Gorilla has a long and well-formed tongue to taste them with,[5] and a
good nose to enjoy their scent and fragrance. The nostrils are open,
and look downwards, being separated by a moderately wide piece of flesh
covering, gristle, or cartilage, and they are protected above by very
dense bones, which form the slight ridges called the nasal bones. Up
the nose a passage leads to the air spaces in the bone of the front of
the head, and they and some curiously curled bones not very far from
the nostrils are covered with a delicate membrane well supplied with
the nerves in which the function of smell exists.
Both the natives and Du Chaillu allude to the roaring and yelling of
the old male Gorillas, and it will be noticed further on that the young
ones can make noise enough. Dr. Savage was told that when the male is
first seen he gives a terrific yell that resounds far and near through
the forest, something like _Kh--ah! Kh--ah_, prolonged and shrill,
and others have compared the noise to distant thunder. They have an
organ of voice on the top of the windpipe, made on the plan of that
of man, but deficient in many respects, and especially in those fine
adaptations of structure which produce the human voice. But there is a
very remarkable arrangement in their larynx, as it is called, which,
although it has nothing to do with the formation of sound, may possibly
make it more resonant and growling, and this is one of the things which
separate the great Ape from man in matters of mere construction.
[Illustration: THROAT OF GORILLA.]
At the back of our tongues, and also of those of the Gorilla, is a
little flap, rather hard and gristly in us, and only membranous and
soft in the Ape, which covers over the top of the air-passage into
the windpipe when any food is swallowed. The food or drink would
otherwise get into the air-passage, and would be constantly going
“the wrong way.” Immediately under this flap, or, as it is called,
the epiglottis, is a space limited in front by the hard substance we
call in our throat the “Adam’s apple,” and at the bottom of it are
the movable structures by whose action voice is produced. Now, in the
this space is not shut in front as it is in us, but there are two
openings in it, one on either side, which lead to a complicated sac
or pouch. This pouch is made of thin membrane, and covers, when blown
out like a bag--for the air coming out of the windpipe can be forced
in--the front of the windpipe, and projects sideways under the muscles
of the throat, and even amidst those of the armpits. The Gorilla can
thus blow his neck out, as it were, and when he is yelling, the air
in the bag or pouch must resound. Possibly this great bag of air may
have something to do with making the body lighter when the animal is
climbing and using all the force it can with its arms. These so-called
“laryngeal” pouches are found in many Apes and Monkeys, but their
double opening into the space below the little flap is peculiar to the
great Apes, which are sufficiently man-like as to be called by the term
Anthropoid--the Gorillas, their allies the Chimpanzees, the Orangs,
and the Siamangs.[6] All the other Monkeys of the Old World with sacs
have but one opening into a space, or, as it is termed, the ventricle
of the organ of voice, or larynx. The Monkeys of the New World have
a different arrangement of air pouches, which will be noticed in the
proper place.
The Gorilla has one little peculiarity which distinguishes it from all
other Apes and Monkeys, and which causes it to be more like man, and
insignificant as it may seem, it is of some interest. In man there is
a decided projection of bone behind, or rather below the ear, and this
is called the teat-shaped process of the ear-bone (Mastoid process),
and is of importance to the organ of hearing and also to the muscles
which steady and keep the head erect, and allow of its being moved
in particular directions. This process exists to a certain extent in
the Gorilla but not in the Chimpanzee, Orang-Utan, or in any other of
the Quadrumana. It is smaller in the Gorilla than in man, but it is
made up, as in us, of a number of spaces enclosed by bones which have
to do with the organ of hearing in some way or other, and which are
lined with membrane. On the outside a muscle is attached, which passes
downwards and inwards to the top of the breast-bone, covering the great
blood-vessels and nerves of the neck.
In examining this process of bone, attention is of course drawn to the
ear itself, and there is no doubt of the remarkable resemblance of
those of man and of the Gorilla. The great Ape has evidently a very
quick sense of hearing, for it gets out of the way of men as quickly
as is possible, when it can only hear them in the forest and jungle,
but that it should have the outside ear fashioned nearly after the
resemblance of that beautiful structure in man is very remarkable. The
ear of the Gorilla is smaller in proportion to the size of the head
than those of other Apes, and is about the same length, but broader
than that of man; the lobe, which is perforated by us for earrings,
is perhaps less perfect in the Gorilla, but all the curves and folds,
which are so complicated yet so graceful in the human ear exist in it,
modified more or less, and not so harmonious in their general symmetry,
as in man.
With all its great strength, the head of the great Ape cannot move as
readily on the neck as that of weaker man, for the skull is not placed
on the neck end of the back-bone quite in the same manner, and its
position is not that which is admirably (as in us) adapted for carrying
the head erect. One of the greatest marvels in the structure of man is
the manner in which the tender mass of nerves called the spinal cord or
marrow passes out of the hard skull into a bony canal down the spine,
and yet does not suffer injury as head and back move and roll about.
The spinal cord or marrow passes out of the skull through a special
opening, on the outside of which is a joint on either side. These
joints fit on to corresponding ones on a ring-shaped bone (atlas bone),
and this bone rests on one equally hollow, and which has an upward
projection which enters the ring (axis bone), and is clasped to it by
a strong ligament. It is this projection which prevents the spinal
marrow from being injured by the head moving too freely, and yet life
hangs almost on a thread, for were this strong ligament to break the
soft nerve would be pressed in by the bony projection, and death would
ensue. All the motions of the head are connected with these bones and
their joints, and the way in which it is carried is in relation with
the position of the opening in the skull for the spinal marrow. If the
head is to be carried erect, as in man and in many birds, the opening
is far from the back part of the head. If the face is to look upwards,
as it does in a pig or dog, the opening is very far backwards. In the
Gorilla it is not quite at the back, but further in that direction
than in man, and hence the face of this Ape is more liable to be
looking upwards than forwards. This is really the case, for the natural
position of the animal is not erect, but on all-fours, and then it
wants to look, not on the ground, but upwards and forwards, by tilting
the head. Many of the great muscles of the back crest have to do with
this. It is noticed also that the joint which permits the head to move
on the ring-shaped bone (the atlas bone) is not so long or curved as in
man, and therefore the movements of the Gorilla’s head are restricted.
All accounts of the life of a Gorilla tell of its moving rapidly
amongst trees, climbing readily and noiselessly, and gathering its food
constantly. It is therefore necessary to examine into the manner in
which this is done, and how it relates to the shape and anatomy of the
creature.
In climbing trees, the Gorilla, like a man under the same
circumstances, lifts up the arms over the head, and clasps or holds
on with one hand, but the position of the hand is not the same. Apes
seize instinctively with the knuckles towards them, and not with the
ends of the fingers and palm as man: and this makes a great difference,
for the muscles of the back are therefore more important to the Ape
than those of the chest in climbing. Then with some muscular effort
the body is lifted or rather drawn up, so that the unemployed hand
can reach and clasp higher than the other; and having thus two hands
holding on to a bough or a tree, the muscles of both arms are used to
draw up the ponderous trunk, head, and limbs until the face comes more
or less on a level with the wrists. When this is accomplished, one of
the arms is suddenly forced upwards to enable the huge grasp of the
fingers to tighten upon a higher fixed point, and the “hand-over-hand”
process is continued as long as is necessary. Doubtless the clasping
feet assist in this movement, which is only rarely performed by man,
but which is one of the commonest with the great Ape. A sailor or
an acrobat may often use the muscles which are required to perform
this feat of carrying upwards the body with the aid of the arms, but
ordinary people rarely employ their energies in this manner; the
Gorilla, on the contrary, must climb often and for some distance
every day of its life, both for food, amusement, and for shelter. It
becomes, therefore, an interesting question whether the Gorilla has any
special muscles or bones which enable it to climb easily and rapidly,
and for a considerable time, or whether there are the same kinds of
bones and muscles in its hands, arms, and shoulders, which are to be
found in man modified more or less. The results of careful inspection
have proved that, although there are no peculiar structures given to
the great Ape wherewith it may climb, still the bones of the arms and
shoulders, and the muscles which are attached to them, greatly as they
resemble those of man, are larger and stronger. Bone for bone, and
almost muscle for muscle, the climbing limbs of the man and the Gorilla
may be compared with extraordinary exactness; the structures of the
last-mentioned being, as it were, simple exaggerations of the former,
and the increased size bearing a distinct relation to the agility and
energy displayed. It must be remembered, however, that whilst in man
the muscles of the chest assist principally in climbing, in the Ape
those of the back and shoulders are the most important.
[Illustration: FOREST IN THE GABOON COUNTRY--THE LAND OF THE GORILLA.]
It is hardly necessary to notice the relation which bones and muscles
have to movement, and the most unlearned in anatomy need only be
reminded that muscles are adherent to certain parts of bones. The
bone, by itself, is motionless, and the force which can move it, and
with it, the surrounding flesh and skin, acts through the muscles, and
these consist of vast numbers of long microscopic fibrils, placed side
by side, and adherent, at both ends, to different bones. The fibrils
have a vast amount of energy in them, and they can contract, or, in
other words, shorten; the diminution in length being accompanied by
a display of force. As the fibrils shorten, they tend to bring the
motionless bones closer together, and to impart motion, which may be
rapid, and more or less forcible. If one bone is stationary, the other
may be brought towards it by the muscular contraction, or if both are
not fixed, both may move. The nervous force produces the muscular
contraction, whose vigour and lasting power depend a great deal upon
the supply of blood sent to the fibrils through the blood vessels
(arteries), and removed through the veins.
[Illustration: BONES OF THE FORE-ARM AND ARM OF THE GORILLA--SIDE VIEW.
SHOULDER OR BLADE-BONE.]
In the principal act of climbing hand-over-hand, a bough or some
stationary object is grasped by the fingers, the arm being straight,
and the body hanging, as it were, to it. The first motion is the
lifting up of the arm; the second is the grasping with the hand; and
the third is the bending of the straight elbow, and bringing the
shoulder up nearer the fixed point, or the part grasped. Whilst this
is being done the body is not limp, but more or less stiffened by the
spine, which runs down the back, and consists of many bones, being
made rigid by the contraction of many small muscles. Now the bones
and muscles of all the parts of the body engaged in climbing are
so arranged that the spine shall not suffer any jarring, but shall
be lifted up safely. Were all the muscles which pull upon the arms
attached to it, every unusual effort would drag it almost to pieces,
so there is a wide flat bone placed between the spine and the arm.
This so-called blade-bone is jointed by a ball and socket joint to the
arm-bone, but is only united to the spine and back part of the head
by muscles. Muscles start from the spine to the blade-bone, from the
blade-bone to the bones of the arm and fore-arm, and from these last to
the bones of the fingers, and by their shortening or contraction, the
fingers being stationary, the body is at last brought closer to them.
In order to explain the first motions of climbing, it is necessary
to remark that on looking at the skeleton of the Gorilla the
shoulder-blades are seen to be of the same general shape as those of
man; they are much larger, however, and there are some anatomical
points about them, which clearly have to do with the ability of the
great Ape to keep its arms up for a long time, and to pull up its heavy
body when the hands and fore-arms are fixed and immovable by clasping.
One muscle, which in ourselves forms the cushion on the shoulder, and
reaches down the outside of the arm for a little distance, is called
the deltoid or Δ-shaped muscle, and its especial duty is, when the
shoulder-blade is fixed, to lift up the arm by its contraction. The
movement is permitted because between the spots where the muscles are
adherent to the blade-bone on the one hand, and to the outside of the
arm-bone on the other, a distance of several inches, there is a joint
like a ball and socket. The muscle is not attached to a flat surface
on the blade-bone, but to a raised edge, which runs rather obliquely,
and is called the spine of the bone. Now this muscle is of immense
importance to the Gorilla, as may be imagined from the nature of its
function or office: it is placed in the same position as in man, and
between the same kind of bones, but the spine of the blade-bone is
longer, broader, and more slantingly set in the Ape, so that extra
strength and greater power are attained.
This spine, or rather raised ridge, can be felt when we place the right
hand over the left shoulder as far as possible, keeping the fingers
between the neck and the end of the shoulder, and its slanting position
can be traced best in the Gorilla; and it may be mentioned, that in the
Chimpanzee the direction is much more oblique. Above this spine of the
blade-bone there is the upper part of the blade, and it is covered with
muscle, the space thus occupied being much larger in the Gorilla than
in man. This muscle starts from this bone, to which it is attached, and
is united to the arm-bone, close to its joint with the blade-bone; it
is larger in the Gorilla than in us, and one of its uses is to assist
the deltoid just mentioned.
There is rather an interesting arrangement in the old Gorillas, which
is not found in the young or in man, and which appears to have to do
with the power of this muscle and its prolonged action. The muscle is
well supplied with blood, and the nerve which endows it with energy
is particularly well prevented from being compressed during the
movements of the muscles amongst which it runs, any compression being
very injurious. The upper edge of the blade-bone is notched, and a
dense tissue or ligament stretches from one point of the notch to the
opposite one, enclosing a small open space; now the nerve runs through
this space, and is protected by the hard tissues of bone and ligament
from the contraction of the soft muscles. In the old Gorilla a further
protection is found in the presence of a little projection of bone in
this space, which acts as a greater preventer of pressure.
After passing through this space the nerve enters the very substance of
the muscle, and is distributed to its fibrils.
The upper arm reaches down from the shoulder to the hips in the
Gorilla, and its bone (_os humerus_, from the Latin) is strongly
marked on its surface by roughnesses and ridges, to which the great
muscles are attached. In man the shape of the upper arm varies with the
strength of the individual, but in the strongest man and in the most
beautifully-shaped woman it has a swelling on the front, and tapers
more or less towards the elbow. This is caused by the two-headed or
biceps muscle, and by other muscles ending in tendons. But the Gorilla
has a very shapeless upper arm; it is, as it were, fat and round
throughout, and very large above the elbow, and this is because of the
size of the bone within, and on account of the muscles not tapering
as they do in man, but being well developed right down to their ends.
Hence, elegance of shape is sacrificed to extra muscular strength and
size of bone.
On looking at the arm-bone, which, being connected to the shoulder
by a joint, has much to do with the act of climbing and striking, it
will be noticed that it greatly resembles that of man in shape, but
is longer, stouter, and clumsier. The joint is nearly in the shape of
a rounded knob, and the corresponding depression or cup on the blade
or shoulder-bone into which it fits, is an oval and concave surface,
and they are kept close together by a kind of capsule which stretches
from one bone to the other and encloses the joint. Perfect freedom
of movement is insured by the bones being covered with glistening
cartilages, and a delicate and moist membrane, and the motion from
the shape of the apparatus is almost equal to that of a chandelier
where there is what is called a cup-and-ball joint at the ceiling. It
has already been noticed that muscles are attached to the blade-bone
and to the arm-bone below the joint, and that, this being movable,
when they contract they move the arm, and the instance was given of
the action of the deltoid muscle in raising the arm. In the Gorilla,
this great muscle reaches lower down than in man, and there is a very
strong mark in the shaft of the bone for its insertion. This gives the
muscle greater play than in us, and enables it to lift, more slowly
perhaps, but more efficiently, for the arm-bone between the joint and
the place where the muscle is attached, is the long arm of a lever
which is shorter in man. Below the globular head of the arm-bone is
the shaft or cylindrical part of the bone which gives origin to the
three-headed muscle called triceps, and is covered by the two-headed
one (biceps) already mentioned, besides the deltoid. A deep groove
allows one of the ends or heads of the biceps to pass along and slide
over the joint and to reach the shoulder-blade. The shaft as a whole
is more or less cylindrical, with a slight angular outline, the angles
being projections of bone which strengthen the whole, besides giving
attachment to muscles; the cylindrical shape is the best for strength
and lightness, and these properties are increased by the adoption of a
plan which engineers have long since unwittingly copied. The shaft is
hollow, and is cellular at both ends, solid bone covering the outside,
conditions which oppose fracture, and produce increased strength,
indeed greater strength and lightness than a solid bone would have.
Below the shaft is an expansion, on which are placed the surfaces
for the jointing on of the two bones of the fore-arm, and the bone
is especially in old Gorillas perforated there, a condition seen in
some very old human bones. There is an important point in the relative
length of the upper arm-bone, and the bones of the fore-arm in the
Gorilla, in other Apes, and in man, for in this great Ape and in us
the humerus is longer than the others, and in the Chimpanzee they are
almost equal, whilst in the rest of the Monkeys they are very unequal,
the bones of the fore-arm being much the longest.
Although they have such strong arms, covered with a stout skin and with
hairs sloping downwards, the Gorillas sometimes manage to break them,
and then Nature endeavours to repair the injury. In the skeleton of the
old male Gorilla in the British Museum there are proofs of a former
fracture of the humerus or upper arm-bone. The arm was broken across,
and as it could not be kept quiet, Dame Nature has not done her work as
well as a modern surgeon could on a patient whose arm he could put in
splints, for it is thickened, shortened, and twisted.
The fore-arm of the Gorilla has its long hairs pointing upwards to
the elbow, and the limb does not slope gracefully towards, and become
slightly smaller above the wrist, as in man, but remains thick and
fleshy as far as the hand. There are two bones in the forearm which are
jointed above with the lower end of the arm-bone (humerus), and which
are also connected by joints at their lower ends with the small bones
forming part of the wrist. The bones of the fore-arm are called the
radius and the ulna in the Gorilla as in man. They are larger, stouter,
and wider apart in the great Ape than in ordinary Europeans, but they
greatly resemble those of the Australian aborigines. As these bones
are covered with muscles, some going to the fingers, and others coming
from the upper arm, there are many ridges or surfaces on them, for
their origin and attachment, and these greatly resemble those of man;
moreover, the muscles perform the same functions and movements.
When compared with that of a strong man, the wrist of the Gorilla is
broader, and the bones, of the same number, are larger from side to
side, and this extra breadth makes this part of the hand very wide. As
the Gorilla’s hand often has to support the weight of the body, on the
back of the fingers and knuckles, it is long, broad, and very strong,
surpassing in these respects those of man; but the thumb is peculiar.
It does not look a well-formed one; it is evidently short, and out of
proportion to the long fingers. The human thumb reaches not far from
the second joint of the fore-finger; but the top of that of the Gorilla
is on a level with the first joint, or at the end of the long bones of
the hand, and which are called metacarpal bones.
Remarkable then for its breadth and thickness, the Gorilla’s hand has
also a long palm, which is not only due to the length of the bones,
just mentioned, but also to the fact that the web or undivided skin
between the fingers, where they join the hand, is not slight as in
man, but long and very decidedly visible. The web extends half way
up the first joint of the fingers. The fingers are therefore made to
appear short[7] (although their bones are long), and they look dumpy
and swollen, and this appearance is increased by there being callous
pads of skin on the back of the middle and end joints. Finally, the
fingers slope to the nails, which are not much larger or longer than
those of man. The back of the hand is hairy as far as the divisions of
the fingers; and the callous pads, just noticed, almost do away with
the appearance of some of the joints. The short thumb, not so big as
the forefinger, has a nail which does not reach the end of it, and the
under-parts of the thumb, fingers, and palm have a bare skin. Professor
Owen, in summing up the difference between the structure of the hands
of the Gorilla and of man, remarks that in the great Ape the hands are
instruments for great power of grasp, and for sustaining great weight,
and the length and strength of the whole upper limb accord with their
mechanical powers and requirements. In man, the framework of the hand
bespeaks an organ of varied and delicate prehension, and the form and
proportion of the rest of the arm-limb relate to the free motions and
complex functions of the instrument.
Having raised the arm by its muscles, the fingers and thumbs grasp an
object, or, in other words, certain muscles which are placed between
the bones of the fingers and between the fingers and the bones of
the fore-arm, contract and move the bones, which are jointed. The
tops of the fingers are bent on the palm, and the thumb is closed on
them, and this continues as long as the contraction permits. All the
apparatus for long-continued clasping is present in the Gorilla, and
there are nearly the same kinds of muscles employed as in man. There
are, however, some differences, to one of which it is necessary now to
allude. The thumb, for instance, of the Gorilla is of great importance
in grasping, but it has not to perform such complicated movements in
other things as that of man. In man its movements are most wonderful,
and by using one muscle after the other which belongs to it, it can
be moved so as to describe a circle with its tip. This is done in the
action of “twiddling,” but also in many others where the will hardly
influences the muscle, and where the thumb may be said to be moved
unconsciously. Gorillas in their quietest and most reflective moods
cannot indulge in the sober practice of twiddling, for an important
twiddling muscle is absent in them. But it is no great loss, and
perhaps it is a real gain, for this muscle would be in the way of rapid
clasping, as it rather tends to keep the thumb from the fingers. Whilst
the great Ape is thus deficient it has a muscle on the other side of
the hand which is not possessed by man, and whose office appears to be
to separate as far as is possible the fourth and fifth fingers (their
first joints), and by so doing to enlarge the grasp of the whole hand.
As the hand of the Gorilla is at least a third larger than that of the
averaged-sized man, there is of course a corresponding increase in the
space which can be grasped. The muscles are stronger and stouter than
in us, and therefore the hand is a more powerful one. Nevertheless it
is incompetent of performing many actions which are readily done by a
child.
[Illustration: HAND BONES OF THE GORILLA.]
Having lifted up the arm in the act of climbing, and having grasped
something, the third motion commences, the object being to draw up
the body to the wrist and fingers, which of course remain as fixed
points. All the muscles which intervene between the fore-arm bones
and the spines of the back have to contract and shorten, so as to
bring the last-named bones towards the fixed point, and they may be
divided into _three_ groups--those which reach from the arm-bones to
the blade-bone, those which connect the blade-bone and the back-bone,
and those which unite the arm and the back-bone. All contract at once
and shorten the distance between the body and the arm; some fix as it
were the blade-bone, and twist it slightly, placing it in a straight
line for the pulling of others; and the most important bend and pull
down the elbow. Two muscles may be noticed in particular. One which
has already been noticed forms the lump on the front of the arm when
the wrist is brought close to the shoulder, and is called “biceps,”
because it has two heads or points of adhesion to the blade-bone, not
far from the joint of the arm-bone. The fibres pass over the arm from
the blade-bone down to one of the bones of the fore-arm, in front of
the bend of the elbow, and when they contract they tend to bend the
elbow and bring the wrist near the shoulder, or the shoulder near the
wrist when the fingers are fixed or clasping. The biceps of the Gorilla
is a vast muscle, but it wants the symmetry of that of man, and it does
not taper downwards so as to make the arm narrower above the elbow.
Another muscle is at the back part of the arm, and from having three
upper heads or attachments is called the “triceps.” Two of the heads
are attached to the arm-bone, and one to the blade-bone, and the lower
one is fixed on to the piece of bone of one of the fore-arm bones, on
which the arm rests when “elbows are on the table.” Its action is to
drag the blade-bone towards that bone, and it is assisted in this by a
muscle which passes from the spine to the arm-bone, and whose office
in climbing is to drag the spine towards the arm. Finally, there are
numerous muscles which pass from the long spines of the pieces of the
back-bone (vertebræ) to the blade-bone, and which in climbing tend to
drag the first towards the last-mentioned bones, and to move the body
generally upwards. The huge size of the blade-bone assists in this in
the Gorilla, as its large surface can give adhesion to larger muscles
than a smaller one; and as the arm-bones are large, there is all the
more room for muscular play.
Considering the bulk of the body of a Gorilla, and the nature of the
movements of climbing, it is to be expected that those muscles and
bones which are connected, as just stated, with the blade-bone, should
be large and strong. This is remarkably the case. On examining the back
of a Gorilla one is struck with the great projection of the back-bones
in the neck. In man each back-bone or vertebra has a projection or
spine which sticks out backwards more or less. These are small in the
region of the neck, but in the Gorilla these spines are very long
there, and give a peculiar hump-necked appearance. Their size, however,
is in exact relation with the size and strength of the muscles attached
to them, and some of these go to the blade-bone to assist in the act of
climbing.
It is this hump-necked appearance and the round-backed look produced by
the great size of the blade-bones which make a Gorilla so ugly about
the chest and head, but beauty is of much less use in an African forest
than good stout bones and active muscles.
The hind part of the neck does not form a graceful curve as in a
well-made man, but a projection which gradually slopes into the line
of the back. Moreover, the shoulders of the Gorilla do not slope from
the neck--on the contrary, their direction is that which renders the
hand-over-hand movement of climbing the readiest of commencement. They
are “high,” as the term is, the head and neck being as it were sunken
between them, so that the chin, instead of being on a much higher level
than the top of the breast-bone, is naturally lower than it. The front
of the neck is thus hidden by the huge lower jaw.
Gorillas have collar-bones which are in the same position as those
in man, but they are straighter, stouter, and stronger: they are
not placed almost horizontally between the front of the blade-bone
and the breast-bone, as in us, but as the shoulders are “high” they
slant downwards to the breast-bone. By placing the hand on the upper
part of the opposite side of the chest the collar-bone may be felt
with the tips of the fingers like a ridge, and it is one which many
know to their cost is very readily broken by a fall on the end of
the shoulders. The bone is something like the letter _f_ in outline,
without the cross-bar, and it is fixed at both ends: so when a force
acts on one end in the direction of the length of the bone it tends to
bend, and often cracks and breaks across.
Now a fractured collar-bone would be a serious thing to a Gorilla; he
could no longer lift up his arm, and he would be in constant peril and
difficulty; hence, Nature has given him not only a very strong and
straight bone, but has by the “high” shoulder posture rendered a fall
on the top of it almost impossible. A fall would probably injure the
upper part of the arm, which is well protected by the thick cushion of
muscle, flesh, and hairy skin which covers the bone.
Travellers and hunters have noticed the rapidity and ease with which
the Gorilla moves when off the ground, and when the size and the weight
of the animal are considered it becomes evident that not only must it
have great muscular power but a stout heart, good circulation, and
capital “wind.”
It must be remembered also that it is a great eater of vegetable food,
and that it has to consume a large quantity to obtain a supply of
nourishment: in other words, it has a very capacious stomach, which has
to be carried about and kept very well filled.
In order to meet these requirements there is a very capacious chest
(much more so than in man), which contains the large lungs and heart,
and the belly is flaccid and large, so that the stomach need not press
upwards and interfere with the breathing, or with the action of the
circulation. Man has twelve ribs on either side, but the Gorilla has
thirteen, each of which is longer, stouter, and broader than ours,
the result being to make the cavity enclosed by them the greater, but
apparently less readily influenced by the muscles of respiration.
When we breathe deeply and endeavour to inspire more than is usual we
employ certain muscles which act on the ribs, enlarging the cavity of
the chest, and then diminishing it as the expiration occurs. The larger
the spaces between the ribs, and the more elastic the ribs themselves,
the greater is their possible amount of movement. In us it is very
great in the child, great in man, but much less in old age, when the
elasticity of the ribs diminishes. In the Gorilla, the breadth and
strength of the ribs keep the cavity of the chest always vast, and
certainly from their solidity and from the small space which exists
between the successive ribs, great and unusual efforts of respiration
are not very possible. So large is the cavity of the chest in the
Gorilla, and so capacious are the lungs, that it is possibly not
necessary for it to put itself out of breath, and to call extraordinary
muscular exertion into play, during its uneventful life.
Having thirteen ribs on either side, and each rib being attached to a
separate bone of the spine, the Gorilla has therefore one more spine
bone (vertebra) than man, and is all the more long-backed. Moreover,
the breast-bone, which is on the front of the chest, is broader in the
Gorilla than in man, and at least one-third longer, thus adding to
the capacity of the cavity of the chest, making it of about 500 cubic
inches; that of man being 330 cubic inches.
The lungs and heart of the great Ape resemble those of man, and the
great arteries are given off from the main blood-vessel in the same
manner in both.
The Gorillas appear to be great eaters, and to roam about, either in
small bands or alone, seeking for their favourite food in the forest,
and the plantations close by. Sometimes they seek the high plains and
rough ground of the hills, especially where certain trees are found,
and they invariably cling to the forests about water. They eat the
cabbage of the palm nut tree, and partake of the papau, banana, and
amomum fruits. Wild sugar-canes attract them, and they are especially
fond of the succulent white parts of the pine-apple and its leaves.
Some hard kinds of nuts are readily cracked with their huge teeth,
which are also brought into use in tearing open the stems of juicy
plants.
All the examinations of the dead bodies of the Gorillas prove their
diet to consist of such things, and the remains of berries, pine-apple
leaves, and other vegetable matters were found, but not flesh or
anything like it. This food is, however, not very nourishing, and it
must be taken in large quantities and frequently. Hence the animal must
not only have good climbing powers to get his food, but a large stomach
and intestines to digest it rapidly. There is no doubt that the figure
of the Gorilla testifies to its kind of food. The abdomen is very
large, and sticks out when the animal is in the erect position; its
paunch is vast, and therefore the bones which support it below, or the
haunch bones, are very wide.
These haunch-bones form part of a girdle of bones which, in a skeleton,
unites the legs to the spine, and which contains, in living animals,
the bladder, part of the reproductive organs, and the unborn young.
It is called the pelvis, or basin-shaped bone (being very unlike one);
its upper edge is formed by the expanded haunch, or ilium bones (ilium,
or gut, alluding to the support given by the bone to the bowels), and
its lower one by the bones on which men and Gorillas sit, or the hip
(the ischium, or hip-bone). In the Gorilla the pelvis is enormous,
and the edge of the haunches is long, so as to give attachment to the
muscles which enclose the vast digestive apparatus behind and at the
side, but it does not form a graceful curve behind and below, for
certain muscles which are of great use to man in maintaining the erect
posture, and which straighten the thigh in the body, are weak in the
great Ape. These muscles originate outside and below the top of the
haunch, and when large and strong, require a peculiar shape of bone:
they form in man what does not exist in the Gorilla, and that in which
the Hottentot Venus glories. But the Gorilla can sit just as well
upon a pair of short and expanded hip-bones (ischial tuberosities, in
the language of anatomists), and as he has no tail (the bones forming
it in other Monkeys being diminished in number and united in a short
process), he can do so for a considerable time with comfort. The
sitting in the upright position is moderately easy to the Gorilla, and
the older ones evidently often do so. They squat and rest their broad
backs against a tree, and as this is a very constant and favourite
position, they wear a good deal of their back hair off.
The fate of a hunter is thus given by Du Chaillu, who pledges himself
to three very debatable points: that the Gorilla meets its enemy erect;
stands and fights; and kills by a blow across the abdomen:--“We set
off towards a dark valley where Gambo said we should find our prey.
The Gorilla chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests, for its home is
found on the edges of the clearings only when in search of plantains,
sugar-canes, or pine-apples. Often they choose for their peculiar haunt
a wood, so dark that even at midday one can scarce see ten yards. This
makes it the more necessary to wait till the monstrous beast approaches
near before shooting, in order that the first shot may be fatal. It
does not often let the hunter reload. Our little party separated, as
is the custom, to stalk the wood in various directions. Gambo and I
kept together. One brave fellow went alone, in a direction where he
thought he could find a Gorilla. The other three took another course.
We had been about an hour separated, when Gambo and I heard a gun
fired, but a little way from us, and presently another. We were already
on our way to the spot, where we hoped to see a Gorilla slain, when the
forest began to resound with the most terrific roars. Gambo seized my
arm in great agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with a dreadful
and sickening alarm. We had not gone far when our worst fears were
realised. The poor brave fellow, who had gone off alone, was lying
on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and I thought, at first,
quite dead. His bowels were protruding through the lacerated abdomen.
Beside him lay his gun. The stock was broken, and the barrel was bent
and flattened. It bore plainly the marks of the Gorilla’s teeth. We
picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I could with rags
torn from my clothes. When I had given him a little brandy to drink he
came to himself, and was able, but with great difficulty, to speak. He
said he had met the Gorilla suddenly, and face to face, and that it
had not attempted to escape. It was, he said, a large male, and seemed
very savage. It was in a gloomy part of the wood, and the darkness I
suppose made him miss. He said he took good aim, and fired when the
beast was only about eight yards off. The ball merely wounded it in the
side, and it at once began beating its breasts, and with the greatest
rage advanced upon him. To run away was impossible, for he would have
been caught in the jungle before he had gone a dozen steps. He stood
his ground, and, as quickly as he could, reloaded his gun. Just as
he raised it to fire, the Gorilla dashed it out of his hand, the gun
going off in the fall; and then in an instant, and with a terrible
roar, the animal gave him a tremendous blow with its immense open paw,
frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and with this single blow laying
bare part of the intestines. As he sank bleeding to the ground, the
monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would have his
brains dashed out with it. But the Gorilla seemed to have looked upon
this also as an enemy, and in his rage almost flattened the barrel
between his strong jaws.”
In spite of this anecdote, and some drawings by Du Chaillu, which
represent the Gorilla standing erect, it is very doubtful, from
anatomical reasons, whether this is possible. The comparative smallness
of some of the most important muscles in the Gorilla, which in man
produce the erect position, has already been noticed, and it is now
necessary, for the same reasons, to examine into the nature of the
lower limbs.
The thigh-bone (called from the Latin, _femur_) of the Gorilla is
shorter than the arm-bone, the reverse being the case in man; and
hence the Ape appears to be too short in the legs for its long body
and arms. It is stout and rather straight, and has not the forward
bend of the same bone in man: moreover, some well-marked ridges which
run down the back of it, and which were exceedingly well developed in
the oldest races of men, are deficient in the Gorilla. The same may
be said for the markings on the bone, which indicate the presence of
powerful muscles whose action is to keep the thigh straight with the
back--or in other words, to keep the body erect. Below the knee are the
two bones of the leg: the inner one, or shin-bone (the tibia), is very
short for the height of the animal, and the joint on its lower part, on
which moves the ankle-bone, is not so deep and perfect as in man, whose
weight is constantly to be borne on it whilst it is being moved in
walking. The little outside bone, called _fibula_, or the clasp-bone,
in the Gorilla is so made that it adds singularly to the inability to
maintain the erect posture whilst walking, and even in standing still.
The lower end of this bone in man forms the prominence outside the
ankle, and covers and protects the outside of the topmost bone of the
ankle, to which the foot is attached. It strengthens it and prevents
that turning in of the foot, which is antagonistic to the placing the
sole flat on the surface of the earth, so that it can receive the
weight of the body on its broad space and allow of the position so
characteristic of man. In the Gorilla this bone does not come down
as far as the ankle, and all the safeguards against intwisting are
not present. Why, is clear enough, because the Gorilla treads on the
outside of its foot-like hand, and always has the sole turned in. There
are some other points which require to be noticed, however, about the
leg. It is short and evidently wanting in “calf.” It is therefore
deficient in that symmetry of which many mortals are most proud.
Nevertheless, it has a high instep, also a human desideratum; but in
spite of this the ankles are thick and shapeless-looking. The tendon
which reaches from the calf to the back heel-bone (os calcis) gives
a slender appearance to the lower limb of man, but there is no myth
about a Gorilla having been held by that slim spot and dipped in Styx,
to be for ever invulnerable elsewhere. This tendon (tendo Achillis)
so characteristic of man, is supplied with muscular fibres close to
its insertion into the heel-bone in the Gorilla, which thus gains in
strength what it loses in elegance. A snapping of the tendon would be
indeed a grave matter in the huge Ape, and Nature has thus provided
against this accident.
[Illustration: HUNTING THE GORILLA.]
The thick ankles of the Gorilla are rather exaggerated by the hair
which covers them, and it is found over the whole of the upper surface
of the foot to the clefts of the toes. The sole is not thus covered,
and its bare state enables grasping to be performed with ease, while
the absence of hair assists the delicacy of the sense of touch. Another
cause of the ugly appearance of the foot is the backward projection
of the heel, and the hand-like look is of course given by the great
toe-thumb, which projects from the side of the foot at an angle of
60 degrees at least. The sole is narrow behind, and expands to where
the great toe-thumb projects, so as to become very wide close to the
clefts between the other toes. It is marked with lines or indentations,
and there is a kind of pad beneath the ball of the great toe-thumb.
The Gorilla seizes objects and grasps boughs with its feet, the great
toe-thumb being exceedingly movable to and fro as well as across the
sole of the foot. Hence the hand-like appearance of the foot and the
thumb-like appendage of the great toe. Yet it is a foot, and the
movable toe is not really a thumb.
Each kind of animal must be compared with others, some of which appear
to be more complicated and some less highly organised, so that its
peculiar construction can be comprehended. Man, as the perfection of
living forms, is naturally considered the model or type with which
all others should be compared, and therefore anatomists who begin by
studying man name the bones, muscles, and other structures of animals
after his. That is to say, any of their structures which are comparable
with those of man, by their native position and use, are named
similarly.
The question then arises, and can of course on this principle be
answered, are the hinder extremities of the Gorilla feet or hands? do
they resemble human feet or human hands in their anatomy, or in the
arrangement of their bones, muscles, leaders, and blood-vessels?
By placing side by side the joined bones of the foot of man and those
of the hind extremity of the Gorilla, it will be observed that the same
number are present, and that they can be compared, as regards their
shape and position, in a most remarkable and satisfactory manner.
A human foot is composed of three parts, so far as its bones are
concerned. These are the toes, or the very movable bones in the front
of the foot (1), and then there are five slender bones (2) placed side
by side, and reaching from the toes to the pieces forming the back of
the foot or ankle. The five bones thus parallel, and situated between
the beginning of the toes and the ankle-bones, are counted from within
outwards. That attached to the great toe is the first, and that to the
little toe is the fifth. These are called metatarsal bones, and give
length and narrowness to the foot, and they can be readily felt with
the finger on our own bodies.
[Illustration: BONES OF THE ANKLE AND FOOT OF MAN.]
[Illustration: BONES OF THE ANKLE AND FOOT OF THE GORILLA.]
Behind them are the seven bones of the “tarsus,” or ankle, all
connected together in a strong arch, and jointed in front to the five
bones just mentioned, and above to the two bones of the leg. The
hindmost part of the ankle or heel is formed by the heel-bone, os
calcis (3), which forms the back part of the arch of the sole. The
Achilles tendon is united to it behind, and above it is jointed with
a bone, on which rest the bones of the leg, the astragalus bone (4),
so called from the Greek word, which means a “die,” for the boys and
men in the olden time tossed these bones, and played with those of the
sheep as modern boys do.
There are two bones of the ankle just in front of these; one in contact
with the heel-bone is called, from its shape, the cuboid or cube-shaped
bone (5), and the other, jointed to the astragalus, is, from its faint
resemblance to a boat or hull of a ship (navis), termed the navicular
bone (6). In front of these two are three others placed side by side,
and jointed in front to some of the metatarsal bones. They are called,
from their wedge-shaped outlines (wedges for the arch of the foot),
cuneiform bones (7), and there are the inner, middle, and outer of
them. The inner is curved on its front surface, and has a joint there
for the end of the slender (metatarsal) bone of the great toe. It is
longer than the next wedge-shaped bone, so that just a little spot
of the second slender bone of the second toe touches it close to the
corresponding one of the great toe. This inner wedge-shaped bone, the
metatarsal bone of the great toe, and the joints of the toe itself,
are all on a line, which is parallel to the bones of the next and
other toes. The middle and the outer wedge-shaped bones have each a
slender metatarsal bone attached to them, and the two remaining slender
metatarsals are jointed on to the cube-shaped bone which projects in
front of the heel-bone (os calcis). It is the length in front, and the
solidity and arched form of the ankle, together with the _parallel_
direction of all the slender metatarsal bones, which give the human
foot its beauty of form, strength, and ability to sustain the weight of
the body flat on the sole. Compare the hinder grasping (so-called) hand
of the Gorilla with this.
At first sight there is a great difference, for the great toe and its
metatarsal bone form _an angle_ with the bones of the other toes and
their metatarsals. Instead of the toes and their slender bones being
parallel and fixed in this position, the great toe of the Gorilla has
a power of moving so as to cross the foot more or less below, as the
human thumb can cross the palm. It has also the capacity of being
stretched out from the foot, so that its movements greatly resemble
those of a thumb. In fact, we want a word to express a toe-thumb.
On examining the foot carefully, it will be found that each of its
bones may be compared and identified in position and office with the
same in man. There is a heel-bone with a great projection behind, for
the fixing on of the Achilles tendon, and this is jointed on to a bone
above, like the human die-bone or astragalus, and to one in front,
like the cuboid. The astragalus resembles that of man, but the upper
and outer surfaces on which the lower ends of the leg-bones move, are
slightly different, so as to admit of greater turning in of the ankle.
The wedge-shaped bones are there, and the inner one, with its joint for
the slender bone of the great toe, is shorter and broader than in man,
so as to allow of great movement of the toe-thumb in front of it. The
slender bones, or metatarsals, are larger and longer, but their shape
and direction, with the exception of the first, are singularly like
those of man. As a whole the foot of the Gorilla, for thus it must be
called, is broader in front of the ankle-bones and longer everywhere
than in us, but it has a sideway and almost club-foot look about it;
its position is “turned in,” like the foot of a young child before it
walks. This is owing to the conformation and easy jointing of the bones
of the ankle and foot, and also to the action of a front muscle of the
leg which pulls the very movable bones inwards. The structures allow
of a very ready turning in of the ankle and foot, and such as would
render climbing easy with the aid of the toe-thumb; but they evidently
interfere with the steadiness in walking. It is a huge foot, and it
is only half an inch or so shorter than the leg below the knee; it is
unwieldy as a foot, but is a capital foot-hand, which cannot readily
have its toes stretched out straight, for their usual position is that
of being slightly bent in the direction of the sole.
Mr. Walker purchased from a native a fine healthy male Gorilla,
apparently about two years of age, and shipped it for England. Being
under the impression that he had taken too much care of all the other
living ones which he had obtained at different times, he determined to
let the new acquisition have its own way, and only take care that it
did no mischief. When purchased, the animal was by no means strange
or spiteful, but rather what may be termed shy, and suspicious of
strangers. At the expiration of about a week, however, it became
sufficiently tame and confiding to admit of its being allowed to run
about loose, and to do as it liked. At the same time its food, instead
of being confined to the fruits on which it is supposed to feed in
its wild state, consisted in general of fragments from the table, and
beside these it had anything edible it could lay its hands on, and
occasionally a basin of condensed milk and a raw egg beaten up in it
was given. It liked amomum fruit, but this produced diarrhœa which had
to be treated with chlorodyne and raw egg. Finding that the animal
became restive, it was left entirely to its own devices, and especially
as every one in the ship was at the same time so very busy as not to
be able to pay much attention to it. It soon became quite at home,
alternately eating, sleeping, and playing with a large bull-terrier (of
by no means the most amiable disposition), which had a most decided
dislike to negroes, but nevertheless took very kindly to the Gorilla,
so that the two animals became constant playfellows. By allowing the
Gorilla to rough it, instead of watching it, and appointing someone to
take care of it, in which case these animals become so much attached to
their keeper or attendant, that a separation from him almost invariably
causes these affectionate Apes to pine away and die, and by habituating
it to such food as is generally to be found on shipboard, it was hoped
that it might be brought to England. But accidents will happen, even
to Gorillas. It came down to dinner one day, and ate scraps with the
dog, and went to sleep. When looked for, some hours afterwards, it was
missing, and must have fallen off the taffrail into the sea. Strangely
enough, this young one was not given to climbing. It will be noticed
that these remarks are totally at variance with those of M. Du Chaillu,
who was impressed with the untamable character of the Gorilla; so we
must wait until further evidence is produced, and probably until a
little Gorilla is safely lodged in the Regent’s Park.
Many attempts have been made to obtain a live Gorilla for exhibition in
Europe, and some years since a showman really had one which he called
a Chimpanzee, but the fact was not known to scientific men until a
photograph of the creature was exhibited after its death. In June,
1876, Mr. Moore, the learned curator of the Free Public Museum, wrote
to the _Times_ after seeing a young Gorilla in Liverpool. He stated--“A
veritable young living Gorilla was yesterday brought into Liverpool by
the German African Society’s Expedition, which arrived by the steamship
_Loanda_, from the West Coast. The animal is a young male, in the
most perfect health and condition, and measures nearly three feet in
height. Its beetling brows, flattened podgy nose, black muzzle, small
ears, and thick fingers, cleft only to the second joint, distinguish it
unmistakably from the Chimpanzee.
“Could it have graced our own Zoological Gardens it would have been
the lion of the day; for, in addition to the great scientific interest
of the species, the abounding life, energy, and joyous spirits of this
example would have made it a universal favourite. Courteously received
at Eberle’s Alexandra Hotel by the members of the Exhibition, I found
the creature romping and rolling in full liberty about the private
drawing-room, now looking out of the window with all becoming gravity
and sedateness, as though interested, but not disconcerted, by the busy
multitude and novelty without, then bounding rapidly along on knuckles
and feet to examine and poke fun at some new comer, playfully mumbling
at his calves, pulling at his beard (a special delight), clinging to
his arms, examining his hat (not at all to its improvement), curiously
inquisitive as to his umbrella, and so on with visitor after visitor.
If he becomes over excited by the fun, a gentle box on the ear would
bring him to order like a child, like a child only to be on the romp
again immediately. He points with the index finger, claps with his
hands, pouts out his tongue, feeds on a mixed diet, decidedly prefers
roast meats to boiled, eats strawberries, as I saw, with delicate
appreciativeness, is exquisitely clean and mannerly. The palms of his
hands and feet are beautifully plump, soft, and black as jet. He has
been eight months and a half in the possession of the Expedition, has
grown some six inches in that time, and is supposed to be between
two and three years of age.” Nearly every other attempt to rear them
in Europe has failed. The Zoological Society has, at rare intervals,
possessed specimens of young Gorillas, but the climate of England would
appear to be quite unsuited to them, for, despite Mr. Bartlett’s every
care and attention, none of these interesting creatures survived for
any length of time.
Du Chaillu insists on the ill-temper, ferocity, and untamable nature of
the young Gorilla, as the results of his experience. One was brought to
him about three years of age, with its neck put in the cleft of a stick
to keep it quiet, and after much trouble they got it into a bamboo
cage. It was a little black thing of two feet six inches in height, and
its habits, escapes, and death are amusingly told. “As soon as I had
the little fellow safely locked in his cage, I ventured to approach to
say a few encouraging words to him. He stood in the furthest corner,
but, as I approached, he bellowed and made a precipitate rush at me;
and though I retreated as quickly as I could he succeeded in catching
my trouser leg, which he grasped with one of his feet, and tore,
retreating immediately to the corner furthest away. This taught me
caution for the present, though I had a hope still to be able to tame
him. He sat in his corner looking wickedly out of his grey eyes, and I
never saw a more morose or more ill-tempered face than had this little
beast. The first thing was, of course, to attend to the wants of my
captive. I sent for some of the forest-berries which these animals are
known to prefer, and placed these and a cup of water within his reach.
He was exceedingly shy, and would neither eat nor drink till I had
removed to a considerable distance. The second day found Joe, as I had
named him, fiercer than the first. He rushed savagely at any one who
stood even for a moment near his cage, and seemed ready to tear us all
to pieces. I threw him some pine-apple leaves, of which I noticed he
ate only the white parts. There seemed no difficulty about his food,
though he refused now, and continued during his short life to refuse,
all food except such wild leaves and fruits as were gathered from his
native woods for him. The third day he was still morose and savage,
bellowing when any person approached, and either retiring to a distant
corner or rushing to attack. On the fourth day, while no one was near,
the little rascal succeeded in forcing apart two of the bamboo rails
which composed his cage, and made his escape. I came up just as his
flight was discovered, and immediately got all the negroes together for
pursuit, determining to surround the wood and recapture my captive. I
was startled by an angry growl issuing from under my low bedstead. It
was Master Joe, who lay there hid, but anxiously watching my movements.
I instantly shut the windows, and called to my people to guard the
door. When Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and,
with his eyes glaring, and every sign of rage in his little face and
body, got out from beneath the bed. We shut the door at the same time
and left him master of the premises, preferring to devise some plan for
his easy capture rather than to expose ourselves to his terrible teeth.
How to take him was now a puzzling question. He had shown such strength
and such rage already, that not even I cared to run the chance of being
badly bitten in a hand-to-hand struggle. Meantime Joe stood in the
middle of the room looking about for his enemies, and examining, with
some surprise, the furniture. I watched with fear, lest the ticking of
my clock should strike his ear, and perhaps lead him to an assault upon
that precious article. Indeed, I should have left Joe in possession,
but for a fear that he would destroy the many articles of value or
curiosity I had hung about the walls. Finally, seeing him quite quiet,
I dispatched some fellows for a net, and opening the door quickly,
threw this over his head. Fortunately we succeeded at the first throw
in perfectly entangling the young monster, who roared frightfully,
and struck and kicked in every direction. I took hold of the back of
his neck, two men seized his arms, and another the legs, and thus
held by four men this extraordinary little creature still proved most
troublesome. We carried him as quickly as we could to the cage, which
had been repaired, and there once more locked him in. I never saw so
furious a beast in my life as he was. He darted at every one who came
near, bit the bamboos of the house, glared at us with venomous and
sullen eyes, and in every motion showed a temper thoroughly wicked and
malicious. As there was no change in this for two days thereafter, but
continual moroseness, I tried what starvation would do towards breaking
his spirit; also, it began to be troublesome to procure his food from
the woods, and I wanted him to become accustomed to civilised food,
which was placed before him. But he would touch nothing of the kind;
and as for temper, after starving him twenty-four hours, all I gained
was that he came slowly up and took some berries from the forest out
of my hand, immediately retreating to his corner to eat them. Daily
attentions from me for a fortnight more did not bring me any further
confidence from him than this. He always snarled at me, and only when
_very_ hungry would he take even his choicest food from my hands. At
the end of this fortnight I came to feed him, and found that he had
gnawed a bamboo to pieces slyly, and again made his escape. Luckily he
had but just gone; for, as I looked around, I caught sight of Master
Joe making off on all-fours, and with great speed, across the little
prairie, for a clump of trees. I called the men up, and we gave chase.
He saw us, and before we could head him off made for another clump.
This we surrounded. He did not ascend a tree, but stood defiantly at
the border of the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded
him. As we moved up he began to yell, and made a sudden dash upon a
poor fellow who was in advance, who ran, tumbled down in affright,
and, by his fall, escaped, but also detained Joe sufficiently long
for the nets to be brought to bear upon him. Four of us again bore
him, struggling, into the village. This time I could not trust him
to the cage, but had a little light chain fastened around his neck.
This operation he resisted with all his might, and it took us quite an
hour to securely chain the little fellow, whose strength was something
marvellous. Ten days after he was thus chained he died suddenly. He
was in good health, and ate plentifully of his natural food, which was
brought every day for him; did not seem to sicken until two days before
his death, and died in some pain. To the last he continued entirely
untamable; and, after his chains were on, added the vice of treachery
to his others.”
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.”
[Illustration: 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.