Othello and Other Gorillas--Othello and Moses--Gorilla
Visitors--Gorilla Mother and Child--Scarcity of Gorillas--Unauthentic
Tales
While I was living in my cage in the jungle I secured the young gorilla
to whom I gave the name Othello. He was about six months old, strong,
hardy, and robust. I found him to be a fine subject for study and made
the best use of him for that purpose. I have elsewhere described his
character, but his illness and death are matters of interest.
At noon on the day of his decease he appeared to be quite well and in
fine humor. He was turning somersaults and playing like a child with
a native boy. He evinced much interest in his play, and his actions
indicated that it gave him pleasure; but his face never once betrayed
the fact. It was amusing to see him with the actions of a romping child
and the face of a cynic.
He was supplied with plenty of his favorite food, had a good appetite,
and ate with a relish. Just after noon I sent the boy on an errand.
Near the middle of the afternoon I observed that Othello was ill. He
declined to eat or drink and lay on his back on the ground, with his
arms under his head as a pillow. I tried to induce him to walk with
me, to play, or to sit up, but he refused. By four o’clock he was
very ill. He rolled from side to side and groaned in evident pain. He
kept one hand upon his stomach, where the pain appeared to be located.
He displayed all the symptoms of gastric poisoning, and I have reason
to believe now that the boy had given him poison. I should regret to
foster this suspicion against an innocent person, but it is based upon
certain facts that I have learned since that time.
While I sat in my cage watching Othello, who lay on the ground a short
distance away, I discovered a native approaching him from the jungle.
The man had an uplifted spear in his hand, as if in the act of hurling
it at something. He had not seen me, but it did not for a moment occur
to me that he had designs upon my pet. I spoke to him in the native
language, whereupon he explained that he had seen the young gorilla and
suspected that there was an old one close at hand, and being in fear of
an attack, he was prepared. He said he was not afraid of a little one,
but desired to capture him. I informed him that the gorilla was ill. He
made an examination and assured me that Othello would die.
The man departed, and Othello continued to grow worse. His sighing and
groaning were really touching. I gave him an emetic, which produced
good results. I also used some vaporoles to resuscitate him, but my
skill was not sufficient to meet the demands of his case. His conduct
was so like that of a human being that it deeply impressed me, and
being alone with him in the silence of the dreary forest at the time of
his death, the scene had a touch of sadness that impressed me with a
deeper sense of its reality. Moses watched the dying ape as if he knew
what death meant. He showed no signs of regret, but his manner was such
as to suggest that he knew it was a trying hour.
Othello died just before sunset, but for a long time prior to this he
was unconscious. The only movements made by him were spasmodic actions
caused by pain. The fixed and vacant stare of his eyes in his last
hour was so like that of man in the hour of dissolution that no one
could look upon the scene and fail to realize the solemn fact that this
was death. The next day I dissected him and prepared the skin and the
skeleton to bring home with me. They are now, with those of Moses and
others, in the Museum of the University of Toronto.
When I first secured this ape and brought him to my house in the bush,
he was placed on the ground a few feet from my cage. Near him were laid
some bananas and sugarcane belonging to Moses, who had not yet seen the
stranger. The gorilla was in a box with one side open, so that he could
easily be seen. My purpose was to see how each would act on discovering
the other. When Moses observed the food he proceeded to help himself.
On seeing the gorilla he paused a moment and gave me an alarm. He was
not himself deterred from taking a banana. He seized one and retreated.
While he was eating the banana, I took the gorilla from the cage and
set him on the ground by it. I petted him and gave him some food. Moses
looked on but did not interfere.
When I returned to my cage Moses proceeded to investigate the new ape.
He approached slowly and cautiously within about three feet of it. He
walked around the gorilla a couple of times, keeping his face towards
it, and gradually getting a little nearer. At length he came up within
a few inches of one side of the gorilla and stopped. He stood almost
on tiptoe, with only the ends of his fingers touching the ground. The
gorilla continued to eat his food without so much as giving Moses a
look. Moses placed his mouth near the ear of the gorilla and gave
one terrific yell. The gorilla did not flinch or even turn his eyes.
Moses stood for a moment looking as if in surprise that he had made
no impression. After this time he made some friendly overtures to the
gorilla, but the latter did not entertain them with favor, beyond
maintaining terms of peace. They never quarreled, but Othello always
treated Moses as an inferior. I do not know if he entertained a real
feeling of contempt, but his manner was haughty and condescending.
There were but few articles of food that he and Moses liked in common,
and, therefore, they had no occasion to quarrel; but they never played
together or cultivated any friendly terms, as the chimpanzees did among
themselves. This may have been due to the fact that the gorilla was
so exclusive in his demeanor towards the chimpanzee as to forbid all
attempts of the latter to become intimate. The chimpanzee by nature is
more sociable and is fond of human society. He imitates the actions
of man in many things and quickly adapts himself to new conditions,
while the gorilla is selfish and retiring. He can seldom be reconciled
to human society. He does not imitate man nor readily yield to the
influence of civilization.
One special trait of the gorilla which I wish to emphasize is that
he is one of the most taciturn of all the family. This fact does not
confirm my theory as to their faculty of speech; but it is a fact, so
far as I observed, although the natives say that he is as loquacious
as the chimpanzee. Among the specimens that I have studied, both wild
and in captivity, I have never heard but four sounds that differed from
each other, and of these only two could properly be defined as speech.
I do not include the screaming sound described in another chapter. I
have not been able, so far, to translate the sounds that I have heard,
and they cannot be spelled with our letters.
There is one sound which Othello often used. It was not a speech
sound, but a kind of whine, always coupled with a deep sigh. When left
alone for a time he became oppressed with solitude. At such times he
often heaved a deep sigh and uttered this strange sound. The tone and
manner strongly appealed to the feelings of others, and while he did
not appear to address it to any one or have any design in making it,
it always touched a sympathetic chord, and I was sometimes tempted to
release him. Another sound which was not within the pale of speech was
a kind of grumbling sound. This frequently occurred when he was eating.
It was not exactly a growl, but a kind of complaint. Twice I heard
this same sound made by wild ones in the forest near my cage. The only
thing that I can compare it to is the habit that cats have of growling
while eating. It appears to be done only when something is near. It is
possibly intended to deter others from trying to take the food.
During my life in the cage I saw twenty-two gorillas; but I shall
describe only a few of them, as their actions in most instances were
similar. The first one that I had the pleasure of seeing in the jungle
came within a few yards of the cage before it was yet in order to
receive. He was exactly half grown. He must have been attracted by the
noise made in putting the cage together. He advanced with caution,
and when I discovered him he was peering through the bushes, as if to
ascertain the cause of the sounds. When he saw me, he tarried only a
few seconds and hurried off into the jungle. I did not disturb or shoot
at him, because I desired him to return.
On the third day after I went to live in the cage a family of ten
gorillas was seen to cross an open space along the back of a batch of
plantains near one of the villages. A small native boy was within about
twenty yards of them when they crossed the path in front of him. A few
minutes later I was notified of their vicinity. I took my rifle and
followed them into the jungle until I lost the trail. A few hours after
this they were again seen by some natives not far away from my cage,
but they did not come near enough to be seen or heard. The next day a
family came within some thirty yards of the cage. The bush was so dense
that I could not see them, but I could distinguish four or five voices.
They seemed to be engaged in a broil of some kind. I suppose it was the
family that had been seen the day before. The second night after that I
heard the screams of one in the forest some distance from me, but I do
not know whether it was the king of this family or another.
One day as I sat alone a young gorilla, perhaps five years old, came
within six or seven yards of the cage and took a peep. I do not know
whether or not he was aware of its being there until he was so near. He
stood for a time, almost erect, with one hand holding on to a bough.
His lower lip was relaxed, showing the red line mentioned elsewhere,
and the end of his tongue could be seen between his parted lips. He did
not evince either fear or anger, but rather appeared to be amazed. I
heard him creeping through the bush a few seconds before I saw him. As
a rule, they move so stealthily as not to be heard. I know of no other
animal of equal size that makes so little noise in going through the
forest. During the short time he stood gazing at me I sat still as a
statue, and I think he was in doubt as to whether or not I was alive.
He did not run away, but after a brief pause turned off at an angle and
quietly departed. He lost no time, but made no great haste. The only
sound he made was a low grunt, and this he did not repeat.
At another time I heard two making a noise among the plantains near me.
I could obtain only a glimpse of them, but as well as I could see they
were of good size, being almost grown. They were making a low sound
from time to time, something such as I have described; but I could
not see them well enough to frame any opinion as to what it meant.
They were certainly not quarreling, and I was not sure that they were
eating. I afterwards went and looked to see if I could find where they
had broken any of the stalks. Their trail was visible through the grass
and weeds, but I could find no broken stalk. They were moving at a
very leisurely gait and must have been within hearing distance some ten
or twelve minutes. They were quite alike in color and appeared to be so
in size, although the adult male attains a much greater size than the
female.
On one occasion I was standing outside of the cage some twenty yards
away, and Moses was sitting on a dead log near by. I turned to him
and was in the act of sitting down by him when he gave alarm. This he
did in an undertone, apparently to avoid attracting the attention of
the thing against which the warning was intended. I looked around,
and discovered a gorilla standing not twenty yards away. He had just
discovered us. He gazed for a moment and started on, moving obliquely
towards the cage. I turned to retreat. At this instant Moses gave one
of his piercing screams, which frightened the gorilla and he fled. He
changed his course almost at right angles. He was going at a good rate
before Moses screamed, but he at once increased his pace.
One day I heard three sounds which a native boy assured me were made
by gorillas; they were in different directions from the cage. It was
not a scream nor a howl, but somewhat resembled the human voice calling
out with a sound like “he-oo!” These sounds were repeated at intervals,
but did not appear to be in the relation of call and answer; and the
animals making them did not approach each other while calling. The
sounds were the same except in volume. One of them appeared to be
made by an animal much larger than the animals that had made the two
other sounds. I should state that this sound rarely occurred within my
hearing during my stay in that part, and with one exception I never
heard a gorilla make any loud sound during the day.
Another interesting specimen came prowling through the jungle as if he
had lost his way. He found a small opening, or tunnel, which I had cut
through the foliage in order to get a better view. Turning into that,
he came a few steps towards the cage before he discovered it. Suddenly
he stopped and squatted on the ground. He did not sit flat down. For
a few seconds he was motionless. So was I. He slowly raised one arm
till his hand was above his head, in which position he sat for a few
moments. Then he moved his hand quickly forward, as if to motion at me.
He did not drop his hand to the ground, but held it for a short time
at an angle from his face. Then he slowly let it down till it reached
the ground. During this time he kept his eyes fixed on me. At length
he raised the other arm and seized hold of a strong bush, by which he
slowly drew himself to a half-standing position. Thus he stood for a
few seconds, with one hand resting on the ground. Suddenly he turned
to one side, parted the bushes, and disappeared. He uttered no sound
whatever. Another came within about thirty yards of my retreat. When he
discovered me he stopped and stared in a perplexed manner. He turned
away to retreat, but, after going a few feet, turned round and sat
down on the ground. He remained in that attitude for more than half a
minute; then he rose and retired in the direction from which he had
come.
The finest specimen of which I ever had a view, and at the same time
the best subject for study, was a large female that came within a
trifle more than three yards of me. A dog that belonged to one of the
native villages had become attached to me and had found its way through
the bush to my cage. He frequently came to visit me, and I was always
glad to welcome him. One afternoon about three o’clock he came, and I
let him into the cage for a while, to pass the usual greetings. I had a
bone which I had saved from my last meal, and I threw this out to him
in the bush a few feet away from the cage. He seized the bone and began
to gnaw it where it lay. His body was in the opening of a rough path
cut through the jungle near the cage, but his head was concealed under
a clump of leaves. All at once I caught a glimpse of some moving object
at the edge of the path on the opposite side of the cage. It was a huge
female gorilla carrying a young one on her back.
When I first saw her she was not more than fifty feet away. She was
creeping along the edge of the bushes and watching the dog. He was busy
with the bone. Her tread was so stealthy that I could not hear the
rustling of a leaf. She advanced a few feet, crouched under the edge
of the bushes, and cautiously peeped at the dog. Again she advanced
a little way, halted, crouched, and peeped. It was evident that her
purpose was to attack the dog. Her approach was so wary as to leave
no doubt of her dexterity in attacking a foe. Every movement was the
embodiment of stealth. Her face wore a look of anxiety with a touch of
ferocity. Her movements were quick but accurate, and her advance was
not delayed by any indecision. The dog had not discovered her approach.
The smell of the bone and the noise he was making with it prevented
him from either smelling or hearing her. I could not warn him without
alarming her. If he could have seen her before she made the attack,
I should have left him to take his chances by flight or by battle. I
should have been glad of an opportunity to witness such a combat and to
study the actions of the belligerents, but I could not consent to see a
friendly dog taken at such disadvantage. She was now rapidly covering
the distance between them, and the dog had not yet discovered her.
[Illustration: GORILLA MOTHER WITH YOUNG]
When she reached a point within about ten feet of him I determined to
break the silence. I cocked my rifle. The click of the trigger caught
her attention. I think this was the first that she was aware of my
presence. She instantly stopped, turned her face and body towards the
cage, and sat down on the ground in front of it. She gave me such a
look that I almost felt ashamed for having interfered. She sat for
more than a minute staring at me as if she had been transfixed. There
was no trace of anger or fear, but the look of surprise was on every
feature. I could see her eyes move from my head to my feet. She scanned
me as closely as if her purpose had been to purchase me. At length she
glanced at the dog who was still gnawing the bone, then turned her head
uneasily, as if to search for some way of escape. She then rose and
retraced her steps with moderate haste. She did not run, although she
lost no time. From time to time she glanced back to see that she was
not pursued. She uttered no sound of any kind.
From the time this ape came in view until she departed was about
four minutes, and during that time I was afforded an opportunity
of studying her in a way that no one else has ever been able to do.
I watched every movement of her body, face, and eyes. Being in the
cage, I sat with perfect composure and studied her without the fear
of attack. With due respect for the temerity of men, I do not believe
that any sane man could calmly sit and watch one of these huge beasts
approach so near him without feeling a tremor of fear, unless he were
protected as I was. Any man would either shoot or retreat, and he could
not possibly study the subject with equanimity.
The temptation to shoot her was almost too great to resist, and the
desire to capture her babe made it all the more so. But I refrained
from firing my gun anywhere within a radius of half a mile or so of my
cage, and the natives had agreed to the same thing. My purpose in doing
so was to avoid frightening the apes away from the locality. I had been
told by the native hunters that if I wounded one of the apes the others
would leave the vicinity and perhaps not return for weeks. It is said
that if you kill one the others do not notice it so much as if you
merely wounded it. Although they seem to be conscious of the fact of
the killing, and for the time depart, they will return within a short
time.
I could have shot this one with perfect ease and safety. As she
approached, her head and breast were towards me; just before she
discovered me her left side was in plain view, and when she sat down
her breast was perfectly exposed. I could have shot her in the heart,
the breast, or the head. Her baby hung upon her back, with its arms
embracing her neck and its feet caught under her arms. The cunning
little imp saw me long before the mother did, but it gave her no
warning of danger. It lay with its cheek resting on the back of her
head. Its black face looked as smooth and soft as velvet. Its big,
brown eyes were looking straight at me, but it betrayed no sign of fear
or even of concern. It really had a pleased expression and wore the
nearest approach to a smile I have ever seen on the face of a gorilla.
I believe that this is their method of carrying the young and have
elsewhere assigned other reasons for this belief. In this case it is
not a matter of belief, but one of knowledge, and everything that I
have observed conspires to show that this is not an exception to the
rule.
During my sojourn of nearly four months in the jungle, where, it was
said, a greater number of gorillas could be found than in any other
place in the basin of that lake, I saw a total of only twenty-two. I
saw one other at a time while I was hunting in the forest. I caught
only a glimpse of him, and should not even have done that had not the
native guide discovered and pointed him out to me. I believe that no
other white man has ever seen an equal number of these animals in a
wild state, and it is certain that no other has ever seen them under
such favorable conditions for study. I have compared notes with many
white men along that part of the coast, but I have never found any
reliable man who claims to have seen an equal number. All of them admit
that my cage is the best possible means of seeing the apes. I know men
who have lived in that part for years and who frequently hunt in the
forest for days at a time, but never yet have seen a live gorilla. I
met one man on my last voyage who has lived on the edge of the gorilla
country forty-nine years, making frequent journeys through the bush
and along the water-courses in the interest of trade. This man told me
himself that in all that time he had never seen a wild gorilla.
I would cite Mr. James A. Deemin as an expert woodsman and a cool,
daring hunter. I have enjoyed several hunts with him. He had traveled,
traded, and hunted through the gorilla country for more than thirteen
years. He told me that with two exceptions he had never seen a wild
gorilla. The first he ever saw was a young one, and he once saw a
school of them at a distance. On this latter occasion he was in a canoe
and under the cover of the bushes along the side of a river. Unobserved
he came near them.
Another man, whose name I am at liberty to mention, is Mr. J. H. Drake
of Liverpool. By those who know him Mr. Drake has never been suspected
of lacking courage in the hunt or of being given to romance. Yet in
many years on the coast he saw but one school of these apes, and that
was the same one that Mr. Deemin saw when the two men were traveling
together. Others could be cited who testify that it is a rare thing for
the most expert woodsman ever to see one of these creatures, and many
of the stories told by the casual traveler cannot be received at par.
I do not mean to impeach the veracity of others, but the temptation to
romance is too great for some people to resist. While we cannot prove
the negative by direct evidence, we must be permitted to doubt whether
or not these apes are so frequently met in the jungle as they are
alleged to be. I will give some reasons for being a sceptic on this
subject.
Almost every yarn told by the novice is about the same in substance,
and much the same in detail, as those related by others. It seems that
most of them meet the same old gorilla, still beating his breast and
screaming just as he did forty years ago. The number of gun-barrels
that he is accused of having chewed up would make an arsenal sufficient
to arm the volunteers. What becomes of all those that are attacked by
this fierce monarch of the jungle? Not one of them ever gets killed,
and not one of them ever kills the gorilla. Does he merely do this as
a bluff and then recede from the attack? Or does he follow it up and
seize his victim, tear him open, and drink his blood, as he is supposed
to do? How does the victim escape? What becomes of the assailant? Who
lives to tell the tale?
The gorilla has good ears, good eyes, and is a skillful bushman. One
man walking through the jungle will make more noise than half a dozen
gorillas make. The gorilla almost always sees and hears a man before
he is seen or heard by him. He is shy and will not attack a man unless
wounded or provoked to it. He is always on the alert for danger and
rarely comes into the open parts of the bush except for food. He can
conceal himself with more ease than a man can and has every advantage
in making his escape. I do not believe that he will ever approach a man
if he can evade him, but I quite believe that he will make a strong
defense if surprised or attacked. I do not believe it possible for any
one to see a great number of gorillas in any length of time unless he
goes to some one place and remains there, as I have done. Even then
he must sometimes wait for days without a trace of one. Silence and
patience alone will enable him to see them. When the gorilla sees a
man, he retires as soon as he discovers the nature of the thing before
him. He does not always flee in haste, as some other animals do, but is
more deliberate and cool about it. He will retreat in good order and
always starts in time, if possible, to escape without being observed. I
trust that I may be pardoned for not being able to believe that every
stranger who visits that country is attacked by a gorilla.
Many people labor under the popular delusion that they have seen a
gorilla with some itinerant menagerie, and it may be cruel of me to
undeceive them. Up to this time there has been but one gorilla landed
alive in America. This one arrived in Boston in the autumn of 1897.
It was a mere baby and lived only five days. It was exhibited to the
public during only a part of two days. The many alleged gorillas
offered by mendacious showmen are vile fakes, and the exhibitors should
be dealt with as impostors.
I regret that I have been compelled to deny much that has been said,
but I make no apology for having done so. In this work I have sought to
place these apes before the reader as I have seen them in their native
forests. I have not clothed them in fine raiment or invested them with
glamour. But I trust that this contribution may be found worthy of the
approval of all men who love nature and respect fidelity.
I have the vanity to believe that the methods of study which I have
employed will be made the means of farther research by more able
students than the writer. In addition to those apes that I have seen in
a wild state, I have seen about ten in captivity. Two of those were my
own. They were good subjects for study, and I made the best use of them
during the time I had them.
While in the jungle I accomplished one thing, in which I feel a just
sense of pride, and that was making a gorilla take a portrait of
himself. This will interest the amateur in the art of snapshots, and I
shall relate it.
I selected a place in the forest where I found some tracks of the
animal along the edge of a dense thicket of batuna. Under cover of the
foliage I set up two pairs of stakes which were crossed at the tops,
and to them was lashed a short pole forming something like a sawbuck.
To this was fastened the camera, to which had been attached a trigger
made of bamboo splits. One end of a string was fastened to the trigger,
and the other end carried under a yoke to a distance of eight feet
from the lens. At this point were attached a fresh plantain stalk
and a nice bunch of the red fruit of the batuna. Upon this point the
camera was focused, the trigger was set, and it was left to await the
gorilla. That afternoon I returned to find that something had taken the
bait, broken the string, sprung the trigger, and snapped the camera.
I developed the plate, but could find no image of anything except the
leaves in front of it. I repeated the experiment, with similar results,
but could not understand how anything could steal the bait and yet not
be shown in the picture. The third time I did this I was gratified to
find the image of a gorilla, and also to discover the cause why the
other experiments had not succeeded.
The deep shadows of the forest make it difficult to take a photograph
without giving it a time exposure, and when the sun is under a cloud or
on the wrong side of an object success is quite impossible. The leaves
which were shown in the first two plates were only those which were
most exposed to the light, and all the lower part of the picture was
without detail. In the third trial it could be seen that the sun was
shining at the instant of exposure. A part of the body of the gorilla
was in the light, but most of it was in the shadow of the leaves above
it. The left side of the head and face was quite distinct, so likewise
were the left shoulder and arm. The hand and the bait could not have
been distinguished except by their context. The right side of the head,
the arm, and most of the body were lost in the view. The picture showed
that the gorilla had taken the bait with his left hand, and that he was
in a crouching posture at the moment.
While the photograph was very poor as a work of art, it was full of
interest as an experiment. Although it did not result in getting a good
picture, I did not regard the effort as a failure. It shows at least
that such a thing is possible, and by careful efforts, often repeated,
it could be made a means of obtaining some novel pictures. A little
ingenuity would widen the scope of this device and make it possible to
photograph birds, elephants, and everything else in the forest. When I
return to that place on a like journey I shall carry the scheme into
better effect.