CHAPTER XXI 



Habits of the Gorilla — Social Traits — Government — Justice — 

 Mode of Attack — Screaming and Beating — Food 



STUDYING the habits of the gorilla in a wild state 

 is attended with much difficulty, but the results ob- 

 tained during my sojourn of nearly four months among 

 them in the forest are an ample reward for the efforts 

 made. In captivity the habits of animals are made to con- 

 form in a measure to their surroundings, and since those 

 are different from their natural environment, many of their 

 habits differ in a like degree from the normal. Some 

 are foregone, others modified, and new ones are acquired. 

 Therefore, it is difficult to know exactly what the animal 

 was in a state of nature. 



In the social life of the gorilla there are certain things 

 in which he differs from the chimpanzee, but there are 

 others in which they closely resemble each other. From 

 the native accounts of the modes of life of these two apes 

 there would appear to be a much greater difference than a 

 systematic study of them reveals. The native version of 

 things frequently has a germ of truth which may serve as 

 a clue to the facts in the case ; and while we cannot safely 

 rely upon all the details of the tales they relate, we forgive 

 their mendacity and make use of the suggestions they 



furnish. 



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