26 Professor Owen, [Feb. 4, 



equator to the 1 0th or 1 5th degree of south latitude. The part wiiere 

 the gorilla has been most frequently met with presents a succession of 

 hill and dale, the heights crowned with lofty trees, the valleys covered 

 by coarse grass, with partial scrub or scattered shrubs. Fruit trees of 

 various kinds abound both on the hills and in the valleys ; some that 

 are crude and uncared for by the negroes are sought out and greedily 

 eaten by the gorillas, and as different kinds come to maturity at different 

 seasons, they afford the great denizen of the woods a successive and 

 unfailing supply of these indigenous fruit trees. Professor Owen spe- 

 cified the following : — 



The palm-nut (Elais guiniensis) of which the gorillas greatly affect 

 the fruit and upper part of the stipe, called the " cabbage." The negroes 

 of the Gaboon have a tradition that their forefathers first learnt to eat 

 the " cabbage," from seeing the gorilla eat it, concluding that what was 

 good for him must be good for man. 



The "ginger-bread tree" (Parinarium excelsum), which bears a 

 plum-like fruit. 



The papau tree (Carica papaya). 



The banana {Musa sapientiwn), and another species {Musa para- 

 disaica). 



The Amomum Afzelii and Am. grandiflorum. 



A tree, with a shelled fruit, like a walnut, which the gorilla breaks 

 open with the blow of a stone. 



A tree, also botanically unknown, with a fruit like a cherry. 



Such fruits and other rich and nutritious productions of the vege- 

 table kingdom, constitute the staple food of the gorilla, as they do of 

 the chimpanzee. The molar teeth, which alone truly indicate the diet 

 of an animal, accord with the statements as to the frugivorous charac- 

 ter of the gorilla : but they also suflftciently answer to an omnivorous 

 habit to suggest that the eggs and callow brood of nests discovered in 

 the trees frequented by the gorilla might not be unacceptable. 



The gorilla makes a sleeping place like a hammock, connecting the 

 branches of a sheltered and thickly leaved part of a tree by means of 

 the long tough slender stems of parasitic plants, and lining it with the 

 broad dried fronds of palms, or with long grass. This hammock-like 

 abode may be seen at different heights, from 10 feet to 40 feet from the 

 ground, but there is never more than one such nest in a tree. 



They avoid the abodes of man, but are most commonly seen in the 

 months of September, October, and November, after the negroes have 

 gathered their outlying rice crops, and have returned from the " bush" 

 to the village. So observed, they are described to be usually in pairs ; 

 or, if more, the addition consists of a few young ones, of different 

 ages, and apparently of one family. The gorilla is not gregarious. The 

 parents may be seen sitting on a branch, resting the back against the 

 tree-trunk — the hair being generally rubbed off the back of the old 

 gorilla from that habit — perhaps munching their fruits, whilst the 

 young gorillas are at play, leaping and swinging from branch to branch, 

 with hoots or harsh cries of boisterous mirth. 



If the old male be seen alone, or when in quest of food, he is 



