APES AND MONKEYS. 309 



able position, and execute every possible movement. Quite un- 

 rivalled masters of climbing are the long-armed apes or gibbons, 

 anthropoid apes with arms so disproportionately long that, when 

 outstretched, they measure thrice as much as their upright bodies. 

 With incomparable speed and security they climb up a tree or 

 bamboo-stem, set it, or a suitable branch swinging, and on its re- 

 bound spring over spaces of from eight to twelve yards, so lightly 

 and swiftly, that they seem to fly like a shot arrow or an alighting 

 bird. They are also able to alter the direction of a leap while 

 actually springing, or to cut it suddenly short by seizing a branch 

 and clinging to it — swinging, rocking, and finally climbing up by it, 

 either to rest for a little, or to begin the old game anew. Some- 

 times they spring through the air in this manner three, four, or five 

 times in succession, so that one almost forgets that they are subject 

 to the law of gravity. Their walking is as awkward as their 

 climbing is excellent. Other anthropoid apes are able to traverse 

 a considerable distance in an upright position — that is, on their 

 feet alone, without special difficulty, though when in haste they 

 always fall on all-fours, resting on the inturned knuckles of the 

 fingers and the outer edges of the feet, and throwing the body 

 laboriously and clumsily forward between the extended arms. But 

 the long-armed apes move in an upright position only in cases of 

 extreme necessity, and then they hop rather than walk. When the 

 distance to be covered is a short one they raise themselves to their 

 full height, and preserving their balance by extending their arms, 

 now more, now less, spread out the great toes as far as possible, and 

 patter pitiably along with short, quick steps. Their power of 

 movement must therefore be characterized as one-sided, for their 

 superiority over the other anthropoid apes in climbing does not 

 counterbalance their helplessness on the ground. 



The voice-power of the anthropoid apes is very noteworthy. 

 We find that the most active and agile species have the loudest 

 voices, while those of the more widely developed, though less 

 nimble, anthropoid apes are capable of greater variety of expression. 

 I do not say too much when I assert that I have never heard the 

 voice of any mammal — man, of course, always excepted — which was 



