“Mr. du Chaillu was the first explorer to see the gorilla at home; he killed several specimens of this remarkable creature and sent their skins to England, but though he tried very hard to bring away a living sample he was unable to do so. Later travelers have been more fortunate, and I have read to-day in a newspaper that Boston has just received from Africa the largest gorilla ever landed in this country. His name is Jack, and he is five feet in height when standing erect, and measures seven feet from the end of one outstretched hand to the other. He weighs about one hundred and twenty-five pounds and exhibits enormous strength, compared with which that of man seems like a child's. He arrived in a large box made of planking two and a half inches thick, and when being removed from the ship he tore large splinters from the hard wood planks with as much ease as a child would break a twig. The hair, which is very coarse, and from two to four inches in length, is of a greenish-gray color, and on the back, legs and arms inclines to a black. His shoulders are immense. The expression of his face, which is black, is scowling. The eyes are small, sunken in the head, and the lips large and thin.”
“I suppose the gorilla does not make as good-natured a captive as Mr. Crowley, for example,” one of the boys remarked.
“Not by any means,” answered Mr. Graham. “He is of an ugly disposition and generally refuses to be tamed, though occasionally one is found that is comparatively submissive. Some years ago a gentleman bought a gorilla that was thought to be about two years old and shipped it to England. It was not spiteful or obstinate in its ways, but seemed to be very shy; its owner thought the best plan was to allow it to run about the ship, and after it was given its freedom it got along very well. It would take food from the hands of passengers and sailors, but permitted no familiarity; it formed a great friendship for a bull terrier, and the two used to play together by the hour, the dog occasionally giving a very sharp nip which was not resented by the larger animal. But, unfortunately, the gorilla was missed one morning, and was supposed to have fallen overboard during the night.”
“The gorilla is the largest monkey of Africa and in fact of the whole world. The largest Asiatic monkey is found, not on the continent of Asia, but on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. He is know to foreigners as the orang-outang or wild man of the forest, and is generally called 'mias' by the natives. Many of the people believe that the creature is a human being who lives in a wild state, and hence the name by which he is described to strangers. In habits, size, and general appearance, the mias is much like the gorilla, but he is more easily tamed and kept in captivity. He lives in the forestand travels from tree to tree without descending to the ground; in fact he sleeps in the trees, making a bed of leaves among the branches. Mr. Wallace, a naturalist, describes how he shot at a mias and broke his arm. The animal was in the top of a tree at the time, and immediately proceeded to break off branches and make a nest for himself. Mr. Wallace fired at him several times, but he did not quit his work, and he finally laid down in the nest and died there from the effects of the shot. It was necessary to cut down the tree in order to obtain the body, which proved to be a very large one.
