26 



GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



front of him, to make him move up a little closer, 

 but no one of them, except the pilot, seems to want 

 the front seat. 



They look in silence, turning their little heads 

 from side to side, as if to be certain it is not an 

 illusion. They nudge one another again, and move 

 up an inch or two closer, squinting their bright eyes, 

 as if in doubt about the strange sight before them. 

 They have made such calls before, but have not 

 quite determined what kind of an animal this is in 

 the cage. At each successive visit they come a 

 little nearer, until now they are not a hundred feet 

 away. Now they take alarm at something, and hurry 

 away in another direction. 



Next comes an armadillo, prowling about for 

 insects among the leaves. He catches a glimpse of 

 the cage, he stands motionless for a moment, to see 

 what it is, and then, like a flash, he is gone. 



During this time birds of divers kinds have been 

 flying in all directions. Some of them perch on the 

 limbs near by, some pick the nuts of the palm- 

 tree, while others scream and screech, like so 

 many tin-whistles, or brass horns. Many of them 

 are parrots. Some have brilliant and beautiful 

 plumage. 



It is now ten o'clock. Not a breath of air stirs a 

 leaf of the whole forest. The heat is sweltering and 

 oppressive. The voices of the birds grow less and 

 less frequent. Even the insects do not appear to be 

 so busy as they were in the earlier hours of the day. 

 Moses has abandoned his rambles in the bush, and 



