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Illustration from “La Découverte Australe par une Homme Volant” by the French author Nicolas-Edme Réstif (or Rétif) de la Bretonne (1704 – 1806). Entitled “The Ape-Men”, showing the 18th century Frenchman, Victorin and his son exploring the austral, or southern territory, by air. Victorin has invented a flying machine made of silk and whalebone with a pair of wings plus a spring-operated directional wing in the form of a parasol. They discover many fantastic hybrid creatures like elephant-men, lion-men and pig-men. The ape-men shown here, though hairy, are half way between monkey and man. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the unexplored hypothetical southern continent was a popular subject of fantastic fiction involving imaginary voyages. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)