86 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



through the meshes and groping about for some- 

 thing. I spoke to him, and he replied with a series 

 of plaintive sounds which assured me that something 

 must be wrong. 



I arose, and lighted a candle. His little brown 

 face was pressed up against the wires, and wore a 

 sad, weary look. He could not tell me in words 

 what troubled him, but every sign, look, and gesture 

 bespoke trouble. Taking the candle in one hand, 

 and my revolver in the other, I stepped out of the 

 cage and went to his domicile, where I discovered 

 that a colony of ants had invaded his quarters. 



These ants are a great pest when they attack 

 anything, and when they make a raid on a house 

 the only thing to be done is to leave it until they 

 have devoured everything about it that they can eat. 

 When they leave a house there is not a roach, rat, 

 bug, or insect left in it. 



. As the house of Moses was so small, it was not 

 difficult to dispossess them by saturating it with 

 kerosene, which was quickly done, and the little 

 occupant allowed to return and go to bed. He 

 watched the procedure with evident interest, and 

 seemed perfectly aware that I could rid him of his 

 savage assailants. In a wild state he would doubt- 

 less have abandoned his claim, and fled to some 

 other place without an attempt to drive them away, 

 but in this instance he had acquired the idea of the 

 rights of possession. 



Moses was especially fond of corned beef and 

 sardines, and would recognise a can of either as far 



