ZOOLOGY .357 



hands hollow tree-trunks which they find in the forest, and of shouting 

 in acconopaninient to this primitive music. The chimpanzees are certainly 

 very noisy when they believe themselves to be unobserved. I have never 

 succeeded in seeing any of them in these Uganda forests ; but I have on 

 one or two occasions heard and recognised their shouting cries, so familiar 

 to me in the West African forests of the Cameroons and the Niger Delta. 



^Seeing what an interest was taken by us in these chimpanzees, the 

 obliging chiefs in Toro and Unyoro sent us sev^eral dead specimens, 

 the skins of which we were enabled to send home to the British ^luseum, 

 besides two living chimpanzees, one of which I kept for some time in 

 captivity. The first chimpanzee to arrive at Entebbe from Toro gave rise 

 to rather a tragic incident. It was the first that had come to hand. We 

 had been obliged to gi\e up our personal researches in Toro for lack of time, 

 and we left the Western Province of the Protectorate with a strong belief 

 in the existence of the chimpanzee (owing to the cries that were heard and 

 the stories of the natives), but with nothing to add scientific proof to this 

 conviction. But the king of Toro had interested himself much in these 

 researches, and with the aid of the collector of the district, the late ]Mr. 

 Baile, he organised a great hunt in one of the chimpanzee-haunted forests. 

 His men were provided with extensive nets, and they caught a large 

 chimpanzee in one of these. They transferred the struggling monstej,- 

 to a kind of crate made of strong, lithe branches. This was slung on poles 

 and carried on men's shoulders 180 miles to my residence. 



Arrived at Entebbe, the problem presenting itself to us was how to 

 withdraw this powerful and infuriated animal from its cramped confinement, 

 and how to keep it in captivity. It was decided to fasten a strong metal 

 collar round its neck, attaching the collar to a heavy iron chain, the 

 opposite end of which would be most securely tied to the trunk of a 

 growing tree. A hole was made in the withes which encircled the 

 struggling chimpanzee, and each hand or foot as it was thrust through 

 this hole was caught in a noose. At last all the four extremities of the 

 creature were thus secured and tied together. The withes were then cut 

 away, and the ape, hoarse with screaming and beside itself with rage, 

 floundered helpless on the ground. Then the metal collar was (as we 

 thought) securely fastened round the neck and rivetted to the chain, the 

 limbs were untied, and the creature was left to enjoy partial liberty. In 

 about two minutes, with its powerful hands it had wrenched apart the heavy 

 metal collar, which, with the chain, fell to the ground. The spectators 

 scattered right and left, and the a[)e scrambled up on to the branches 

 of a tall tree. The trees in the garden at Entebbe were linked In- 

 scattered forest to the dense woodland of the Botanical Gardens. Had the 

 chimpanzee, without pausing, made straight for the forest of the Botanical 



