TAILLESS TREE-CLIMBERS OF THE WILDS. 251 



interlaced branches, well thatched with leaves, and im- 

 penetrable to water ; fixed by firmly-tied bands, it is gen- 

 erally from six to eight feet in diameter, and presents the 

 form of a dome, an arrangement which readily throws off 

 the rain. The male and the female share in the building 

 of the hut ; but the female and her young alone occupy 

 it, the male remaining outside. The nests, in shape and 

 manner of structure, are very much like those of the sav- 

 ages who inhabit the same region. 



9. Dr. Brehm, the German naturalist, says : " It is 

 really impossible to treat the chimpanzee like an animal ; 

 his character and general behavior show so much of hu- 

 manity that men are induced to commune with him in the 

 same way as with their equals. In captivity he is per- 

 fectly conscious of his position, and subordinates himself 

 willingly to the superior mental gifts and capacities of 

 mankind, but holds himself better and higher than other 

 animals, especially than other monkeys. Paying, in every 

 instance, high regard to men, he likes children if they do 

 not tease and molest him. Sportive and humorous, he 

 indulges in joking with men and animals. 



10. " He is not only inquisitive, but eager to acquire 

 knowledge, examines carefully things strange to him, and 

 falls into ecstasy when he has found out their purpose and 

 learned to use them in the right way. While able to un- 

 derstand men and things, he is nevertheless modest and 

 kindly, seldom willful, and never stubborn, although he 

 claims what is in right due to him. Of variable temper, 

 he is now good-humored and jolly, now sad and morose, 

 and gives vent to his feelings as men do, but sometimes 

 in a more passionate way. 



11. "I was once the owner of a highly-educated chim- 

 panzee. He knew all the friends of the house, all our 

 acquaintances, and distinguished them readily from stran- 



