124 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



the natives came about the cage he would call for 

 me in his peculiar manner, which I well understood 

 and promptly responded to. The boy also knew 

 what it meant, and would rush to the rescue. If I 

 were away from the house and the boy was aware 

 of the fact, he was apt to be tardy in coming to the 

 relief of the ape, and sometimes did not come at all, 

 in which event the two would crawl into their house 

 and pull down the curtain so that they could not be 

 seen. Here they would remain until the natives 

 would leave or some one came to their aid. Neither 

 of them ever resented anything the natives did to 

 them unless they could see me about, but whenever 

 I came in sight they would make battle with their 

 tormentors, and if liberated from the big cage, 

 they would chase the last one of them out of the 

 yard. 



Aaron knew perfectly well that they were not 

 allowed to molest him or his companion, and when 

 he knew that he had my support he was ready to 

 carry on the war to a finish. But it was really 

 funny to see how meek and patient he was when 

 left alone to defend himself against the natives with 

 a stick, and then to note the change in him when he 

 knew that he was backed up by a friend upon whom 

 he could rely. 



Mr. Strohm, the trader with whom I found hospi- 

 tality at this place, kept a cow in the lot where the 

 cage was. She was a small black animal, and the 

 first that Aaron had ever seen. He never ceased to 

 contemplate her with wonder and with fear. If she 



