I may state here, however, again that some of the Esyira people advance such a theory concerning the ntyii, but the belief is not general, and those best skilled in woodcraft regard them as distinct species.
To quote, in pidjin English, the exact version of their relationship as it was given to me by my interpreter while in that country, may be of interest to the reader. I may remark, by way of explaining the nature of pidjin English, that it is a literal translation of the native mode of thought into English words. The statement was:
"Ntyii be one: njina be one: all two be one, one. Nytii 'e one mudder: jnina 'e one mudder: all two 'e one, one. Nytii 'e one fader: njina all same 'e one fader, 'e one. 'E all two one fader." By which the native means to say that the nytii has one mother and the njina has one mother, so that the two have two mothers, but both have one father, therefore they are half-brothers.
The other version given in denial of this statement was as follows:
"Nytii 'e one mudder: njina 'e one mudder. 'E one, one. Nytii 'e one fader: njina 'e one fader. 'E be one, one. All two 'e one, one. Nytii 'im mudder, njina 'im mudder. 'E brudder. Nytii 'im fader, njina 'im fader 'e brudder. All two 'e one, one."
The translation of this elegant speech is, that the nytii has a mother, and the njina has a mother which are not the same but sisters. The nytii has a father, and the njina has a father which are not the same, but are brothers, and therefore the two apes are only cousins, which in the native esteem is a remote degree of kinship.
The ape described by Lopez certainly belonged to the territory north of the Congo, which coast he explored, and gave his name to a cape about forty miles south of the equator, and it still bears the name Cape Lopez. At that time, however, it is probable that most of the low country now occupied by these apes was covered with water; that the lakes of that region were then all embraced in one great estuary, reaching from Fernan Vaz to Nazareth Bay, and extending eastward to the Foot hills below Lamberene. There is abundant evidence to show that such a state has once existed there, but it is not probable that these apes have ever changed their latitude.
The name "soko" appears to be a local name for the ordinary type of chimpanzee found throughout the whole range of their domain, and known in other parts by other names.
In Malimbu the name "kulu" appears to apply to the same species, while in the south-western part of their habitat that name, coupled with the verb "kamba," is confined strictly to the other type. Along the northern borders of the district to which that species belongs, but where he is very seldom found and little known to the natives, he is called Mkami tribe, "kanga ntyigo," to distinguish him from the common variety to which the latter name only is applied.
The etymology of the name kanga as applied to this ape is rather obscure. In common use it is a verb with the normal meaning to "parch" or "fry," and hence the secondary meaning to "prepare." Since this ape is said to be of a higher order of the race, the term is used to signify that he is "better prepared" than the other. That is to say, he is prepared to think and talk in a better manner.