CHAPTER XIIIOTHER KULU-KAMBAS

CONSUL II. IN FULL DRESS

He does not evince so much aversion to a hat or cap, and will sometimes put one on without being told; but he has a perfect mania for a silk hat, and if allowed to do so he would demolish that of every stranger who comes to the garden. He has a decided vein of humour and a love of approbation. When he does anything that is funny or clever, he is perfectly aware of the fact; and when by any acthe evokes a laugh from any one he is happy, and recognises the approval by a broad chimpanzee grin.

In the corner of the monkey-house is a room set apart for the keeper, and in this room supplies of food for the inmates are kept. In a small cupboard in one corner is kept a supply of bananas and other fruits. Consul knows this and has tried many times to burglarise it. On one occasion he secured a large screw-driver and attempted to prise open the door. He found the resistance to be greatest at the place where the door locked, and at this point he forced the instrument in the crevice and broke off a piece of the wood about an inch wide from the edge of the door. At this juncture he was discovered and reproved for his conduct, but he never fails to stick his fingers in this crack and try to open the door. He has not been able to unlock it when the key is given him, although he knows the use of it, and has often tried, but his keeper has never imparted the secret to him, and his method of using the key has been to prise with it, or pull it instead of turning it after putting it in the keyhole.

The young keeper, Mr. Webb, deserves great credit for his untiring attention to this valuable young ape, and the results of his zeal are worthy of the recognition of every man who is interested in the study of animals.

Another specimen that may be regarded as an intermediate type was recently kept in Belle Vue Gardens at Manchester. He was playful and full of mischief. He had been taught to use a stick orbroom to fight with, and with such a weapon in his hand would run all over the building, hunting some one to fight. He did not appear to be serious in his assault, but treated it as fun. It was a bad thing to teach an ape, because they grow pugnacious as they grow older, and all animals kept closely confined acquire a bad temper.

In an adjoining cage was kept a young orang, and the two ate at the same table. The chimpanzee appeared to entertain a species of contempt for the orang. The keeper had taught him to pass the bread to his neighbour, and he obeyed this with such reluctance that his manner betrayed more disgust than kindness. A few small pieces of bread were placed on a tin plate, and the kulu was required to lift the plate in his hand, and offer it to the orang before he himself was allowed to eat. He would lift the plate a few inches above the table, and hold it before the orang's face; when the latter had taken a piece of the bread, the chimpanzee withdrew the plate, held it for a moment, and dropped it. Meanwhile he kept his eyes fixed on the orang. The manner in which he dropped the plate looked as if he did so in contempt. When the meal was finished, the kulu would drink his milk from a cup, wipe his mouth with the serviette, and then get down from the table. The orang would slowly climb down, and go back to his cage. We shall not describe the details of their home-life, but they were two jolly young bachelors, one of which was as stupid as the other was bright.

The specimens that were kept in the Gardens in New York were very fine. One of them was mentally equal to any other specimen hitherto in captivity. There were two kept in the Cincinnati Gardens which were also very fine. There have never been but nine of these apes brought to America so far as I am aware, but six of these lived longer and four of them grew to be larger than any other specimens of this race have ever done in captivity. For some reason they never survive long in England, or other parts of Europe. This is probably due to some condition of the atmosphere. It cannot be from a difference of treatment.

I have seen a large number of chimpanzees, but most of them were in captivity, yet I have seen enough of them in a wild state to gain some idea of their habits and manner, but those described will be sufficient to show the mental character of the genus.

Whether the kulu-kamba is a distinct species of ape, or only a well-marked variety of the chimpanzee, he is by far the finest representative of his genus. Among those that I have seen are some very good specimens, and the clever things that I have witnessed them do are sufficient to stamp them as the highest type of all apes.

On board a small river steamer that plies the Ogowe, was a young female kulu that belonged to the captain. Her face was not by any means handsome, and her complexion was the darkest of any kulu I have ever seen. It was almost a coffee-colour. There were two or three spots much darker in shade, but not well defined in outline. The dark spots looked as if they had been artificially put on the face. The colour was not solid, but looked as if dry burnt umber had been rubbed or sprinkled over a surface of lighter brown. Although she was young (perhaps not more than two years old), her face looked almost like that of a woman of forty. Her short, flat nose, big, flexible lips, protruding jaws and prominent arches over the eyes, with a lowreceding forehead, conspired to make her look like a certain type of human being one frequently sees. This gave her what is known as a dish-face, or a concave profile. She had a habit of compressing her nose by contracting the muscles of the face; curling her lips as if in scorn, and at the same time glancing at those around her as if to express the most profound contempt.

Whatever may have been the sentiment in her mind, her face was a picture of disdain, and the circumstances under which she made use of these grimaces, certainly pointed to the fact that she felt just like she looked. At other times her visage would be covered with a perfect smile. It was something more than a grin, and the fact that it was used only at a time when she was pleased or diverted, showed that the emotion which gave rise to it was perfectly in keeping with the face itself. In repose her face was neither pretty nor ugly. It did not strongly depict a high mental status, nor yet portray the instincts of a brute; but her countenance was as safe an index to the mind as that of the human being. This is true of the chimpanzee more perhaps than of any other ape. The gorilla doubtless feels the sense of pleasure, but his face does not yield to the emotion, while the opposite passions are expressed with great intensity, and with the common chimpanzee it is the same way, but not to the same extent.

The kulu in question was more of a coquette than she was of a shrew. She plainly showed that shewas fond of flattery. Not perhaps in the same sense that a human being is, but she was certainly conscious of approbation and fond of applause. When she accomplished anything difficult, she seemed aware of it; and when she succeeded in doing a thing which she was not allowed to do, she never failed to express herself in the manner described above. She always appeared to be perfectly conscious of being observed by others, but she was defiant and composed. There was nothing known in the catalogue of mischief that she was not ready to tackle at any moment and take her chances on the result. From the stoke-hole to the funnel, from the jack-staff to the rudder, she explored that boat.

To keep her out of mischief, she was tied on the saloon deck with a long line, but no one aboard the vessel was able to tie a knot in the line which she could not untie with dexterity and ease. Her master, who was a sailor and an expert in the art of tying knots, exhausted his efforts in trying to make one that would defy her skill.

On one occasion I was aboard the little steamer when the culprit was brought up from the main deck where she had been in some mischief, and tied to one of the rails along the side of the boat. The question of tying her was discussed, and at length a new plan was devised. In the act of untying a knot she always began with the part of the knot that was nearest to her. It was now agreed to tie the line around one of the rails on the side of the deck, about half-way between the two stanchions that supportedit, then to carry the loose ends of the line to the stanchion and make it fast in the angle of it and the rail. This was done. As soon as she was left alone she began to examine the knots; but she made no attempt at first to untie them except to feel them as if to see how firmly they were made. She then climbed up on the iron rail around which the middle of the line was tied, and slackened the knot. She pulled first at one strand and then at the other, but one end was tied to the stanchion and the other to her neck, and she could find no loose end to draw through. First one way and then the other she drew this noose. She saw that in some way it was connected with the stanchion. She drew the noose along the rail until it was near the post; she climbed down upon the deck, then around the post and back again; she climbed up over the rails and down on the outside, and again carefully examined the knot; she climbed back, then through between the rails and back, then under the rails and back, but she could find no way to get this first knot out of the line. For a moment she sat down on the deck, and viewed the situation with evident concern. She slowly rose to her feet and again examined it; she moved the noose back to its place in the middle of the rail, climbed up by it, and again drew it out as far as the strands would allow. Again she closed it; she took one strand in her hand and traced it from the loop to the stanchion, then she took the other end in the same manner and traced it from the loop to her neck. She looked at the loop and then slowlydrew it out as far as it would come. She sat for a while holding it in one hand, and with the other moved each strand of the knot. She was in a deep study, and did not even deign a glance at those who were watching her. At length she took the loop in both hands, deliberately put it over her head and crawled through it. The line thus released dropped to the deck; she quickly descended, took hold of it near her neck, and found that it was untied; she gathered it up as she advanced towards the other end that was tied to the post, and at once began to loosen the knots about it. In a minute more the last knot was released, when she gathered the whole line into a bundle, looked at those around her with that look of contempt which we have described, and departed at once in search of other mischief. The air of triumph and contempt was enough to convince any one of her opinion of what she had done.

If this feat was the result of instinct, the lexicons must find another definition for that word. There were six white men who witnessed the act, and the verdict of all was that she had solved a problem which few children of her own age could have done. Every movement was controlled by reason. The tracing out of cause and effect was too evident for any one to doubt.

NATIVE VILLAGE AT GLASS GABOON

Almost any animal can be taught to perform certain feats, but that does not show the innate capacity. The only true measure of the faculty of reason is to reduce the actor to his own resources, and see how he will render himself under some newcondition, otherwise the act will be, at least in part, mechanical or imitative. In all my efforts to study the mental calibre of animals I have confined them strictly to their own judgment, and left them to work out the problem alone. By this means only can we estimate to what extent they apply the faculty of reason. No one doubts that all animals have minds, which are receptive in some degree. But it has often been said that they are devoid of reason, and controlled alone by some vague attribute called instinct. Such is not the case. It is the same faculty of the mind that men employ to solve the problems that arise in every sphere of life. It is the one which sages and philosophers have used in every phase of science. It differs in degree, but not in kind.

This kulu-kamba knew the use of a corkscrew. This she had acquired from seeing it applied by men. While she could not use it herself with success, she often tried and never applied it to the wrong purpose.

She would take the deck broom and scrub the deck, unless there was water on it, in which event she always left the job. She did not seem to know the purpose of sweeping the deck, and never swept the dirt before the broom. This was doubtless imitative. She only grasped the idea that a broom was used to scrub the deck, but she failed to observe the effect produced. However, it cannot be said with certainty to what extent she was aware of the effect, but it is inferred from the fact that she did not try to remove the dirt.

She knew what coal was intended for, and often climbed into the bunker and threw it down by the furnace door. The furnace door and steam gauge were two things that escaped her busy fingers. I do not know how she learned the danger of them, but she never touched them. She had to be watched to keep her from seizing the machinery. For this she seemed to have a strong desire, but did not know the danger she incurred.

I was aboard a ship when a trader brought off from the beach a young kulu to be sent to England. The little captive sat upright on the deck and seemed aware that he was being sent away. At any rate his face wore a look of deep concern as if he had no friend to whom he could appeal. On approaching him I spoke to him, using his own word for food. He looked up and promptly answered it. He looked as if in doubt as to whether I was a big ape or something else. I repeated the sound, and he repeated the answer and came towards me. As he approached me I again gave the sound. He came up and sat by my feet for a moment, looking into my face. I uttered the sound again, when he took hold of my leg and began to climb up as if it had been a tree. He climbed up to my neck and began to play with my lips, nose and ears. We at once became friends, and I tried to buy him, but the price asked was more than I desired to pay. I regretted to part with him, but he was taken back to the beach, and I never saw him again.

On another occasion one was brought aboard, andafter speaking to him I gave him an orange; he began to eat it and at the same time caught hold of the leg of my trousers as if he did not wish me to leave him. I petted and caressed him for a moment and turned away, but he held on to me. He waddled about over the deck, holding on to my clothes, and would not release me. He was afraid of his master and the native boy who had him in charge. He was a timid creature, but was quite intelligent, and I felt sorry for him because he seemed to realise his situation.

On the same voyage I saw one in the hands of a German trader. It was a young male, about one year old. He promptly answered the food sound, and I called him to come to me; but this he neither answered nor complied with. He looked at me as if to ask where I had learned his language. I repeated the sound several times, but elicited no answer. I have elsewhere called attention to the fact that these apes do not answer the call when they can see the one who makes it, and they do not always comply with it. In this respect they behave very much the same as young children, and it may be remarked that one difficulty in all apes is to secure fixed attention. This is exactly the same with young children. Even when they clearly understand, sometimes they betray no sign of having heard it. At other times they show that they both hear and understand, but do not comply.

Another specimen that was brought aboard a ship when I was present was a young male, somethingless than two years old. He was sullen and morose. He did not resent my approaches, but he did not encourage them. I first spoke to him with the food sound, but he gave no heed. I retired a little distance from him and called him, but he paid no attention. I then used the sound of warning; he raised his head, and looked in the direction from which the sound came. I repeated it, and he looked at me for a moment and turned his head away. I repeated it again. He looked at me, then looked around as if to see what it meant, and again resumed his attitude of repose.

On my last voyage to the coast I saw a very good specimen in the Congo. It was a female, a little more than two years old. She was also of a dark complexion, but quite intelligent. She had been captured north of there, and within the limits elsewhere described. At the time I saw her she was ill and under treatment, but her master, the British consul, told me that when she was well she was bright and sociable. I made no attempt to talk with her, except some time after, having left her, I gave the call sound, which she answered by looking around the corner of the house. I do not know whether she would have come or not, as she was tied and could not have done so had she desired to.

I have seen a few other specimens of this ape, and most of them appear to be of a somewhat higher order than the ordinary chimpanzee, but there is among them a wide range of intelligence. It would be a risk to say whether the lowest specimen ofkulu is higher or lower than the highest specimen of the common chimpanzee or not, but taken as a whole they are much superior. I shall not describe at length the specimens which have been known in captivity, since most of them have been amply described by others; but it is not out of place to mention some of them.

If proper conditions were afforded to keep a pair of kulus in training for some years, it is difficult to say what they might not be taught. They are not only apt in learning what they are taught, but they are well-disposed, and can apply their accomplishment to some useful end. We cannot say to what extent they may be able to apply what they learn from man, because the necessity of doing so is removed by the attention given them.

In the order of nature the gorilla occupies the second place below man. His habitat is in the lowlands of West Tropical Africa, and is confined to very narrow limits. The vague line which bounds his realm cannot be defined with absolute precision, but those generally given in books that treat of him are not correct. If he ever occupied any part of the coast north of the equator, he has long since become extinct in that part, but there is nothing to show that he ever did exist there. So far as I have been able to trace the lines that prescribe his native haunts, he appears to be confined to the low, delta country, lying between the Equator and Loango along the coast, and reaching eastward to the interior, an average distance of about one hundred miles. The eastern boundary is very irregular. To be more exact, the extreme limit on the north side would be the Gaboon River to its head-waters, thence southward to the Ogowe River to the mouth of the Nguni River; up that river twenty or thirty miles, thence a zigzag line along the western base of the dividing lands between the Congo basin andthe Atlantic watershed, to the head-waters of the Chi Loango River, and with that to the coast. Beyond these lines I have never been able to find any trace of him, and along this boundary only now and then are they found. I have seen two adult and two infant skulls of the gorilla that were brought by Mr. Wm. S. Cherry, from the Kisango Valley, which lies north of the middle Congo in the interior. The skulls are the only evidence I have ever found of this ape existing so far eastward, but they were said to have come from that part of the valley lying directly under the equator. Mr. Cherry did not collect them himself, but secured them from natives, and does not claim to have seen any of these apes alive.

There appear to be three centres of population: the first is in the basin of Izanga Lake; the second in the basin of Lake Fernan Vaz; and the third in the basin of the lake behind Sette Kama. They are rarely ever found in high or hilly districts, but appear to inhabit the hummock lands, which are only elevated a few feet above tide-level. This is singular, from the fact that the ape has a morbid dislike for deep water, and I think it doubtful if he can swim, although he has one peculiar character that belongs to aquatic animals, which is a kind of web between the digits, but its purpose cannot be to aid in swimming. I have been told that the gorilla can swim, and it may be true; but I have never observed anything in his habits to confirm this, while I have noted many facts that controvert it.

I know of no valid reason why he should be confined so strictly within the limits mentioned, unless it be from a condition of climate which seems peculiar to this district. South of it the climate along the coast is much cooler, and the country back of it is hilly and barren; north of the Equator is a land of perpetual rain, while to the eastward, it is mountainous. Within this district the rainy and dry seasons are more fixed and uniform.

The gorilla appears to be an indigenous product which does not bear transplanting; he thrives only in a low, hot and humid region, infested by malaria, miasma and fevers. It is doubtful if he can long survive in a pure atmosphere.

The only single specimen that I have ever heard of north of the equator, was one on the south side of the Komo River, which is the north branch of the Gaboon. The point at which I heard of him was within a few miles of the equator. I also heard of five having been seen a few miles south-west from Njole, which is located on the Equator on the south side of the Ogowe, a little way east of the Nguni, and they were said to be the first ever seen in that part within the memory of man.

NATIVES SKINNING A GORILLA

As to their being found between Gaboon and Cameroon, I can find no trace along the coast of one ever having been seen in that part. Certain writers have mentioned the fact that in 1851 and 1852 they came in great numbers from the interior to the coast. From such a statement it might be inferred that they were seen in herds or armies together, whilethe truth was that in those years a few more gorillas appeared to be in the jungle than was usual, but they were not north of the Gaboon River. They were in the Ogowe delta about 1° south latitude; but no one ever supposed that they came from the Crystal Mountains or any other mountains. At that time neither traders nor missionaries had ascended the Gaboon River above Parrot Island (which is less than twenty miles from the mouth), except to make a flying trip by canoe, and nothing was known of that part except what was learned from the natives, and that was very little. During my first voyage I went up that river as far as Nenge Nenge, about seventy-five miles from the coast. I spent two days there with a white trader who had been stationed there for a year, and I was assured by him that there were no gorillas known in that part. The natives report that they have been found in the lowlands south of there in the direction of the Ogowe basin; but their reports are conflicting, and none of them, so far as I could learn, claim that he is found north of there, nor in the mountains eastward. I admit the possibility that he has been found and may yet inhabit the strip of land between this river and the Ogowe, but I repeat that there is no proof that he was ever found north of the Gaboon. With due respect to Sir Richard Owen and others who have never been in that country, I insist that they are mistaken.

It is true that one of the tribes living north of the Gaboon has a name for this animal, but it does notfollow that he lives in that country. The Orunga tribe have a name for lion, but there is not such a beast within 400 miles of their country, and not one of that tribe ever saw one.

A vast number of specimens have been secured at Gaboon, but they have been brought there from far away, because it is the chief town of the colony, and there are more white men there to buy them than elsewhere. It is quite impossible for a stranger to ascertain what part a specimen is brought from. The native hunter will not tell the truth lest some one else should find the game and thus deprive him of its capture and sale.

I once saw a specimen at Cameroon, and was told that it had been captured in that valley fifty miles from the coast; but I hunted up its history and found with absolute certainty that it was captured near Mayumba, 200 miles south of Gaboon. Even with the greatest care in hunting up the history of specimens one may fail, and often does in tracing it to its true source, but every one so far, that I have followed up, has been brought somewhere within the limits I have laid down. Contrary to the statement of some authorities that these apes "have never been seen on the coast" since 1852, the greatest number of them are found near the coast. I do not mean to say that they sit on the sand along the beach, or bathe in the surf, but they live in the jungle of that part.

Along the Lower Congo the gorilla is known only in name, and scores of the natives do not know eventhat. The nearest point to that river that I have been able to locate the gorilla as a native, is in the territory about sixty or seventy miles north-west of Stanley Pool.

I am indebted to the late Carl Steckelmann, who was drowned at Mayumba in my presence last October. He was an old resident of the coast, a good explorer, a careful observer, and an extensive traveller. I knew him well, and secured from him much information concerning the gorilla. He traced out with me, on a map, what he believed to be the south and south-east limits of the gorilla. Not thirty minutes before the fatal accident in which he lost his life, I had closed arrangements with him to make an expedition from Mayumba to the Congo, near Stanley Pool, by one route, and return by another, but his death prevented its fulfilment.

Dr. Wilson, who was the first missionary at Gaboon and located there in 1842, wrote a lexicon of the native language about six years after that time. In this he entirely omits the name of the gorilla. Dr. Walker eight years later gave the definition, "a monkey larger than a man." But he had never seen a specimen of the ape, except the skulls and a skeleton which were brought from other parts. It is true that Dr. Savage first learned at Gaboon about the gorilla, and secured a skull at that place from which he made drawings, and on which account his name was attached to the animal in Natural History. Dr. Ford a few years later sent the first skeleton to America, and Captain Harris sent thefirst to England. The former is in the Museum of Zoology at Philadelphia. Both of these specimens may have come from any place a hundred miles away from Gaboon.

It is possible at this early date the gorilla may have occupied the peninsula south of the Gaboon River, in greater numbers than he has ever done since, because up to that time there had been no demand for him; but if such was true at that time, it is not so now, and if he is not extinct in that part, he is so rare as to make it doubtful whether or not he is found there at all.

In four journeys along the Ogowe River and the lakes of that valley, I made careful inquiries at many of the towns, and the natives assured me that the gorillas lived on the south side of that river. I spent five days at the village of Mbiro, which is located on the north side of the river and about fifty miles from the coast. There I was told by the native woodsmen that no gorillas lived on the north side, but there were plenty of them along the lakes south of the river. They said that in the forest back of that town were plenty of chimpanzees, and that they were sometimes mistaken for gorillas, but there were absolutely none of the latter in that part. In view of these and countless other facts, I deem it safe to say that few or no gorillas can be found north of the Ogowe River at any point, and I even doubt if the specimen heard of on the Komo was a genuine gorilla. The natives sometimes claim to have something of the kind for sale in order to get a bonusfrom some trader, when in truth he may not have anything of the kind.

The only point north of the Ogowe at which I had any reason to believe a gorilla could be found was in the neighbourhood of a small lake called Inenga. This lake is nearly due west from the mouth of the Nguni River and something more than a hundred miles from the coast. Certain reports along that part appeared to have some flavour of truth, but there was no proof except the word of the natives.

In the lake region south of the river they are fairly abundant as far south as the head-waters of the Rembo Nkami and through the low country of the Esyira tribe, but they are very rare in the forests, and unknown in the highlands and plains of this country. South of the Chi Loango they are quite unknown, and south of the Congo never heard of.

There are no means possible to estimate their number, but they are not so numerous as may be supposed, and from the reckless slaughter of them by the natives in order to secure them for white men, they may soon become extinct. Their ferocity alone has saved them up to this time from such a fate, but the use of approved arms will soon overcome that.

The skeleton of the gorilla is so nearly the same as that of the chimpanzee, which has elsewhere been compared to the human skeleton, that we shall not review the comparison at length, but must note one marked feature in the external form of the skull, which differs alike from other apes and man.

The skull of the young gorilla is much like that ofthe chimpanzee, and remains so until he approaches the adult state; but as he approaches this period, the ridge above the eyes becomes more prominent, and at the same time a sharp, bony ridge begins to develop along the temples, and continues around the back of the head on that part of the skull called the occiput. At this point it is intersected by another ridge at right angles to it. This is called the sagittal ridge, and runs along the top of the head towards the face; but on the forehead it flattens nearly to the level of the skull, and divides into two very low ridges, which turn off to a point above the eyes and merges into that ridge. These appear to be a continuous part of the skull, and are not joined to it by sutures. The mesial crest in very old specimens rises to the height of nearly two inches above the surface of the skull, and imparts to it a fierce and savage aspect; but in the living animal the crests are not seen, as the depressions between them are filled with large muscles, which make the head look very much larger than it would otherwise. These crests affect only the exterior of the skull, and do not appear to alter the form or size of the brain cavity, which is larger in proportion than that of the chimpanzee. These crests are peculiar to the male gorilla, and the female skull shows no trace of them.

PLATE I

PLATE II

There is at least one case in which this crest has failed to develop in the male. By reference to the series of skulls found in the cuts given herewith, No. 6 is that of an adult male, which I know to be such, as I dissected him and prepared the skeletonmyself. He was killed in the basin of Lake Fernan Vaz, not more than two or three hours from my cage, and his body was brought to me at once. A good idea of his size can be obtained by reference to another cut given herewith, where I have some natives skinning him. In this picture he is sitting flat on the sand; his body is limp, and is somewhat shorter than it was in life, and yet it can be seen that the top of his head is higher than the hip of the man who is holding him. On the left of the gorilla, in the foreground, sits the man who killed him. He is sitting on a log, and it did not occur to me until too late to place them side by side in order to make a comparison. The body and head of this gorilla as he sits measured nearly four feet from the base of the spinal column to the top of the head. I did not weigh him, but made an estimate by lifting him in my hand, and believed he weighed at least 240 lbs. Yet he was not an old specimen, but if compared to No. 7, in which the crests are well developed, it is found to be larger, and other things point to the fact that he was older.

I am aware that one specimen of itself does not prove anything, but it shows in this case that this ape does not always develop that crest. His head was surmounted by the red crown which we have described, and No. 1, which is the skull of Othello, had the same mark. He was captured near the place where No. 6 was killed. No. 2, which is the skull of a young female nearly four years old, had the same, and she was also captured in the same basin, but on the opposite side of the lake.

The facial bones of No. 6 showed that the animal had received a severe blow in early life, but the fragments had knitted together, and the effect could not be seen in the face of the ape while alive. In this same picture it will be noticed that the lower lip hangs down so low that the mouth is opened. The lip is very massive and mobile, and in this character he resembles the negro. The lower lip is much thicker and more flexible than the upper.

No. 8 is the skull of a large male from Lake Izanga, which is on the south side of the Ogowe River, more than a hundred miles from the coast, and is one of the three centres of population mentioned. I do not know its history. It was presented to me by Mr. James Deemin, an English trader with whom I travelled many days in the Ogowe River; and I wish here to take occasion to express my sincere thanks to him for the many kindnesses extended to me.

No. 5 is the skull of an adult female. By comparing it in profile to No. 6 it will be seen that they resemble, but the muzzle of the latter projects a little more, and the curvature of the skull across the top is less: the distance a little greater.

Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are female; the others are all male.

Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 belong to the Liverpool Museum, but are shown here for comparison. The other four are all at Toronto University.

While this series is not complete in either sex, it is an excellent one for comparative study.

I do not know whether the heads of those with the crests were the same colour as No. 6 or not, but thentyii, which I have mentioned as possibly a new species of the gorilla, does not have this crown of red. His ears are also said to be larger than those of the gorilla, but smaller than the chimpanzee's, and he is reputed to grow to a larger size than either of them.

The skin of the gorilla is a dull black or mummy colour over the body, but that of the face is a jet black, quite smooth and soft. It looks almost like velvet.

One fact peculiar to this ape is, that the palms of both hands and feet are perfectly black. In other animals these are usually lighter in colour than the exposed parts. In all races of men, in all other apes, monkeys, baboons, and lemurs, the palms are lighter than the backs of the hands, and the same is true of the feet. The thumb of the gorilla is more perfect than that of the chimpanzee, yet it is smaller in proportion to the hand than in man. The hand is very large, but has more the shape of the hand of a woman than that of man. The fingers taper in a graceful manner, but appear much shorter, by reason of the web alluded to, than they really are. It is not really a web, in the true sense, but the integument between the fingers is extended down almost to the second joint, but the forward edge of the web, when the fingers are spread, is concave; when brought together, the skin on theknuckles becomes wrinkled, and the web almost disappears. This effect is more readily noticed in the living animal than in the dead. The texture of the skin in the palms is coarsely granulated, and the palmar lines are indistinct. The great toe sets at an angle from the side of the foot, like a thumb, but has more prehensile power than that of the hand; but the foot is much less flexible, and has less prehensile power.

At this point I desire to draw attention to one important fact. The tendons of the foot, which open and close the digits, are imbedded in the palm in a deep layer of coarse, gristly matter, which forms a pad, as it were, under the sole of the foot, and prevents it from bending; therefore it is not possible for the gorilla to sleep on a perch. In this respect he resembles man more than the chimpanzee does, but it is quite certain that neither of them have the arboreal habit. The gorilla is an expert climber, but cannot sleep in a tree. In the hand the tendons which close the fingers are the same length as the line of the bones, and this permits him to open the fingers to a straight line, which the chimpanzee cannot do.

One other important point I desire to mention. The muscles in the leg of a gorilla will not permit it to stand or walk erect. The large muscle at the back of the leg is shorter than the line of the bones of the leg above and below the knee; and when this muscle is brought to a tension, those bones form an angle of about 130 degrees, or thereabouts;and so long as the sum of two sides of a triangle is greater than the other side, a gorilla can never bring his leg into a straight line. In the infant state the muscle is pliant or elastic, and the bones less rigid, so that in that state it can be made nearly straight. The habit of hanging by the arms and walking with them in a straight line develops the corresponding muscle in that member, so that the bones can be brought in line.

The gorilla can stand upon his feet alone, and walk a few steps in that position; but his motion is awkward, because his knees turn outward, forming an angle of 30 or 35 degrees on either side of the mesial plain. He never attempts to walk in this position, except at perfect leisure, and then usually holds on to something with his hands. The tallest gorilla known, when perfectly erect, is about 6 feet 2 inches.

The leg of the gorilla from the knee to the ankle is almost the same size. In the human leg there is what is called the "calf" of the leg, but this in the apes is very small; however, there is a slight tendency in that direction, and it must be noted that in the human species the calf of the leg appears to belong to the higher types of men; and as we descend from the highest races of mankind this character disappears as we approach the savage. The pigmies and the bushmen have the smallest of any other men. It is not to be inferred from this that apes would ever have this feature developed in them by elevating them to a higher plane so longas they remained apes; but it is possible that such a result would follow in the course of time.

One thing which tends to lessen this in the gorilla is the size of the muscles about the ankle and the flexibility of that joint. Also the joint of the knee, being much larger in proportion to the leg, makes the calf appear smaller than it really is.

The corresponding part of the arm is more like that part of the human body.

In a sitting posture the gorilla rests his body upon the ischial bones, with his legs extended or crossed, while the chimpanzee usually squats, resting those bones upon his heels. He sometimes sits, but more frequently squats. When in these attitudes, both usually fold their arms across their breasts.

The hair of the gorilla is irregular in growth. It is more dense than that of the chimpanzee, but less uniform in size and distribution. On the breast it is very sparse, on the arms, long, and on the back, dense, and interspersed with long coarse hairs. The ground of colour is black, but the extreme end of the hair is tipped with pale white. This is so in early youth, and with age the white encroaches, until, in extreme age, the animal is quite grey. The top of the head is covered with a thick growth of short hair, of a dark tan colour, which looks almost like a wig. This mark seems to be peculiar to certain localities, but is uniform among those captured in the Fernan Vaz basin.

YOUNG GORILLA WALKING

A white trader living on this lake claims to have seen a gorilla which was perfectly white. It wasseen on the plain near the lake. It was in company with three or four others. It was thought to be an albino, but in my opinion it was only a very aged specimen turned grey. A few of them have been secured that were almost white. It is not, however, such a shade of white as would be found in an animal whose normal colour is white. I cannot vouch for the colour of this ape seen on the plain, but there must have been something peculiar in it to attract so much attention among the natives.

So far, only one species of this ape is known to science, but there are reasons to believe that two species exist. In the forest regions of Esyira the natives described to me another kind of ape, which they averred was a half-brother to the gorilla. They know the gorilla by the native namenjina, and the other type by the namentyii. They did not confuse this with the native namentyigo, which is the name of the chimpanzee, nor withkulu-kamba, all of which are known to them; but they described in detail, and quite correctly, the three known kinds of ape, and in addition gave me a minute account of the appearance and habits of the fourth kind, which I believe to be another species of the gorilla. They claim that he is more intelligent and human-like than any one of the others; and they say that his superior wisdom makes him more alert, and therefore more difficult to find. He is said always to live in parts of the forest most remote from human habitation.

The dental formula of the gorilla is the same asthat of man, but the teeth are larger and stronger, and the canine teeth are developed almost into huge tusks. One thing to be remarked is the great variety of malformations in the teeth of this animal. It is a rare thing to find among them a perfect set of teeth, except in infancy. The cause of this appears to be violence or accident.

The eyes of the gorilla are large, dark, and expressive, but there is no trace of white in them. That part of the eye which is white in man is a dark coffee-brown in the gorilla, but becomes lighter as it approaches the base of the optic nerve. The taxidermist or the artist, who often furnishes him with a white spot in the corner of his eye, does violence to the subject; and those who pose the animal with his mouth open like a fly-trap, and his arms raised like a lancer, ought to be banished from good society. It is true that such things lend an aspect of ferocity to the creature, but they are caricatures of the thing they mean to portray.

The ears of the gorilla are very small, and lie close to the sides of the head. The model of them is much like the human ear.

I shall not pursue the comparison into minute details, but leave that to the specialist, in whose hands it will be treated with more skill and greater scope. As my especial line of research has been in the study of their speech and habits, I shall confine myself to that, but the general comparison I have made is necessary to a better understanding of the subject.

A study of the habits of the gorilla in a wild state is attended with much difficulty, but the results that I obtained during a sojourn of one year among them are an ample reward for the efforts made. In a state of captivity the habits of animals are made to conform in a measure to their surroundings, and since those are different many of their habits differ also. Some are foregone, others modified, and new ones acquired, therefore we cannot know with certainty what the animal was in a state of nature. In the social life of the gorilla there are a few things perhaps that differ very much from that of the chimpanzee, but there are some that do in a certain degree. From the native accounts of the modes of life of these two apes, there would appear to be a much greater difference than a systematic study of them reveals; but the native version of things frequently has a germ of truth which may serve as a clue to the facts in the case; and while we cannot rely upon the tales they relate in all details, we can forgive the mendacity and make use of the suggestion they furnish.

It is certain that the gorilla is polygamous in habit, and it is probable that he has an incipient idea of government. Within certain limits he has a faint perception of order and justice, if not of right and wrong. I do not mean to ascribe to him the highest attributes of man, or exalt him above the plane to which his faculties assign him; but there are reasons to justify the belief that he occupies a higher social and mental sphere than other animals, except the chimpanzee.

In the beginning of his career, in independent life, the gorilla selects a wife with whom he appears to sustain the conjugal relations thereafter, and preserves a certain degree of marital fidelity. From time to time he adopts a new wife, but does not discard the old one; in this manner he gathers around him a numerous family, consisting of his wives and their children. Each mother nurses and cares for her own young, but all of them grow up together as the children of one family. There is no doubt that the mother sometimes corrects and sometimes chastises her young, which suggests a vague idea of propriety. The father exercises the function of patriarch in the sense of a ruler, and the natives call himikomba njina, which means gorilla king. To him the others all show a certain amount of deference. Whether this is due to fear or to respect, however, is not certain, but here is at least the first principle of dignity.

The gorilla family, consisting of this one adult male and a number of females and their young, arewithin themselves a nation. There do not appear to be any social relations between different families, but within the same household there is apparent harmony.

The gorilla is nomadic, and rarely ever spends two nights in the same place. Each family roams about in the bush from place to place in search of food, and wherever they may be when night comes on they select a place to sleep and retire. The largest family of gorillas that I have ever heard of was estimated to contain twenty members. But the usual number is not more than ten or twelve. The chimpanzee appears to go in larger groups than these, and sometimes in a single group two or even three adult males have been seen. When the young gorilla approaches the adult state, he leaves the family group, finds himself a mate, and sets out in the world for himself. I observed that, as a rule, when one gorilla was seen alone in the forest it was usually a young male, but nearly grown; it is probable that he was then in search of a wife. At other times two only are seen together, and in this event they are usually a pair of male and female, and generally young. Again, it sometimes occurs that three adults are seen with two or three children; often one of the children two or three years old, and the others a year younger, which would indicate that the male had had one of his wives much longer than the other. In large families young ones of all ages, from one year old to five or six years old, are seen; but the fact is plain that the older children are much fewer innumber. I have once seen a large female with her babe, quite alone; whether she lived alone or was only absent for the moment I cannot tell.

The king gorilla does not provide food for his family, but, on the contrary, it is said they provide for him. I have been informed on two occasions, from different sources, that the king gorilla has been seen sitting quietly under the shade of a tree, eating, while the others collected and brought to him the food. I have never witnessed such a scene myself, but it does not seem probable that the same story would have come from two sources unless there was some foundation for it.

In the matter of government, the gorilla appears to be somewhat more advanced than most animals. He leads the others on the march, and selects their feeding grounds and places to sleep; he breaks camp, and the others all obey him in these respects. Other animals that travel in groups do the same thing; but in addition to this, the natives aver that the gorillas from time to time hold palavers or a rude form of court or council in the jungle. On these occasions, it is said the king presides; that he sits alone in the centre, while the others stand or sit in a rough semicircle about him, and talk in an excited manner. Sometimes the whole of them are talking at once, but what it means or alludes to no native undertakes to say, except that it has the nature of a quarrel. To what extent the king gorilla exercises the judicial function is a matter of grave doubt, but there appears to be some real ground for the story.

As to the succession of the kingship there is no certainty, but the facts point to the belief that on the death of the king, if there be an adult male he assumes the royal prerogative, otherwise the family disbands, and they are absorbed by or attached to other families. Whether this new leader is elected in the manner that other animals appoint a leader, or assumes it by reason of his age, cannot be said; but there is no doubt that in many instances families remain intact for a time after the death of their leader.

It has been said by many that the gorilla builds a rude hut or shelter for himself and family, but I have found no evidence that such is true. The natives declare that he does so, and some white men affirm the same; but during my travels through their habitat, I offered liberal and frequent rewards to any native who would show me one of these specimens of simian architecture, but I was never able to find any trace of one made or occupied by any ape. They may sometimes, and doubtless do, take shelter from the tornadoes, but it is always under some fallen tree or cluster of broad leaves, and there is nothing to show that they arrange any part of them. So far as I could find, there is no proof that any gorilla ever put two sticks together with the idea of shelter. As to his throwing sticks or stones at an enemy, I have found nothing to verify it; in my opinion, it is a mere freak of fancy.

The current opinion or idea that a gorilla will attack a man without being provoked to it, is anerror. He is shy and timid, and shrinks alike from man and other large animals. I have no doubt that when he is in a rage he is both fierce and powerful, but his ferocity and strength are rated above their true value. In combat he is a stubborn foe no doubt, but no one that I have met has ever seen him thus engaged.

The mode of attack as described by many travellers is a mere theory. It is said in this act he walks erect, beats with fury on his breast, roars and yells, and in this manner seizes his adversary, tears open his breast, and drinks the blood. I have never seen a large gorilla in the act of assault. During the time of my stay in the jungle I had a young gorilla in captivity, and I made use of him in studying the habits of his race. I kept him tied with a long line which allowed him room to play and climb, and at the same time prevented him from escaping into the forest, which he always tried to do the instant he was released. I released him frequently for the purpose of watching his mode of attack when recaptured. While being pursued he rarely looked back, but when overtaken he invariably assailed his captor. This gave me an opportunity of seeing his method of attack, in which he displayed both skill and judgment. As my boy would approach him, he would calmly turn with one side to the foe and, without facing the boy, would roll his eyes in such a manner as to see him and at the same time conceal his purpose. When the boy came within reach, the gorilla would grasp him with a thrust of the arm toone side and slightly backward. When he had seized his adversary by the leg, he would instantly swing the other arm round with a long sweep and strike the boy a hard blow; then he began to use his teeth. He seemed to depend more upon the blow than the grasp, but the latter served to hold the object of attack within reach; in every case he kept one arm and one leg in reserve until he had seized his adversary. It is true that these attacks were made upon an enemy in pursuit, but his mode appeared to be a normal one; he could strike a severe blow, and did not show any sign of tearing or scratching his opponent. In these attacks he made no sound of any kind. I do not pretend to say that other gorillas do not scream or tear their victims, but I take it that the habits of the young are much, if not quite, the same as those of their parents, and from a study of this specimen I am forced to modify many opinions imbibed from reading or from pictures and specimens which I have seen. Many of them represent the gorilla in absurd and sometimes impossible attitudes. They certainly do not represent him as I have seen him in his native wilds.

When the chimpanzee attacks, so far as I have seen among my own specimens, he approaches his enemy and strikes with both hands, one slightly in advance of the other. After striking a few blows, he will grasp his opponent and use his teeth, then shoving him away again uses his hands, and usually, on beginning the attack, accompanies the assault with a loud, piercing scream. Neither he nor thegorilla closes the hand to strike, nor uses any weapon except the hands and teeth. I had another young female gorilla for a short time as a subject for study. Her mode of attack appeared to be the same, but she was too large to risk in such experiments.

I have read and heard descriptions of the sounds made by the gorilla, but nothing ever conveyed to my mind an adequate idea of their true nature, until I heard them myself within a few hundred feet of my cage in the dead of night. By some it has been called roaring, and by others howling; but it is neither truly a roar nor a howl. They utter a peculiar combination of sounds, beginning in a low, smooth tone, which rapidly increases in pitch and frequency, until it becomes a terrific scream. The first part of the series is quite within the scope of the human voice, but as it rises in pitch and increases in volume it passes far beyond the reach of the human lungs. The first sound of the series and each alternate sound is made by expiration, while the intermediate ones appear to be by inspiration, but how it is accomplished is difficult to say. The sound as a whole resembles the braying of an ass, except the notes are shorter, the climax higher, and the sound is louder. A gorilla does not yell in this manner every night, but when he does so it is usually between two and five o'clock in the morning; I have never heard the sound during the day nor in the early part of the night. When he thus screams, he repeats the series from ten to twenty times, at intervals of one or two minutes each.I know of nothing in the way of vocal sounds that can inspire such terror as the voice of the gorilla. It can be heard over a distance of three or four miles. I could assign no definite meaning to it unless it was intended to alarm some intruder that came too near.

One morning between three and four o'clock I heard two of them screaming at the same time. I do not mean to say at the same instant, but at intervals during the same period of time. One of them was within about a third of a mile of me, and the other in another direction perhaps a mile away. The points we occupied respectively formed a scalene triangle. The sounds did not appear to have any reference to each other. Sometimes they would alternate, and at other times they would interrupt each other. They were both made by giants of their kind, and every leaf in the forest vibrated with the sound. This was during the latter part of May. They do scream in this way from time to time throughout the year, but it is most frequent and violent during February and March.

This wild screaming is sometimes accompanied by a peculiar beating sound. It has been described by travellers, and currently believed to be made by the animal beating with his hands upon his breast; but such is not the case. It is very certain that the sound cannot be made by that means. The quality of the sound shows that such cannot be the means employed. I have heard this beating several times, and have paid marked attention to its character. Ata great distance it would be difficult to discern the exact quality; but on one occasion, while stopping over-night in a native town, I was aroused from sleep by a gorilla screaming and beating within a few hundred yards. I put on my boots, took my rifle, and cautiously crossed the open ground between the village and the forest. This brought me within about two hundred yards of the animal. The moon was faintly shining, but I could not see the beast, and I had no desire to approach nearer at such a time, but I heard distinctly every stroke. I believe the sound was made by beating upon a log or piece of dead wood. He was beating with both hands, the strokes alternating with great rapidity, and not unlike the manner in which the natives beat a drum, except that the hand made the same number of strokes, and the strokes were in a constant series, rising and falling from very soft to very loud, andvice versâ. A number of these runs followed one another during the time the voice continued. Between the first and second strokes the interval was slightly longer than that between the second and third, and so on through the scale. As the beating increased in loudness the interval shortened in an inverse degree, while in descending the scale the intervals lengthened as the beating softened, and the author of the sound was conscious of this fact. I could trace no relation in time or harmony between the sound of the voice and the beating, except that they began at the same time and ended at the same time. The same series of vocal sounds was repeated each time, beginning onthe low note and ending on the highest note or pitch in each case, while the rise and fall of the series of the beaten sounds was not measured by the duration of the voice. The series each time began with a soft note, but ended at any part of the scale at which the voice ceased, and was not the same in every case.

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