John Ashton

Curious creatures in zoology John Ashton

Darwin says that the men of the period wore tails, and if they were no longer than that in this illustration (which is copied from the same book), they can hardly be said to be unbecoming-still that is a matter for taste-they are certainly more graceful than if they had been rat-like, or like a greyhound, or toy terrier. Many old authors speak of tailed men in Borneo and Java, and not only were men so adorned, but women. Peter Martyr says that in a region called Inzaganin, there is a tailed race-these laboured under the difficulty of being unable to move them like animals-but as he observes, they were stiff like those of fishes and crocodiles-so much so, that when they wanted to sit down, they had to use seats with holes in them.