ITS NESTS. 
41 
“It is not as powerful an animal as the Gorilla, its chest is not so large, but the arms and fingers 
are a little longer, and this is the case with the toes also. The nose is not so prominent, but the mouth 
is wider and the ears are larger. Its chin is rounder, and has more small hairs, and the side of the 
face is thinly covered with hair, commencing about the middle of the ear, and these would seem 
to be signs of an incipient beard and whiskers. The lower parts of the body are bare, and the skin is 
white there.” 
Apparently the disposition and temper of the Nschiego are better than those of the Gorilla ; it is 
less ferocious, and is even docile in captivity. It has not the hideous expression of the great Ape, for 
there is something of a forehead above the ridge of the eyebrow, and there are no great crests on 
the head, which is rounder than that of the Gorilla. The teeth are rather smaller, but are of the 
same number. The height is less than that of the female Gorilla, as a rule; and the male of this bald 
kind is larger than its female ; whilst the little young ones differ in their colour from both, being 
white. Finally, it would appear that there are hard callous pads on the back of the fingers, that 
the hand is larger than the feet, and that the tips of the fingers reach a little below the knee, 
Associated with the Gorilla and with the Chimpanzee 
in the forests of Equatorial Western Africa, the Bald- 
headed Troglodyte appears to have a restricted 
geographical range, and not to be found over so large 
a district as its companions, for it was only met with 
on the table-lands of the interior, and in the densest 
forests. 
Subsequently he had a very good opportunity of 
substantiating his statements about the nests. 
“ On our way down, at sunset of the third day, we 
heard the call of a Nschiego Mbouve ( Troglodytes 
ccdvus). I immediately caused my men to lie down, 
and was just getting into a hiding-place myself, when 
I saw, in the branches of a tree at a little distance, 
the curious nest or bower of this Ape ; hard by, on 
another tree, was another shelter. We crept up 
within shot of this nest, and then waited, for I was 
determined to see once more the precise manner in 
which this animal goes to rest. We lay flat on the 
ground, and covered ourselves with leaves and bush, 
scarcely daring to breathe, lest the approaching animal 
should hear us. From time to time I heard the calls. 
There were evidently two, probably male and female. 
Just as the sun was setting, I saw an animal approach 
the tree. It ascended by a hand-over-hand movement, 
with great rapidity, crept carefully under the shelter, 
seated itself on the crotch made by a projecting bough, 
its feet and haunches resting on this bough ; then it 
put one arm about the trunk of the tree for security. 
“•Thus, I suppose, they rest all night ; and this posture accounts for some singular abrasions 
of hair on the side of the Nschiego Mbouve. At a little distance off I saw another shelter made for the 
mate. No sooner was it seated than it began again to utter its call. It was answered ; and I began 
to have the hope that I should shoot both animals, when an unlucky motion of one of my men roused 
the suspicions of the Ape in the tree. It began to prepare for descent, and, unwilling to risk the loss 
of this one, I fired. It fell to the ground dead. It proved to be a male, with the face and hands 
entirely black. As we were not in haste, I made my men cut down the trees which contained the 
nests of these Apes. I found them made precisely as I have before described, and as I have always 
found them, of long branches and leaves, laid one over the other very carefully and thickly, so as to 
render the structure capable of shedding off water. The branches were fastened to the tree in the middle 
/' 
SKELETON OF NSCHIEGO. 
