36 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



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, Simla and Hylo- 

 bates ' while the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some 

 regarded simply as distinct species of one genus, Troglo- 

 dytes ; 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 struc- 

 ture. 



Once in a generation, a Wallace may be found physic- 

 ally, 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 consti- 

 tute the favourite habitation of the Orang, the Chimpan- 

 zee, 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 



