THE CAPTURE AND CHARACTER OF MOSES
During my sojourn in the forest, I had a fine, young chimpanzee, which
was of ordinary intelligence, and of more than ordinary interest,
because of his history.
I gave him the name Moses, not in derision of the historic Israelite of
that name, but because of the circumstances of his capture and life.
He was found all alone in a wild papyrus swamp of the Ogowe River. No
one knew who his parents were, or how he ever came to be left in that
dismal place. The low bush in which he was crouched when discovered
was surrounded by water, and the poor little waif was cut off from the
adjacent dry land.
As the native who captured him approached, the timid little ape tried
to climb up among the vines above him, and escape, but the agile hunter
seized him before he could do so. At first the chimpanzee screamed,
and struggled to get away, because he had perhaps never before seen a
man, but when he found that he was not going to be hurt, he put his
frail arms around his captor, and clung to him as a friend. Indeed,
he seemed glad to be rescued from such a dreary place, even by such a
strange creature as a man.
For a moment the man feared that the cries of his young prisoner might
call its mother to the rescue, and possibly a band of others; but if
she heard them, she did not respond, so he tied the baby captive with
a thong of bark, put him into his canoe, and brought him away to the
village, where he supplied him with food, and made him quite cosy.
The next day he was sold to a trader. About this time I passed up the
river on my way to the jungle in search of the gorilla and other apes.
Stopping at the station of the trader, I bought him, and took him along
with me. We soon became the best of friends and constant companions.
It was supposed that the mother chimpanzee left her babe in the tree
while she went off in search of food, and wandered so far away that she
lost her bearings and could not again find him. He appeared to have
been for a long time without food, and may have been crouching there
in the forks of that tree for a day or two; but such was only inferred
from his hunger, as there was no way to determine how long he had
remained, or even how he got there.
I designed to bring Moses up in the way that good chimpanzees ought to
be brought up, so I began to teach him good manners in the hope that
some day he would be a shining light to his race, and aid me in my work
among them. To that end I took great care of him, and devoted much
time to the study of his natural manners, and to improving them as much
as his nature would allow.
I built him a neat little house within a few feet of my cage. It was
enclosed with a thin cloth, and had a curtain hung at the door, to keep
out mosquitoes and other insects. It was supplied with plenty of soft,
clean leaves, and some canvas bed-clothing. It was covered over with a
bamboo roof, and suspended a few feet from the ground, so as to keep
out the ants.
Moses soon learned to adjust the curtain, and go to bed without my
aid. He would lie in bed in the morning until he heard me or the boy
stirring about the cage, when he would poke his little black head out,
and begin to jabber for his breakfast. Then he would climb out, and
come to the cage to see what was going on.
He was not confined at all, but quite at liberty to go about in the
forest, climb the trees and bushes, and have a good time of it. He was
jealous of the boy, and the boy was jealous of him, especially when it
came to a question of eating. Neither of them seemed to want the other
to eat anything that they mutually liked, and I had to act as umpire in
many of their disputes on that grave subject, which seemed to be the
central thought of both of them.
I frequently allowed Moses to dine with me, and I never knew him to
refuse, or to be late in coming on such occasions, but his table
etiquette was not of the best order. I gave him a tin plate and a
wooden spoon, but he did not like to use the latter, and seemed to
think that it was pure affectation for any one to eat with such an
awkward thing. He always held it in one hand, while he ate with the
other, or drank his soup out of the plate.
It was such a task to get washing done in that part of the world, that
I resorted to all means of economy in that matter, and for a tablecloth
I used a leaf of newspaper, when I had it. To tear that paper afforded
Moses an amount of pleasure that nothing else would, and in this act
his conduct was more like that of a naughty child than in anything he
did.
When he would first take his place at the table, he behaved in a nice
and becoming manner; but having eaten till he was quite satisfied, he
usually became rude and saucy. He would slily put his foot up over the
edge of the table, and catch hold of the corner of the paper, meanwhile
watching me closely, to see if I was going to scold him. If I remained
quiet he would tear it just a little and wait to see the result. If
no notice was taken of that, he would tear it a little more, but keep
watching my face to see when I observed it. If I raised my finger
to him, he quickly let go, drew his foot down, and began to eat. If
nothing more was done to stop him, the instant my finger and eyes were
dropped, that dexterous foot was back on the table and the mischief
resumed with more audacity than before.
When he carried his fun too far, I made him get down from the table
and sit on the floor. This humiliation he did not like at best, but
when the boy would grin at him for it, he would resent it with as much
temper as if he had been poked with a stick. He certainly was sensitive
on this point, and evinced an undoubted dislike to being laughed at.
Another habit that Moses had was putting his fingers in the dish to
help himself. He had to be watched all the time to prevent this, and
seemed unable to grasp any reason why he should not be allowed to do
so. He always appeared to think my spoon, knife and fork were better
than his own spoon. On one occasion he persisted in begging for my
fork until I gave it to him. He dipped it into his soup, held it up,
and looked at it as if disappointed. He again stuck it into his soup,
and then examined it, as if to see how I lifted my food with it. He
did not seem to notice that I used it in lifting meat instead of soup.
After repeating this three or four times, he licked the fork, smelt it,
and then deliberately threw it on the floor, as if to say, "That's a
failure." He leaned over and drank his soup from the plate.
The only thing that he cared much to play with was a tin can that I
kept some nails in. For this he had a kind of mania, and never tired
of trying to remove the lid. When given the hammer and a nail, he knew
what they were for, and would set to work to drive the nail into the
floor of the cage or the table; but he hurt his fingers a few times,
and after that he stood the nail on its flat head, removed his fingers
and struck it with the hammer, but, of course, never succeeded in
driving it into anything.
A bunch of sugar-cane was kept for Moses to eat when he wanted it, and
to aid him in tearing the hard shell away from it, I kept a club to
bruise it. Sometimes he would go and select a stalk of the cane, carry
it to the block, take the club in both hands, and try to mash the cane
himself; but as the jar of the stroke often hurt his hands, he learned
to avoid this, by letting go as the club descended. He never succeeded
in crushing the cane, but would continue his efforts until some one
came to his aid. At other times he would drag a stalk of the cane to
the cage, poke it through the wires, then bring the club, and poke it
through, to get me to mash it for him.
From time to time I received newspapers sent me from home. Moses could
not understand what induced me to sit holding that thing before me,
but he wished to try it, and see. He would take a leaf of it, and hold
it up before him with both hands, just as he saw me do; but instead of
looking at the paper, he kept his eyes, most of the time, on me. When
I would turn mine over, he did the same thing, but half the time had
it upside down. He did not appear to care for the pictures, or notice
them, except a few times he tried to pick them off the paper; and one
large cut of a dog's head, when held at a short distance from him, he
appeared to regard with a little interest, as if he recognised it as
that of an animal of some kind, but I cannot say just what his ideas
concerning it really were.
Chimpanzees are not usually so playful or funny as monkeys, but they
have a certain degree of mirth in their nature, and at times display a
marked sense of humour.
One thing that Moses liked was to play peek-a-boo with me or the boy.
He did not try to conceal his body from view, but would hide his eyes,
and then peep. A favourite time for this was in the early part of the
afternoon. He would often go and put his head behind a large tin box in
the cage, while his whole body was visible. In this attitude he would
utter a series of peculiar sounds, then draw his head out, and look at
me, to see if I was watching him. If not, he would repeat the act a few
times, and then hunt something else to amuse himself with. But if he
could gain attention, the romp began, and he found great pleasure in
this simple pastime. He would roll over, kick up his heels, and grin,
with evident delight.
I spent much time in entertaining him in this way, and felt amply
repaid for it in the gratification it afforded him. I could not resist
his overtures to play, as he was my companion and my friend, and,
living in that solitary gloom, it was a mutual pleasure.
Another occasion on which he used to peep at me was when he lay down to
take his midday nap. For this I had made him a little hammock, which
was suspended by wires, so that it could be removed when not in use. I
always hung this by my side in the cage, so I could swing him to sleep
like a child. He liked this, and I liked to indulge him. When he was
laid in it, he was usually covered up with a small piece of canvas, and
in spreading it over him, I frequently laid the edge of it over his
eyes, but he seemed to suspect me of having some motive in doing so.
Often he would reach his fingers up, catch the edge of the cloth, and
gently draw it down, so he could see what I was doing. If he saw that
he was detected, he would quickly release it, and cuddle down, as if it
had been done by accident; but the little rogue knew, just as well as I
did, what it meant to peep.
I also made him another hammock, and hung it out a few yards from the
cage, so he could get into it without bothering me; but he never cared
for it, until I brought a young gorilla to live with us in our jungle
home, and as Moses never used it, I assigned it to the new member of
the household. Whenever the gorilla got into it there was a small row
about it. Moses would never allow him to occupy it in peace. He seemed
to know that it was his own by right, and the gorilla was regarded
as an intruder. He would push and shove the gorilla, grunt and whine
and quarrel, until he got him out of it; but after doing so he would
leave it, and climb up into a bush, or go away to hunt something to
eat. He only wanted to dispossess the intruder, for whom he nursed an
inordinate jealousy. He never went near the gorilla's little house,
which was on the opposite side of the cage from his own; even after
the gorilla died, he kept aloof from it.
As a rule, I always took Moses with me in my rambles into the forest,
and I found him to be quite useful in one way. His eyes were like the
lens of a camera--nothing escaped them; and when he discovered anything
in the jungle, he always made it known by a peculiar sound. He could
not point it out with his finger, but by watching his eyes the object
could often be located.
Frequently during these tours the ape rode on my shoulders, and at
other times the boy carried him, but occasionally he was put down on
the ground to walk. If we travelled at a very slow pace, and allowed
him to stroll along at leisure, he was content to do so, but if hurried
beyond a certain gait he always made a display of his temper. He would
turn on the boy and attack him, if possible; but if the boy escaped,
the angry little ape would throw himself down on the ground, scream,
kick, and beat the earth with his own head and hands in the most
violent and persistent manner. He sometimes did the same way when not
allowed to have what he wanted. His conduct was exactly like that of a
spoiled, ugly child.
He had a certain amount of ingenuity, and often evinced a degree of
reason which was rather unexpected. It was not a rare thing for him
to solve some problem that involved a study of cause and effect, but
always in a limited degree. I would not be understood to mean that he
could work out any abstract problem, such as belongs to the realm
of mathematics, but simple, concrete problems, where the object was
present.
On one occasion, while walking through the forest we came to a small
stream of water. The boy and myself stepped across it, leaving Moses
to get over it without help. He disliked getting his feet wet, and
paused to be lifted across. We walked a few steps away, and waited. He
looked up and down the branch to see if there was any way to avoid it.
He walked back and forth a few yards, but found no way to cross it.
He sat down on the bank, and declined to wade it. After a few moments
he waddled along the bank, about ten or twelve feet, to a clump of
tall slender bushes growing by the edge of the stream. Here he halted,
whined, and looked up into them thoughtfully. At length he began to
climb one of them that leaned over the water. As he climbed up, the
stalk bent with his weight, and in an instant he was swung safely
across the little brook. He let go the plant, and came hobbling along
to me with a look of triumph on his face that plainly indicated that he
was fully conscious of having performed a very clever feat.
One dark, rainy night I felt something pulling at my blanket and
mosquito bar. I could not for a moment imagine what it was, but knew
that it was something on the outside of my cage. I lay for a few
seconds, and felt another strong pull at them. In an instant some cold,
damp, rough thing touched my face, and I found it was his hand poked
through the meshes and groping about for something. I spoke to him,
and he replied with a series of plaintive sounds which assured me that
something must be wrong.
I arose, and lighted a candle. His little brown face was pressed up
against the wires, and wore a sad, weary look. He could not tell me
in words what troubled him, but every sign, look, and gesture bespoke
trouble. Taking the candle in one hand, and my revolver in the other,
I stepped out of the cage and went to his domicile, where I discovered
that a colony of ants had invaded his quarters.
These ants are a great pest when they attack anything, and when they
make a raid on a house the only thing to be done is to leave it until
they have devoured everything about it that they can eat. When they
leave a house there is not a roach, rat, bug, or insect left in it.
As the house of Moses was so small, it was not difficult to dispossess
them by saturating it with kerosene, which was quickly done, and
the little occupant allowed to return and go to bed. He watched the
procedure with evident interest, and seemed perfectly aware that I
could rid him of his savage assailants. In a wild state he would
doubtless have abandoned his claim, and fled to some other place
without an attempt to drive them away, but in this instance he had
acquired the idea of the rights of possession.
Moses was especially fond of corned beef and sardines, and would
recognise a can of either as far away as he could see it. He also
knew the instrument used in opening them, but he did not appear to
appreciate the fact that when the contents had once been taken out it
was useless to open the can again, so he often brought the empty cans
that had been thrown into the bush, would get the can-opener down, and
want me to use it for him. I never saw him try to open it himself,
except with his fingers. Sometimes, when about to prepare my own meals,
I would open the case in which I kept stored a supply of canned meats,
and allow Moses to select one for the purpose. He never failed to pull
out one of the cans of beef, bearing the red and blue label. If I put
it back he would select the same kind, and could not be deceived in his
choice. It was not accidental, because he would hunt for one until he
found it.
I don't know what he thought when it was not served for dinner, as I
often exchanged it for another kind without consulting him.
I kept my supply of water in a large jug, which was placed in the shade
of the bushes near the cage. I also kept a small pan for Moses to drink
out of. He would sometimes ask for water, by using his own word for it.
He would place his pan by the side of the jug and repeat the sound a
few times. If he was not attended to he proceeded to help himself. He
could take the cork out of the jug quite as well as I could. He would
then put his eye to the mouth of it, and look down into the vessel to
see if there was any water. Of course the shadow of his head would
darken the interior of the jug so that he could not see anything. Then
removing his eye from the mouth of it, he would poke his hand in it,
but I reproved him for this until I broke him of the habit. After a
careful examination of the jug he would try to pour the water out. He
knew how it ought to be done, but was not able to handle the vessel
himself. He always placed the pan on the lower side of the jug; then
leaned the jug towards it and let go. He would rarely ever get the
water into the pan, but always turned the jug with the neck down grade.
As a hydraulic engineer he was not a great success, but he certainly
knew the first principles of the science.
I tried to teach Moses to be cleanly, but it was a hard task. He would
listen to my precepts as if they had made a deep impression, but he
would not wash his hands of his own accord. He would permit me or the
boy to wash them, but when it came to taking a bath, or even wetting
his face, he was a rank heretic on the subject, and no amount of
logic would convince him that he needed it. When he was given a bath,
he would scream and fight during the whole process; and when it was
finished he would climb up on the roof of the cage and spread himself
out in the sun. This was the only occasion on which I ever knew him to
get up on the roof. I don't know why he disliked it so much. He did not
mind getting wet in the rain, but rather seemed to like that.
He had a great dislike for ants and certain large bugs. Whenever one
came near him he would talk like a magpie, and brush at it with his
hands until he got rid of it. He always used a certain sound for this
kind of annoyance; it differed slightly from those I have described as
warning.
Moses tried to be honest, but he was affected with a species of
kleptomania, and could not resist the temptation to purloin anything
that came in his way. The small stove upon which I prepared my food was
placed on a shelf in one corner of the cage, about half-way between the
floor and the top. Whenever anything was set on the stove to cook, he
had to be watched to keep him from climbing up the side of the cage,
reaching his arm through the meshes and stealing it. He was sometimes
very persevering in this matter. One day I set a tin can of water on
the stove to heat in order to make some coffee; he silently climbed up,
reached his hand through, stuck it in the can, and began to search for
anything it might contain. I threw out the water, refilled the can, and
drove him away. In a few minutes he returned and repeated the act. I
had a piece of canvas hung up on the outside of the cage to keep him
away. The can of water was placed on the stove for the third time,
but within a minute he found his way by climbing up under the curtain
between it and the cage. I determined to teach him a lesson. He was
allowed to explore the can, but finding nothing he withdrew his hand,
and sat there clinging to the side of the cage. Again he tried, but
found nothing. The water was getting warmer, but was still not hot. At
length, for the third or fourth time he stuck his hand into it up to
the wrist. By this time the water was so hot that it scalded his hand.
It was not severe enough to do him any harm, but quite enough so for a
good lesson. He jerked his hand out with such violence that he threw
the cup over, and spilt the water all over that side of the cage. From
that time to the end of his life he always refused anything that had
steam or smoke about it. If anything having steam or smoke was offered
him at the table, he would climb down at once and retire from the
scene. Poor little Moses! I knew beforehand what would happen, and I
did not wish to see him hurt, but nothing else would serve to impress
him with the danger and keep him out of mischief.
Anything that he saw me eat he never failed to beg. No matter what he
had himself, he wanted to try everything else that he saw me eat. One
thing in which these apes appear to be wiser than man is, that when
they eat or drink enough to satisfy their wants they quit, while men
sometimes do not. They never drink water or anything else during their
meal, but, having finished it, as a rule they always want something to
drink. The native custom is the same. I have never known the native
African to use any kind of diet drink, but always when he has finished
eating takes a draught of water.
Moses knew the use of nearly all the tools that I carried with me in
the jungle. He could not use them for the purpose they were intended,
and I do not know to what extent he appreciated their use, but he knew
quite well the manner of using them. I have mentioned the incident of
his using the hammer and nails, but he also knew the way to use the
saw; however, he always applied the back of it, because the teeth were
too rough, but he gave it the motion. When allowed to have it, he would
put the back of it across a stick and saw with the energy of a man on
a big salary. When given a file, he would file everything that came in
his way; and if he had applied himself in learning to talk human speech
as closely and with as much zeal as he tried to use my pliers, he would
have succeeded in a very short time.
Whether these creatures are actuated by reason or by instinct in such
acts as I have mentioned, the cavillist may settle for himself; but
it accomplishes the purpose of the actor in a logical and practical
manner, and they are perfectly conscious that it does.