442 



QUADRUMANA. 



FIG. 487. GORILLA. 



legs are comparatively very short. To this genus belong the so-called Anthro- 

 poid* or Man-like Apes. Of these the most recently discovered 



The (jcOY]\\.Q,(Trog!odytes-\- gorilla) inhabits, so far as is at present known, a district 

 extending to about two hundred miles north, and the same distance south, of the equa- 

 tor, and ranging, perhaps, to three hundred miles from the western coast of Africa. Of 

 specimens shot by M. Du Chaillu, the largest male seems to have been at least six feet 

 two inches in height ; so that, making allowance for the shortness of the lower limbs, 

 the dimensions of a full-grown male may be said to equal those of a man of eight or 

 nine feet high ; and it is only in their length that the lower limbs are disproportionate 

 to the gigantic trunk : in the thickness and solidity of their bones, and in the strength 

 of their muscles, these limbs are quite in keeping with the rest of the body. When in 

 an upright position, the arms of the gorilla reach to its knees ; the hind hands are wide 

 and of amazing size and power. The great toe or thumb measures six inches in circum- 

 ference. The palms and soles, and the naked part of the face, are of an intense black 

 colour, as is also the breast. The other parts are thickly clothed with hair of an iron- 

 grey, except the head, on which it is reddish brown, and the arms, where it is long and 

 nearly black. The female is wholly tinged with red. 



The general appearance of this formidable ape in his native woods may be gleaned 

 from M. Du Chaillu's very graphic description : " Suddenly, as we were yet creeping 



* tivOpuTTOS, anthropos, a man ; et'Sos, eiclos, form. 

 "\ rpwy\rj, trogle, a Jiole or cave ; 5tfw, duo, to enter : one u>ho hides in caverns. 



