THE GORILLA. 
IT 
man’s flesh ; but finds a fiendish gratification in the mere act of killing. It is a kind of sport- 
ing ; though the game is of a better quality than that which is usually chased over the fields, 
shot in the air, or hooked out of the water ; not to be eaten, but for the sport. 
Such a deed as the capture of an adult Gorilla has never been attempted, and much 
less achieved, by the human inhabitants of the same land. There are many reasons for this 
circumstance. 
Yet it does not follow that although the Africans have failed, Europeans should not 
succeed. The native Africans have not dared to attempt the capture of the elephant, although 
Europeans have succeeded in that endeavor, and have subdued the terrible foe, converting it 
into a docile servant, and even making it an attached and intelligent friend. 
Once or twice, the young Gorillas have been captured, in spite of the furious resistance 
which is made by their male friends ; but from some reason they have always died in a 
very short time. 
Cunning as is the Gorilla, and ingenious in some things to a striking degree, its intelli- 
gence is but limited, and the animal exhibits such unexpected instances of fatuity, that it 
well shows the distinction between cunning and wisdom, and proves itself to be but an animal, 
and nothing more. 
If it finds the remhant of a fire which has been relinquished by the persons who kindled 
it, the Gorilla is greatly charmed with the novel sensation produced by artificial warmth, and 
sits by the bright wonder with much satisfaction. As the fire fails, and the glowing brands 
sink into white ashes, the animal draws closer to the expiring embers, and does not leave 
them until all heat has left the spot. But it never thinks of keeping up the fire by placing 
fresh fuel upon it, and does not even learn to imitate that action, which it may often have 
seen performed by the hunters who kindled the fire, and kept it well supplied with fuel during 
the night. It is most providential that the beast is devoid of this faculty, for, with the usual 
perseverance of the monkey race in such cases, it would probably continue to heap fuel until 
the forest itself was ablaze. 
It is said also, that when the Gorilla makes an incursion into a sugar plantation, it has 
sufficient sense to bite off a number of the canes, and to twist them into a bundle for better 
conveyance. But it frequently includes several of the growing canes in its faggot, and then 
feels woefully discomfited because it cannot carry away the parcel which had cost so much 
trouble in making. 
The natives of Africa have an idea that these, and other large apes, are really men ; but 
that they pretend to be stupid and dumb, in order to escape impressment as slaves. Work, 
indeed, seems to be the summum malum in the African mind, and a true African never works 
if he can help it. As to the necessary household labors, and the task of agriculture, he will 
not raise a finger, but makes his wives work, he having previously purchased them for that 
purpose. In truth, in a land where the artificial wants are so few — unless the corruptions of 
pseudo -civilization have made their entrance— and where unassisted nature is so bountiful, 
there is small need of work. The daily life of a “black fellow” has been very graphically 
described in a few words. He gets a large melon ; cuts it in two and scoops out the inside ; 
one half he puts on his head, he sits in the other half, and eats the middle. 
It is rather singular that this legendary connection of apes and indolence should prevail 
on the continents of Africa and Asia. 
The outline of the Gorilla’s face is most brutal in character, and entirely destroys the 
slight resemblance to the human countenance, which the full form exhibits. As in the Chim- 
panzee, an ape which is placed in the same genus with the Gorilla, the color of the hair is 
nearly black ; but in some lights, and during the life of the animal, it assumes a lighter tinge 
of grayish brown, on account of the admixture of variously colored hairs. On the top of the 
head, and the side of the cheeks, it assumes a grizzly hue. The length of the hair is not very 
great, considering the size of the animal, and is not more than two or three inches in length. 
On the arms it is arranged in a rather curious manner, the hair from the shoulder to the 
elbow points downwards, while that from the elbow to the fingers points upwards, so that the 
two sets of hairs meet at the elbow, and make a pendent tuft, A similar structure is found 
