OTHER CHIMPANZEES 



153 



I proposed to buy the ape, but the price asked 

 was nearly twice that of a slave, and I could have 

 bought any child in the town at a smaller cost. I 

 have never seen any other chimpanzee that I so 

 much coveted. When standing in an upright posi- 

 tion, he was quite four feet in height, strongly built, 

 and well-proportioned. He was in a fine, healthy 

 condition, and in the very prime of his life. He 

 was not handsome in the face, but his coat of hair 

 was of good colour and texture. He was of the 

 common variety, but a fine specimen. 



Mr. Otto Handmann, formerly the German consul 

 at Gaboon, had a very fair specimen of this same 

 species of chimpanzee. He was a rough, burly 

 creature, but was well-disposed and had in his face a 

 look of wisdom that was almost comical. He had 

 been for some months a captive in a native town, 

 during which time he had become quite tame and 

 docile. By nature he was not humorous, but ap- 

 peared to acquire a sense of fun as he grew older 

 and became more familiar with the manners of 

 men. 



On my return from the interior, I was invited by 

 the consul to take breakfast with himself and a few 

 friends ; but owing to a prior engagement I was not 

 able to be present. It was proposed by some one 

 of the guests present that my vacant seat at the 

 table should be filled by the chimpanzee. He was 

 brought into the room and permitted to occupy the 

 seat. He behaved himself with becoming gravity, 

 and was not abashed in the presence of so many 



