240 ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



forest, something like kh ah I kh ah I prolonged and 

 shrill. His enormous jaws are widely opened at each 

 expiration, his under lip hangs over the chin, and the 

 hairy ridge and scalp are contracted upon the brow, 

 presenting an aspect of indescribable ferocity. 



" The females and young, at the first cry, quickly 

 disappear. He then approaches the enemy in great fury, 

 pouring out his horrid cries in quick succession. The 

 hunter awaits his approach with his gun extended : if his 

 ami is not sure, he permits the animal to grasp the barrel, 

 and as he carries it to his mouth (which is his habit) he 

 fires. Should the gun fail to go off, the barrel (that of 

 the ordinary musket, which is thin) is crushed between 

 his teeth, and the encounter soon proves fatal to the 

 hunter. 



" In the wild state, their habits are in general like those 

 of the Troglodytes niger, building their nests loosely in trees, 

 living on similar fruits, and changing their place of resort 

 from force of circumstances." 



Dr. Savage's observations were confirmed and supple- 

 mented by those of Mr. Ford, who communicated an 

 interesting paper on the Gorilla to the Philadelphian 

 Academy of Sciences, in 1852. With respect to the geo- 

 graphical distribution of this greatest of all the man-like 

 Apes, Mr. Ford remarks : 



" This animal inhabits the range of mountains that 

 traverse the interior of Guinea, from the Cameroon in the 

 north, to Angola in the south, and about 100 miles inland, 

 and called by the geographers Crystal Mountains. The 

 limit to which this animal extends, either north or south, 

 I am unable to define. But that limit is doubtless some 

 distance north of this river [Gaboon]. I was able to 

 certify myself of this fact in a late excursion to the head- 

 waters of the Mooney (Danger) River, which comes into 

 the sea some sixty miles from this place. I was informed 

 (credibly, I think) that they were numerous among the 

 mountains in which that river rises, and far north of that. 



" In the south, this species extends to the Congo River, 

 as I am told by native traders who have visited the coast 

 between the Gaboon and that river. Beyond that, I am 

 not informed. This animal is only found at a distance 

 from the coast in most cases, and, according to my best in- 

 formation, approaches it nowhere so nearly as on the south 

 side of this river, where they have been found within ten 



