Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-04-07
MONTPELTEI2 VIZ, WEDNESDAY,, APRIL T. 1869.

The roar OF the gorilla can be heard three
miles, and the beating Of his breast a mile. 1t
is the male who is the warrior the female
never fights unless she is forced to do so to
defend her young. When the mother runs
of from the hunter, the young one grasps her
about the neck aud hangs between her breasts
with its little legs about her body.
" II is a pretty thing" says Du Chaillu,
" TO see such a mother with the baby gorilla
sporting about IT, | have watched them in
the woods, till, eager as | was to obtain spec
linens, ! had not the heart to shoot them. But
in such cases my negro hunters exhibited no
tender-hcartedncss."
The gorilla generally walks ON all fours,
but marches erect when he comes TO give bat
tie. His skin is jet black which shows its
color in the face or the breast, aud n the
palms Of the hands The rest Of the body is
covered with an iron grey hair.
The gorilla is untamable. The young ones
caught by the negroes for Du Chaillu on both
expeditions resisted every effort to tame them
and soon died. They proved to be the most
furious, impish, malicious creatures conceiva-
bic.
l. the gorilla a lower type Of man, or an
entirely different species la these days Of
new theories, some Of which delight in trac-
ing manhood through apehood-it is not out
Of place TO ask this question, purely as a sci
entiic investigation, from the traveller who
has given us so much information respecting
the higher types Of the ape family And this
is what Du Chailu says:
There is a great dissimilarity between the
bony frame of man and that Of the gorilla.
and there is also am awful likeness, which, in
the gorilla, resembles an exaggerated carica-
ture Of q human being. With the knowledge
Of the anthropoid apes which now exist, de-
rived from the critical examinations Of their
osteology, their dcntition, by various obscrv-
ers-such as Geofroy, Tiedeman, Cuyicr, Wy
man, Owen and others-it is easy to see the
anatomical peculiarities belonging to the an
thropoid apes and these pecuIiarities consti-
tute so wide a gap that the greatest differences
between the most degraded tribes Of the hu-
man race aud the highest type of a Caucas-
sion are very slight in comparison"
So much for science now for observation +.
In the country which | explored, says
Du Chaillu, " the gorilla and all the other
man-like apes pecLliar to Africa are found
roaming in the same forests that are inhabited
by the natives and both live in proximity TO
each other While there, have inquired
patiently and thoroughly about the strange
stories told by the natives Of the apes carry
ing away people stories which, must admit
they firmly believe, as they believe any ofthe
other stories mentioned in my narrative about
women giving birth to elephants crocodiles,
/ Ihippopotami, antelopes. &c, &c. But when
called to give me proof it turned out that
the stories had always happened to some per.
sons who had died-some former anccstress.
I Still, the stories have been handed from gem
GRAFTON to generation, impressing themselves
deeply on the superstitious minds Of the Da-
I tives who delight in the mystical and wonder
/ tul. Particularly when | resided among the
tribes found ia the mountains near the banks
Of the Oyonga River, where the gorilla is
rather more common than any where else, l
searched in vain if an intermediate race, or
rather several intermediate races or links be-
tween the natives and the gorilla could be
found and | must say here, that [ made
those inquiries conscicntiously, with the sole
view of bringing before science the facts which
| might collect But | have searched in vain.
| found not a single being, young or old, who
could show au intermediate link between man
and the gorilla which would certainly be
found if man had come from the ape. sup
pose from these facts we must come to the
ennclnSion that man belongs To distipci fam.
lily from that Of the ape. The first belongs
7 TO the order Bimaua and the latter to the
other quadrumanous series. - Hatciman y
! Referfor