CURIOUS CREATURES. 51 



she visited, and travelled in the A'ino country. She, 

 certainly, disproves the theory that, as a race, they were 

 hairy, although she confesses that some were as, for 

 instance (p. 232), " They wore no clothing, but only one 

 was hairy," and, writing from Biratori, Yezo (p. 255), 

 she says, " The men are about the middle height, broad- 

 chested, broad-shouldered, thick set, very strongly built, 

 the arms and legs short, thick, and muscular, the hands 

 and feet large. The bodies, and especially the limbs of 

 many, are covered with short, bristly hair. I have seen 

 two boys whose backs are covered with fur as fine, and 

 soft, as that of a cat." Again (p. 283), " The profusion 

 of black hair, and a curious intensity about their eyes, 

 coupled with the hairy limbs and singularly vigorous 

 physique, give them a formidably savage appearance ; but 

 the smile, full of ' sweetness and light/ in which both 

 eyes and mouth bear part, and the low, musical voice, 

 softer and sweeter than anything I have previously heard, 

 make me, at times, forget that they are savages at all." 



THE OURAN OUTAN. 



Transition from hirsute humanity to the apes, is easy, 

 and natural and we need only deal with the Simiinae, 

 which includes the Orang, the Chimpanzee, and the 

 Gorilla. These are the largest apes, and nearest 

 approach to man but, although they may be tailless, 

 yet there is that short great toe which prevents any 

 acceptation of their humanity. The orang is exclusively 

 an inhabitant of Borneo and Sumatra, and in those two 

 islands it may be found in the swampy forests near the 

 coast. It grows to a large size, for an ape, about four 

 feet four inches high, but is neither so large, nor so 



