i THE GIBBONS. 41 



from direct observation, says of the Gibbons 

 generally : 



" Pre-eminently qualified for arboreal habits, and dis- 

 playing among the branches amazing activity, the Gib- 

 bons are not so awkward or embarrassed on a level sur- 

 face 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." 



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 pe- 

 culiar locomotive powers, and that prodigious 

 activity which almost tempts one to rank them 

 among flying, rather than among ordinary climb- 

 ing mammals. 



Mr. Martin (I. 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 ex- 



