OTHELLO AND OTHER GORILLAS 239 



On the third day after I went to live in the cage 

 a family of ten gorillas was seen to cross an open 

 space along the back of a patch of plantains near one 

 of the villages. A small native boy was within 

 about twenty yards of them when they crossed the 

 path in front of him. A few minutes later I was 

 notified of it, took my rifle, and followed them into 

 the jungle until I lost the trail. A few hours after 

 this they were again seen by some natives not far 

 away from my cage, but they did not come near 

 enough to be seen or heard. The next day there 

 was a family came within some thirty yards of the 

 cage. The bush was so dense that I could not see 

 them, but I could distinguish four or five voices. 

 They seemed to be engaged in a broil of some kind. 

 I suppose it was the same family that had been seen 

 the day before. The second night after this time I 

 heard the screams of one in the forest some distance 

 from me, but I do not know whether it was the king 

 of this family or another. 



One day, as I sat alone, a young gorilla, perhaps 

 five years old, came within six or seven yards of the 

 cage and took a peep. I do not know whether he 

 was aware of its being there or not until he was so 

 near. He stood for a time, almost erect, with one 

 hana holding on to a bough ; his lower lip was 

 relaxed, showing the red line mentioned above, and 

 the end of his tongue could be seen between his 

 parted lips. He did not evince either fear or anger, 

 but rather appeared to be amazed. I heard him 

 creeping through the bush a few seconds before I 



