WEIRD CREATURE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22819, 28 August 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

WEIRD CREATURE

"ASSO, THE APE MAN" An "ape man" living at Skoura —an out-of-the-way oasis in the Saharan region of Morocco —is attracting great interest among travellers and tourists. This weird creature, known as Asso, has most of the physical qualities of tho ape—narrow, sloping forehead, heavy arches to the eyes, large, pouting lips, receding chin, short neck, wide chest, and abnormally long arms. But his body is hairless like a human. He has no powers of speech beyond a gibberish chattering, which he seldom employs, except when angered. The Berbers of Skoura say that Asso can travel over 60 miles a day as quickly and with much less fatigue than a horse, and that Tie can climb date palms with the agility of an ape. They swear that at night time he wanders into the desert, Miere he runs with the herds of gazello' and hunts with tho jackals. All that civilisation has taught Asso is tho value of money. He sits waiting with outstretched arm for people to dismount from tho ricketv native buses which visit Skoura. The money so gained goes to an old Berber woman who has adopted Asso, and litis found him very profitable. ' ,