The world of the great forest

by Paul B. Du Chaillu

One day it came to pass that strange-looking apes, called by the human beings of the forest “men of the woods,” came to the same part of the forest to find food. They are called “men of the woods” because their resemblance to human beings is striking. They are very ugly, but they themselves think they are very good looking,—in fact, the handsomest creatures in the forest.

These men of the woods live in the deepest and gloomiest part of the great forest, for they shun open places and the presence of human beings, with their noise. The different species or varieties are called nginas, nshiegos, mbouvés, nkengos, kooloo-kambas. Every one of these has a language of its own, distinct from the others.

Their ancestors, like themselves, were born in the forest and lived in it,—in a word, the men of the woods had lived there for numberless ages, thousands and thousands of years ago. The reason they live in the great forest, and cannot live in any other part of the land, is because they subsist on fruit, berries, nuts, canes, and saplings, and these are found all the year round, for it is always warm in the country, and the fruit-bearing trees are very abundant.

These men of the woods never kill creatures to eat. They roam from one place to another in order to procure a living, and the amount of food consumed in a day is very great. They have the same gifts as the other animals. Having a good memory, they know their way through the forest and dense jungle, and the seasons of the year when the fruits are ripe at such and such a place.

The male ngina is the most powerful of all the men of the woods. He is called the Giant, the Powerful. He can conquer every other ape. His strength is so great that no one of them dares to attack him. When suddenly surprised, he attacks human beings, and with terrible muscular arms and with open hand he kills them by a single blow. His strength is that of about twelve strong men together.

He is blacker than soot, and his children are born as black as he is. A big ngina weighs from three to four hundred pounds. He is all bones, sinews, and muscles. His body is covered with hair not very thick, and his skin is almost as thick as that of an ox. He is from five to six feet in height.

The nshiego or mbouvé averages from about three feet ten inches to four feet four inches in height, and is in many respects a stranger creature than the ngina. He is smaller and far from being as strong, but nevertheless, in a hand-to-hand fight with a man, the latter would not have the slightest chance, and would be torn to pieces. Man without weapons is very weak and helpless, but the mbouvé never attacks man, but flies at his approach.

The nshiego mbouvé is bald-headed when adult, and very black, with a body thinly covered with hair. But a wonderful thing is that though the parents are very black, the children are born perfectly white. As the young mbouvé grows older his complexion gradually changes, the white color gradually tanning, and then becoming darker and darker until finally black patches show themselves on the face, and at last he becomes entirely black and of the color of his parents.

The nkengo is born tan yellow, of the color of his parents, and remains so to the end of his days. He also has no rosy cheeks and never blushes or becomes red in the face, no matter how enraged he becomes. His complexion is very much like that of the Moors, or of the people who lie on the sands all summer on the seashore. He attains sometimes a height of four feet and a half, and is very strong.

The nshiego, or the common chimpanzee, is born yellow, but gradually turns very black like his parents. He is about the same size as the nshiego mbouvé.