

pp. 64-66, is a note by Camper himself, referring to Von Wurmb's papers,

and continuing thus:--"Heretofore, this kind of ape had never been known

in Europe. Radermacher has had the kindness to send me the skull of one

of these animals, which measured fifty-three inches, or four feet five

inches, in height. I have sent some sketches of it to M. Soemmering at

Mayence, which are better calculated, however, to give an idea of the

form than of the real size of the parts."

These sketches have been reproduced by Fischer and by Lucae, and bear

date 1783, Soemmering having received them in 1784. Had either of Von

Wurmb's specimens reached Holland, they would hardly have been unknown

at this time to Camper, who, however, goes on to say--"It appears that

since this, some more of these monsters have been captured, for an

entire skeleton, very badly set up, which had been sent to the Museum

of the Prince of Orange, and which I saw only on the 27th of June, 1784,

was more than four feet high. I examined this skeleton again on the

19th December, 1785, after it had been excellently put to rights by the

ingenious Onymus."

It appears evident, then, that this skeleton, which is doubtless that

which has always gone by the name of Wurmb's Pongo, is not that of the

animal described by him, though unquestionably similar in all essential

points.

Camper proceeds to note some of the most important features of this

skeleton; promises to describe it in detail by-and-bye; and is evidently

in doubt as to the relation of this great 'Pongo' to his "petit Orang."

The promised further investigations were never carried out; and so it

happened that the Pongo of Von Wurmb took its place by the side of

the Chimpanzee, Gibbon, and Orang as a fourth and colossal species

of man-like Ape. And indeed nothing could look much less like the

Chimpanzees or the Orangs, then known, than the Pongo; for all the

specimens of Chimpanzee and Orang which had been observed were small of

stature, singularly human in aspect, gentle and docile; while Wurmb's

Pongo was a monster almost twice their size, of vast strength and

fierceness, and very brutal in expression; its great projecting muzzle,

armed with strong teeth, being further disfigured by the outgrowth of

the cheeks into fleshy lobes.

Eventually, in accordance with the usual marauding habits of the

Revolutionary armies, the 'Pongo' skeleton was carried away from Holland

into France, and notices of it, expressly intended to demonstrate its

entire distinctness from the Orang and its affinity with the baboons,

were given, in 1798, by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Cuvier.

Even in Cuvier's 'Tableau Elementaire', and in the first edition of his

great work, the 'Regne Animal', the 'Pongo' is classed as a species of

Baboon. However, so early as 1818, it appears that Cuvier saw reason to

alter this opinion, and to adopt the view suggested several years before

by Blumenbach,* and after him by Tilesius, that the Bornean Pongo

is simply an adult Orang. ([Footnote] *See Blumenbach, 'Abbildungen

Naturhistorichen Gegenstande', No. 12, 1810; and Tilesius,

'Naturhistoriche Fruchte der ersten Kaiserlich-Russischen

Erdumsegelung', p. 115, 1813.) In 1824, Rudolphi demonstrated, by the

condition of the dentition, more fully and completely than had been done

by his predecessors, that the Orangs described up to that time were all

young animals, and that the skull and teeth of the adult would probably

be such as those seen in the Pongo of Wurmb. In the second edition of

the 'Regne Animal' (1829), Cuvier infers, from the 'proportions of all

the parts' and 'the arrangements of the foramina and sutures of the

head,' that the Pongo is the adult of the Orang-Utan, 'at least of a

very closely allied species,' and this conclusion was eventually placed

beyond all doubt by Professor Owen's Memoir published in the 'Zoological

Transactions' for 1835, and by Temminck in his 'Monographies de

Mammalogie'. Temminck's memoir is remarkable for the completeness of the

evidence which it affords as to the modification which the form of the

Orang undergoes according to age and sex. Tiedemann first published an

account of the brain of the young Orang, while Sandifort, Muller and

Schlegel, described the muscles and the viscera of the adult, and gave

the earliest detailed and trustworthy history of the habits of the great

Indian Ape in a state of nature; and as important additions have been

made by later observers, we are at this moment better acquainted with

the adult of the Orang-Utan, than with that of any of the other greater

man-like Apes.

It is certainly the Pongo of Wurmb;* and it is as certainly not the

Pongo of Battell, seeing that the Orang-Utan is entirely confined to

the great Asiatic islands of Borneo and Sumatra. ([Footnote] *Speaking

broadly and without prejudice to the question, whether there be more

than one species of Orang.)

And while the progress of discovery thus cleared up the history of the

Orang, it also became established that the only other man-like Apes in

the eastern world were the various species of Gibbon--Apes of smaller

stature, and therefore attracting less attention than the Orangs, though

they are spread over a much wider range of country, and are hence more

accessible to observation.

Although the geographical area inhabited by the 'Pongo' and Engeco of

Battell is so much nearer to Europe than that in which the Orang and

Gibbon are found, our acquaintance with the African Apes has been of

slower growth; indeed, it is only within the last few years that the

truthful story of the old English adventurer has been rendered fully

intelligible. It was not until 1835 that the skeleton of the adult

Chimpanzee became known, by the publication of Professor Owen's

above-mentioned very excellent memoir 'On the osteology of the

Chimpanzee and Orang', in the 'Zoological Transactions'--a memoir which,

by the accuracy of its descriptions, the carefulness of its comparisons,

and the excellence of its figures, made an epoch in the history of our

knowledge of the bony framework, not only of the Chimpanzee, but of all

the anthropoid Apes.

By the investigations herein detailed, it became evident that the old

Chimpanzee acquired a size and aspect as different from those of the

young known to Tyson, to Buffon, and to Traill, as those of the old

Orang from the young Orang; and the subsequent very important researches

of Messrs. Savage and Wyman, the American missionary and anatomist, have

not only confirmed this conclusion, but have added many new details.*

([Footnote] *See "Observations on the external characters and habits

of the Troglodytes niger, by Thomas N. Savage, M.D., and on its

organization by Jeffries Wyman, M.D.," 'Boston Journal of Natural

History', vol. iv., 1843-4; and "External characters, habits, and

osteology of Troglodytes Gorilla," by the same authors, 'ibid'., vol.

v., 1847.)

One of the most interesting among the many valuable discoveries made by

Dr. Thomas Savage is the fact, that the natives in the Gaboon country at

the present day, apply to the Chimpanzee a name--"Enche-eko"--which is

obviously identical with the "Engeko" of Battell; a discovery which has

been confirmed by all later inquirers. Battell's "lesser monster" being

thus proved to be a veritable existence, of course a strong presumption

arose that his "greater monster," the 'Pongo,' would sooner or later

be discovered. And, indeed, a modern traveller, Bowdich, had, in 1819,

found strong evidence, among the natives, of the existence of a second

great Ape, called the 'Ingena,' "five feet high, and four across the

shoulders," the builder of a rude house, on the outside of which it

slept.

In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make another and most

important addition to our knowledge of the man-like Apes; for, being

unexpectedly detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house of the

Rev. Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident there, "a skull represented

by the natives to be a monkey-like animal, remarkable for its

size, ferocity, and habits." From the contour of the skull, and the

information derived from several intelligent natives, "I was induced,"

says Dr. Savage (using the term Orang in its old general sense) "to

believe that it belonged to a new species of Orang. I expressed this

opinion to Mr. Wilson, with a desire for further investigation; and, if

possible, to decide the point by the inspection of a specimen alive or

dead." The result of the combined exertions of Messrs. Savage and Wilson

was not only the obtaining of a very full account of the habits of

this new creature, but a still more important service to science, the

enabling the excellent American anatomist already mentioned, Professor

Wyman, to describe, from ample materials, the distinctive osteological

characters of the new form. This animal was called by the natives of

the Gaboon "Enge-ena," a name obviously identical with the "Ingena"

of Bowdich; and Dr. Savage arrived at the conviction that this last

discovered of all the great Apes was the long-sought "Pongo" of Battell.

The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond doubt--for not only

does the 'Enge-ena' agree with Battell's "greater monster" in its hollow

eyes, its great stature, and its dun or iron-grey colour, but the only

other man-like Ape which inhabits these latitudes--the Chimpanzee--is

at once identified, by its smaller size, as the "lesser monster," and is

excluded from any possibility of being the 'Pongo,' by the fact that

it is black and not dun, to say nothing of the important circumstance

already mentioned that it still retains the name of 'Engeko,' or

"Enche-eko," by which Battell knew it.

In seeking for a specific name for the "Enge-ena," however, Dr. Savage

wisely avoided the much misused 'Pongo'; but finding in the ancient

Periplus of Hanno the word "Gorilla" applied to certain hairy savage

people, discovered by the Carthaginian voyager in an island on the

African coast, he attached the specific name "Gorilla" to his new ape,

whence arises its present well-known appellation. But Dr. Savage, more

cautious than some of his successors, by no means identifies his ape

with Hanno's "wild men." He merely says that the latter were "probably

one of the species of the Orang;" and I quite agree with M. Brulle, that

there is no ground for identifying the modern 'Gorilla' with that of the

Carthaginian admiral.

Since the memoir of Savage and Wyman was published, the skeleton of

the Gorilla has been investigated by Professor Owen and by the late

Professor Duvernoy, of the Jardin des Plantes, the latter having further

supplied a valuable account of the muscular system and of many of

the other soft parts; while African missionaries and travellers have

confirmed and expanded the account originally given of the habits of

this great man-like Ape, which has had the singular fortune of being

the first to be made known to the general world and the last to be

scientifically investigated.

Two centuries and a half have passed away since Battell told his stories

about the 'greater' and the 'lesser monsters' to Purchas, and it has

taken nearly that time to arrive at the clear result that there are

four distinct kinds of Anthropoids--in Eastern Asia, the Gibbons and the

Orangs; in Western Africa, the Chimpanzees and the Gorilla.

The man-like Apes, the history of whose discovery has just been

detailed, have certain characters of structure and of distribution in

common. Thus they all have the same number of teeth as man--possessing

four incisors, two canines, four false molars, and six true molars in

each jaw, or 32 teeth in all, in the adult condition; while the milk

dentition consists of 20 teeth--or four incisors, two canines, and four

molars in each jaw. They are what are called catarrhine Apes--that

is, their nostrils have a narrow partition and look downwards;

and, furthermore, their arms are always longer than their legs, the

difference being sometimes greater and sometimes less; so that if

the four were arranged in the order of the length of their arms in

proportion to that of their legs, we should have this series--Orang (1

4/9: 1), Gibbon (1 1/4: 1), Gorilla (1 1/5: 1), Chimpanzee (1 1/16: 1).

In all, the fore limbs are terminated by hands, provided with longer or

shorter thumbs; while the great toe of the foot, always smaller than in

Man, is far more movable than in him and can be opposed, like a thumb,

to the rest of the foot. None of these apes have tails, and none of them

possess the cheek pouches common among monkeys. Finally, they are all

inhabitants of the old world.

The Gibbons are the smallest, slenderest, and longest-limbed of the

man-like apes: their arms are longer in proportion to their bodies than

those of any of the other man-like Apes, so that they can touch the

ground when erect; their hands are longer than their feet, and they are

the only Anthropoids which possess callosities like the lower monkeys.

They are variously coloured. The Orangs have arms which reach to the

ankles in the erect position of the animal; their thumbs and great toes

are very short, and their feet are longer than their hands. They are

covered with reddish brown hair, and the sides of the face, in adult

males, are commonly produced into two crescentic, flexible excrescences,

like fatty tumours. The Chimpanzees have arms which reach below the

knees; they have large thumbs and great toes, their hands are longer

than their feet; and their hair is black, while the skin of the face

is pale. The Gorilla, lastly, has arms which reach to the middle of the

leg, large thumbs and great toes, feet longer than the hands, a black

face, and dark-grey or dun hair.

For the purpose which I have at present in view, it is unnecessary that

I should enter into any further minutiae respecting the distinctive

characters of the genera and species into which these man-like Apes

are divided by naturalists. Suffice it to say, that the Orangs and the

Gibbons constitute the distinct genera, 'Simia' and 'Hylobates'; while

the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some regarded simply as

distinct species of one genus, 'Troglodytes'; by others as distinct

genera--'Troglodytes' being reserved for the Chimpanzees, and 'Gorilla'

for the Enge-ena or Pongo.

Sound knowledge respecting the habits and mode of life of the man-like

Apes has been even more difficult of attainment than correct information

regarding their structure.

Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physically, mentally, and

morally qualified to wander unscathed through the tropical wilds of

America and of Asia; to form magnificent collections as he wanders;

and withal to think out sagaciously the conclusions suggested by his

collections: but, to the ordinary explorer or collector, the dense

forests of equatorial Asia and Africa, which constitute the favourite

habitation of the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the Gorilla, present

difficulties of no ordinary magnitude: and the man who risks his life by

even a short visit to the malarious shores of those regions may well

be excused if he shrinks from facing the dangers of the interior; if he

contents himself with stimulating the industry of the better seasoned

natives, and collecting and collating the more or less mythical reports

and traditions with which they are too ready to supply him.

In such a manner most of the earlier accounts of the habits of the

man-like Apes originated; and even now a good deal of what passes

current must be admitted to have no very safe foundation. The best

information we possess is that, based almost wholly on direct European

testimony respecting the Gibbons; the next best evidence relates to

the Orangs; while our knowledge of the habits of the Chimpanzee and the

Gorilla stands much in need of support and enlargement by additional

testimony from instructed European eye-witnesses.

It will therefore be convenient in endeavouring to form a notion of what

we are justified in believing about these animals, to commence with the

best known man-like Apes, the Gibbons and Orangs; and to make use of the

perfectly reliable information respecting them as a sort of criterion of

the probable truth or falsehood of assertions respecting the others.

Of the GIBBONS, half a dozen species are found scattered over the

Asiatic islands, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and through Malacca, Siam,

Arracan, and an uncertain extent of Hindostan, on the main land of Asia.

The largest attain a few inches above three feet in height, from the

crown to the heel, so that they are shorter than the other man-like

Apes; while the slenderness of their bodies renders their mass far

smaller in proportion even to this diminished height.

Dr. Salomon Muller, an accomplished Dutch naturalist, who lived for many

years in the Eastern Archipelago, and to the results of whose personal

experience I shall frequently have occasion to refer, states that the

Gibbons are true mountaineers, loving the slopes and edges of the hills,

though they rarely ascend beyond the limit of the fig-trees. All day

long they haunt the tops of the tall trees; and though, towards evening,

they descend in small troops to the open ground, no sooner do they spy

a man than they dart up the hill-sides, and disappear in the darker

valleys.

All observers testify to the prodigious volume of voice possessed by

these animals. According to the writer whom I have just cited, in one of

them, the Siamang, "the voice is grave and penetrating, resembling the

sounds goek, goek, goek, goek, goek ha ha ha ha haaaaa, and may easily

be heard at a distance of half a league." While the cry is being

uttered, the great membranous bag under the throat which communicates

with the organ of voice, the so-called "laryngeal sac," becomes greatly

distended, diminishing again when the creature relapses into silence.

M. Duvaucel, likewise, affirms that the cry of the Siamang may be heard

for miles--making the woods ring again. So Mr. Martin* describes the cry

of the agile Gibbon as "overpowering and deafening" in a room, and "from

its strength, well calculated for resounding through the vast forests."

([Footnote] *'Man and Monkies', p. 423.) Mr. Waterhouse, an accomplished

musician as well as zoologist, says, "The Gibbon's voice is certainly

much more powerful than that of any singer I have ever heard." And yet

it is to be recollected that this animal is not half the height of, and

far less bulky in proportion than, a man.

There is good testimony that various species of Gibbon readily take to

the erect posture. Mr. George Bennett,* a very excellent observer, in

describing the habits of a male 'Hylobates syndactylus' which remained

for some time in his possession, says: "He invariably walks in the erect

posture when on a level surface; and then the arms either hang down,

enabling him to assist himself with his knuckles; or what is more usual,

he keeps his arms uplifted in nearly an erect position, with the hands

pendent ready to seize a rope, and climb up on the approach of danger

or on the obtrusion of strangers. He walks rather quick in the erect

posture, but with a waddling gait, and is soon run down if, whilst

pursued, he has no opportunity of escaping by climbing...When he walks

in the erect posture he turns the leg and foot outwards, which occasions

him to have a waddling gait and to seem bow-legged." ([Footnote]

*'Wanderings in New South Wales', vol. ii. chap. viii., 1834.)

Dr. Burrough states of another Gibbon, the Horlack or Hooluk: "They

walk erect; and when placed on the floor, or in an open field, balance

themselves very prettily, by raising their hands over their head and

slightly bending the arm at the wrist and elbow, and then run tolerably

fast, rocking from side to side; and, if urged to greater speed, they

let fall their hands to the ground, and assist themselves forward,

rather jumping than running, still keeping the body, however, nearly

erect."

Somewhat different evidence, however, is given by Dr. Winslow Lewis:*

([Footnote] *'Boston Journal of Natural History', vol. i., 1834.)

"Their only manner of walking was on their posterior or inferior

extremities, the others being raised upwards to preserve their

equilibrium, as rope-dancers are assisted by long poles at fairs.

Their progression was not by placing one foot before the other, but

by simultaneously using both, as in jumping." Dr. Salomon Muller also

states that the Gibbons progress along the ground by a short series of

tottering jumps, effected only by the hind limbs, the body being held

altogether upright.

But Mr. Martin (l. c. p. 418), who also speaks from direct observation,

says of the Gibbons generally:

"Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and displaying among the

branches amazing activity, the Gibbons are not so awkward or embarrassed

on a level surface as might be imagined. They walk erect, with a

waddling or unsteady gait, but at a quick pace; the equilibrium of the

body requiring to be kept up, either by touching the ground with the

knuckles, first on one side then on the other, or by uplifting the arms

so as to poise it. As with the Chimpanzee, the whole of the narrow, long

sole of the foot is placed upon the ground at once and raised at once,

without any elasticity of step."

(FIGURE 8.--Gibbon ('H. pileatus'), after Wolf.)

After this mass of concurrent and independent testimony, it cannot

reasonably be doubted that the Gibbons commonly and habitually assume

the erect attitude.

But level ground is not the place where these animals can display their

very remarkable and peculiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious

activity which almost tempts one to rank them among flying, rather than

among ordinary climbing mammals.

Mr. Martin (l.c. p. 430) has given so excellent and graphic an account

of the movements of a 'Hylobates agilis', living in the Zoological

Gardens, in 1840, that I will quote it in full:

"It is almost impossible to convey in words an idea of the quickness and

graceful address of her movements: they may indeed be termed aerial, as

she seems merely to touch in her progress the branches among which she

exhibits her evolutions. In these feats her hands and arms are the

sole organs of locomotion; her body hanging as if suspended by a rope,

sustained by one hand (the right for example) she launches herself, by

an energetic movement, to a distant branch, which she catches with the

left hand; but her hold is less than momentary: the impulse for the next

launch is acquired: the branch then aimed at is attained by the right

hand again, and quitted instantaneously, and so on, in alternate

succession. In this manner spaces of twelve and eighteen feet are

cleared, with the greatest ease and uninterruptedly, for hours together,

without the slightest appearance of fatigue being manifested; and it

is evident that, if more space could be allowed, distances very greatly

exceeding eighteen feet would be as easily cleared; so that Duvaucel's

assertion that he has seen these animals launch themselves from one

branch to another, forty feet asunder, startling as it is, may be well

credited. Sometimes, on seizing a branch in her progress, she will throw

herself, by the power of one arm only, completely round it, making a

revolution with such rapidity as almost to deceive the eye, and continue

her progress with undiminished velocity. It is singular to observe how

suddenly this Gibbon can stop, when the impetus given by the rapidity

and distance of her swinging leaps would seem to require a gradual

abatement of her movements. In the very midst of her flight a branch is

seized, the body raised, and she is seen, as if by magic, quietly seated

on it, grasping it with her feet. As suddenly she again throws herself

into action.

"The following facts will convey some notion of her dexterity and

quickness. A live bird was let loose in her apartment; she marked its

flight, made a long swing to a distant branch, caught the bird with one

hand in her passage, and attained the branch with her other hand; her

aim, both at the bird and at the branch, being as successful as if

one object only had engaged her attention. It may be added that she

instantly bit off the head of the bird, picked its feathers, and then

threw it down without attempting to eat it.

"On another occasion this animal swung herself from a perch, across a

passage at least twelve feet wide, against a window which it was thought

would be immediately broken: but not so; to the surprise of all, she

caught the narrow framework between the panes with her hand, in an

instant attained the proper impetus, and sprang back again to the cage

she had left--a feat requiring not only great strength, but the nicest

precision."

The Gibbons appear to be naturally very gentle, but there is very

good evidence that they will bite severely when irritated--a female

'Hylobates agilis' having so severely lacerated one man with her long

canines, that he died; while she had injured others so much that, by

way of precaution, these formidable teeth had been filed down; but, if

threatened, she would still turn on her keeper. The Gibbons eat insects,

but appear generally to avoid animal food. A Siamang, however, was seen

by Mr. Bennett to seize and devour greedily a live lizard. They commonly

drink by dipping their fingers in the liquid and then licking them. It

is asserted that they sleep in a sitting posture.

Duvaucel affirms that he has seen the females carry their young to the

waterside and there wash their faces, in spite of resistance and cries.

They are gentle and affectionate in captivity--full of tricks and

pettishness, like spoiled children, and yet not devoid of a certain

conscience, as an anecdote, told by Mr. Bennett (l. c. p. 156), will

show. It would appear that his Gibbon had a peculiar inclination for

disarranging things in the cabin. Among these articles, a piece of soap

would especially attract his notice, and for the removal of this he

had been once or twice scolded. "One morning," says Mr. Bennett, "I

was writing, the ape being present in the cabin, when casting my eyes

towards him, I saw the little fellow taking the soap. I watched him

without his perceiving that I did so: and he occasionally would cast a

furtive glance towards the place where I sat. I pretended to write; he,

seeing me busily occupied, took the soap, and moved away with it in his

paw. When he had walked half the length of the cabin, I spoke quietly,

without frightening him. The instant he found I saw him, he walked back

again, and deposited the soap nearly in the same place from whence he

had taken it. There was certainly something more than instinct in that

action: he evidently betrayed a consciousness of having done wrong both

by his first and last actions--and what is reason if that is not an

exercise of it?"

The most elaborate account of the natural history of the ORANG-UTAN

extant, is that given in the "Verhandelingen over de Natuurlijke

Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche overzeesche Bezittingen (1839-45)," by

Dr. Salomon Muller and Dr. Schlegel, and I shall base what I have to

say, upon this subject almost entirely on their statements, adding, here

and there, particulars of interest from the writings of Brooke, Wallace,

and others.

The Orang-Utan would rarely seem to exceed four feet in height, but

the body is very bulky, measuring two-thirds of the height in

circumference.* ([Footnote] *The largest Orang-Utan, cited by Temminck,

measured, when standing upright, 4 ft.; but he mentions having just

received news of the capture of an Orang 5 ft. 3 in. high. Schlegel

and Muller say that their largest old male measured, upright, 1.25

Netherlands "el"; and from the crown to the end of the toes, 1.5 el; the

circumference of the body being about 1 el. The largest old female

was 1.09 el high, when standing. The adult skeleton in the College of

Surgeons' Museum, if set upright, would stand 3 ft. 6-8 in. from crown

to sole. Dr. Humphry gives 3 ft. 8 in. as the mean height of two Orangs.

Of seventeen Orangs examined by Mr. Wallace, the largest was 4 ft. 2

in. high, from the heel to the crown of the head. Mr. Spencer St. John,

however, in his 'Life in the Forests of the Far East', tells us of an

Orang of "5 ft. 2 in., measuring fairly from the head to the heel," 15

in. across the face, and 12 in. round the wrist. It does not appear,

however, that Mr. St. John measured this Orang himself.)

The Orang-Utan is found only in Sumatra and Borneo, and is common in

neither of these islands--in both of which it occurs always in low, flat

plains, never in the mountains. It loves the densest and most sombre of

the forests, which extend from the sea-shore inland, and thus is found

only in the eastern half of Sumatra, where alone such forests occur,

though, occasionally, it strays over to the western side.

On the other hand, it is generally distributed through Borneo, except in

the mountains, or where the population is dense. In favourable places,

the hunter may, by good fortune, see three or four in a day.

(FIGURE 9.--An adult male Orang-utan, after Muller and Schlegel.)

Except in the pairing time, the old males usually live by themselves.

The old females, and the immature males, on the other hand, are often

met with in twos and threes; and the former occasionally have young

with them, though the pregnant females usually separate themselves, and

sometimes remain apart after they have given birth to their offspring.

The young Orangs seem to remain unusually long under their mother's

protection, probably in consequence of their slow growth. While

climbing, the mother always carries her young against her bosom, the

young holding on by his mother's hair.* ([Footnote] *See Mr. Wallace's

account of an infant "Orang-utan," in the 'Annals of Natural History'

for 1856. Mr. Wallace provided his interesting charge with an artificial

mother of buffalo-skin, but the cheat was too successful. The infant's

entire experience led it to associate teats with hair, and feeling

the latter, it spent its existence in vain endeavours to discover

the former.) At what time of life the Orang-Utan becomes capable of

propagation, and how long the females go with young, is unknown, but it

is probable that they are not adult until they arrive at ten or fifteen

years of age. A female which lived for five years at Batavia, had not

attained one-third the height of the wild females. It is probable that,

after reaching adult years, they go on growing, though slowly, and that

they live to forty or fifty years. The Dyaks tell of old Orangs, which

have not only lost all their teeth, but which find it so troublesome to

climb, that they maintain themselves on windfalls and juicy herbage.

The Orang is sluggish, exhibiting none of that marvellous activity

characteristic of the Gibbons. Hunger alone seems to stir him to

exertion, and when it is stilled, he relapses into repose. When the

animal sits, it curves its back and bows its head, so as to look

straight down on the ground; sometimes it holds on with its hands by

a higher branch, sometimes lets them hang phlegmatically down by its

side--and in these positions the Orang will remain, for hours together,

in the same spot, almost without stirring, and only now and then giving

utterance to its deep, growling voice. By day, he usually climbs from

one tree-top to another, and only at night descends to the ground, and

if then threatened with danger, he seeks refuge among the underwood.

When not hunted, he remains a long time in the same locality, and

sometimes stops for many days on the same tree--a firm place among its

branches serving him for a bed. It is rare for the Orang to pass the

night in the summit of a large tree, probably because it is too windy

and cold there for him; but, as soon as night draws on, he descends from

the height and seeks out a fit bed in the lower and darker part, or

in the leafy top of a small tree, among which he prefers Nibong Palms,

Pandani, or one of those parasitic Orchids which give the primeval

forests of Borneo so characteristic and striking an appearance. But

wherever he determines to sleep, there he prepares himself a sort of

nest: little boughs and leaves are drawn together round the selected

spot, and bent crosswise over one another; while to make the bed soft,

great leaves of Ferns, of Orchids, of 'Pandanus fascicularis', 'Nipa

fruticans', etc., are laid over them. Those which Muller saw, many of

them being very fresh, were situated at a height of ten to twenty-five

feet above the ground, and had a circumference, on the average, of

two or three feet. Some were packed many inches thick with 'Pandanus'

leaves; others were remarkable only for the cracked twigs, which, united

in a common centre, formed a regular platform. "The rude 'hut'," says

Sir James Brooke, "which they are stated to build in the trees, would be

more properly called a seat or nest, for it has no roof or cover of any

sort. The facility with which they form this nest is curious, and I had

an opportunity of seeing a wounded female weave the branches together

and seat herself, within a minute."

According to the Dyaks, the Orang rarely leaves his bed before the sun

is well above the horizon and has dissipated the mists. He gets up about

nine, and goes to bed again about five; but sometimes not till late in

the twilight. He lies sometimes on his back; or, by way of change, turns

on one side or the other, drawing his limbs up to his body, and resting

his head on his hand. When the night is cold, windy, or rainy, he

usually covers his body with a heap of 'Pandanus', 'Nipa', or Fern

leaves, like those of which his bed is made, and he is especially

careful to wrap up his head in them. It is this habit of covering

himself up which has probably led to the fable that the Orang builds

huts in the trees.

Although the Orang resides mostly amid the boughs of great trees, during

the daytime, he is very rarely seen squatting on a thick branch,

as other apes, and particularly the Gibbons, do. The Orang, on the

contrary, confines himself to the slender leafy branches, so that he

is seen right at the top of the trees, a mode of life which is closely

related to the constitution of his hinder limbs, and especially to

that of his seat. For this is provided with no callosities, such as are

possessed by many of the lower apes, and even by the Gibbons; and those

bones of the pelvis, which are termed the ischia, and which form the

solid framework of the surface on which the body rests in the sitting

posture, are not expanded like those of the apes which possess

callosities, but are more like those of man.

An Orang climbs so slowly and cautiously,* as, in this act, to resemble

a man more than an ape, taking great care of his feet, so that injury of

them seems to affect him far more than it does other apes. ([Footnote]

* "They are the slowest and least active of all the monkey tribe, and

their motions are surprisingly awkward and uncouth."--Sir James Brooke,

in the 'Proceedings of the Zoological Society', 1841.) Unlike the

Gibbons, whose forearms do the greater part of the work, as they swing

from branch to branch, the Orang never makes even the smallest jump. In

climbing, he moves alternately one hand and one foot, or, after having

laid fast hold with the hands, he draws up both feet together. In

passing from one tree to another, he always seeks out a place where

the twigs of both come close together, or interlace. Even when closely

pursued, his circumspection is amazing: he shakes the branches to see

if they will bear him, and then bending an overhanging bough down by

throwing his weight gradually along it, he makes a bridge from the tree

he wishes to quit to the next.* ([Footnote] *Mr. Wallace's account of

the progression of the Orang almost exactly corresponds with this.)

On the ground the Orang always goes laboriously and shakily, on all

fours. At starting he will run faster than a man, though he may soon be

overtaken. The very long arms which, when he runs, are but little bent,

raise the body of the Orang remarkably, so that he assumes much the

posture of a very old man bent down by age, and making his way along by

the help of a stick. In walking, the body is usually directed straight

forward, unlike the other apes, which run more or less obliquely;

except the Gibbons, who in these, as in so many other respects, depart

remarkably from their fellows.

The Orang cannot put its feet flat on the ground, but is supported upon

their outer edges, the heel resting more on the ground, while the curved

toes partly rest upon the ground by the upper side of their first joint,

the two outermost toes of each foot completely resting on this surface.

The hands are held in the opposite manner, their inner edges serving as

the chief support. The fingers are then bent out in such a manner that

their foremost joints, especially those of the two innermost fingers,

rest upon the ground by their upper sides, while the point of the free

and straight thumb serves as an additional fulcrum.

The Orang never stands on its hind legs, and all the pictures,

representing it as so doing, are as false as the assertion that it

defends itself with sticks, and the like.

The long arms are of especial use, not only in climbing, but in the

gathering of food from boughs to which the animal could not trust his

weight. Figs, blossoms, and young leaves of various kinds, constitute

the chief nutriment of the Orang; but strips of bamboo two or three

feet long were found in the stomach of a male. They are not known to eat

living animals.

Although, when taken young, the Orang-Utan soon becomes domesticated,

and indeed seems to court human society, it is naturally a very wild and

shy animal, though apparently sluggish and melancholy. The Dyaks

affirm, that when the old males are wounded with arrows only, they will

occasionally leave the trees and rush raging upon their enemies, whose

sole safety lies in instant flight, as they are sure to be killed if

caught.* ([Footnote] *Sir James Brooke, in a letter to Mr. Waterhouse,

published in the proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1841,

says:--"On the habits of the Orangs, as far as I have been able to

observe them, I may remark that they are as dull and slothful as can

well be conceived, and on no occasion, when pursuing them, did they

move so fast as to preclude my keeping pace with them easily through

a moderately clear forest; and even when obstructions below (such as

wading up to the neck) allowed them to get away some distance, they were

sure to stop and allow me to come up. I never observed the slightest

attempt at defence, and the wood which sometimes rattled about our ears

was broken by their weight, and not thrown, as some persons represent.

If pushed to extremity, however, the 'Pappan' could not be otherwise

than formidable, and one unfortunate man, who, with a party, was trying

to catch a large one alive, lost two of his fingers, besides being

severely bitten on the face, whilst the animal finally beat off his

pursuers and escaped." Mr. Wallace, on the other hand, affirms that he

has several times observed them throwing down branches when pursued.

"It is true he does not throw them 'at' a person, but casts them down

vertically; for it is evident that a bough cannot be thrown to any

distance from the top of a lofty tree. In one case a female Mias, on

a durian tree, kept up for at least ten minutes a continuous shower of

branches and of the heavy, spined fruits, as large as 32-pounders, which

most effectually kept us clear of the tree she was on. She could be seen

breaking them off and throwing them down with every appearance of

rage, uttering at intervals a loud pumping grunt, and evidently meaning

mischief."--"On the Habits of the Orang-Utan," 'Annals of Nat. History,

1856. This statement, it will be observed, is quite in accordance with

that contained in the letter of the Resident Palm quoted above (p.

210).)

But, though possessed of immense strength, it is rare for the Orang to

attempt to defend itself, especially when attacked with fire-arms. On

such occasions he endeavours to hide himself, or to escape along the

topmost branches of the trees, breaking off and throwing down the boughs

as he goes. When wounded he betakes himself to the highest attainable

point of the tree, and emits a singular cry, consisting at first of

high notes, which at length deepen into a low roar, not unlike that of a

panther. While giving out the high notes the Orang thrusts out his lips

into a funnel shape; but in uttering the low notes he holds his mouth

wide open, and at the same time the great throat bag, or laryngeal sac,

becomes distended.

According to the Dyaks, the only animal the Orang measures his strength

with is the crocodile, who occasionally seizes him on his visits to the

water side. But they say that the Orang is more than a match for his

enemy, and beats him to death, or rips up his throat by pulling the jaws

asunder!

Much of what has been here stated was probably derived by Dr. Muller

from the reports of his Dyak hunters; but a large male, four feet high,

lived in captivity, under his observation, for a month, and receives a

very bad character.

"He was a very wild beast," says Muller, "of prodigious strength, and

false and wicked to the last degree. If any one approached he rose up

slowly with a low growl, fixed his eyes in the direction in which he

meant to make his attack, slowly passed his hand between the bars of his

cage, and then extending his long arm, gave a sudden grip--usually at

the face." He never tried to bite (though Orangs will bite one another),

his great weapons of offence and defence being his hands.

His intelligence was very great; and Muller remarks, that though the

faculties of the Orang have been estimated too highly, yet Cuvier, had

he seen this specimen, would not have considered its intelligence to be

only a little higher than that of the dog.

His hearing was very acute, but the sense of vision seemed to be less

perfect. The under lip was the great organ of touch, and played a very

important part in drinking, being thrust out like a trough, so as

either to catch the falling rain, or to receive the contents of the half

cocoa-nut shell full of water with which the Orang was supplied, and

which, in drinking, he poured into the trough thus formed.

In Borneo the Orang-Utan of the Malays goes by the name of "Mias" among

the Dyaks, who distinguish several kinds as 'Mias Pappan', or 'Zimo',

'Mias Kassu', and 'Mias Rambi'. Whether these are distinct species,

however, or whether they are mere races, and how far any of them are

identical with the Sumatran Orang, as Mr. Wallace thinks the Mias Pappan

to be, are problems which are at present undecided; and the variability

of these great apes is so extensive, that the settlement of the question

is a matter of great difficulty. Of the form called "Mias Pappan," Mr.

Wallace* observes, ([Footnote] *On the Orang-Utan, or Mias of Borneo,

'Annals of Natural History', 1856.) "It is known by its large size,

and by the lateral expansion of the face into fatty protuberances,

or ridges, over the temporal muscles, which has been mis-termed

'callosities', as they are perfectly soft, smooth, and flexible. Five

of this form, measured by me, varied only from 4 feet 1 inch to 4 feet

2 inches in height, from the heel to the crown of the head, the girth

of the body from 3 feet to 3 feet 7 1/2 inches, and the extent of the

outstretched arms from 7 feet 2 inches to 7 feet 6 inches; the width

of the face from 10 to 13 1/4 inches. The colour and length of the hair

varied in different individuals, and in different parts of the same

individual; some possessed a rudimentary nail on the great toe, others

none at all; but they otherwise present no external differences on which

to establish even varieties of a species.

"Yet, when we examine the crania of these individuals, we find

remarkable differences of form, proportion, and dimension, no two being

exactly alike. The slope of the profile, and the projection of the

muzzle, together with the size of the cranium, offer differences as

decided as those existing between the most strongly marked forms of the

Caucasian and African crania in the human species. The orbits vary in

width and height, the cranial ridge is either single or double, either

much or little developed, and the zygomatic aperture varies considerably

in size. This variation in the proportions of the crania enables

us satisfactorily to explain the marked difference presented by the

single-crested and double-crested skulls, which have been thought to

prove the existence of two large species of Orang. The external surface

of the skull varies considerably in size, as do also the zygomatic

aperture and the temporal muscle; but they bear no necessary relation to

each other, a small muscle often existing with a large cranial surface,

and 'vice versa'. Now, those skulls which have the largest and strongest

jaws and the widest zygomatic aperture, have the muscles so large that

they meet on the crown of the skull, and deposit the bony ridge which

supports them, and which is the highest in that which has the

smallest cranial surface. In those which combine a large surface with

comparatively weak jaws, and small zygomatic aperture, the muscles, on

each side, do not extend to the crown, a space of from l to 2 inches

remaining between them, and along their margins small ridges are formed.

Intermediate forms are found, in which the ridges meet only in the

hinder part of the skull. The form and size of the ridges are therefore

independent of age, being sometimes more strongly developed in the less

aged animal. Professor Temminck states that the series of skulls in the

Leyden Museum shows the same result."

Mr. Wallace observed two male adult Orangs (Mias Kassu of the Dyaks),

however, so very different from any of these that he concludes them to

be specifically distinct; they were respectively 3 feet 8 1/2 inches

and 3 feet 9 1/2 inches high, and possessed no sign of the cheek

excrescences, but otherwise resembled the larger kinds. The skull has

no crest, but two bony ridges, 1 3/4 inches to 2 inches apart, as in

the 'Simia morio' of Professor Owen. The teeth, however; are immense,

equalling or surpassing those of the other species. The females of both

these kinds, according to Mr. Wallace, are devoid of excrescences, and

resemble the smaller males, but are shorter by 1 1/2 to 3 inches, and

their canine teeth are comparatively small, subtruncated and dilated

at the base, as in the so-called 'Simia morio', which is, in all

probability, the skull of a female of the same species as the

smaller males. Both males and females of this smaller species are

distinguishable, according to Mr. Wallace, by the comparatively large

size of the middle incisors of the upper jaw.

So far as I am aware, no one has attempted to dispute the accuracy of

the statements which I have just quoted regarding the habits of the two

Asiatic man-like Apes; and if true, they must be admitted as evidence,

that such an Ape--

Firstly, May readily move along the ground in the erect, or semi-erect,

position, and without direct support from its arms.

Secondly, That it may possess an extremely loud voice, so loud as to be

readily heard one or two miles.

Thirdly, That it may be capable of great viciousness and violence when

irritated: and this is especially true of adult males.

Fourthly, That it may build a nest to sleep in.

Such being well established facts respecting the Asiatic Anthropoids,

analogy alone might justify us in expecting the African species to offer

similar peculiarities, separately or combined; or, at any rate, would

destroy the force of any attempted a priori argument against such direct

testimony as might be adduced in favour of their existence. And, if the

organization of any of the African Apes could be demonstrated to fit it

better than either of its Asiatic allies for the erect position and

for efficient attack, there would be still less reason for doubting

its occasional adoption of the upright attitude or of aggressive

proceedings.

From the time of Tyson and Tulpius downwards, the habits of the young

CHIMPANZEE in a state of captivity have been abundantly reported and

commented upon. But trustworthy evidence as to the manners and customs

of adult anthropoids of this species, in their native woods, was almost

wanting up to the time of the publication of the paper by Dr. Savage,

to which I have already referred; containing notes of the observations

which he made, and of the information which he collected from sources

which he considered trustworthy, while resident at Cape Palmas, at the

north-western limit of the Bight of Benin.

The adult Chimpanzees, measured by Dr. Savage, never exceeded, though

the males may almost attain, five feet in height.

"When at rest, the sitting posture is that generally assumed. They

are sometimes seen standing and walking, but when thus detected,

they immediately take to all fours, and flee from the presence of the

observer. Such is their organization that they cannot stand erect, but

lean forward. Hence they are seen, when standing, with the hands clasped

over the occiput, or the lumbar region, which would seem necessary to

balance or ease of posture.

"The toes of the adult are strongly flexed and turned inwards, and

cannot be perfectly straightened. In the attempt the skin gathers into

thick folds on the back, shewing that the full expansion of the foot,

as is necessary in walking, is unnatural. The natural position is on all

fours, the body anteriorly resting upon the knuckles. These are greatly

enlarged, with the skin protuberant and thickened like the sole of the

foot.

"They are expert climbers, as one would suppose from their organization.

In their gambols they swing from limb to limb to a great distance, and

leap with astonishing agility. It is not unusual to see the 'old

folks' (in the language of an observer) sitting under a tree regaling

themselves with fruit and friendly chat, while their 'children' are

leaping around them, and swinging from tree to tree with boisterous

merriment.

"As seen here, they cannot be called 'gregarious', seldom more than

five, or ten at most, being found together. It has been said, on good

authority, that they occasionally assemble in large numbers, in gambols.

My informant asserts that he saw once not less than fifty so engaged;

hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks upon old logs, which is

done in the latter case with equal facility by the four extremities.

They do not appear ever to act on the offensive, and seldom, if ever

really, on the defensive. When about to be captured, they resist by

throwing their arms about their opponent, and attempting to draw him

into contact with their teeth." (Savage, l. c. p. 384.)

With respect to this last point Dr. Savage is very explicit in another

place:

"BITING is their principal art of defence. I have seen one man who had

been thus severely wounded in the feet.

"The strong development of the canine teeth in the adult would seem

to indicate a carnivorous propensity; but in no state save that of

domestication do they manifest it. At first they reject flesh, but

easily acquire a fondness for it. The canines are early developed, and

evidently designed to act the important part of weapons of defence. When

in contact with man almost the first effort of the animal is--TO BITE.

"They avoid the abodes of men, and build their habitations in trees.

Their construction is more that of NESTS than HUTS, as they have been

erroneously termed by some naturalists. They generally build not far

above the ground. Branches or twigs are bent, or partly broken, and

crossed, and the whole supported by the body of a limb or a crotch.

Sometimes a nest will be found near the END of a STRONG LEAFY BRANCH

twenty or thirty feet from the ground. One I have lately seen that could

not be less than forty feet, and more probably it was fifty. But this is

an unusual height.

"Their dwelling-place is not permanent, but changed in pursuit of food

and solitude, according to the force of circumstances. We more often

see them in elevated places; but this arises from the fact that the

low grounds, being more favourable for the natives' rice-farms, are the

oftener cleared, and hence are almost always wanting in suitable trees

for their nests...It is seldom that more than one or two nests are seen

upon the same tree, or in the same neighbourhood: five have been found,

but it was an unusual circumstance."...

"They are very filthy in their habits...It is a tradition with the

natives generally here, that they were once members of their own

tribe; that for their depraved habits they were expelled from all

human society, and, that through an obstinate indulgence of their

vile propensities, they have degenerated into their present state and

organization. They are, however, eaten by them, and when cooked with the

oil and pulp of the palm-nut considered a highly palatable morsel.

"They exhibit a remarkable degree of intelligence in their habits, and,

on the part of the mother, much affection for their young. The second

female described was upon a tree when first discovered, with her mate

and two young ones (a male and a female). Her first impulse was to

descend with great rapidity, and make off into the thicket, with her

mate and female offspring. The young male remaining behind, she soon

returned to the rescue. She ascended and took him in her arms, at which

moment she was shot, the ball passing through the forearm of the young

one, on its way to the heart of the mother....

"In a recent case, the mother, when discovered, remained upon the tree

with her offspring, watching intently the movements of the hunter. As he

took aim, she motioned with her hand, precisely in the manner of a human

being, to have him desist and go away. When the wound has not proved

instantly fatal, they have been known to stop the flow of blood by

pressing with the hand upon the part, and when this did not succeed,

to apply leaves and grass...When shot, they give a sudden screech, not

unlike that of a human being in sudden and acute distress."

The ordinary voice of the Chimpanzee, however, is affirmed to be hoarse,

guttural, and not very loud, somewhat like "whoo-whoo." (l. c. p. 365).

The analogy of the Chimpanzee to the Orang, in its nest-building habit

and in the mode of forming its nest, is exceedingly interesting; while,

on the other hand, the activity of this ape, and its tendency to bite,

are particulars in which it rather resembles the Gibbons. In extent of

geographical range, again, the Chimpanzees--which are found from Sierra

Leone to Congo--remind one of the Gibbons, rather than of either of the

other man-like apes; and it seems not unlikely that, as is the case with

the Gibbons, there may be several species spread over the geographical

area of the genus.

The same excellent observer, from whom I have borrowed the preceding

account of the habits of the adult Chimpanzee, published fifteen years

ago,* an account of the GORILLA, which has, in its most essential

points, been confirmed by subsequent observers, and to which so very

little has really been added, that in justice to Dr. Savage I give

it almost in full. ([Footnote] *Notice of the external characters and

habits of Troglodytes Gorilla. 'Boston Journal of Natural History',

1847.)

"It should be borne in mind that my account is based upon the statements

of the aborigines of that region (the Gaboon). In this connection,

it may also be proper for me to remark, that having been a missionary

resident for several years, studying, from habitual intercourse, the

African mind and character, I felt myself prepared to discriminate and

decide upon the probability of their statements. Besides, being familiar

with the history and habits of its interesting congener ('Trog. niger',

Geoff.), I was able to separate their accounts of the two animals,

which, having the same locality and a similarity of habit, are

confounded in the minds of the mass, especially as but few--such as

traders to the interior and huntsmen--have ever seen the animal in

question.

(FIGURE 10.--The Gorilla (after Wolff).)

"The tribe from which our knowledge of the animal is derived, and whose

territory forms its habitat, is the 'Mpongwe', occupying both banks of

the River Gaboon, from its mouth to some fifty or sixty miles upward....

"If the word 'Pongo' be of African origin, it is probably a corruption

of the word 'Mpongwe', the name of the tribe on the banks of the Gaboon,

and hence applied to the region they inhabit. Their local name for the

Chimpanzee is 'Enche-eko', as near as it can be Anglicized, from which

the common term 'Jocko' probably comes. The Mpongwe appellation for its

new congener is 'Enge-ena', prolonging the sound of the first vowel, and

slightly sounding the second.

"The habitat of the 'Enge-ena' is the interior of lower Guinea, whilst

that of the 'Enche-eko' is nearer the sea-board.

"Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately broad across

the shoulders, thickly covered with coarse black hair, which is said to

be similar in its arrangement to that of the 'Enche-eko'; with age it

becomes grey, which fact has given rise to the report that both animals

are seen of different colours.

"HEAD.--The prominent features of the head are, the great width and

elongation of the face, the depth of the molar region, the branches

of the lower jaw being very deep and extending far backward, and the

comparative smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very large,

and said to be like those of the Enche-eko, a bright hazel; nose broad

and flat, slightly elevated towards the root; the muzzle broad, and

prominent lips and chin, with scattered gray hairs; the under lip highly

mobile, and capable of great elongation when the animal is enraged, then

hanging over the chin; skin of the face and ears naked, and of a dark

brown, approaching to black.

"The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge, or crest of

hair, in the course of the sagittal suture, which meets posteriorily

with a transverse ridge of the same, but less prominent, running round

from the back of one ear to the other. The animal has the power of

moving the scalp freely forward and back, and when enraged is said to

contract it strongly over the brow, thus bringing down the hairy

ridge and pointing the hair forward, so as to present an indescribably

ferocious aspect.

"Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very broad, said to

be fully double the size of the Enche-ekos; arms very long, reaching

some way below the knee--the fore-arm much the shortest; hands very

large, the thumbs much larger than the fingers...

(FIGURE 11.--Gorilla walking (after Wolff).)

"The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright

as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side.

The arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in

walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms

forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a

half jumping half swinging motion between them. In this act it is

said not to flex the fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its

knuckles, but to extend them, making a fulcrum of the hand. When it

assumes the walking posture, to which it is said to be much inclined, it

balances its huge body by flexing its arms upward.

"They live in bands, but are not so numerous as the Chimpanzees: the

females generally exceed the other sex in number. My informants all

agree in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in a band; that

when the young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the

strongest, by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as

the head of the community."

Dr. Savage repudiates the stories about the Gorillas carrying off women

and vanquishing elephants and then adds:

"Their dwellings, if they may be so called, are similar to those of

the Chimpanzee, consisting simply of a few sticks and leafy branches,

supported by the crotches and limbs of trees: they afford no shelter,

and are occupied only at night.

"They are exceedingly ferocious, and always offensive in their habits,

never running from man, as does the Chimpanzee. They are objects of

terror to the natives, and are never encountered by them except on

the defensive. The few that have been captured were killed by elephant

hunters and native traders, as they came suddenly upon them while

passing through the forests.

"It is said that when the male is first seen he gives a terrific yell,

that resounds far and wide through the forest, something like kh-ah!

kh-ah! prolonged and shrill. His enormous jaws are widely opened at each

expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the hairy ridge

and scalp are contracted upon the brow, presenting an aspect of

indescribable ferocity.

"The females and young, at the first cry, quickly disappear. He then

approaches the enemy in great fury, pouring out his horrid cries in

quick succession. The hunter awaits his approach with his gun extended:

if his aim is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the barrel, and

as he carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he fires. Should the

gun fail to go off, the barrel (that of the ordinary musket, which is

thin) is crushed between his teeth, and the encounter soon proves fatal

to the hunter.

"In the wild state, their habits are in general like those of the

'Troglodytes niger', building their nests loosely in trees, living

on similar fruits, and changing their place of resort from force of

circumstances."

Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supplemented by those of

Mr. Ford, who communicated an interesting paper on the Gorilla to

the Philadelphian Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the

geographical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like Apes, Mr.

Ford remarks:

"This animal inhabits the range of mountains that traverse the interior

of Guinea, from the Cameroon in the north, to Angola in the south, and

about 100 miles inland, and called by the geographers Crystal Mountains.

The limit to which this animal extends, either north or south, I am

unable to define. But that limit is doubtless some distance north of

this river (Gaboon). I was able to certify myself of this fact in a late

excursion to the head-waters of the Mooney (Danger) River, which comes

into the sea some sixty miles from this place. I was informed (credibly,

I think) that they were numerous among the mountains in which that river

rises, and far north of that.

"In the south, this species extends to the Congo River, as I am told by

native traders who have visited the coast between the Gaboon and that

river. Beyond that, I am not informed. This animal is only found at

a distance from the coast in most cases, and, according to my best

information, approaches it nowhere so nearly as on the south side of

this river, where they have been found within ten miles of the sea.

This, however, is only of late occurrence. I am informed by some of the

oldest Mpongwe men that formerly he was only found on the sources of the

river, but that at present he may be found within half-a-day's walk of

its mouth. Formerly he inhabited the mountainous ridge where Bushmen

alone inhabited, but now he boldly approaches the Mpongwe plantations.

This is doubtless the reason of the scarcity of information in years

past, as the opportunities for receiving a knowledge of the animal have

not been wanting; traders having for one hundred years frequented this

river, and specimens, such as have been brought here within a year,

could not have been exhibited without having attracted the attention of

the most stupid."

One specimen Mr. Ford examined weighed 170 1bs., without the thoracic,

or pelvic, viscera, and measured four feet four inches round the chest.

This writer describes so minutely and graphically the onslaught of the

Gorilla--though he does not for a moment pretend to have witnessed the

scene--that I am tempted to give this part of his paper in full, for

comparison with other narratives:

"He always rises to his feet when making an attack, though he approaches

his antagonist in a stooping posture.

"Though he never lies in wait, yet, when he hears, sees, or scents

a man, he immediately utters his characteristic cry, prepares for an

attack, and always acts on the offensive. The cry he utters resembles

a grunt more than a growl, and is similar to the cry of the Chimpanzee,

when irritated, but vastly louder. It is said to be audible at a great

distance. His preparation consists in attending the females and young

ones, by whom he is usually accompanied, to a little distance. He,

however, soon returns, with his crest erect and projecting forward,

his nostrils dilated, and his under-lip thrown down; at the same time

uttering his characteristic yell, designed, it would seem, to terrify

his antagonist. Instantly, unless he is disabled by a well directed

shot, he makes an onset, and, striking his antagonist with the palm of

his hands, or seizing him with a grasp from which there is no escape, he

dashes him upon the ground, and lacerates him with his tusks.

"He is said to seize a musket, and instantly crush the barrel between

his teeth...This animal's savage nature is very well shown by the

implacable desperation of a young one that was brought here. It was

taken very young, and kept four months, and many means were used to tame

it; but it was incorrigible, so that it bit me an hour before it died."

Mr. Ford discredits the house-building and elephant-driving stories, and

says that no well-informed natives believe them. They are tales told to

children.

I might quote other testimony to a similar effect, but, as it appears to

me, less carefully weighed and sifted, from the letters of MM. Franquet

and Gautier Laboullay, appended to the memoir of M. I. G. St. Hilaire,

which I have already cited.

Bearing in mind what is known regarding the Orang and the Gibbon, the

statements of Dr. Savage and Mr. Ford do not appear to me to be justly

open to criticism on 'a priori' grounds. The Gibbons, as we have seen,

readily assume the erect posture, but the Gorilla is far better fitted

by its organization for that attitude than are the Gibbons: if the

laryngeal pouches of the Gibbons, as is very likely, are important

in giving volume to a voice which can be heard for half a league, the

Gorilla, which has similar sacs, more largely developed, and whose

bulk is fivefold that of a Gibbon, may well be audible for twice

that distance. If the Orang fights with its hands, the Gibbons and

Chimpanzees with their teeth, the Gorilla may, probably enough,

do either or both; nor is there anything to be said against either

Chimpanzee or Gorilla building a nest, when it is proved that the

Orang-Utan habitually performs that feat.

With all this evidence, now ten to fifteen years old, before the world

it is not a little surprising that the assertions of a recent traveller,

who, so far as the Gorilla is concerned, really does very little more

than repeat, on his own authority, the statements of Savage and of Ford,

should have met with so much and such bitter opposition. If subtraction

be made of what was known before, the sum and substance of what M. Du

Chaillu has affirmed as a matter of his own observation respecting the

Gorilla, is, that, in advancing to the attack, the great brute beats his

chest with his fists. I confess I see nothing very improbable, or very

much worth disputing about, in this statement.

With respect to the other man-like Apes of Africa, M. Du Chaillu tells

us absolutely nothing, of his own knowledge, regarding the common

Chimpanzee; but he informs us of a bald-headed species or variety, the

'nschiego mbouve', which builds itself a shelter, and of another rare

kind with a comparatively small face, large facial angle, and peculiar

note, resembling "Kooloo."

As the Orang shelters itself with a rough coverlet of leaves, and the

common Chimpanzee, according to that eminently trustworthy observer

Dr. Savage, makes a sound like "Whoo-whoo,"--the grounds of the summary

repudiation with which M. Du Chaillu's statements on these matters have

been met are not obvious.

If I have abstained from quoting M. Du Chaillu's work, then, it is

not because I discern any inherent improbability in his assertions

respecting the man-like Apes; nor from any wish to throw suspicion

on his veracity; but because, in my opinion, so long as his narrative

remains in its present state of unexplained and apparently inexplicable

confusion, it has no claim to original authority respecting any subject

whatsoever.

It may be truth, but it is not evidence.

End of Man-like apes.