LEGENDS OF APES. 335 



some additional notes on its habits have been made by A. Agassiz, 

 to whose communication in " Nature " (Sept. 29th, 1881) I have 

 been much indebted. 



Whilst we lay at anchor in Treasury Harbour, in April, 1884, a 

 i^etacean, unknown to the natives and to ourselves, got partly 

 stranded in the shallow water, and was captured by the villagers. 

 It was nine feet long, and possessed this remarkable character that, 

 although no teeth showed through the gums, each lower jaw 

 possessed a short, conical, hollow tooth an inch long, placed at the 

 anterior extremity. I obtained the head from the natives, and 

 placed it in a safe place, as I thought ; but when we returned to 

 Treasury a few weeks after, I found only portions of the skull with 

 the lower jaw-bones, the wild pigs having held a feast over it. 

 The remains, however, together with my notes and a sketch by 

 Lieutenant Leeper weie sent to the British Museum. I there 

 learned that it is a species of Ziphius, probably unknown. 



The Solomon Islanders believe in the existence of anthropoid 

 «,pes in the interiors of the large islands, regarding them, however, 

 like the D3"aks of Borneo in the case of the Orang-utan, as "wild 

 men of the woods." In Malaita they are said to be 4^ to 5 feet 

 high, and to come down in troops to make raids on the banana 

 plantations. Captain Macdonald informed me that the natives 

 allege that one of these apes was caught, and, after being kept for 

 some time, escaped. Taki, the St. Christoval chief, told Mr. 

 Stephens that he had seen one of these apes, and pointed out the 

 locality. Tanowaio, the Ugi chief, also made a similar statement. 

 In Guadalcanar, they are believed to live in the trees, and to attack 

 men. Dr. Codrington refers to the prevalence of these beliefs through- 

 out Melanesia (Journ. Anthrop. Inst., vol. x. ]). 261). Such beliefs, 

 as experience has shown in the case of the Gorilla and other 

 anthropoids, have undoubtedly some foundation ; but whether these 

 mysterious animals are apes is quite another question. 



