PREFACE. IX 



to the accounts I gave of the existence of several 

 distinct varieties, if not species, of chimpanzee, in 

 the present absence amongst naturalists of a definite 

 criterion of what constitutes a species, I must con- 

 tent myself by repeating that the negroes always 

 distinguish these different kinds, and zoologists 

 have published scientific descriptions of more than 

 one species, considered distinct, from other parts of 

 Western Tropical Africa. 



Concerning the gorilla, the greatest of all the 

 wonders of Western Equatorial Africa, I must refer 

 my readers to the body of tlie present volume for the 

 additional information I have been able to gather, 

 during my last journey, concerning this formidable 

 ape. It was not my object on the present journey 

 to slaughter unnecessarily these animals, as the j)rin- 

 cipal museums in civilized countries were already 

 well supplied with skins and skeletons, but I devoted 

 myself, when in the district inhabited by the gorilla, 

 to the further study of its habits, and the effort to 

 obtain the animal alive and send it to England ; ho]3- 

 ing that the observation of its actions in life would 

 enable persons in England to judge of the accuracy 

 of the description I gave of its disposition and habits ; 

 at least to some extent, as the actions of most animals 

 differ much in confinement from what they are in 

 the wild state. I had the good fortune again to see 

 the gorilla several times in its native wilds, and ob- 

 tained several living specimens through the natives. 

 Some of the statements relating to its habits, such 



