600 
MAMMALIA. 
and inherent viciousness of the young monsters. They remained 
huddled up in the farthest corner of their cage, and when 
any one approached them they sprang at him. This ferocious 
mood, however, did not exclude the manifestation of a large 
amount of cunning. When, tamed by hunger, they took their 
food, they would stare at their master full in the face, to attract 
his attention ; then they would advance a foot, and grasp his 
leg with the intention of throwing him down. In approaching 
them the greatest precautions had to he adopted. 
Captivity at last so sours the natural savageness of the Gorilla 
that it soon refuses all subsistence, and dies without showing any 
apparent disease. The adult Gorillas are altogether untamable ; 
M. du Chaillu does not believe that it will ever be possible to cap- 
ture one without killing it, for the adult Chimpanzee, which is 
much less ferocious than the Gorilla, has never been taken alive. 
The only exception that can be admitted is where the animal has 
been so dangerously wounded as to be unable to offer serious 
resistance. 
The young Gorilla is<of a jet-black colour. The skin is naked 
on the face, the palms of the hands, and the chest. The hair of a 
full-grown Gorilla is iron-grey. 
Each hair is streaked in a circular manner with alternate bands 
of black and grey, which give it a greyish appearance. On the 
arms the hair is darker and longer ; it sometimes exceeds two 
inches in length. The head is garnished with a crown of reddish, 
short hair, which descends to the neck. The hair of the female 
is black with a red tint ; it is not streaked like that of the male ; 
neither has the female the red-coloured crown until she is aged. 
The eyes of the Gorilla are deeply buried beneath very prominent 
superciliary arches, a disposition which gives the face a very 
sinister aspect. Its jaws are enormous, and furnished with large 
canine teeth. 
The neck of this animal is so short that its head appears to be 
buried between its shoulders. The forehead is very retreating. 
The ears are very small, and nearly on a line with the eyes. The 
nose is very flat, but a little more salient than in the other 
Monkeys. The chest and shoulders are extremely wide. The 
abdomen is very round and prominent. The great length of the 
arms and shortness of the legs is one of the characters which most 
