172 MR. W. W. READE ON THE GORILLA. [May 12, 



from the Balengi of the Muni River, from the Shekani and Fans of 

 the Gaboon, and from the Commi, Bakeli, &c., of the Feruand Vaz, 

 But from the last river, where Gorillas are most plentiful, I ob- 

 tained most information. 



The Gorilla is found in those thick and solitary places of the 

 forest where animal life is scarce. His food is strictly vegetable. 

 He moves along the ground on all fours ; sometimes he goes up into 

 the trees to feed on fruit, and at night he sleeps in a large tree. 

 When the female is pregnant, the male builds a nest, where she is 

 confined, and which she abandons as soon as her young one is born. 



The Gorilla does not beat its breast like a drum. It utters a kind 

 of short, sharp bark when enraged, and its ordinary cry is of a plain- 

 tive nature. 



With respect to its ferocity, the hunters have a proverb, " Leave 

 a Ngina alone, and it will leave you alone." When it is at bay and 

 wounded, it will attack man, like the Stag, the Elephant, and other 

 animals naturally timid. But it makes this attack on all fours ; the 

 hunters, who are themselves as niml)le as apes, often escape from it 

 as men escape from the charge of an Elephant. I have seen a man 

 who had been wounded by a Gorilla ; his wrist was crippled, and the 

 marks of the teeth were visible. He told me that the Gorilla seized 

 his wrist and dragged it into his mouth ; it was contented witb having 

 done this, and went off. The nearest approach to an erect posture 

 which the Gorilla attains to is by supporting itself by holding on to 

 the branches. When I asked the people of Ngumbi whether a man 

 had ever been killed by a Gorilla, they said that their fathers had 

 spoken of such a thing, but that nothing of the kind had happened 

 within the memory of anybody living. 



Such is the evidence of the native hunters upon the habits of the 

 Gorilla. I could not find that it differed in any important respect 

 from the Chimpanzee, except in its superior size and strength, and 

 in its being certainly more formidable when wounded. But when I 

 asked the hunters which was the more dangerous, the Leopard or 

 the Gorilla, they replied, " The Leopard." 



I can make one or two positive assertions from my owu experience. 

 Although I never succeeded in seeing a Gorilla in its wild state, I can 

 assert that it travels on all fours ; for I have seen the tracks of its 

 four feet, over and over again. I can assert that it runs away from 

 man, for I have been near enough to hear one running away from 

 me ; and I can assert that the young Gorilla is as docile as the 

 young Chimpanzee in a state of captivity, for I have seen both of 

 them in a state of captivity. I have also seen the lying-in nests 

 both of Chimpanzees and Gorillas, the latter being a little the larger 

 of the two. The Chimpanzee, I may observe, has the character of 

 being more intelligent than bis big brother. 



Now, Gentlemen, I hope you will permit me to add a few words in 

 vindication of my own personal character. Whether M. Du Chaillu 

 has killed a Gorilla or not is not, I think, of much scientific moment 

 when compared with his real merits as an explorer, as an author on 

 the ethnology of Equatorial Africa, and as a collecting naturalist. 



