DISTRIBUTION, HABITS, AND NATIVE NAMES, 229 



termed matombe by the natives. Ferns, or rather 

 tree-ferns, are not wanting, and the ground is 

 covered with dead leaves. The trees of this forest 

 have been untouched by the axe, except in ph\ces 

 cleared for the construction of a new village. 

 Where a tree falls there it lies, encumbering, as it 

 may for years, the narrow path which leads through 

 the thicket. An eternal twilight always prevails 

 here, and on cloudy days it might be supposed 

 that the sun was eclipsed. The atmosphere is close 

 and damp, like that of a hothouse, and its weight 

 is most depressing to mind and body. The dense 

 stillness is rarely broken by the wailing cry of 

 a bird, and no wild creature can be seen. Those 

 who wander in these forests are always going up 

 or down hill, since there is no level ground, and 

 by paths scarcely wide enough for a white man, 

 which are covered witli smooth and slippery roots, 

 while the feet and clothes are constantly caught by 

 boughs and lianas, which also sting the face, so that 

 the traveller longs for free, unimpeded motion, for 

 • light and air, and rejoices to see the cleared space 

 on which the village of Bayoma stands, surrounded 

 by palms and bananas.* In the work I have quoted 

 on the Loango Expedition, a fine water-colour 

 drawing, by Pechuel-Losche, of a forest frequented 

 by gorillas is reproduced, and 1 subjoin a copy of 

 this interesting illustration (Fig. G2). 



The gorilla lives in a society consisting of male 

 and female and their young of varying ages, and 

 the family group inhabits the recesses of the 



* Die Loango Expedition, p. 103, 

 11 



