SOCIAL HABITS 99 



season begins, and it continues for four months. It would 

 appear that nature has selected this period of the year 

 because it is more favorable for rearing the young. Dur- 

 ing this season food is more abundant and can be secured 

 with less effort. The lowlands are drier, and this enables 

 the mother to retire with her young to the dense jungle, 

 where she is less exposed to danger than she would be in 

 the more open forest. It is uncertain whether or not the 

 periods are the same with both apes. Native reports differ 

 on this point. But it is probable that they are the same. 

 The average of this season is about four and a half moons, 

 or eighteen weeks. 



From a social point of view the chimpanzee appears to 

 be of a little higher caste than other apes. In his marital 

 ideas he is polygamous, but is in a certain degree loyal to 

 his family. The paternal instinct is a trifle more refined 

 in him than in other simians. He seems to appreciate 

 better the relationship of parent and child and to retain 

 it longer than others do. Most male animals become 

 estranged from their young and discard them at a very 

 early age. The chimpanzee keeps his children with him 

 until they are old enough to go away and rear families of 

 their own. 



The family of the chimpanzee frequently consists of 

 three or four wives and ten or twelve children, with one 

 adult male. There are known cases in which two or three 

 adult males have been seen in the same family, but each 

 one having his own wives and children. In such an event 

 there seems to be one who is supreme. This fact sug- 

 gests the idea that among them a form of patriarchal 



