MB., MBS., AND MASTEB GOBILLA. 
81 
month ; according to my buslimen, the period of gesta- 
tion is between five and six months. The babe begins 
to walk some ten days after birth ; “ chops milk ” for 
three months and, at the end of that time, may reach 
eighteen inches in height. M. du Chaillu makes his 
child, “ Joe Gorilla,” 2 feet 6 inches when under the 
third year : assuming the average height of the adult 
male at 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches, this measurement 
suggests that, according to the law of Flourens, the life 
would exceed thirty years. I saw two fragmentary 
skins, thoroughly “ pepper and salt ; ” and the natives 
assured me that the gorilla turns silver-white with age. 
It is still a disputed point whether the weight is 
supported by the knuckles of the forehand, like the 
chimpanzee, or whether the palm is the proper fulcrum. 
M. du Chaillu says (“ First Expedition,” chap, xx.), 
“ the fingers are only lightly marked on the ground ; ” 
yet a few pages afterwards we are told, “ The most 
usual mode of progression of the animal is on all-fours 
and resting on the knuckles.” In the “ Second Expe- 
dition ” (chap, ii.) we read, “ The tracks of the feet 
never showed the marks of toes, only the heels, and the 
track of the hands showed simply the impressions of 
the knuckles.” 
The attack of the gorilla is that of the apes and the 
monkeys generally. The big-bellied satyr advances to 
the assault as it travels, shuffling on all -fours ; “ rock- 
ing ” not traversing ; bristling the crest, chattering, 
mowing and displaying the fearful teeth and tusks. 
Like, all the Simiads, this Troglodyte sways the body 
to and fro, and springs from side to side for the purpose 
of avoiding the weapon. At times Quasimodo raises 
himself slightly upon the dwarfed “ asthenogenic,” and 
almost deformed hind limbs, which look those of a child- 
terminating the body of a Dan Lambert : the same 
action may be seen in its congeners great and small. 
The wild huntsmen almost cried with laughter when 
they saw the sketches in the “ Gorilla Book,”* the 
mighty pugilist standing stiff and upright as the late 
* First Edition, Illustration VI. (p. 71), and XLIII. (p. 297). 
VOL. II. G 
