CHAPTER XIII 



Moses — His Capture — His Character — His Affections — His Food 

 — His Daily Life — Anecdotes of Him 



DURING my sojourn in the forest I had a fine young 

 chimpanzee, which was of ordinary intelligence, and 

 he was of more than ordinary interest, because of his his- 

 tory. I gave him the name Moses, — not in derision of 

 the historic Israelite of that name, but owing to the cir- 

 cumstances of his capture and his life. He was found all 

 alone in a wild papyrus swamp of the Ogowe River. No 

 one knew who his parents were. The low bush in which 

 he was crouched when discovered was surrounded by water, 

 and thus the poor little waif was cut off from the adjacent 

 dry land. As the native approached to capture him, the 

 timid little ape tried to climb up among the vines above 

 him and escape ; but the agile hunter seized him. At first 

 the chimpanzee screamed and struggled to get away, be- 

 cause he had perhaps never before seen a man ; but when 

 he found that he was not going to be hurt, he put his frail 

 arms around his captor and clung to him as a friend. In- 

 deed, he seemed glad to be rescued from such a dreary 

 place, even by such a strange creature as a man. For a 

 moment the man feared that the cries of his young pris- 

 oner might call its mother to the rescue, and possibly a 

 band of others ; but if she heard, she did not respond ; so 



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