36 



THE MONKEYS OF THE OLD WORLD. 



spread out hand of a smith. The foot is 

 broad, not so much contracted and arched 

 at the instep as that of the white man, but 

 more like the flat foot of the negro; the toes 

 are short and broad, although somewhat 

 longer than those of man; the great toe is 

 strong and capable of being moved con- 

 siderably apart from, and of being opposed 

 to the other toes. In this and in the weak 

 thumb lie the chief differences of the extre- 

 mities of the gorilla as compared with those 

 of the human species. The front part of 

 the face is naked, the skin, like that of the 

 hands and feet, being blackish; the body is 

 covered with coarse hairs, which on the cheeks 

 form slight whiskers, and on the nape of the 

 neck a moderately large tuft. The young 

 have quite black hair; the fur of the adult 

 becomes matted, and in colour brownish- 

 black even sprinkled with gray. The up- 

 ward direction of the hair of the fore -arm 

 is very marked. 



The gorilla lives a retired life with wife 

 and child in the thickest forests of the west 

 coast of Africa near the Gaboon river. 

 Usually it walks on all-fours, delights in 

 climbing trees, which it does with great 

 facility, and on the trees constructs resting- 

 places for itself with twigs and leaves. It 

 lives on fruits, leaves, and a peculiar kind ot 

 grass growing amidst brushwood. Its usual 

 cry is plaintive, but its cry of rage resembles 

 the growl of a tiger. 



Beyond doubt this animal, so strong and so 

 formidably armed, must be a highly dangerous 

 antagonist in a fury, an antagonist able to 

 withstand any ravager of the wilderness, and 

 accordingly also man. But the history of 

 the gorilla is interwoven with so many fables 

 that it is difficult to unravel the truth. The 

 stories which negroes and some white men 

 have told of him are in a great measure 

 hunting tales. So much we seem to be 

 able to gather from them, that the gorilla for 

 the most part does not trouble himself about 

 man unless he is suddenly and unawares 



alarmed and attacked. The female then 

 uniformly takes to flight with her young 

 one, but the male prepares for defence, 

 rushes bellowing on all-fours upon his anta- 

 gonist, on approaching whom he stands up 

 like a bear and tries to strike him down with 

 his hands, and to tear him to pieces with 

 his teeth. The sport is no doubt a highly 

 dangerous one, but yet probably less danger- 

 ous than hunting the lion or the tiger. 

 Savage enough the creature seems, and 

 naturally inspires terror in proportion. 



The young gorilla that lived for some time 

 in the Berlin aquarium was a very good- 

 humoured, but quiet and grave-looking crea- 

 ture, and in its calm and composed demean- 

 our presented a strong contrast to a much 

 more lively chimpanzee, which often vainly 

 sought to engage it in play. Reade, who 

 kept a young gorilla in its native land, 

 describes it as being quite as sensible and 

 docile as chimpanzees of the same age. In 

 place of the cheerful and even noisy disposi- 

 tion of the chimpanzee we have in the case 

 of the gorilla a quieter and graver tempera- 

 ment. 



Red Anthropoid Apes {Simia). 



With very long arms, and twelve pairs of ribs ; natives of 

 the East Indies. 



In the depths of the marshy forests and 

 jungles of the island of Borneo, more rarely 

 on Sumatra, there is found an anthropoid ape, 

 which attains a height of 4 feet 7 inches at 

 the most, and is usually called Orang-utang, 

 though by the natives Mias [Simia satyrus), 

 Plate III. Many naturalists have admitted 

 several species; the distinctions which they 

 pointed out, however, seem to be more of an 

 individual or sexual character. As in all apes 

 the ridges above the eyes and the crests of 

 the skull, as well as the jaws, are in these 

 also only gradually developed with years and 

 more particularly in the male sex. 



As the extraordinary length of the arms 



