THE GORILLA AND OTHER APES. 305 



seems to have been at least six feet two in height ; so that, 

 making allowance for the shortness of the lower limbs, the 

 dimensions of a full-grown male may be said to equal those 

 of a man of eight or nine feet high, and it is only in their 

 length that the lower limbs are disproportionate to the 

 gigantic trunk. In the thickness and solidity of their bones, 

 and in the strength of their muscles, these limbs are quite in 

 keeping with the rest of the body. When upright, the 

 gorilla's arms reach to his knees ; the hind hands are wide, 

 and of amazing size and power; the great toe or thumb 

 measures six inches in circumference ; the palms and soles, 

 and the naked part of the face, are of an intense black 

 colour, as is also the breast The other parts are thickly 

 clothed with hair of an iron grey, except the head, on which 

 it is reddish brown, and the arms, where it is long and nearly 

 black. The female is wholly tinged with red." 



Du Chaillu gives the following account of the aspect of 

 the gorilla in his native woods : " Suddenly, as we were yet 

 creeping along in a silence which made even a heavy breath 

 seem loud and distinct, the woods were at once filled with a 

 tremendous barking roar; then the underbrush swayed 

 rapidly just ahead, and presently stood before us an immense 

 gorilla. He had gone through the jungle on all-fours ; but 

 when he saw our party he erected himself and looked us 

 boldly in the face. He stood about a dozen yards from us, 

 and was a sight I think I shall never forget. Nearly six feet 

 high (he proved four inches shorter), with immense body, 

 huge chest, and great muscular arms, with fiercely glaring, 

 large, deep-grey eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which 

 seemed to me some night-mare vision ; thus stood before us 

 the king of the African forest He was not afraid of us; he 

 stood there and beat his breasts with his large fists till it 

 resounded like an immense bass drum (which is their mode 

 of bidding defiance), meantime giving vent to roar after roar." 



The gorilla is a fruit-eater, but as fierce as the most 

 carnivorous animals. He is said to show an enraged enmity 

 against men, probably because he has found them not only 



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