I 

 OUR FOUR-HANDED RELATIVES. ^ 



the male chacma expresses, indeed, a very paroxysm of 

 savage passion, and, added to his ferocious appearance 

 in a fit of rage, may well frighten the Namaqua nymphs 

 out of their scanty wits. 



The anthropoid apes are a somewhat taciturn race, 

 but a chimpanzee's murmur of affection is very expres- 

 sive, and quite different from his grunt of discontent. 

 A sick orang-outang sheds tears, moans piteously, or 

 cries like a pettish child ; but such symptoms are rather 

 deceptive, for the orang as well as the chimpanzee is a 

 great mimic, not of men only, but of passions and patho- 

 logical conditions. Two years ago I took temporary 

 charge of a young chimpanzee who was awaiting ship- 

 ment to the Pacific coast. His former landlord seemed to 

 have indulged him in a penchant for rummaging boxes 

 and coffers, for whenever I attempted to circumscribe the 

 limits of that pastime my boarder tried to bring down 

 the house, metaphorically and literally, by throwing him- 

 self upon the floor and tugging violently at the cur- 

 tains and bell-ropes. If that failed to soften my heart, 

 Pansy became sick. With groans and sobs he would lie 

 down in a corner, preparing to shed the mortal coil, and 

 adjusting the pathos of the closing scene to the degree^ 

 of my obstinacy. One day he had set his heart upon 

 exploring the letter-department of my chest of drawers, 

 and, after driving him off several times, I locked the 

 door and pocketed the key. Pansy did not suspect the 

 full meaning of my act till he had pulled at the knobs 



