COUNTING 207 



• protruding the lips, which recalls in a striking manner a 

 familiar grimace of the anthropoid apes. 



They appeared to understand a good deal that the 

 Papuans said to them, but I doubt if the latter under- 

 stood them when they were talking amongst themselves. 

 When we were trying to persuade the headman to allow 

 the women to be produced, it was a strange experience 

 to be using the Papuans, of whose language we knew 

 only the rudiments, as interpreters to an even less known 

 people. 



In consequence of our entire lack of knowledge of 

 their language we were not able to form a very reason- 

 able estimate of their intelligence. When they were seen ^l 

 in company with the Papuans, the latter, who usually 

 looked dull and expressionless, appeared by contrast to 

 be full of life and animation. The Tapiro, as a rule, 

 looks blank and rather sad, and when a smile does appear 

 upon his face, it dawns slowly and reluctantly. 



A rough test of an uncivilised man's intelligence is 

 the extent to which he is able to count, but in the case 

 of the Tapiro there is an unfortunate difference of evidence 

 in this respect. Capt. Rawling {Geograph. Journal, ^/ 

 Vol. xxxviii., page 246) afhrms that they are able to 

 count up to ten. If this is so, it is a very interesting 

 and remarkable fact. On several occasions I tried to 

 make these people count, with a view to learning their 

 numeral words, and I found that like the Papuans they 

 only had words for one and two, and that those two words 

 were the same as the Papuan words ; but it appeared 

 that, unlike the Papuans, they had not the custom of 

 ^ using their fingers and toes for the higher numbers. 



