By permission of Herr Umlauff.
THE LARGEST GORILLA EVER CAPTURED.
This huge ape, 5 feet 5 inches high, measures a distance of over 8 feet from finger to finger.
The Siamang, one of the largest of the long-armed, tailless gibbons, lives in the Malay Archipelago. The arms of a specimen only 3 feet high measured 5 feet 6 inches across. This, like all the gibbons, makes its way from tree to tree mainly by swinging itself by its arms. But the siamang can walk upright and run. One kept on board ship would walk down the cabin breakfast-table without upsetting the china. The White-handed Gibbon is found in Tenasserim, south-west of Burma. This ape has a musical howl, which the whole flock utters in the early mornings on the tree-tops. In Northern India, in the hills beyond the Brahmaputra, lives another gibbon, the Hulock. One of these kept in captivity soon learnt to eat properly at meals, and to drink out of a cup instead of dipping his fingers in the tea and milk and then sucking them. The Silvery Gibbon kept at the Zoological Gardens was a most amiable pet, and had all the agility of the other gibbons. It is very seldom seen in this country, being a native of Java, where it is said to show the most astonishing activity among the tall cane-groves. One of the first ever brought to England belonged to the great Lord Clive. The Agile Gibbon is another and darker ape of this group.
The list of the man-like apes closes with this group. All the gibbons are highly specialised for tree-climbing and an entirely arboreal life; but it is undeniable that, apart from the modifications necessary for this, such as the abnormal length of the arms, the skeleton closely resembles that of a human being. In their habits, when wild, none of these apes show any remarkable degree of intelligence; but their living is gained in so simple a way, by plucking fruits and leaves, that there is nothing in their surroundings to stimulate thought. They do not need even to think of a time of famine or winter, or to lay up a stock of food for such a season, because they live in the forests under the Equator.
Photo by York & Son] [Notting Hill.
WHITE-HANDED GIBBON.
This gibbon is found in the forests of the Malay Archipelago.