Nebraska advertiser., 1877-08-30
THE BERLIN GORILLA.
His Arrival in LOnden-A Complete
Description of the Interesting An
ima1.

imal.
On Thursday, the young gorilla, OF
whose reception in Berlin we quoted
on April IA a lively account from the
British Medical Journal, arrived In
England by the Hamburg steamer,
and was taken to the Westminster
AQUARIUM. He travelled under the
care OF DIR. Hermes, director of the
Berlin Aquarium. Pongo is the first
gorilla that has been safely brought
to Europe, and he has now been thir-
teen months an inbabitant of tenn
perate zone. Even In Africa the go
rIlla rarely lives long in captivity.
Mr.. Du Chaiiiu had some there at diff
ferent times which were all taken
young, but he did not keep any one
OF them moro than a few days or
weeks. Pongo (whose name is that
BY which Battel, an early traveller, in
1929, called thei gorilla speces) was
found by the Prussian Natural histo-
~ expedition to Africa chained up In
a village on the Gaboon. DIR. Ealk-
enstein brought him to Berlin and
sold him for 20, 600 marks to the Ber-
lin Aquarium. He is about three
years and ten months old, and is be-
iIeved to have about thirteen months
before him before the dangerous peri
cd Of teething will begin. Heis three
and three-fourths feet In hight, of
great girth round the chest and stom-
ach, is covered with black or iron gray
hair and has a coal black face. feet and
hands. The hands are the most strik-
ing human part of the animal, but as
he usually walks on all fours, bending
the fingers In to do as a child does /;
there is q fiat callous mass on the
back of his fingers near the middle
phalsnx. When he Is pleased at being
noticed, or wants TO be noticed, Pongo
claps his hands with a loud report.
squatting on the floor, and dropping
his hands afterward into his lap.
Sometimes he wraps his himselfin a
cloak he has, or swings about the
room by the ropes Of trapeze, but
does nor climb them. He has for COM
panions a little chimpanzee and dog
and is much the least active, although
far the strongest of the party. His
foot is more like the foot of man
than that of any other ape, but the
toes are longer than a mans, and bet
ter rsed for grasping. OF course he
has no tail. He very seldom stands
up like q human being but his favor
ite position is to sit on the floor and
hug a stick of an umbrella, and he Is
o very pleased to be trusted with an um-
brella, although he does not always
deserve the confidence, because he has
tendency to open IL In new and ex-
peditiops way, and no umbrella frame
can resist his very great muscular
strength of arm and jaw. At pri-
vate reception with Pongo held on
Saturday, Mr.. Frank Buckland tried
to teach him to write on paper, but,
although he did make some marks on
the paper, he preferred TO carry the
pencil to his mouth, and swallowed
about an inch of the best Cumberland
lead. Professor Owen, who described
the gorilla In 1S4s. Professor Mivat,
and other gentlemen and ladies were
among his visitors on Saturday. When
he obtained q hat, which he ac-
quired by the easy process of putting
out his had and taking the finest one
he found, he drummed upon 1T with
apparent satisfaction, but then began
to crush it from the crown. AT this
stage the owner intervened, and, with
the assistance of the German keeper,
got his property out of the gorilla's
powerful grasp. Pongo drank half a
glass OF beer In the presence ofthe au-
dience, and also ate some roast beef
and potatoes, but ordinarily he lives
chiefly on vegetables, and makes en-
ormous meals on them. In the morn
ing they give him milk and fruits,
cherries, currauts, raspberries, etc.
At midday he has basin Of boiled
rice, and anything else he can get. In
the course of the afternoon he has
more fruit, and perhaps, some eau Su-
ere or wine and water. In the even
ing more milk Is brought. and this,
with bread and butter and eggs, COM
plete his supper. He goes to bed at
eight and sleeps as late as eight the
next morning. Itmust be remember
ed that he Is very young. But he has
learned to smoke-at least when the
cigarette has anamber mouthpiece,
for be does not like the tasts of tobac-
co. He puffs out the clouds of blue
smoke from his wide nostrils. Two
hundred thousand people have visited
him In Berlin since June %, 1875,
and he has grown In that period taller
by more than three inches and heav-
Ter by eleven pounds. AS he has so
early learned to smoke and drink 1t is
hoped that he may soon acquire the
other accomplishments which distin-
guish civilization.-LO Times.
An Awful ExpiatiOn.