The ears of the gorilla are very small, and lie close to the sides of the head. The model of them is much like the human ear.
I shall not pursue the comparison into minute details, but leave that to the specialist, in whose hands it will be treated with more skill and greater scope. As my especial line of research has been in the study of their speech and habits, I shall confine myself to that, but the general comparison I have made is necessary to a better understanding of the subject.
[CHAPTER XV]
HABITS OF THE GORILLA
A study of the habits of the gorilla in a wild state is attended with much difficulty, but the results that I obtained during a sojourn of one year among them are an ample reward for the efforts made. In a state of captivity the habits of animals are made to conform in a measure to their surroundings, and since those are different many of their habits differ also. Some are foregone, others modified, and new ones acquired, therefore we cannot know with certainty what the animal was in a state of nature. In the social life of the gorilla there are a few things perhaps that differ very much from that of the chimpanzee, but there are some that do in a certain degree. From the native accounts of the modes of life of these two apes, there would appear to be a much greater difference than a systematic study of them reveals; but the native version of things frequently has a germ of truth which may serve as a clue to the facts in the case; and while we cannot rely upon the tales they relate in all details, we can forgive the mendacity and make use of the suggestion they furnish.
It is certain that the gorilla is polygamous in habit, and it is probable that he has an incipient idea of government. Within certain limits he has a faint perception of order and justice, if not of right and wrong. I do not mean to ascribe to him the highest attributes of man, or exalt him above the plane to which his faculties assign him; but there are reasons to justify the belief that he occupies a higher social and mental sphere than other animals, except the chimpanzee.
In the beginning of his career, in independent life, the gorilla selects a wife with whom he appears to sustain the conjugal relations thereafter, and preserves a certain degree of marital fidelity. From time to time he adopts a new wife, but does not discard the old one; in this manner he gathers around him a numerous family, consisting of his wives and their children. Each mother nurses and cares for her own young, but all of them grow up together as the children of one family. There is no doubt that the mother sometimes corrects and sometimes chastises her young, which suggests a vague idea of propriety. The father exercises the function of patriarch in the sense of a ruler, and the natives call him ikomba njina, which means gorilla king. To him the others all show a certain amount of deference. Whether this is due to fear or to respect, however, is not certain, but here is at least the first principle of dignity.
The gorilla family, consisting of this one adult male and a number of females and their young, are within themselves a nation. There do not appear to be any social relations between different families, but within the same household there is apparent harmony.
The gorilla is nomadic, and rarely ever spends two nights in the same place. Each family roams about in the bush from place to place in search of food, and wherever they may be when night comes on they select a place to sleep and retire. The largest family of gorillas that I have ever heard of was estimated to contain twenty members. But the usual number is not more than ten or twelve. The chimpanzee appears to go in larger groups than these, and sometimes in a single group two or even three adult males have been seen. When the young gorilla approaches the adult state, he leaves the family group, finds himself a mate, and sets out in the world for himself. I observed that, as a rule, when one gorilla was seen alone in the forest it was usually a young male, but nearly grown; it is probable that he was then in search of a wife. At other times two only are seen together, and in this event they are usually a pair of male and female, and generally young. Again, it sometimes occurs that three adults are seen with two or three children; often one of the children two or three years old, and the others a year younger, which would indicate that the male had had one of his wives much longer than the other. In large families young ones of all ages, from one year old to five or six years old, are seen; but the fact is plain that the older children are much fewer in number. I have once seen a large female with her babe, quite alone; whether she lived alone or was only absent for the moment I cannot tell.