196 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



first to England. The former is in the Museum of 

 Zoology at Philadelphia. Both of these specimens 

 may have come from any place a hundred miles away 

 from Gaboon. 



It is possible at this early date the gorilla may 

 have occupied the peninsula south of the Gaboon 

 River, in greater numbers than he has ever done 

 since, because up to that time there had been no 

 demand for him ; but if such was true at that time, it 

 is not so now, and if he is not extinct in that part, 

 he is so rare as to make it doubtful whether or not 

 he is found there at all. 



In four journeys along the Ogowe River and the 

 lakes of that valley, I made careful inquiries at many 

 of the towns, and the natives assured me that the 

 gorillas lived on the south side of that river. I spent 

 five days at the village of Mbiro, which is located on 

 the north side of the river and about fifty miles from 

 the coast. There I was told by the native woods- 

 men that no gorillas lived on the north side, but 

 there were plenty of them along the lakes south of 

 the river. They said that in the forest back of that 

 town were plenty of chimpanzees, and that they were 

 sometimes mistaken for gorillas, but there were 

 absolutely none of the latter in that part. In view 

 of these and countless other facts, I deem it safe to 

 say that few or no gorillas can be fouud north of the 

 Ogowe River at any point, and I even doubt if the 

 specimen heard of on the Komo was a genuine 

 o-orilla. The natives sometimes claim to have some- 

 thing of the kind for sale in order to get a bonus 



