The Brookhaven leader., 1884-02-21
The Gorilla at Home.

1t is said by the natives that the
gor LA makes a sleepng-place like
hammocs, by connecting the branches
of sheltered and thickly-leayed part
of a tree by means of the long, tough,
slender stems o. parasitic plants, and
lining it with the dried broad fronds of
fern. or with long grass. This ham
mock-li e abode may lie seen at d fer
ent heights, from ten to forty-iiye feet
from the ground. but there il never
more than one such nest in u tree. They
old the sbodes of man, but are most
commonly seen in the months of Sep
tember, October and No5cmbcr, after
the negroes have gathered in their out
ly ng rice crops and haye returned from
the "tush' TO their valleys. 30 OBJ
served, they are described to be usually
in pairs. or if more, the addt on con-
si.ts OF few young ones Of direrent
ages and apparently of one family.
The gor LA is not gregar Ous. The
parents may be seen sitting on ranch
resting their bacas against the tree
trunk munching fruit, while the young
gorllas are ut play. leaping and swing
ing from branch to ranch with boots
or harsh cries o. boisterous m rth. Th. S
rural felicitg, however, has its OBJ
jcctionable sides. for o"ca ionally, if
not jnvara ". the old male, il he is
seen in quest o, food, IS usually arme
with q short stick, which the negroes
aver to g the weapon with which he
attacks his chief enemy, the elephant.
Not that the elerhant directly or in
tentionally Injuries the gorilla, but, de-
irving its subsistence from tho same
source, the ape regards the great pro-
boScidian ~ hostile intruder. When,
t erefore, he sees the elephant pulling
down and Hrenching oil tie branches
of a favorie tree, the gorilla, stealing
along the 'ough, strikes the sens
tive pro 1osc of the elephant
violent blow with his club, and
dr,e. of the startled giant
trumpeting shrilly with pa n. In rass-
ing from one tree to another the gorilla
Is said TO walk seni-ercct with the aid
Of his club, but with n wsddling and
awkward gait; when wit aOut stick he
has been seen to walk as man, with
his hands clas"ed aaro-s back of his
head, instinctiveiy balancing his for
ward position. Il the gorilla be sur
pri.ed and approached, whatever the
ground may be he Eetakes himself on
a fours, dropping his stick, and ma kes
his way very rapidly with kind OF
s.delonk gallop, resting on the front
knuckles, to the nearest tree. There he
meets his pursuer especially it bis fam
ilv is near and requiring his defense.
No negro willingly approaches the tree
in which the male gorilla keeps guard,
even with a gun. The experienced ne
gro does not make the attack, but re-
serves his fire in self-defense. The en-
mity of the gorilla to the whole negro
race, male and female, is uniformly at
tested. Thus, when young men of the
Gaboon tribe make excursions into the
forest in quest of ivory, the enemy the'
most dread to meet is the gorilla. If
they have cone unawares too near him
with his family, he does not, like the
lion, sulkily retreat, but cones rapidly
to the attack, swinging down 10 the
lower branches and clutch ng at the
nearest foe. The hideous aspect Of the
animal. with his green eyes flaming
with race, is heightened by the skin
over the orbits and eye brows icing
drawn rapidly ba kward and forward,
with the hair erected, producing hor
rible and tiendish scowl If fired at and
not mortally hit. the gorilla closes at
once upon his assailant and 'intiicts
most dangerous if not deadly wounds
with his sharp and powerful tusks. The
commander OF british trader once saw
a negro at the Cab on frightfully mutt
lated from the bite of a gorilla, from
which he had recovered. Another ne
gro exhibited to the same voyager
gun barrel, bent and partly fatteped by
wounded gorilla in his dcath-struggle.
Lon ion Sta79Idri.