CAGED IN AN AFRICAN JUNGLE
It may be of interest to the reader to know the manner in which I
have pursued the study of monkeys in a state of nature, and the means
employed to that end. I shall therefore give a brief outline of my life
in a cage in the heart of an African jungle in order to watch those
denizens of the forest, when free from all restraint.
After devoting much time for several years to the study of the speech
and habits of monkeys in captivity, I formulated a plan of going into
their native haunts, to study them in a state of freedom.
In the course of my labours up to that time, I had found out that
monkeys of the highest physical type had also a higher type of speech
than those of inferior kinds. In accord with this fact, it was logical
to infer that the anthropoid apes, being next to man in the scale of
nature, must have the faculty of speech developed in a corresponding
degree.
As the chief object of my studies was to learn the language of monkeys,
the great apes appeared to be the best subjects for that purpose, so I
turned my attention to them.
The gorilla was said to be the most like man, and the chimpanzee next.
There were none of the former in captivity, and but few of the latter,
and they were kept under conditions that forbade all efforts to do
anything in that line.
As the gorilla and chimpanzee could both be found in the same section
of tropical Africa, I selected that as the field of operation, and
began to prepare for a journey there to carry out the task I had
assumed.
The part selected was along the equator, and south of it, about two
degrees. The locality is infested with fevers, insects, serpents and
wild beasts of divers kinds. To ignore such dangers would be folly, but
there was no way to see these apes in their freedom, except to go and
live among them.
To lessen, in a degree, the dangers incurred by such an adventure, I
devised a cage of steel wire, woven into a lattice with a mesh one inch
and a half wide. This was made in twenty-four panels, three feet three
inches square, set in a frame of narrow iron strips. Each side of the
panels was provided with half-hinges, so arranged as to fit any side of
every other panel. These could be quickly bolted together with small
iron rods, and, when so bolted, formed a cage of cubical shape, six
feet six inches square.
Any one or more of the panels could be swung open as a door, and the
whole structure was painted a dingy green, so that when erected in the
forest it was almost invisible among the foliage.
While it was not strong enough to withstand a prolonged siege, it
afforded a certain immunity from being surprised by the fierce and
stealthy beasts of the jungle, and would allow the occupant time to
kill an assailant before the wires would yield to an attack from
anything except an elephant. Of course it was no protection against
them, but as they rarely ever attack a man unless provoked to it, there
was little danger from that source; besides, there were not many of
those huge brutes in the immediate part in which my strange domicile
was set up.
Through this open fabric one could see without obstruction on all
sides, and yet feel a certain sense of safety from being devoured by
leopards or panthers.
Over this frail fortress was a roof of bamboo leaves, and it was
provided with curtains of canvas to be hung up in case of rain. The
floor was of thin boards, steeped in tar, and the structure was set up
about two feet from the ground, on nine small posts.
[Illustration: WAITING AND WATCHING IN THE CAGE]
It was furnished with a bed, made of heavy canvas supported by two
poles of bamboo, attached to the edge of it. One of these poles was
lashed fast to the side of the cage, and the other was suspended at
night by strong wire hooks, hung on the top of it. During the day, the
bed was rolled up on one of the poles, so that it was out of the way. I
had a light camp chair, which folded up, and a table was improvised
by a broad, short board hung on wires. This could be set up by the wall
of the cage at night, out of the way. To this meagre outfit was added a
small kerosene stove, and a swinging shelf.
A few tin cases contained my wearing apparel, blanket, pillow,
photograph camera and supplies, medicines, and an ample store of canned
meats, crackers, &c. A magazine rifle, revolver, ammunition, and a
few useful tools, such as a hammer, saw, pliers, files, and a heavy
bush-knife, completed my stock, except some tin platters, cups and
spoons. These served in cooking, and also for the table, instead of
dishes.
With this equipment I sailed from New York on the 9th of July 1892,
_viâ_ England, to the port of Gaboon, the site of the colonial
government of the French Congo. This place is within a few miles of
the equator, and near the borders of the country in which the gorilla
lives. I arrived there on the 18th of October of the same year, and
after a delay of a few weeks I set out to find the object of my search.
Leaving this place, I went up the Ogowe River about two hundred miles,
and through the lake region on the south side of it. After some weeks
of travel and inquiry, I arrived at the lake of Ferran Vaz, in the
territory of the Nkami tribe. The lake is about thirty miles long, by
eight or ten wide, and interspersed with a few islands of large size,
covered with a dense growth of tropical vegetation. The country around
the lake is mostly low and marshy, traversed by creeks, lagoons and
rivers. Most of the land is covered by a deep and dreary jungle, with a
few sandy plains at intervals.
In the depths of this gloomy forest, reeking with the effluvia of
decaying plants, and teeming with insect life, the gorilla dwells in
safety and seclusion. In the same forest the chimpanzee makes his
abode, but is less timid and retiring.
On the south side of this lake, not quite two degrees below the
equator, and within some twenty miles of the ocean, I selected a place
in the heart of the primeval forest, erected my little fortress, and
gave it the name of _Fort Gorilla_.
In the latter part of April 1893, I took up my abode in this desolate
spot, and began my long and solitary vigil.
My sole companion was a young chimpanzee, that I named Moses, and, from
time to time, a native boy, as a servant.
Seated in this cage, in the silence of the great forest, I have seen
the gorilla in all his majesty, strolling at leisure through his
sultry domain, in quest of food. I have seen the chimpanzee under like
conditions, and the happy, chattering monkey in the freedom of his
jungle home.
In this novel hermitage I remained for the greater part of the time for
one hundred and twelve days and nights in succession, watching these
animals in perfect freedom following the pursuits of their daily life.
With such an experience, I will not be charged with vanity in saying
that I have seen more of those animals in a state of nature than
any white man ever saw, and under conditions more favourable for a
careful study of their manners and habits, than could otherwise be
possible. Hence, what I have to say concerning them is the result of an
experience which no other man can claim.
I do not mean to ignore or impugn what others have said on this
subject, but the sum of my labours in this field leads me to doubt much
that has been said and accepted as true. I regret that it devolves
upon me to controvert many stories told about these great apes, but
finding no germ of truth in some of them, I cannot evade the duty of
denying them. I regret it all the more, because many of them have been
woven into the fabric of natural history, and marked with the seal of
scientific approval; but time will sustain me in the denial.
I am aware that bigots of certain schools will challenge me for
pointing out their mistakes, and some will assume to know more about
these apes than a fish knows about swimming; but truth defies all
theory.
Each kind of ape will be treated in the chapter devoted to it, but only
those with which I have dealt in person will be discussed at length.
Others will be noticed, in order to sustain the continuity of the
subject and show the relative planes of those under consideration. But
before proceeding with the monkeys, I shall pause to relate some of the
incidents of my hermitage.