CHAPTER II.
THE MAN-SHAPED APES (continued)—THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ—THE KOOLO-KAMBA—THE SOKO—THE CHIMPANZEE.
[THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ]—Its Nests and Habits—A Specimen Shot—Differences between it and the Gorilla—Structural Peculiarities—[THE KOOLO-KAMBA]—Meaning of the Name—Discovered by Du Chaillu—Its Outward Appearance and Anatomy—[THE SOKO]—Discovered by Livingstone—Hunting the Soko—[THE CHIMPANZEE]—In Captivity—On Board Ship—A Young Chimpanzee—The Brain and Nerves—Anatomical Peculiarities—General Remarks upon the Group
THE NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ.[8]
THIS great Ape, which attains the height of four feet, and has a spread of arms of seven feet, was discovered by Du Chaillu in the Gaboon district. It is remarkable for building very comfortable shelters, and this led to its being found; for Du Chaillu, in one of his excursions, was trudging along, rather tired of sport, when he saw a most singular-looking shelter built on the branches of a tree. He thought it had been made by the natives, and asked whether the hunters had the habit of sleeping in the woods, but was told, to his great surprise, that it was a nest built by the Nschiego Mbouvé, an Ape. Moreover, one of the natives told him that it was a curious creature, which had a bald head.
Many of the nests were seen subsequently, and it was noticed that they were generally built about fifteen or twenty feet from the ground, and invariably on a tree which stands slightly apart from others, and which had no lower bough beneath the shelter. Occasionally they are to be seen at the height of fifty feet; and it would appear that the altitude has something to do with the dread of the few flesh-eating and destructive beasts, such as the Leopard. The loneliest parts of the forest are chosen, for the animal is shy, and is very rarely seen, even by the negroes. The materials for the nest consist of leafy branches, and are collected by the male and the female also, who tie them together, and to the tree, very neatly with twigs of the vine. The roof is so well constructed that it closely resembles human work, and it throws off the rain admirably, for it is neatly rounded at the top. During its construction, the female gathers the branches and vines, whilst the male builds; but afterwards they do not occupy the same shelter, the male making another close by in a neighbouring tree. The roof, which is usually some six or eight feet in diameter, is more or less dome-shaped, or something like an extended umbrella; and the Nschiego gets under it and clasps the tree, or squats on a bough, so that its head is just beneath the under surface. The nests are not occupied permanently, and usually for not more than eight or ten days, for the Apes, living upon wild berries of a certain kind, select spots where they are plentiful, and leave them when the store is exhausted. Du Chaillu never saw many nests together, and he does not think the animals live in troops, but only in pairs. Sometimes a solitary nest is seen, inhabited by a Nschiego, whose silvery hair denotes its age, and probably its desire for solitude after a long and troublous life.
Being desirous of obtaining one of these shelter makers, as they were evidently new to science, Du Chaillu took every precaution to surprise his prey; but it is best to tell the story in his own words:—
“We travelled with great caution, not to alarm our prey, and had a hope that, by singling out a shelter, and waiting till dark, we should find it occupied. In this hope we were not disappointed. Lying quite still in our concealment (which tried my patience sorely), we at last, just at dusk, heard the peculiar ‘Hew, hew, hew,’ which is the call of the male to his mate. We waited till it was quite dark, and then I saw what I had so longed all the weary afternoon to see. A Nschiego was sitting in his nest. His feet rested on the lower branch, his head reached quite into the little dome of the roof, and his arm was clasped firmly round the tree-trunk. This is their way of sleeping. After gazing till I was tired through the gloom at my sleeping victim, two of us fired, and the unfortunate beast fell at our feet without a struggle, or even a groan. We built a fire at once, and made our camp in this place, that when daylight came I might first of all examine and skin my prize. The poor Ape was hung up to be out of the way of insects, and I fell asleep on my bed of leaves and grass, as pleased a man as the world could well hold. Next morning I had leisure to examine the Nschiego.
NSCHIEGO MBOUVÉ. (From a Stuffed Specimen.)
“I was at once struck with points of difference between it and the Chimpanzee. It was smaller, and had a bald black head. This is its distinctive character. This specimen was three feet eleven inches high, or long. It was an adult. Its skin, where there is no hair, is black, and the thick breast and abdomen are covered with short and rather thin blackish hairs. On the lower part of the abdomen the hair is thinnest, but this is not perceived unless looked at carefully, as the skin is the colour of the hair. On the legs the hair is of a dirty grey, mixed with black. The shoulders and back have black hair between two and three inches long, mixed with a little grey. The arms down to the wrist have also long black hair, but shorter than in the Gorilla. The hair is blacker, longer, glossier, and thinner in general than that on the Gorilla, and the skin is not so tough. I noticed that the bare places, where the hair is worn off by contact with hard substances in sleeping, were different from the bare places which are so conspicuous on the common Chimpanzee.