The herald., 1894-03-26
IS THERE A MONKEY LANGUAGE (?
Prof. Garner's Experiments in
Africa.
He COnversed With Chimpanzees
and Gorillas.
The Scientist Firmly Convinced That
Monkeys Have a Systematic
Method of vOcaliz-
ing Thought.
BY the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, March %. = Professor
Richard l.. Garner, whose efforts TO
learn the language which he avows be-
longs to the gorilla and chimpanzee and
which has earned for him the pseudo
nym of the "monkeymsn," returned
from his Investigations in Africa on the
Etruria today. The professor said his
journey had been an absolute success.
II left here" said he, ''in July, 1892.
After considerable difficulty IN securing
funds and making preparations for the
journey, got away from Liverpool in
in the following December. went
through the lake regions enough to get
information about the snimsle, the in
habitants and the condition OF the
country for my purpose on this journey.
Then l returned to Lake Foranvaz,
through which / had already pass ed.
There found q suitable place to erect
my cage. located it one mile from the
lake in q dense jungle, for the gorilla
will not live in an open coun-
try. 1t WAS on the south aide OF
the lake, about two degrees south of the
equator. l do not know the longitude,
but it was one days journey to the sea
coast in direct line. / had been ed-
vised by the natives that it was the best
situation in southwestern Africa to find
gorillau. In this locality many had
been captured by white hunters. l
slung my cage with the assistance OF
three natives. The cage consisted Of o
network of steel rods tive-sixteenths OF
an inch thick. l brought it with me in
eight sections, each six feet six inches
long. These sections weighed 45 pounds
in all. l anchored it with three
heavy chains passed over the roof. AH
a preoaution a network of steel wire was
thrown around the rods as a guard.
The roof wac made of bamboo, and
had with me a canvas tarpaulin in case
OF rain. My effects consisted of house
hold utensils, two revolvers, one maga-
zine rife, one airgun and hollow arrows
filed with prussic acid, which l dis
charged with blowgunH. The best SAFE
guard had was a device of my own in
vention. 1t was bag like a large can
teen, filled with concentrated ammonia.
to which was attached q hose 80
inches long with nozzle through which
l could force the ammonia which would
suffocate a gorilla 10 feet away. The
cage stood on a foundation three or four
feet from the ground. | had no phono-
graph, as the one ordered from Edison
on May 3, 1898. never reached nae.
had the invoice and WAS very much dis.
appointed at not receiving it, as il
would have aided me very materially in
my experiments. Unfortunately my
photograph sppsratus failed to work
also.
81 went into the cage alone on April
%, 1898, and remained in it until August
9th. OF course | came out for short
intervals. For my young chimpsnzee
Moses, which | had with me, built O
hut outside the cage. We dined to-
gether, and on these occasions MoBe6
was not confined, but went in and out al
will. On some occasions he behaved
very badly, for the etiquette of the
race is not always perfect.
think can safely cay more than any
other white man living. My position
was such that a gorilla would come
very close and / could ait calmly and
study every detail OF movement and
expression. Inever had occasion to use
my gun but once, then | cooked it
aimed at q gorilla to rescue my pet dog
but before l fred the gorilla became
frightened and ran away. l have seer
only two or three gorillaa while outside
of the cage. Many things which l have
heard before and since my researches, in
magazines and natural history, about the
gorilla are fictitious.
~ have learned no more than six OF
ofnhk Dc of thr. oh l.,
These l can not give you, for they are
not amenRble to any known etymology
or orthography. l cannot pronounce
them. II could l would be willing to
give them to you.
II think there are about 40 or sc
words or utterances in their language.
The gorilla certainly has marital rela-
tions, but no ceremony.
81 learned from the natives that they
are polygsmists However, am quite
satisfied they keep the same female as a
wife for many years. have seen groupa
Of three or four in which is one male
only. 1t is very clear to me that they
have patriarchal form Of government.
1.-THE gorillas are at full maturity
when they reach the age of eight or 10
years. They do not build houses and
are not csrnivorous, but omnivorous.
Their vocal organs are almost exactly
like those of men. They are not nearly
SO vicious as described. When they
would approach my cage, they would
take one peep and turn away wholly un.
concerned. The natives told me if |
blsckened my face they might attack
me. l had nine attacks of fever. The
natives like myself are firmly convinced
the gorilla and chimpapzse tribes have
q language.
81 brought back to London with me
two chimpanzees. They died coon after
their debut into civilization. l pre-
served their skins and skulls. l also
brought the vocal organs of four CHM
pRnzees and three gorillas and the brain
of one gorilla. The brain of the CHM
panzee which died in London was sent
to Oxford at the request of the univer-
sity, where it will be examined and an
official report rendered"