So THE MAMMALS OF ETHIOPIAN AFRICA 



Female gorillas are considei - ably smaller than males, and slighter in build. 

 Their canine teeth project but little, the head is proportionately smaller, the nose 

 shorter, the cheeks wider, and the upper lip longer, so that the female is not quite 

 so hideous as the male. This difference in the size of the sexes is another 

 distinction between the gorilla and the chimpanzi. Other distinctive features of 

 the gorilla as compared with the chimpanzi are the greater length of its arms, 

 which reach below its knees when in an upright position, but never so far as 

 beyond the middle of the lower portion of the leg, a feature by which the gorilla 

 is also distinguished from man. Besides this, the last upper molar tooth of the 

 gorilla, corresponding to the upper wisdom-tooth of man, is larger than the two 

 preceding ones, a peculiarity in which the gorilla is distinguished from both man 

 and the chimpanzi. Yet the gorilla has, unlike the Malay orang-utan and gibbons, 

 various points in common with the chimpanzi and man. Among these are the 

 presence of seventeen vertebrae between the last neck-vertebra and the terminal 

 joint of the spine. The gorilla, in common with the chimpanzi, differs from man 

 by having thirteen pairs of ribs ; but all three resemble one another in having 

 eight bones in the wrist, instead of the nine found in other apes and monkeys. 



One of the favourite haunts of the gorilla is the Sierra do Cristol, which forms 

 a chain of mountains whose upper slopes carry a forest of lofty trees, while their 

 valleys are carpeted with coarse grass and clothed with bushes. Fruit-trees of 

 various descriptions grow in rich abundance in the high forest, as well as in the 

 valleys ; and these supply the great apes with suitable food throughout the year. 

 The " cabbage " of the oil-palm, and the so-called grey plum (Parinariuin ex- 

 celsum), a somewhat insipid fruit of the size of a large plum, the fruit of the 

 papaw-tree (Lorica), and wild bananas are reported to be special favourites of 

 the gorilla. 



According to the reports of modern travellers and natives, gorillas live in 

 small families, consisting of the two parents accompanied by several young of 

 various ages, which abide in the darkest depths of the primeval forest, lit up only 

 by a dim light on sunny days, but reminding one of an eclipse of the sun in cloudy 

 weather. In districts where the gorilla lives there prevails a hot damp temperature, 

 like that of a Turkish bath or a strongly heated hothouse, the silence of the primeval 

 forest scarcely ever betraying a sign of animal life and being only now and then 

 broken by the note of some bird. In such situations the gorilla makes a sleeping- 

 place of branches, which are covered with twigs and moss. In this nest, placed 

 several yards above the ground, the females and young are reported to sleep, while, 

 as already mentioned, the old male spends the night sitting erect close by, ready 

 to defend his family against the attacks of roving leopards. Gorillas do not 

 apparently use the same platform more than three or four nights in succession ; 

 this being rendered probable by the fact that they have to change their abode 

 frequently for the sake of food. Gorillas apparently seek their food only during 

 the day, and rest during the night. They generally walk upon all fours, with the 

 fingers doubled up towards the inner side. Despite the clumsy appearance of the 

 male, gorillas are agile and indefatigable climbers, and are supposed to ascend to 

 the tops of the highest trees in the forest, and move from tree to tree with as much 

 agility as the light and slender spider-monkeys of Brazil. Apparently they are 



