The finest specimen of which I ever had a view, and at the same time the best subject for study, was a large female that came within a trifle more than three yards of me. A dog that belonged to one of the native villages had become attached to me and had found its way through the bush to my cage. He frequently came to visit me, and I was always glad to welcome him. One afternoon about three o’clock he came, and I let him into the cage for a while, to pass the usual greetings. I had a bone which I had saved from my last meal, and I threw this out to him in the bush a few feet away from the cage. He seized the bone and began to gnaw it where it lay. His body was in the opening of a rough path cut through the jungle near the cage, but his head was concealed under a clump of leaves. All at once I caught a glimpse of some moving object at the edge of the path on the opposite side of the cage. It was a huge female gorilla carrying a young one on her back.
When I first saw her she was not more than fifty feet away. She was creeping along the edge of the bushes and watching the dog. He was busy with the bone. Her tread was so stealthy that I could not hear the rustling of a leaf. She advanced a few feet, crouched under the edge of the bushes, and cautiously peeped at the dog. Again she advanced a little way, halted, crouched, and peeped. It was evident that her purpose was to attack the dog. Her approach was so wary as to leave no doubt of her dexterity in attacking a foe. Every movement was the embodiment of stealth. Her face wore a look of anxiety with a touch of ferocity. Her movements were quick but accurate, and her advance was not delayed by any indecision. The dog had not discovered her approach. The smell of the bone and the noise he was making with it prevented him from either smelling or hearing her. I could not warn him without alarming her. If he could have seen her before she made the attack, I should have left him to take his chances by flight or by battle. I should have been glad of an opportunity to witness such a combat and to study the actions of the belligerents, but I could not consent to see a friendly dog taken at such disadvantage. She was now rapidly covering the distance between them, and the dog had not yet discovered her.
GORILLA MOTHER WITH YOUNG
When she reached a point within about ten feet of him I determined to break the silence. I cocked my rifle. The click of the trigger caught her attention. I think this was the first that she was aware of my presence. She instantly stopped, turned her face and body towards the cage, and sat down on the ground in front of it. She gave me such a look that I almost felt ashamed for having interfered. She sat for more than a minute staring at me as if she had been transfixed. There was no trace of anger or fear, but the look of surprise was on every feature. I could see her eyes move from my head to my feet. She scanned me as closely as if her purpose had been to purchase me. At length she glanced at the dog who was still gnawing the bone, then turned her head uneasily, as if to search for some way of escape. She then rose and retraced her steps with moderate haste. She did not run, although she lost no time. From time to time she glanced back to see that she was not pursued. She uttered no sound of any kind.
From the time this ape came in view until she departed was about four minutes, and during that time I was afforded an opportunity of studying her in a way that no one else has ever been able to do. I watched every movement of her body, face, and eyes. Being in the cage, I sat with perfect composure and studied her without the fear of attack. With due respect for the temerity of men, I do not believe that any sane man could calmly sit and watch one of these huge beasts approach so near him without feeling a tremor of fear, unless he were protected as I was. Any man would either shoot or retreat, and he could not possibly study the subject with equanimity.
The temptation to shoot her was almost too great to resist, and the desire to capture her babe made it all the more so. But I refrained from firing my gun anywhere within a radius of half a mile or so of my cage, and the natives had agreed to the same thing. My purpose in doing so was to avoid frightening the apes away from the locality. I had been told by the native hunters that if I wounded one of the apes the others would leave the vicinity and perhaps not return for weeks. It is said that if you kill one the others do not notice it so much as if you merely wounded it. Although they seem to be conscious of the fact of the killing, and for the time depart, they will return within a short time.
I could have shot this one with perfect ease and safety. As she approached, her head and breast were towards me; just before she discovered me her left side was in plain view, and when she sat down her breast was perfectly exposed. I could have shot her in the heart, the breast, or the head. Her baby hung upon her back, with its arms embracing 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 wore 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 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 show that this is not an exception to the rule.
During my sojourn of nearly four months in the jungle, where, it was said, a greater number of gorillas could be found than in any other place in the basin of that lake, I saw a total of only twenty-two. I saw one other at a time while I was hunting in the forest. I caught only 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 such favorable conditions for study. I have compared notes with many white men along that part of the coast, but I have never found any reliable man who claims to have seen an equal number. All of them admit that my cage is the best possible means of seeing the apes. I know men who have lived in that part for years and who frequently hunt in the forest for days at a time, but never yet have seen a live gorilla. I met one man on my last voyage who has lived on the edge of the gorilla country forty-nine years, making frequent journeys through the bush and along the water-courses in the interest of trade. This man told me himself that in all that time he had never seen a wild gorilla.
I would cite Mr. James A. Deemin as an expert woodsman and a cool, daring hunter. I have enjoyed several hunts with him. He had traveled, traded, and hunted through the gorilla country for more than thirteen years. He told me that with two exceptions he had never seen a wild gorilla. The first he ever saw was a young one, and he once saw a school of them at a distance. On this latter occasion he was in a canoe and under the cover of the bushes along the side of a river. Unobserved he came near them.