^46 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



her breast was perfectly exposed, so that I could 

 have shot her in the heart, the breast, or the head. 



Her baby lay upon her back, with its arms em- 

 bracing her neck and its feet caught under her arms. 

 The cunning little imp saw me long before the 

 mother did, but it gave her no warning of danger. 

 It lay with its cheek resting on the back of her head. 

 Its black face looked as smooth and soft as velvet. 

 Its big brown eyes were looking straight at me, but 

 it betrayed no sign of fear or even of concern. It 

 really had a pleased expression, and was the nearest 

 approach to a smile I have ever seen on the face of 

 a gorilla. I believe that this is their method of 

 carrying the young, and I have elsewhere assigned 

 other reasons for this belief. In this case it is not a 

 matter of belief, but one of knowledge, and everything 

 that I have observed conspires to say that this is no 

 exception to the rule. 



During my sojourn of nearly four months in the 

 jungle, where it was said the greatest number of 

 gorillas could be found of any other place in the 

 basin of that lake, I only saw a total of twenty-two, 

 besides one other that I saw at another time in the 

 forest while I was hunting. I only caught a glimpse 

 of him, and should not even have done that had not 

 the native guide discovered and pointed him out to 

 me. I believe that no other white man has ever 

 seen an equal number of these animals in a wild 

 state, and it is certain that no other has ever seen 

 them under as favourable conditions for study. I 

 have compared notes with many white men on that 



