CHIMPANZEES. 



23 



on the ground, it is upright, with the hands on the nape of the neck. Thej^ sleep 

 on trees, and make a covering over their heads to shelter them from the rain. 

 They eat no flesh, but feed on nuts and other fruits ; nor have thejr any under- 

 standing beyond instinct. When the people of the country travel through the 

 woods they make fires in the night, and in the morning when they are gone the 

 pongos wiU come and sit round it till it goes out, for they do not possess sagacity 

 enough to lay on more wood. They go in bodies to kill many negroes who travel 

 in the wood. When elephants happen to come and feed where thej'' are, they will 



HEAD OF CHIIIPAXZEE. 



fall on them, and so beat them with their clubbed fists and sticks, that they are 

 forced to run away roaring. The grown pongos are never taken alive, owing to 

 their strength, which is so great that ten men cannot hold one of them. The 

 young hang upon their mother's belly with their hands clasped about her. Many 

 of them are taken by shooting the mothers with poisoned arrows." 



From that date om- knowledge of these animals has been gi-adually added to, 

 although there is still room for fuller authentic accounts of their habits in a state 

 of nature. Young chimpanzees have been frequently brought ahve to Europe, and 

 exhibited in the Zoological Gardens of this and other countries. They require, 

 however, the greatest care and attention, and even with these they invariably die 

 after a few years or months from the eflects of our climate, which generally show 



