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 



