34 
HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
likely enough, of course, that two or three 
gorillas from the same locality will be more 
like each other than they are like two or three 
from another locality; but it is quite probable 
that such likenesses are due to close consan- 
guity, the individuals in question being bro- 
thers and sisters, or cousins of various degrees 
showing family traits comparable to those of 
human beings. This explanation will not ap- 
ply, however, to the gorilla of "German" E. 
Africa, which was named G. berengeri. This 
ape has a coarse shaggy coat recalling that 
of a chimpanzee, and differing from the com- 
paratively smooth, short hairy covering of 
the West African form. The development of 
the coat probably indicates life under colder 
conditions due to higher altitudes, or wetter 
conditions due to heavier rainfall. I may add 
that within the last few years an example of 
G. beringeri. has been added to the collection 
of the Natural History Museum, and is 
mounted alongsile one of Du Chaillu's exam- 
ples of the typical West African gorilla from 
the Gaboon. 
Messrs. Derry and Toms, of Kensington High 
Street, are to be congratulated on their enterprise 
in having purchased "John Daniel" as an attrac- 
tion to their Zoological Department. 
There were several other prospective pur- 
chasers. One was well-known French lady, who 
was desirous of taking "John Daniel" to Havanna 
and who offered £350 for the little fellow delivered 
in Paris. 
This I could not undertake, but the same 
morning on which I received this offer, Messrs. 
Derry and Toms' Representative had already pur- 
chased the animal here cash down, for a very few 
pounds less than the French lady offered. 
"John Daniel" stands in the proud position 
of having been sold for more money than any 
other monkey since the world began. Of course, 
I am not including trained chimpanzees, but very 
lew even of these realised "John Daniel's" figure. 
He is a wonderful specimen, and with care 
and attention should live for years. I trust my 
readers will not think for one moment that all or 
such money. There are 
I well remember the arrival 
some fourteen years ago of three gorillas. I had 
just returned from one of my collecting trips in 
the Congo, when the post brought me a letter 
from the Agent I had been staying with out there. 
It was to the effect that he had sold three 
gorillas for fifty pounds to an officer of a certain 
Elder Dempster steamer. He gave me the infor- 
mation in case I wished to meet the steamer at 
Plymouth and purchase the animals. 
any gorillas are worth 
gforil'as and gorillas.. 
The steamer was due in Plymouth the fol- 
lowing day. I had already determined the amount 
I would pay, no more and no less than £150 for 
the three, allowing the owner £100 profit for the 
voyage. Such a profit in those days was ample. 
They were three very fine animals and in ex- 
cellent condition. Try all I could, the owner 
would not fix a price. He wanted an offer. And 
the offer I made him was £100 clear profit on the 
three animals. 
This someAvhat annoyed him. What did I 
know about their cost and where they came from ? 
How much was I prepared to pay? In a business 
manner I explained that they cost him fifty and 
another hundred would be £150 — cash down. 
I believed that officer used rather sulphurous 
language, and I left him in sorrow and despair. 
On the steamer arriving in Liverpool, the late 
Mr. Seward telegraphed Hamburg, who instructed 
their London agent to accept the gorillas, and they 
left via Grimsby for the Hamburg dealer. They 
prospered exceedingly in the new ape house at 
StelKngen, until one morning on opening the 
house, it was found full of smoke and fumes with 
all the gorillas, chimpanzees and one ouran dead. 
An unfortunate ending to the many wonderful 
specimens therein. 
Ouran Outangs occasionally have fetched high 
prices. Some forty years ago when that great 
showman, Farini, had his Monkey Show at the 
Royal Aquarium, Westminster, a very large, in 
fact, one of the largest Ourans that ever arrived 
in Great Britain, was brought over by a passen- 
ger on one of Alfred Holts' blue funnel steamers,. 
I forget the name of the steamer for the moment. 
The Ouran was purchased by an outside gen- 
eral dealer for £20, who re-sold it to the late Chas. 
Jamrach for £75, and he in his turn transferred 
it to Farini for £150. That Ouran held the record 
as regards an Ouran's price for many years, and I 
very much doubt whether it has ever been excelled. 
Trained Chimpanzees have changed hands at 
£250 and £300, but in those times these animals 
were earning anything from £50 to £200 weekly. 
"Peter," the cleverest Chimpanzee that ever 
lived, was sold by me for £100, and a few months 
afterwards its owner received £800 for a month's 
work at the Palace Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. 
Many of our Chimpanzees — all sold at £100 up- 
wards — have earned fortunes for their owners. I 
refer now to the time when the Consul craze was 
in full swing. W'e all know that the original Con- 
sul was at the Belle Vue Gardens, Manchester. 
It was the special favourite of the late Mr. James 
Jennison. Since then, some fifty Consuls have 
appeared, but not one worthy to walk in the foot- 
steps of the Belle Vue Consul. 
