Prof. Owen on the Gorilla, 397 



stood some distance from the nearest clump. She descended the tree 

 with her youngest cUnging to her neck, and made off rapidly on all 

 fours to the forest, and escaped. The deserted young one on seeing 

 the approach of the men began to utter piercing cries : the mother, 

 having disposed of her infant in safety, returned to rescue the older 

 offspring, but before she could descend with it her retreat was cut off. 

 Seeing one of the negroes level his musket at her, she, clasping her 

 young with one arm, waved the other, as if deprecating the shot : 

 the ball passed through her heart, and she fell with her young one 

 clinging to her. It was a male, and survived the voyage to Havre, 

 where it died on arriving. Professor Owen had examined the skeleton 

 of this young Gorilla in the museum of natural history at Caen, and 

 was indebted to Professor Deslongchamps, Dean of the Faculty of 

 Sciences in that town, for drawings of the skeleton of this rare specimen. 



There might be more difficulty in obtaining a young Gorilla for 

 exhibition than a young Chimpanzee ; but as no full-grown Chimpan- 

 zee has ever been captured, we cannot expect the larger and much 

 more powerful adult Gorilla to be ever taken alive. A bold negro, 

 the leader of an elephant-hunting expedition, being offered a hundred 

 dollars if he would bring back a live Gorilla, replied, " If you gave me 

 the weight of yonder hill in gold coins, I could not do it ! " 



All the terms of the aborigines in reference to the Gorilla imply 

 their opinion of his close kinship to themselves. But they have a 

 low opinion of his intelligence. They say that during the rainy 

 season he builds a house without a roof. The natives on their hunt- 

 ing excursions light fires for their comfort and protection by night ; 

 when they have gone away, they affirm that the Gorilla will come 

 down and warm himself at the smouldering embers, but has not wit 

 enough to throw on more wood, out of the surrounding abundance, 

 to keep the fire burning, — "the stupid old man ! " 



Every account of the habits of a wild animal obtained at second 

 hand from the reports of aborigines has, commonly, its proportion of 

 ** apocrypha." The author had restricted himself to the statements 

 that had most probability and were in accordance with the ascertained 

 structures and powers of the animal, and would only add the averment 

 and belief of the Gaboon negroes, that when a Gorilla dies, his fellows 

 cover the corpse with a heap of leaves and loose earth collected and 

 scraped up for the purpose. 



A most singular phenomenon in natural history, if one reflects on 

 the relations of things, is this Gorilla ! Limited as it is in its numbers 

 and geographical range, one discerns that the very peculiar conditions 

 of its existence — abundance of wild fruit — needs must be restricted 

 in space ; but concurring in a certain part of Africa, there lives the 

 creature to enjoy them. 



The like conditions exist in Borneo and Sumatra, and there also a 

 correlative human-like ape, of similar nature, tooth-armour, and force, 

 exists at their expense. Neither Ourangs nor Gorillas however 

 minister to man's use either directly or indirectly. Were they to 

 become extinct, no sign of the change or break in the links of life 

 would remain. What may be their real significance ? 



