238 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



At such times he would heave a deep sigh and utter 

 this strange sound. The tone and manner strongly 

 appealed to the feelings of others, and while he did 

 not appear to address it to any one or have any 

 design in making it, it always touched a sympathetic 

 chord, and I was sometimes tempted to release him. 

 Another sound which was not within the pale of 

 speech was a kind of grumbling sound. This fre- 

 quently occurred when he was eating. It was not a 

 growl in the proper sense, but was in a way a kind 

 of complaint. Twice I heard this same sound made 

 by wild ones in the forest near my cage. The only 

 thing that I can compare it to in its use is that habit 

 of a cat while eating, to make a peculiar growling 

 sound, which appears to be done only when some- 

 thing else is near. It is possibly intended to deter 

 others from trying to take the food. 



During my life in the cage I saw a number of 

 gorillas, but I shall only, describe a few of them, as 

 their actions were similar in most instances. 



The first one that I had the pleasure of seeing in 

 the jungle came within a few yards of the cage 

 before it was yet in order to receive. He was not 

 half grown. He must have been attracted by the 

 noise made in putting it together. He advanced 

 with caution, and when I discovered him he was 

 peering through the bushes as if to ascertain the 

 cause of the sounds. When he saw me, he only 

 tarried a few seconds and hurried off into the jungle. 

 I did not disturb or shoot at him, because I desired 

 him to return. 



