Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-06-02

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TssE sORILLA.
in bis recent lecture in New York,
Mons Du Chailu gave 3 long and scien.
1. tific account Of the gorilia, from which
we make thefoliowina extract:
In my first explorations ] said that the
I gorilla was not gFegarious; this last
/ journey has demonstrated that / was
4 wrong, for i have seen them ten to-
I gether, but found them when adults
I almost always one male with one female.
\ When the male becomes very old he
I wanders eonpsni0nless. In such case
\ as with the q rogue y elephant, he is
I particularly morose and malignant, and
\ dangerous to approach, and woe to the
man who comes suddenly upon one OF
/ the old ones; and the hunter who tracks
them must be on his guard. I found,
! sometimes, bands Of four or five gorfllas
4 When in compeny they are generally
shy, and then difficult 70 approach, as
! their hearing is acute. The adult ani-
/ mai IS also shy, and huRted all day at
times without coming upon my quarry,
when l felt sure they were carefully
7 avoiding me. When with their female
/ they are feroeious toward the Intruder,
I and ia that case I have never known q
grown male to run of.
When Il surprised a pair Of gorfllas,
the male, il not eating, was seated by a
I rock or leaning against a tree the fe-
rnale feeding near by, always gave the
alarm, then running of with loud and
I sudden cries or shrieks then the male,
sitting fo- a moment with q savage
I frCWn on HIS face, slowly rises 70 his
feet, and looking with glsring eyes at
the intruders, begins to beat his breast,
and lifting up his round head, utters his
! frightful roar, sometimes like the lion.
/ The gorilla, to aInuse himself roars and
roars, and in the far dicerpce I took it
for the mutteFfng of thuuuer one day
I found that il was d male gorilla roar
ing to its female, who, after q while.
could be heard with q weaker cry.
The forest shook with the tremen-
dous voice OF this animal The echoes
swelled and died away from bill to hill
until the whole forest was full of the din
As i approached l could hear the deep
/ drum-like sound caused by beating bis
breast with his huge fist. Presently /
saw trees cracking, and saw through the
woods how every few minutes a sapling
was swung about and then broken off.
While l was watching these actions the
animal, / suppose, became aware Of the
presence Of danger, for presently a dead
silence followed on the loud TOars, and
when, gun in hREd, 1 broke through the
woods, my gorilla was gone, but l
learned an interesting fact. In exRmin-
ing the wood, / saw for the first time
the cause OF the great wear there
is on the canine teeth of this ami
NAL, which / could not account for be-
fore, and saw some surprising examples
Of their strength. Several trees of hard
wood, and from four to six inches in
diameter had been broken by these
gorillss, and I found that they had bit
into the heart Of these trees and eaten
out the pith. Now, by the peculiar forta
Of gnawing, / saw at once that il was by
this work that the very singular abrasion
OF the CANNES is caused. The strength Of
the gorilla is evidently enormous the
negroes never attack them with other
weapons than guns, and this part Of the
far interior where guns have not yet
REACHED, this great oeast TO2Us, unmo-
lested, the monarch OF the forest but
the female, when alarmed, utters a low,
kind shrek, with WHICH the wGtchfui
mother seems to cali her child to her.
The young ones have a cry when in
distress, but their voice isaharsh, and
sometimes is more a moan Of pain than
child's cry. The female gorilla has
never more than one young at time.
"a various occasions ] I've found
sknils Vnere tpe hggs C.nineg were
broken off The negroes told me that
such teeth were broken in com bats be-
tween the males for the possession OF q
female, aad I thiuk this quite probable.
Such combat must form a magnificent
and an awful spectacle. The gorilla walks
ia rE erect posture with q greater ease
than the chimpanzee. When standing
up his knees are bent at the Joint OUT
wards, and his body stOOps forward.
The common walk Of the gorilla is not
on his hind legs, bpt on all foprs. In
this posture the SrIGs aFe so long that
the head and breast are raised consider
ably, and as it runs its hind legs are
brought far beneath the body. 1t can
run at great speed. The parties which
have often pursued never took to trees,
but ran along the ground. I have never
found the female to attack, though have
been told bv the negroes that a mother
with d young one d charge VIII some
times fight. I have sometimes noticed
them on the roads till, eager as I was to
obtain specimens, I had not the heart to
shoot. When the mother rams OF the
young ones grasp her round the neck.
The adult gorilla, think, Is perfectly
untamable, the young ones, as far as my
experience goes, / have never been able
TO tame in no case could any treatment
of mine, kind or harsh. subdue these
little AOnstef5, vopsiAnIiy "a eAemy to
man, resentipg its captivity, young as
my specimens were, refusing everything
in the shape Of civilized food, wnd attack
ing with tooth and nail even me, who
was in constant attendance upon them
and finally diving without previous sick
nsss, o. spRrIfng themselves 30 dealh, or
dying without other ascertiH atIe, caase
than the restless chahng Of spirit which
could not suffer captivity, nor the pres
ence of man. In my former book on
equatorial Africa, | gave an account Of
q iittl5 gorilla, whom J called Joe, and
his being so lli-tempered made me give
him the name Of Fighting Joe. I had
to chain him, and in despite Of that,
when I sometimes approached him. he
bellowed ana made Brecipltate rush st
me, and succeeded in catching the legs
of my inexpressi bles, which he grasped
with one of his feet and tore. He sat in
his corner, looking wickedly out Of his
grey eyes, aud ! never saw q more mo-
rose or ill-tempefed face than had this
little bea6L.
The longer he remsined in captivity
the more morose he became four days
after his capture he succeeded in escap-
ing to the frame, and the whole pOpula-
ton of the village went TO capture him
Going into my hut to get my gun, I was
startled by low, muttering groWl, COM I
ing from under my bedstead. 1t was
master Joe, who lay th5re and was
watching my movements. How to take
him was q puzzling question. |
/ cared not to be bitten severely
in hand -tO-hand struggle FL I
nally, we succeeded in making him
come out from under the bed, and threw /
a large net over him, which entangIed |
the young monster, who roared fright |
fully and kicked in every direction. I /
took hold OF the back Of his head, two |
men seized his arms and another his /
legs, and thus held by four men this ex-
creature proved most trou-
blesOme. We placed him as soon as
possible into confinement. I never saw
such a furious beast in my life. He 4
darted at any one who came near his /
cage and giared at Us with sullen eyes. |
Tan rsvs after he died Suddenly