106 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



No human can refrain from admiring his conduct 

 in this act, whether it was prompted by the instinct 

 of self-preservation or by a sentiment of loyalty to 

 his mother, for he was exercising that prime law of 

 nature which actuates all creatures to defend them- 

 selves against attack, and his wild, young heart 

 throbbed with like sensations to those of a human 

 under a like ordeal. 



I do not wish to appear sentimental by offering 

 a rebuke to those who indulge in the sport of hunt- 

 ing, but much cruelty could be obviated without 

 losing any of the pleasure of the hunt, and I have 

 always made it a rule to spare the mother with her 

 young. Whether animals feel the same degree of 

 mental and physical pain as man or not, they do, 

 in these tragic moments, evince a certain amount of 

 concern for one another, which imparts a tinge of 

 sympathy that must appeal to any one who is not 

 devoid of every sense of mercy. 



It is true that it is often difficult, and sometimes 

 impossible, to secure the young by other means ; 

 but the manner of getting them often mars the 

 pleasure of having them, and while Aaron was, to 

 me, a charming pet and a valuable subject for study, 

 I confess the story of his capture always touched 

 me in a tender spot. 



I may here mention that the few chimpanzees 

 that reach the civilised parts of the world are but 

 a small percentage of the great number that are 

 captured. Some die on their way to the coast, 

 others die after reaching it, and scores of them die 



