In one of his hunting excursions Du Chaillu obtained a younger Gorilla than the last, but its end was sad enough.
“I was accessory to its capture,” writes Du Chaillu, “and we were walking along in silence, when I heard a cry, and presently saw before me a female Gorilla, with a tiny baby Gorilla hanging to her breast and sucking. The mother was stroking the little one, and looking fondly down at it; and the scene was so pretty and touching that I held my fire, and considered—like a soft-hearted fellow—whether I had not better leave them in peace. Before I could make up my mind, however, my hunter fired and killed the mother, who fell without a struggle. The mother fell, but the baby clung to her, and, with pitiful cries, endeavoured to attract her attention. I came up, and when it saw me it hid its poor little head in its mother’s breast. It could neither walk nor bite, so we could easily manage it; and I carried it, while the men bore the mother on a pole. When we got to the village another scene ensued. The men put the body down, and I set the little fellow near. As soon as he saw his mother he crawled to her, and threw himself on her breast. He did not find his accustomed nourishment, and I saw that he perceived something was the matter with the old one. He crawled over her body, smelt at it, and gave utterance, from time to time, to a plaintive cry—‘Hoo, hoo, hoo!’ which touched my heart. I could get no milk for this poor little fellow, who could not eat, and consequently died on the third day after he was caught. He seemed more docile than the other I had, for he already recognised my voice, and would try to hurry towards me when he saw me. I put the little body in alcohol, and sent it to Dr. Wyman, of Boston, for dissection.”
Of course all the stories about the Gorilla are not believed, and those of all writers, from Hanno downwards, have been severely criticised.
A distinguished African traveller, Winwood Reade, stated that the name, leaving alone the stories, of Hanno, was a blunder, and that the word Gorilla was misapplied, because the habits of the creature do not tally with the story. The Gorillæ of Hanno were found, it is supposed, on Sherboro Island; they scaled rocks and defended themselves with stones. They could neither have been Gorillas nor Chimpanzees, but a species of Cynocephalus, or Dog-faced Monkey or Baboon. “These animals,” writes this author, “which I have seen often enough, go in troops, which Gorillas do not, and actually defend themselves with stones, a fact which I assert not only on the evidence of natives, but on the evidence of white men who have kept them in a state of captivity. They are also very ferocious, and will always defend themselves when attacked either by man or beast. I spent five months,” he continues, “in the Gorilla country, and did not leave that part of Africa till I had completely satisfied myself respecting the habits of this animal. The evidence which I now lay before you is composed of statements made to me by men who had killed Gorillas. It is collected from three distinct parts of Equatorial Africa, namely, from the Balengi of the Muni River, from the Shekani and Fans, of the Gaboon, and from the Commi, Bakeli, &c., of the Fernando Vaz. But from the last river, where Gorillas are plentiful, I obtained the most information.”
“The Gorilla is found in those thick and solitary places of the forest where animal life is scarce. His food is strictly vegetable. He moves along the ground on all-fours, sometimes he goes up into trees to feed on fruit, and at night he sleeps in a large tree. When the female is pregnant, the male builds a nest, where she is confined, and which she abandons as soon as her young one is born. The Gorilla does not beat its breast like a drum. It utters a kind of short sharp bark when enraged, and its ordinary cry is of a plaintive nature. With respect to its ferocity, the hunters have a proverb, ‘Leave a Ngina alone, and it will leave you alone.’ When it is at bay, and wounded, it will attack man like the stag, the elephant, and other animals which are naturally timid. But it makes its attack on all-fours, and the hunters, who are themselves as nimble as Apes, often escape from it as men escape from the charge of an elephant. I have seen a man who was wounded by a Gorilla; his wrist was crippled, and the marks of the teeth were visible. He told me that the Gorilla seized his wrist, and dragged it into his mouth; it was contented with having done this, and then made off. The nearest approach to an erect posture which the Gorilla attains is by supporting itself by hanging on to the branches. When I asked the people of Ngumbi whether a man had ever been killed by a Gorilla, they said that their fathers had spoken of such a thing, but that nothing of the kind had happened within the memory of anybody living. Such is the evidence of the native hunters upon the habits of the Gorilla. I could not find that it differed in any important respect from the Chimpanzee, except in its superior size and strength, and in its certainly being more formidable when wounded. But when I asked the hunters which was the most dangerous, the Leopard or the Gorilla, they replied the ‘Leopard.’
“I can make one or two positive assertions from my own experience. Although I never succeeded in viewing a Gorilla in its wild state, I can assert that it travels on all-fours, for I have seen the tracks of its four feet over and over again. I can assert that it runs away from man, for I have been near enough to hear one running away from me; and I can assert that the young Gorilla is as docile as the young Chimpanzee in captivity, for I have seen them both in a state of captivity. I have also seen the lying-in nests both of Chimpanzees and Gorillas, the latter being the larger of the two. The Chimpanzee has the character of being more intelligent than his big brother.” This careful traveller doubted some of the stories told by M. Du Chaillu about Gorilla killing, so he went to the neighbourhood where this slaying was said to have taken place. On arriving at the town of Ngumbi pretending to be trading, he writes, “I was asked whether I would buy Gorillas as M. Du Chaillu did. I refused to buy them, but said that I would give a large reward to any hunter who would get me a shot at one, and also a present to the King. They seemed astonished at this, and asked me why I wished to do a thing that other white men had never wished to do. Now, I had taken with me two interpreters, and managed to make them quarrel, so that there might be no collusion in the matter. I examined Etia, a hunter, in whose company M. Du Chaillu professes to have killed Gorillas, by each interpreter separately. I examined in the same manner the five guides who had escorted him in the Opingi country; and though they spoke of M. Du Chaillu in high terms, and appeared to have a great affection for him, all replied that he had never shot a Gorilla.”
YOUNG GORILLA AND DOG.
Still later accounts from able naturalists confirm Winwood Reade’s views, and insist upon the truth of the fact that no European has ever seen a Gorilla in its adult age alive, and in its native forests. They start off at the slightest noise, and are only hunted by natives for the sake of their bones and skins, which are valuable enough in Europe. Moreover, exception has been taken to the tales about the intractable and violent nature of the Gorilla, and more than one well-known African naturalist sides with those who disbelieve in the ferocity of the young Gorilla.
The reason why the Gorilla flourishes in Western Equatorial Africa is probably because the great Carnivora, or beasts of prey, are not found in the dense forests and open prairies which cover the country. The jungle begins where the sea ceases, and then comes the virgin forest, extending some degrees north and south of the equator, and reaching unknown distances inland. There are no Lions, and but few Leopards, Hyenas, and Jackals to be met with; the great African beasts—the Rhinoceroses, Giraffes, Zebras, &c.—are absent. Snakes, Lizards, and a vast insect world abound, and there are birds of prey. The Elephant is scarce, and, indeed, miles and miles may be traversed without hearing or seeing any signs of large animal life. But of all the mammals the Monkeys are the most numerous, and the Gorilla reigns supreme. He has the forest to himself, and but few enemies. He has companions, however, nearly of his own size, and whose description we owe to Du Chaillu, and they are so constructed, anatomically, that they link on, as it were, this greatest of all Apes with the well-known Chimpanzee, which is also indigenous to the Gorilla land. The new Apes are the Nschiego Mbouvé, or Tschiégo, and the Koolo-Kamba.