THE ORANG 



273 



Whatever may be said concerning the veracity of Paul 

 du Chaillu, there is one thing that must be said to his 

 credit. He gave to the world more knowledge of these 

 apes than all other men had ever done before ; and while 

 he may have given a touch of color to many incidents, and 

 related some native yarns, he told a vast amount of valu- 

 able truth ; and I can forgive him for whatever he may 

 have misstated, except one thing ; that is, the starting of 

 that story about gorillas chewing up gun-barrels. It has 

 been a staple yarn, in stock ever since, and the instant you 

 ask a native any question about the habits of the gorilla 

 he begins with a stereotype edition of that improbable 

 story. 



In view of the fact that I have made careful and 

 methodic efforts to determine the exact boundary of the 

 habitat and the real habits of these two apes, I feel at 

 liberty to speak with an air of authority. I have acquired 

 my knowledge on the subject by going to their own coun- 

 try and living in their own jungle, and I have thus obtained 

 their secrets from first-hand. With due respect to those 

 who write books and speak freely upon subjects of which 

 they know but little, I beg leave to suggest that if the 

 authors had gone into the jungle and lived among those 

 animals, instead of consulting others who know less than 

 themselves about the subject, many of them would have 

 written in a very different strain. I do not mean this 

 as a rebuke to any one, but seeing the same old stories 

 repeated year after year, and knowing that there is no 

 truth in them, I feel it incumbent as a duty to challenge 

 them. 



