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, Simia and HyU- 

 bates ' while the Chimpanzees and Gorillas are by some 

 regarded simply as distinct species of one genus, Troglo- 

 dytes; by others as distinct genera Troglodyte* being 

 reserved for the Chimpanzees, and Gor'dla 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 



