The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-03-14
The Gorilla at Home.

1t is said by the natives that the
gorilla makes . sleeping place like
hammock, by connecting the branches
of a sheltered and thickly-leaved part
Of q tree by means of the long, tough,
slender stems OF parasitic plants, and
lining it with the dried broad fronds of
fern, or with long grass This ham
mock-li|e abode may he seen at d fer
ent heights, from ten to forty-tve feet
from the ground, but there is never
more than one such nest in tree They
avoid the abodes of man. but are mo t
commonly cen in the months of Sep
TENDER, October and November, after
the negroes haze gathered in their out
IL No rice crops and have returned from
the bush to their valleys. SO OBJ
served. they are described to be usually
in pairs, or if more, the addition CON
sists of few young ones of different
ages and apparently of one family.
The gorilla is not gregarious. The
parents may be seen sitting on branch
resting their backs against the tree
trunk munching fruit, while the young
gorillas are at play, leaping and swing
ing from branch to branch with boots
or harsh cries Of boisterous mirth, This
rural felicity, however, has its OBJ
jectionable sides, for orca ,ionally, if
not invariably, the old male, if he is
seen in quest Of food, IS usually arme
with short stick, which the negroes
aver to lie the weapon with which he
attacks his chief enemy, the elephant.
Not that the elephant directly or in
tentionally Injuries the gorilla, but, de-
irving its subsistence from the same
source, the ape regards the great pro-
boscidian as a hostile intruder. When,
erefore. he sees the elephant pulling
down and wrenching OF the branches
of favori c tree, the gorilla, stca ing
tive processes OF the elephant q
violent blow with his club, and
drives off the startled giant
trumpeting shrilly with pain In pass
inc from one tree to another the Gorilla
! Is said to walk semi-erect with the aid
of his club, but with a waddling and
awkward gait; when without stick he
has been seen to walk as man, with
his hands clasped across t e back of his
head, instinctiyeiy balancing his for
ward pos ton. If the gorilla be sur
| prised and approached, whatever the
| ground may be he hetakes himself on
all fours, dropping his stick, and makes
his way very rapidly with kind Of
s;delock gallop, resting on the front
knuckles, to the nearest tree. There be
meets his pursuer. especially if his fam
lv is near and requiring his defense.
No negro willingly approaches the tree
in which the male gorilla keeps guard,
even with gun. The experienced ne
gro does not make the attack, but re-
serves his fire in self-defensc. The en-
nifty Of the gorilla to the whole negro
race, male and female, is uniformly at
tested. Thus, when young men of the
Gaboon tribe n axe excursions into the
forest in quest OF ivory, the enemy the
most dread to meet is the gorilla. II
thew have cone unawarcS too near him
with his ia rilv. he does not, Ike the
lion. salkily retreat, but cones rapid '
to the attack, swinging down to the
| lower branches and clutch NC at the
nearest foe. The hideous aspect Of the
animal. win his green eyes fam NJ
with rage, is heightened by the ska
over the orbits and eye brows kcine
drawn rapidly ba rkward and forward
with the hair erected, producing 4 hor
rible and fiendish scowl II fired at ant
t not MORALLY hit, the gorilla closes a
once upon his assailant aud infict:
E most dangerous if not deadly wound:
with his sharp and powerful tusks. Th'
commander of British trader once saw
negro at the Cab on frightfuliy mutt
lated from the bite of II gorilla, from
which he had recovered. Another ne
gro exhibited to the same voyager
gun barrel, bent and partly attcncd b.
n q wounded gorilla in his death-struggle
n Lon lon .StdndQrd.