OEDEE OF QUADEUMANA. 



603 



instant, but promptly makes off; this is very different to the 

 Grorilla, which boldly accepts the combat. It is much less ferocious 

 than the latter; taken young and gently reared, it becomes 

 familiar, and gives proofs of great intelligence. 



Like the Gorillas, the Chimpanzees live in small troops while 

 they are young, or isolated and in couples in adult life. They 

 are essentially climbers, and pass nearly all their time on trees, 

 seeking fruits, which constitute their food. 



According to M. du Chaillu, who has observed these animals in 



Fig. 267. — Chimpanzee (^Troglodytes niger). 



his travels, there is a kind of Chimpanzee called by the natives 

 Nshiego-mbouve, which builds a kind of leafy nest among the 

 boughs of the loftiest trees. This nest is composed of small inter- 

 laced branches well thatched with leaves, and impenetrable to 

 water ; fixed by firmly-tied bands, it is generally from sis to eight 

 feet in diameter, and presents the form of a dome, an arrangement 

 which readily throws ofi" the rain. It is beneath this roof that 

 the creature passes the night. The male and female share in the 

 labour of building, though they lodge separately on neighbouring 



