ORDER PRIMATES: PRIMATES 169 



Gorillas have been reported actually on the coast, but generally they 

 are found not closer than thirty miles from the sea. They seem 

 especially plentiful along the Gaboon, Ogowe, Camp, and Sanaga 

 Rivers." (Coolidge, 1929, p. 363.) More recently the range has been 

 found to extend somewhat eastward of the Sanga River in French 

 Equatorial Africa (Coolidge, 1936, p. 493, maps 1-2). The total 

 range of the Coast Gorilla seems to be strictly confined to the west- 

 ern portion of the Lower Guinea Forest District of Chapin (1932, 

 p. 90) and of Bowen (1933, pp. 256, 258). 



Gabun. "They live in herds, the females exceeding the males in 

 number. . . . They are exceedingly ferocious, and objects of terror 

 to the natives, who seldom encounter them except on the defensive. 

 The killing of an Engeena is considered an act of great skill and 

 courage, and brings to the victor signal honor. . . . 



"Their flesh, when obtained, is eaten by the natives, as well as 

 that of the Chimpanzee." (Savage and Wyman, 1847, p. 246.) 



Du Chaillu's classical account of the Gorilla (1861, pp. 388- 

 404) is based upon his experiences in Gabun. Among other things, 

 he says (pp. 399-400) : "The negroes never attack them with other 

 weapons than guns; and in those parts of the far interior where no 

 European guns had yet reached, as among the Apingi, this great 

 beast roamed unmolested, the monarch of the forest." 



"The Fernan Vaz District ... is considered the best region 

 for both the gorilla and the chimpanzee." One "family party of 

 five or more gorillas" was encountered, and on another occasion 

 "a large family" was reported. The animal will occasionally ad- 

 vance to attack when not wounded. (Aschemeier, 1921, pp. 90-92.) 



"The majority of the Gaboon skulls have come out from the 

 region of the Ogowe River" (Coolidge, 1929, p. 303). 



A. R. Maclatchy (in litt., February 5, 1937) gives the following 

 report for Gabun: "The decree of 1929 classed the gorilla among 

 the protected species. Its great vulnerability makes it an adversary 

 much less dangerous than the buffalo and the elephant. It rarely 

 pushes its attack to the limit. Sometimes it visits the native plan- 

 tations by night. Its food consists of various plants. I do not see 

 the reasons for a protection as strict as that which the gorilla 

 enjoys. It is little hunted, except in legitimate defense, by the 

 natives, who have a superstitious terror of it, and by a few hardy 

 European sportsmen. It scarcely seems to be threatened with de- 

 struction. It really abounds, and is protected by its habitat and 

 by its natural shyness. More specimens could be allowed on hunting 

 permits without the risk of diminishing its numbers." 



Cameroons. In the southeastern corner of Cameroons, and per- 

 haps also across the boundary in French Equatorial Africa, the 

 Gorilla appears quite common, and almost entirely inoffensive as 



