34 



THE MONKEYS OF THE OLD WORLD. 



ankles, while the legs are shorter and less 

 fleshy than in man, the muscles of the buttocks 

 and the calves of the legs in particular being 

 very poorly developed. 



Of the life of these creatures in a state of 

 freedom we know very little. In the Guinea 

 country the chimpanzee prefers the dry some- 

 what open woods, with patches of grass-land 

 here and there, to the dense primeval forest 

 which he inhabits in the interior of the con- 

 tinent. There families, consisting of father, 

 mother, and child, roam about in search of 

 their food, which consists of fruits, juicy leaves, 

 and roots. Sometimes the families unite in 

 troops, among which it is said a good deal of 

 merriment prevails, the members of the troops 

 amusing themselves with games and wrestling, 

 screaming, drumming on hollow trees, and 

 feasting on fruits. Beyond doubt young birds 

 and small mammals are also eaten at these 

 festivals; but all young chimpanzees, which 

 have been kept in great numbers in Europe, 

 exhibit a truly amusing dread of lizards, and 

 still more of serpents. 



All observers are agreed upon this, that 

 the chimpanzee builds for itself a very simple 

 nest or rather seat in the fork of branches in 

 high trees, employing for the purpose small 

 branches and withered foliage. Sometimes 

 these seats or nests are even provided with 

 roofs as a protection against the rain. On 

 these he spends the night, and there the 

 female lies after having given birth to her 

 young. All are agreed further that the 

 creature displays great dexterity in climb- 

 ing, and that he flees before the face of man ; 

 but when attacked, or when called upon to 

 defend his young, towards which he shows 

 the tenderest attachment, uses his teeth and 

 his arms vigorously. In such an encounter 

 his well-developed canines, and the length 

 and strength of his arms, with which he hugs 

 his antagonist in his embraces, stand him in 

 good stead. He will even on occasion lay 

 about him with spears wrested from his pur- 

 suers. At other times he is on the whole a 



good-humoured creature, who but seldom 

 makes himself guilty of doing damage to 

 fruit-plantations, though bananas in particular 

 ; are a strong temptation to him. Since the 

 changes in his dentition are completed only 

 in the sixth year, we may estimate the length 

 of his life at about equal to that of man. 



Our actual knowledge of the life of this 

 ape in a state of freedom may be said to be 

 confined to the particulars just given. The 

 young have been observed only in captivity. 

 Putting aside all individual differences, 

 which, it should be remembered, may be 

 partly due to the treatment and training to 

 which different specimens have been sub- 

 jected, we find that all the observations which 

 have been made on probably more than a 

 hundred young chimpanzees which have been 

 brought captive to Europe, combine to show 

 that they are very excitable, sanguine, in- 

 telligent creatures, whose qualities of mind 

 and temperament can scarcely be distin- 

 guished from those of similarly endowed 

 children of the human species. Satisfaction, 

 joy, which is manifested even by smiling, 

 depression, pain, despair, anger, and fury 

 succeed one another suddenly, like rain and 

 sunshine, and the great vivacity of their 

 temperament is shown in their almost un- 

 ceasing occupation with toys and gymnastic 

 apparatus, in their attentive observation of 

 their surroundings, and of all that goes on 

 about them. To all who show themselves 

 to be of a kindly and sympathetic nature 

 they exhibit the most touching and devoted 

 attachment, and their amiability in playing 

 with children is another conspicuous feature of 

 their disposition. Easy and rapid apprehen- 

 sion, careful observation, and the power of 

 drawing logical conclusions are qualities that 

 cannot be denied to him. Like the child the 

 young chimpanzee knows instandy whether 

 the visitor whom he sees for the first time 

 is kindly disposed to him or not. I have 

 myself observed a case in which a chim- 

 panzee, who had got himself a little scratched 



