I THE GORILLA 31 



In 1847, Dr. Savage had the good fortune to make 

 another and most important addition to our know- 

 ledge of the man -like Apes; for, being unexpectedly 

 detained at the Gaboon river, he saw in the house 

 of the Rev. Mr. Wilson, a missionary resident 

 there, " a skull represented by the natives to be a 

 monkey-like animal, remarkable for its size, 

 ferocity, and habits." From the contour of the 

 skull, and the information derived from several 

 intelligent natives, " I was induced," says Dr. 

 Savage (using the term Orang in its old general 

 sense) "to believe that it belonged to a new 

 species of Orang. I expressed this opinion to Mr. 

 Wilson, with a desire for further investigation ; 

 and, if possible, to decide the point by the inspec- 

 tion of a specimen alive or dead." The result of 

 the combined exertions of Messrs. Savage and 

 Wilson was not only the obtaining of a very full 

 account of the habits of this new creature, but a 

 still more important service to science, the enabling 

 the excellent American anatomist already men- 

 tioned, Professor Wyman, to describe, from ample 

 materials, the distinctive osteological characters 

 of the new form. This animal was called by the 

 natives of the Gaboon " Enge-ena," a name obvi- 

 ously identical with the " Ingena " of Bowdich ; 

 and Dr. Savage arrived at the conviction that this 

 last discovered of all the great Apes was the long- 

 sought " Pongo " of Battell. 



The justice of this conclusion, indeed, is beyond 



