MONKEYS. 443 



along in a silence which made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were 

 at once filled with a tremendous barking roar. Then the underbrush swayed rapidly 

 just ahead, and presently stood before us an immense gorilla. He had gone through 

 the jungle on his all-fours, but when he saw our party he erected himself and looked 

 us boldly in the face. 



" He stood about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I think I shall never forget. 

 Nearly six feet high (he proved four inches shorter), with immense body, huge chest, 

 and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring, large, deep grey eyes, and a hellish ex- 

 pression of face, which seemed to me some nightmare vision : thus stood before us the 

 king of the African forest. He was not afraid of us : he stood there and beat his 

 breast with his large fists till it resounded like an immense bass drum, which is their 

 mode of bidding defiance, meantime giving vent to roar after roar." 



The Orang-Outang ( Troglodytes satyrus}. This creature inhabits the interior of 

 Borneo, and other large islands of the Indian Ocean, and, when young, is said to re- 

 semble man more than any other animal. The body is covered with coarse reddish 

 hair, the face is smooth and of a bluish tint, and the thumbs of the hinder hands very 

 short in comparison with the fingers. He is said sometimes to attain the height of 

 seven feet, and possesses great strength and agility. He dwells in the Avildest forests, 

 and habitually keeps himself upon trees, which he climbs with the greatest rapidity, 

 and springs from branch to branch with as much facility as the smaller monkeys. On 

 the ground, on the contrary, the orang-outangs walk with difficulty, and are frequently 

 obliged to place their hands upon the earth, using their long arm's to raise themselves 

 up and swing themselves forward, very much as a man would use a pair of crutches. 

 When young they show a great deal of intelligence, attach themselves to those who 

 have the care of them, and learn to imitate many of our actions. 



FIG. 488. CHIMPANZEE. 



The Chimpanzee ( Troglodytes niger) is another of these approximations to the 

 human form. In height it equals or even surpasses that of man. Its body is covered 

 with black or dark brown hair, scantily distributed in front. It is a native of Guinea 

 and Congo, in Africa, and constructs a dwelling of leaves and foliage. It occasionally 

 anns itself with sticks and stones, with which it drives away elephants and combats 

 the attacks of its enemies. When domesticated, it becomes sufficiently docile to sit at 

 a table and take its food, as though in ridiculous burlesque of human manners. 



