tree-walkers

Updated: July 28, 2026

Then in sudden silence there would be a tremor of the branches, splash after splash of leaves, and the herd would swing away through the trackless tree tops. The gibbons are well named Hylobates or "tree-walkers" for they are entirely arboreal and, although awkward and almost helpless on the ground, once their long thin hands touch a branch they become transformed as by a miracle.

Roy Chapman Andrews - Camps and Trails in China: A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China