H 



THE APES AND MONKEYS. 



Koppenfels' H. von Koppenfels killed his first Go- 

 Gorilla rilla Christmas, 1874. He had taken 

 Hunts. jjjs position near an Iba tree, whose 

 fruit is very much liked by that animal. " I had 

 waited in vain for about an hour. Night was com- 

 ing on ; the Mosquitoes began to annoy me and I 

 was just going to quit, when I heard the sound of 

 breaking twigs near the Iba tree. Peeping from be- 

 hind my tree, I saw a whole family of Gorillas, consist- 

 ing of the parents and two children. Taking human 

 growth as the standard, these latter might have been 

 six years old and one year old, respectively. The 

 solicitude of the mother for the baby was touching, 

 while the father seemingly cared for nothing but the 

 gratification of his own appetite. The best fruit 

 within reach seemed to have been consumed, for the 

 female climbed up the tree and shook it, to make the 

 ripe berries fall to the ground. 



" At this time the male, his mouth still full, started 

 for the river flowing near, evidently to get a drink. 

 I did not take my eyes off him, for the stories of 

 Du Chaillu and the fairy-tales of the natives had 

 combined to throw me into a state of great agitation, 

 when. I first caught sight of the animals. But this 

 gave way to a sudden calm, when the Gorilla, on his 

 way to the river, seemed to grow distrustful and 

 turning round, made for the tree that concealed 

 me. It was too late — I kept track of his every 

 movement, and had my gun in readiness. A few 

 moments sufficed to take aim and shoot. Before 

 the smoke cleared away I had put another cartridge 

 in my gun, anticipating an attack. My black com- 

 panion stood trembling behind me, another gun in 

 hand. The expected attack did not occur. The 

 male Gorilla had fallen on his face, dead. The 

 young ones, giving one scream, fled into the thicket; 

 the mother jumped down from a considerable height 

 and followed them. I was so excited that I forgot 

 to shoot her. So my hunting luck had, at the same 

 time that the Christmas candles were being lighted 

 in Germany, given me, too, a magnificent present." 



Not long after this Koppenfels shot, at a chance 

 meeting, the strongest Gorilla it ever was his good 

 fortune to kill. Accompanied by his servants he 

 had followed a narrow trail in the woods. " Sud- 

 denly the Galloa nearest me screamed : ' Take care, 

 master, a large Gorilla ! ' and the cowards threw 

 down the things they were carrying and took to their 

 heels. I started at the cry, and just then a terrible 

 growl coming from the side attracted my notice, 

 and I saw barely fifteen paces away a gigantic mass 

 standing erect. It was the largest Gorilla I had ever 

 seen and the only one which ever stood awaiting me. 

 If he had profited by my confusion, I would have 

 been lost. I did not wait, though, to see how long 

 our staring at each other might last. As I lifted my 

 gun his roaring took on more of a barking sound ; he 

 beat his chest quicker, the shaggy hair on his head 

 raised itself with a vibrating motion, and it seemed 

 that my terrible opponent was going to attack me. 

 If I had retreated in time, I am fully convinced 

 that the Gorilla would not have approached me, 

 but such was not my intention. Mastering my agi- 

 tation, I took a steady aim at his heart, and pulled 

 the trigger. The animal jumped high up, and spread- 

 ing his arms, fell on his face. He had seized in fall- 

 ing, a liana, two inches in circumference, and so pow- 

 erful was his grasp that he tore it down along with 

 dry and green branches from the tree. His weight 

 seemed to be about four hundred pounds, and he was 

 six feet high." 



H. von Koppenfels' plain, unvarnished tales, based 

 as they are on personal experience, give us a more 

 correct'idea of this curious inhabitant of the forests, 

 and do away with a great deal of the terror with 

 which he has inspired us. To use the words of R. 

 Burton : " He is only a poor devil of a Monkey, and 

 not a fiendish freak of the imagination— half man, 

 half beast." 



The Gorilla The attempt to import young Gorillas 

 in to Europe had always been unsuccess- 



Captiuity. fui^ until the members of the German 

 Loango exploring party tried it. Falkenstein, their 

 physician and zoologist, by a lucky chance got hold 

 of a young Gorilla, that was studied first in Africa 

 and then in the Berlin Aquarium. 



Director Hermes mentions the growth and further 

 development of this Gorilla at great length in a lec- 

 ture delivered at the meeting of German natural- 

 ists and physicians in Hamburg: "The Aquarium 

 of Berlin has always set great value on the posses- 

 sion of Anthropomorphous Apes. During the last 

 few years it has been able to procure specimens of 

 all of the four species — the Gibbon, Chimpanzee, 

 the Orang-utan and the Gorilla. In this way I had 

 the best of opportunities to study them in captivity 

 and compare them with each other. . 



" The chief among all the Anthropomorpha is the 

 Gorilla. It seems as if he was born with a patent of 

 nobility among Apes. Our Gorilla, about two years 

 old, is nearly twenty-eight inches high. His body 

 is covered with gray, silky hair, the head alone hav- 

 ing a reddish color. His thick-set, robust shape, his 

 muscular arms, his smooth, shining black face with 

 well-shaped ears, his large, black, clever eyes — all 

 strike one as exceedingly hurnan. If his nose was 

 not so broad he would look like a Negro boy. 

 What serves to heighten this impression is his awk- 

 wardness ; all his. movements seem, those of an un- 

 gainly boy rather: than an Ape.. When he sits there 

 like a Chinese pagoda, his gaze directed upon the 

 spectators, and suddenly with a bright nod claps his 

 hands, he has conquered all hearts at a stroke. He 

 likes company, makes a difference between young 

 and old, male and female. He is kind to little chil- 

 dren, likes to kiss them, and allows them liberties, 

 without taking advantage of his superior strength. 

 Older children he does not treat so well, although 

 he likes to play with them, to race around tables and 

 chairs which he frequently upsets, playfully slaps 

 their faces sometimes, and also thinks nothing of 

 trying his teeth on their legs. He is fond of ladies, 

 likes to sit in their laps and hug them, or sit still, 

 with his head on their shoulders. He also likes 

 to play in the common cage, but conductf him- 

 self there as an unconditional autocrat. Even the 

 Chimpanzee has to obey him, though the Gorilla 

 treats him more as an equal, selecting him as 

 his only playfellow and sometimes bestowing rather 

 rough caresses on him, while he pays no attention 

 to the smaller fry. Sometimes he gets hold of 

 the Chimpanzee and rolls on the floor with him. 

 If the Chimpanzee escapes, the Gorilla falls to 

 the floor, on his hands, like an awkward boy. 

 His gait resembles that of the Chimpanzee : they 

 both walk on the soles of their feet, supporting 

 themselves on the back of the hands. But the 

 Gorilla turns his toes out more, and holds his 

 head higher, producing the impression that he 

 belong to a better class of society. When he is 

 in good humor— which is nearly always the case 

 — he sticks out his red tongue, which in that 



