158 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



its home. Rarely encountered even by those who live near its 

 haunts, it is a formidable opponent, for it can easily overcome a 

 Leopard in a fair, straightforward fight, and Man would doubtless 

 stand a poor chance if brought face to face with it. It is courageous, 

 all-powerful, Man-like in form in many ways, but from all accounts 

 quite lacking in intelligence. True, it builds a home in the tree-tops, 

 but, as Mr. Protheroe says, "he has not the wit to add a roof," and 

 "from time immemorial the animals have lived in communities 

 something like Men, but during countless ages they have learnt 

 nothing; they remain as brutish as ever were their ancestors." 



CHIMPANZEE.— The Chimpanzee (Coloured Plate XII, and also 

 Fig. 119, showing two of these animals at play) is also an inhabitant 

 of the aboriginal forests of West Africa^ and both this species and 

 the Orang-Utan resemble the Gorilla in their general structure and 

 mode of life. 



At the same time, neither the Chim nor the Orang are so 

 repulsive-looking as the more formidable beast last considered; 

 indeed, the Chims especially are very popular, and among the most 

 intelligent of the anthropoid Apes. We have already met both the 

 Chim and the Orang among Animal Pets in a former chapter, but 

 a few further particulars may be added concerning both species. 

 The Chimpanzee h'as been well known much longer than the Gorilla, 

 for, being much smaller and more reconcilable, the natives of Africa 

 have for long caught them and made pets of them. The first 

 appearance of one in London appears to have been about 1740. 



It is a resident of Equatorial Africa, but is much more widely 

 distributed than the Gorilla. An adult male attains a height of some 

 five feet, the female being perhaps a trifle less in stature. It is quite 

 unlike its powerful rival in general appearance, lacking many of the 

 characteristic features recently enumerated. The Chim is not nearly 

 so tall nor so massive in build, and whilst the head and ears are 

 large, there is an intelligent expression upon the face which is 

 wanting in the rarer beast. The muddy, flesh-coloured skin is 

 adorned with coarse black hair, and this is plentiful on the back and 

 shoulders, whilst one writer facetiously remarks that "there are very 

 passable whiskers on the sides of the cheeks." The flat nose may 

 be noted, also the less massive jaws and canine teeth, whilst the 

 writer just quoted states that "the hair on the forehead is parted 

 with an accuracy almost suggestive of the services of a hairdresser." 

 It travels about in companies, but is not so strictly arboreal as 



