22 



APES, MONKEYS, AND LEMURS 



on the ground, it is upright, with the hands on the nape of the neck. They sleep 

 on trees, and make a covering over their heads to shelter them from the rain. They 

 eat no flesh, but feed on nuts and other fruits ; nor have they any understanding be- 

 yond instinct. When the people of the country travel through the woods they 

 make fires in the night, and in the morning when they are gone the pongos will 

 come and sit round it till it goes out, for they do not possess sagacity enough to lay 

 on more wood. They go in bodies to kill many negroes who travel in the wood. 

 When elephants happen to come and feed where they are, they will fall on them, and 



HEAD OF CHIMPANZEE. 



so beat them with their clubbed fists and sticks, that they are forced to run away 

 roaring. The grown pongos are never taken alive, owing to their strength, which 

 is so great that ten men cannot hold one of them. The young hang upon their 

 mother's belly with their hands clasped about her. Many of them are taken by 

 shooting the mothers with poisoned arrows. ' ' 



From that date our knowledge of these animals has been gradually added to, 

 although there is still room for fuller authentic accounts of their habits in a state of 

 nature. Young chimpanzees have been frequently brought alive to Europe, and 

 exhibited in the Zoological Gardens of this and other countries. They require, 

 however, the greatest care and attention, and even with these they invariably die 



