The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1884-10-31
PEOPLE LIVING IN TREES,
MEN POSSESSED OF THE ATTRI-
BUTBs OF MONKEYS.
A Journey TO the Swamps of Laos in
southern Asia-Ehc Child Won
der. kraO.

BtOry, except inc pouches III luC luculh,
said gentleman, the other day, to whom
Professor George G.. Shelly, the anthro-
pologist and member of the geographi-
cal society, was recounting the story of
the capture of hairy family, clearly hui
man, but bearing many strong resem-
blances to the anthropoid apes, which
were secured by himself and the well
known explorer, Carl aided by some ma
tive soldiers in the wilds of Laos, in the
year 1882.
" There are" said the professor,
'three distinct races of men who live i'll
trees. These are Indians in South
America who inhabit the borders of the
Orinoco, Tucuya and MADEIRA rivers; the
Veddas, of Ceylon, and the Krao-Mo-
neik, of Laos, dependency of Siam.
Krao- Moneik means man. monkey. Laos
is q part of the world which has never
been thoroughly explored and but com
paratively little is known about it by &c
ographers and scientists. 1t contains
from eight hundred to one thousand
square miles, and lies between the fif-
teenth and twentieth degrees of north
latitude, north of Siam, cast of the Me-
nam 'Khong, west of AMMAN, and about
four hundred miles southwest of Ton
quin, The reason why Laos has
not been thoroughly explored is because
almost every one who has attempted it
has died of malarial fever. That part of
the country in which the Krao lives is
inhabited only by the men who live in
trees to escape the snakes and the wet
ground. They weave the branches to-
gether and build huts therein. In climb
ing the trees they use their toes as a
monkey does. They do not grasp the
trees with their legs, as we do. They do
not use fire. They live on dried fish,
wild rice, and the rind of green cocoa
nut. Their only weapon is a club.
Ten years ago Carl Book, the author
of The Man Hunters of Borneo' and
MY Travels in SIAM was travelling in
Asia on behalf of Mr.. Farni, the Eng
fish Barnum, to look for the tall people
which were said to live there. In the
court of the king of Burmah he saw and
talked with a hairy family, which were
kept by the king for his amusement, as
European kings formerly kept fools and
dwarfs. Book tried in every way to Sc
cure them to take to Europe, but he
failed. lie offered 500, 600 for one of
them, but money is no object there they
have more of it than they know what to
do with. These people that Book saw
were the grandchildren of a hairy couple
which Crawford, who went to Burmah
in 1885 as English plenipotentiary, saw
there, and of which he published an ac-
count in his book, "A Mission to the
court of Ava Crawford said that these
people had been given to the king OF
Burmah bV the kline of TaOS
early in 1882 | joined Carl Book at
Singapore. We went up the straits OF
Malacca and made an expedition into
Rumbo, in the Malay peninsula, where
it was reported that hairy race lived
called Jaccoons, but we did not find
them. We then went to Rangoon and
thence to Bangkok, the capital of Siam.
Book had once cured the prime minister
of Siam of a malignant disorder. This
was the means of procuring us an escort,
twenty elephants and letters to the king
of Laos. After a four months journey,
partly by land and partly by river, We
reached Kjang-Kjang, the capital of Laos
"Our letters from the king of Siam
procured US the good Offices of the king
of Laos, who gave us guides fresh Gle
phants an escort of ten native soldiers
armed with spears and bows and poisoned
arrows. After journey of several week,
we came to the swamps where the hairy
people lived. But we had hard work tC
catch them or even to see them. They
are wonderfully alert, their scent is re-
markably keen, and they are very shy
and timid We saw many of their huts
built up in the branches of trees before
we saw person. At last we sur
prised and surrounded family, a man
wife and child, at their meal. We
made a dash for them and captured
them. The parents made a little re
sistance. but the child fought
scratched, and bit like monkey
None of them were clothed in ANYTHING
We took them to Kiang X jang, anC
there the king refused to allow tn,
woman to 90 out of the country. III,
had a superstition that it would bring
him bad luck. She is kept in his cour
and treated with high consideration
She appeared to have little affection 70
the child, and made no opposition to it
being taken from her. We started from
Bangkok with the father and The child
AT stopping place called Chieng- Ma,
the whole party was attacked witt
~iANANAN iAAS man NdIDtulCNi dll'
three of the escort died The rest re
covered, though Mr. Book came yer
near dying. We landed in Europe witt
the child October 4, 1882. The child i
the child now known as Krao. w
know by her teeth that she is cigh
years old. She talks English and Gel
man, can read and write, and has devel
oped the true feminine love of fin
clothes
She is modest, afTectionate, playfu
and easily managed. Every part of he
body is covered with hair except he
palms and soles The hair on her fore
arm grows upward, that on her bac
grows inward toward the spine and wi
form sort of name, as her fathC
and mother had, when sh
grows older Her forehead is covere
with thick black hair about three eight
of an inch long. The hair of her fore
head is entirely distinct from the hair o
her head. Her hands and feet, thong
Il, A