140 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



took the little mourner in my arms, but he watched 

 the keeper jealously, and did not want him to 

 remove or disturb the body. It was laid on a 

 bunch of straw in front of the cage and he was 

 returned to his place, but he clung to me so firmly 

 that it was difficult to release his hold. He cried 

 in a piteous tone, fretted and worried, as if he fully 

 realised the worst. The body was then removed 

 from view, but poor little Aaron was not consoled. 

 How I pitied him ! How I wished that he was 

 again in his native land, where he might find friends 

 of his own race ! 



After this, he grew more attached to me than 

 ever, and when I went to visit him he was happy 

 and cheerful in my presence ; but the keeper said 

 that while I was away he was often gloomy and 

 morose. As long as he could see me or hear my 

 voice, he would fret and cry for me to come to him. 

 When I would leave him, he would scream as long 

 as he had any hope of inducing me to return. 



A few days after the death of Elisheba, the keeper 

 put a young monkey in the cage with him for 

 company. This gave him some relief from the 

 monotony of his own society, but never quite filled 

 the place of the lost one. With this little friend, 

 however, he amused himself in many ways. He 

 nursed it so zealously and hugged it so tightly that 

 the poor little monkey was often glad to escape from 

 him in order to have a rest. But the task of catch- 

 ing it again afforded him almost as much pleasure as 

 he found in nursing it. 



