GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



with his arms under his head as a pillow. I tried to 

 induce him to walk with me, to play, or to sit up, 

 but he refused to do so. By four o'clock he was 

 very ill. He rolled from side to side, and groaned 

 as if in pain. He kept one hand upon his stomach, 

 where the pain appeared to be located. He dis- 

 played all the symptoms of gastric poisoning, and I 

 have reason to believe now that the boy had given 

 him poison. I should regret to foster this suspicion 

 against an innocent person, but it is based upon 

 certain facts that I have learned since that time. 



While I sat in my cage watching Othello, who lay 

 on the ground a short distance away, I discovered a 

 native approaching him from the jungle. The man 

 had an uplifted spear in his hand, as if in the act of 

 hurling it at something. He had not seen me, but 

 it did not for the moment occur to me that he had 

 designs upon my pet. I spoke to him in the native 

 language, when he explained that he had seen the 

 young gorilla, and from that fact suspected there was 

 an old one close at hand, for whose attack he was 

 prepared : that he was not afraid of the little one, 

 but desired to capture it. I informed him that my 

 gorilla was ill. He examined it, and assured me 

 that it would die. The man departed, and Othello 

 continued to grow worse. His sighing and groaning 

 were really touching. I gave him an emetic, which 

 took effect with good results. I also used some 

 vaperoles to resuscitate him, but my skill was not 

 sufficient to meet the demands of his case. 



His conduct was so like that of a human being 



