HABITS OF THE GORILLA. 2$ 



Battell, towards the end of the sixteenth century, describes two mon- 

 strous apes, which he names the Pongo and the Ensego. Another trav- 

 eler calls by the name Impungoo " this monstrous production of Nature, 

 which grows to the height of from seven to nine feet." In 1846, we began 

 to receive more authentic accounts of this gigantic ape. The Reverend 

 Mr. Leighton Wilson of New York, a missionary at the Gaboons, saw a 

 dead Gorilla and obtained a skull, which he forwarded to Dr. Savage. 

 The same missionary procured another skull and part of a skeleton, 

 which he presented to the Natural History Society of Boston, Mass. 

 In 1852, Ford gave accovmts agreeing in all points with those of the 

 gentlemen just mentioned; and finally, in 1867, Du Chaillu's great 

 book, " Equatorial Africa," appeared. He tells how the king of the 

 African forests stood suddenly before him, with his powerful chest, his 

 mighty arms, his glittering eyes, and a countenance with a truly hellish 

 expression. He stood and beat his breast with his huge hands till it 

 echoed like a drum, while he uttered terrible roars. The eyes of the 

 creature grew fiercer, his hair began to bristle, he showed his savage 

 teeth and repeated his thundering roar. He came within ten steps of 

 the intrepid traveler, and roared ; he came nearer, and again drummed 

 on his echoing breast. When he was six paces distant Du Chaillu fired, 

 and the creature, with a groan awfully human and yet thoroughly brutal, 

 fell dead on his face. The limbs quivered for a few minutes, then all 

 was still. Whatever suspicion Du Chaillu's passion for fine writing may 

 have at first aroused, it is now agreed that his account of the Gorilla is 

 trustworthy. He agrees with the celebrated English philosopher, Owen, 

 in placing it in the scale of animals next to man, and adds that, in hunting 

 the Gorilla, " I have never been able to maintain the indifference, much 

 less experience the triumphant joy of a hunter. It always seemed as if 

 a fellow-creature, a monstrous one it is true, but still having about it 

 something human, was my victim. It was a delusion ; I knew it> but yet 

 the feeling was stronger than myself." 



The Gorilla lives in the loneliest and darkest spots of the dense 

 African forest, preferring for his residence deep valleys, or rugged and 

 rocky heights in the neighborhood of water. It is a restless animal, 

 seldom two days together in the same place. This wandering is ren- 

 dered necessary by the difficulty of procuring food ; for although the 

 Gorilla has enormous canines and is said to hunt the lion, it really is 

 exclusively a feeder on plants. Its favorite food is fruit, nuts, banana 

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