Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-11-28


ocmmitted In previous state of existence TO
los OF speech aud . Wild life in the forest
some tribes hold the opinion that these anthro-
po'os are embodied spirits Of wild men OF the
INFERIOR. coast men. similarly embodied. being
represented by the milder and less dangerous
chimpanzees
On account Of this belief in . relationship. a.
Wen A. through dread Of the beasts. il is usually
ImPVssioie 10 induce the natives 80 hunt the
goruAs. A. much n ", 900 has been offered
TOT hve specimen unsuccessfully because
even % great . bribe could not persuade the
negroes 70 attempt the capture. their fear OF
tne animals being partly based on saperstition
soriua skulls are regarded ss powerful fe,icbes
POWERFUL ANIMAL
The gorilla is probably the most formidahl.
animal In existence. Imagine q man six feet
two inches In height and measuring -four feet
| and half across the shoulders. Give him .
girth about the chest of seventy inches and
arms long enough TO reach nearly to his ankles
! when he stands erect Make him muscular in
proportion. with huge canine tusks and a law
strong en- ough 70 crush q rife barrel. Suppose
him TO have no neck, an immense belly, very
| short bow legs. long black hair all over
his body, q fat nose and feet like
hands. There YOU have fair description OF a
gorilla OF the largest size. Ordinarily these
animals do not exceed five feet in height with
breadth Of four feet across the shoulders
Much as they resemble men when grown they
| are much more human in appearance during
the early stage of their being. having a likeness
TO babies in many ways that is most striking.
HOW THEY LIVE.
Gorillas live in family groups, each consist
ing Of a male, one female and her young. They
do not frequent the same sleeping place often.
usually spending the night wherever they hap
pen to be- Choosing full-grown tree 70 build
lodging IN they bend the branches together
at height Of twenty feet or more thus
making sort Of bed, which they cover
with twigs torn of for the purpose or
with leaf moss. The male spends the night
crouching at the foot of the tree against which
he places his back. in this way remaining on
guard to protect the female and young in the
nest above from attacks by leopards. These
powerful carnivora are always ready TO deyour
any species OF ape they can capture.
IN THE DAYTIME
! the gorilla family roams about the forest seek
ing food. In walking the animals totter along
with a swinging gait supporting themselves
partly by resting the knuckles of their hands
upon the ground. Much of their locomc ton.
however, is accomplished by climbing from
tree to tree. They are very skillful climbers
and If one branch does not seem sufficiently
| strong TO bear their weight they will use three
or four at once. As soon young male
reaches maturity a conflict for the mastery en-
sues between itself and it's father which re-
suits in the final settlement of the question as
to the ownership of the family, the weaker one
oeinS eitncf or driven away.
GOOD FIGHTER.
When the male gorilla fights he stands erect
upon his hind legs. the hair on his head and the
nape Of his neck bristling, his frightful teeth
displayed and his forehead wrinkling with q
fearful scowL At the same time he beats his
| mighty chest resounding blows with his fists
and utters most terrific yells of 'kh-ah kh-ah"
which make the forest re-echo. He parties
blows with the dexterity Of practiced
hrH
to seize his human adversary by the arm
crunching the limb in his teeth, or he
throws the man down and rends him with his
huge CANNES. The best thing that the hunter
can do at close quarters is to permit the beast
to seize the barrel OF his gun, which il will at
once carry to its mouth. Thus directed, bull
let is likely to be a settler. Otherwise the GO
rilla will quickly crush the gun barrel between
his teeth and proceed to wipe out his opponent.
10 run awar Is en- utter impossibility in the
thick woods.
IN CONFINEMENT.
Young gorillas have been found very tracta-
BILE in confinement. There was one in the Ber-
lin aquarium a few years ago which was re-
markedly human in its ways. IL slept in an or
binary bed. covering itself with the bed clothes
and ate at the table of the keeper sitting in a
chair and partaking Of the ordinary fare of the
family 1t ate with its fingers, never taking
more than decent morsel at one mouthfui
and would drink water from a glass, carving
IL steadily to its mouth without spilling and
setting il down carefully. 1t died OF consump-
tion in 1877. This complaint seems invariably
to carry of gorillas and chimpanzees when
they are confined or domesticated-
The gorilla has thirteen ribs on each side.
whereas man has only twelve: il has also one
more vertebra in lite backbone than man hss
Philosophers have been disposed to attribute
the progress of mankind beyond the authro-
poids TO his possession OF servicesble thumb.
upon which all his ability for manipulation
mainly depends. Many of the great apes
have most human-like hands. save for
the thumb, which is not nearly so well
developed and lacks certain impor-
tant muscles. For example. gorilla
cannot possibly perform the operation known
as .'twiddling." His muscular strength. how
ever, equals that of at least half dozen of the
most powerful men. The capacity OF his chest
cavity is mere than one-third greater than that
OF man, which contributes enormously to his
endurance.
There are several other most interesting
species of great apes in the region which Prof.
Garner proposes TO visit. One of them is the
baldheaded nschiego, the natives call it,
which stands about four feet high when erect,
and extends It's arms seven feet from finger tip
to finger tip. Ii builds most remarkable nests
In the trees. as high fifty feet from the
ground, choosing for its home the loneliest
part OF the forest. These shelters are made of
lea1y DTanches. which the female gathers while
the male performs the process of construction
The branches are fastened together with vines
and the roof is SO CLOSELY and carefully con-
structed as to resemble human handiwork
These animals hive in pairs with their Young.
like the goriilas. though sometimes C. solitary
bachelor nschiego, covered with the siivery
hair Of age, will be found dwelling alone They
build new nest every ten or fifteen DAYS. the
old one serving no longer protection against
rain when the leaves which serve 70 thatch il
have become dry.
LryISGsroSE's FIND.
The soko is another species of about equal
size, which was made known first by the ex-
plorer Livingstone. 1t lives in communities
OF about a score each. half males and half fe-
males, not counting the young. Each male has
his own wife. and all intruders from other colo
nies are driven away. In fighting with each
other or with men who hunt them for food the
soko always tries TO get hold of the hands OF
his adversary and bite the ends of the fingers
of. The natives believe that the spirits Of the
dead rise sokos. Still another great ape Is
OF an extraordinary frog-llke shape and is
known as the koola-kamba. Il has a cry Of
''koola. koolal" which il continually repeats.
THE cHIMpANzEEs
are found all the way across Africa in the same
latitude. They make nests il the sarae way
that gorillas do, the male squatting on guard
at the foot of the tree at night. In the morr-
ing and evening they make the forests resound