Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-11-28
early in 1888 I joined Carl Book at

early in 1888 I 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 a 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 Minis
ter of Siam of q 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 letter from the King of Siam
procured us the good offices of the
King of Laos, who gave us guides,
fresh elephants, an escort Of ten native
soldiers, armed with spears and bows
and poisoned arrows. After a journey
of several weeks We came to the
swamps where the hairy people lived.
But we had hard work to catch them.
They are wonderfully alert, their scent
is remarkably keen, and they are very
shy and timid. We saw many of their
huts built up in the branches
Of trees before we saw a per-
son. At last we surprised
and surrounded a family, a man, wife,
and child, at their meal. We made a
a dash for them and captured them.
The parents made little resistance, but
the child fought, scratched and bit like
a monkey. None of them were clothed
in anything but hair. We took them to
Khan -Kjang, and there the king re-
fused to allow the woman to 90 out of
the country. He had a superstition
that it would bring him bad luck. She
is kept in his court and treated with
high consideration. She appeared to
have little affection for the child, and
made no opposition to its being taken
from her. We started from Bangkok
With the father and child. At a stop
ping place called Chieng-May thewhole
party was attacked with cholera. The
hairy man captured and three of the
escort died. The rest recovered, though
Mr.. Book came very near dying. We
landed in Europe with thechild October
4th, 1882. The child is the child now
known as Krao. We know By her
teeth that she is eight years old. She
talks English and German, can read
ttilu Nlltt, dLu HIS ucNclODCu uuC Cluc
feminine love of fine clothes.
"She is modest, atfectionate, playful,
and easily managed. Every part OF her
body is covered with hair except her
palms and soles. The hair on her fore
arm grows upward, that on her back
grows inward toward the spine and will
form a sort of name, as her father and
mother had, when she grows older.
Her forehead is covered with thick
black hair about thrcc-eighths of an
inch long. The hair Of her forehead is
entirely distinct from the hair on her
head. Her hands and feet, though en-.
tirely human in shape, have the pre-.
hensile qualities of a monkeys hand.
She has thirteen dorsal vertebrn. and
thirteen pairs Of ribs, like the %chimpan.
zee, While we have twelve. And she
has pouches in her mouth in which she
carries nuts and other food like the
apes"
At this point the visitor made the re-
mark which stands at the beginning of
this article. Prof: Shelly disappeared
Tor a moment and returned with the
child. The pouches in the mouth were
there, and in each Il of them was q
Hilbert almost as BIG as a hickory nut,
and all that the Professor had said
about her was proved true. She talked
intelligcntly and wrote her own namo
and the visitors name on the back of a
photograph of herself, which she pre-
scnted to her. caller. She has been ex-
amined by Prof. Virchow, of Berlin
University; Prof. Kirchhof and Prof.
Welckcr, Of Halle University; Prof.
Hacckcl, of jena; Prof. Lucae. of
Frapkfort-on-he-Main Prof. Hale.
Washington, D. c., and much has been
written about her in the medical and
scientific Observation-Disclosures T1nnts.