248 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



creatures, and many of the stories told by the casual 

 traveller cannot be received with implicit faith. I 

 do not mean to impeach the veracity of others, but 

 fancy must have something to do with the case. 

 While we cannot prove the negative by direct 

 evidence, we must be permitted to doubt whether or 

 not these apes are so frequently met in the jungle as 

 they are alleged to be. I will give some reasons 

 why I am a sceptic on this subject. 



Almost every yarn told by the novice is quite the 

 same in substance and much the same in detail as 

 those related by others. It seems that most of them 

 meet the same old gorilla, still beating his breast and 

 screaming just as he did thirty years ago. The 

 number of gun-barrels that he is accused of having 

 chewed up would make an arsenal that would arm 

 the volunteers. What becomes of all those that are 

 attacked by this fierce monarch of the jungle ? Not 

 one of them ever gets killed, and not one of them 

 ever kills a gorilla. Does he merely do this as a 

 bluff and then recede from the attack ? Or does he 

 follow it up and seize his victim, tear him open and 

 drink his blood as he is supposed to do ? How does 

 the victim escape ? What becomes of the assailant ? 

 Who lives to tell the tale ? 



The gorilla has good ears, good eyes, and is a 

 skilful bushman. One man walking through the 

 jungle will make more noise than half a dozen 

 gorillas. The gorilla can always see and hear a man 

 before he is seen or heard by him. He is shy, and 

 will not attack a man unless he is disturbed by him. 



