THE GORILLA AND OTHER APES. 307 



general proportions the chimpanzee approaches man more 

 nearly than does any other animal. His body is covered 

 with long black coarse hair, thickest on the head, shoulders, 

 and back, and rather thin on the breast and belly. The 

 face is dark brown and naked, as are the ears, except that 

 long black whiskers adorn the animal's cheeks. The hair 

 on the forearms is directed towards the elbows, as is the case 

 with all the anthropoid apes, and with man himself. This 

 hair forms, where it meets the hair from the upper arm, a 

 small ruff about the elbow joint. The chimpanzees live in 

 society in the woods, constructing huts from the branches 

 and foliage of trees to protect themselves against the sun 

 and heavy rains. It is said by some travellers that the 

 chimpanzee walks upright in its native woods, but this is 

 doubtful ; though certainly the formation of the toes better 

 fits them to stand upright than either the gorilla or the orang. 

 They arm themselves with clubs, and unite to defend them- 

 selves against the attacks of wild beasts, " compelling," it is 

 said, " even the elephant himself to abandon the districts in 

 which they reside." We learn that " it is dangerous for men 

 to enter their forests, unless in companies and well armed ; 

 women in particular are often said to be carried away by 

 these animals, and one negress is reported to have lived 

 among them for the space of three years, during which time 

 they treated her with uniform kindness, but always prevented 

 any attempt on her part to escape. When the negroes 

 leave a fire in the woods, it is said that the chimpanzees will 

 gather round and warm themselves at the blaze, but they 

 have not sufficient intelligence to keep it alive by fresh 

 supplies of fuel." 



The orang-outang inhabits Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and 

 other islands of the Indian coast He attains a greater 

 height than the gorilla, but, though very powerful and active, 

 would probably not be a match for the gorilla in a single 

 combat. His arms are by comparison as well as actually 

 much longer. Whereas the gorilla's reach only to the knees, 

 the arms of the orang-outang almost reach the ground when 



