The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-03-26
He Saw Plenty of G0rillas and Chin.
panzees and Is Satisfied They
Have Languages.
THREE MONTHS IN A CAGE
From Which He Watched the An
imalS He Desired to Study,
And Learned Much About the Habits Of
the GOrilla-How He Was Equipped
for His Observations.


ard L. Garner. whose efforts to learn the
language which he avows belongs to the
gorilla and chimpanzee, and which has
earned for him the pseudonym Of the
Monkey Man." returned from his investi-
cations in Africa on the Etruria to-day.
The professor said tonight that his jour-
ney had been absolute success. 'T left
here" said he. 'in July, 1892 After con-
siderable difficulty in securing funds and
making preparations for the journey / got
away from Liverpool in the following De-
cember. 1 went through the lake regions
enough to get information about the ami
mails from the inhabitants. conditions of
the country for my purpose, etc. After
this journey i returned to Lake Fernan
Vaz, through which 1 had already passed
on the way back There i found a suit
able place to erect my cage. 1 located one
mile from the lake In dense jungle, for
the gorilla will not live in open country.
1t was on the south side of the lake about
two degrees south of the equator. 10 not
know the longitude, but ii was about one
days journey to the seacoast in a direct
line. had been advised by the natives that
it was the best situation in southwestern
Africa to find numbers of gorillas. In this
locality many had been killed by white
hunters. / slung my cage with the as
sistance of three natives. The cage con-
sisted Of network of steel rods five-six-
teenths of an inch thick. / brought 1t with
me in eight sections each six feet six
inches in length. These sections weighed
forty-five pounds in all. / anchored It with
three heavy chains passed over the roof.
AS a precaution network of steel wire
was thrown around the rods as a guard.
The roof made of bamboo and 1 had
with me canvas tarpaulin in case Of rain.
My effects consisted of household utensils,
two revolvers, one magazine rife, one air
gun and hollow arrows filled with prussic
acid. which 1 discharged with blow gun.
The best safeguard ] had was a device OF
my own invention It a bag ike a
large canteen filed with concentrated am
inches long, with a nozzle, through which L
could force the fumes of the ammonia,
which would suffocate a gorilla ten feet
away. The cage stood on a foundation
three or four feet from the ground. / had
no monograph, as the one ordered from
Edison on MAY g. 1893 never reached me-
appointed at not receiving 1t, but IL would
have aided me very materially in my ex-
pertments. Unfortunately my Photographic
apparatus failed to work also.
OBSERVATIONS FROM THE CAGE
II went into the cage alone on April Is,
1S93 and remained in it until Aug. 6 fol-
lowing. OF course, 1 came out for short in
tervals. For my young chimpanzee, Moses.
which had with me, L built hut outside
not far from the cage. During the long
months he was my only companion most OF
the time. We dined together, and on these
occasions Moses was not confined, but went
in and out at will. On some occasions he
behaved very badly, for the etiquette Of the
race is not always perfect. Then / would
Il
1 think l can safely say more than any 9TH
er white man living. Ny position was such
could sit calmly and study every detail Of
movement and expression. l never had oc-
casion to use my gun but once Then
only cooked Ii, aimed at a gorilla to rescue
my pet dog, but before / fired the gorilla
became frightened and ran away. / have
seen only two or three gorillas while out
side of the cage, but had every advantage
within the cage. Many things which / have
read before and since my researches in
magazine articles and natural history about
the gorilla are fiction.
II have learned that there are more than
six or eight words of the Chimpanzee lam
guage. These / cannot give you, for they
are not amenable to any known etymology
or orthography. / cannot pronounce them.
If l could / would willingly give them to
words or utterances in their language
THE gorilla certainly has marital rela-
tens, but no ceremony. L learned from the
ever. / am satisfied that they keep the
same female as a wife for many years.
/ have seen groups of three or four in which
are always one male II is very clear TO
me that they have a pariarchal form of
government. 1 was assured by a man whom
1 believe to be truthful that he had seen
the king gorilla sitting on the ground eat
ing plantains. They were brought by other
male gorlllas to his supposed majesty after
being gathered by females. The only thing
which inclines me TO doubt this story is the
fact that the gorilla rarely eats the PLAN
tain itself but lives on the meat Of the
stock of the plantain tree, which he tears
to pieces. The gOrillas are at full ma
turity when they reach the age Of eight or
ten years. They do not build huts and are
not carnivorous, but omnivorous Their
vocal organs are almost exactly like those
of men. They are not nearly vicious Il :
described. When they would approach my
cage they would take a peep and turn
away wholly unconcerned. The natives
like myself, are firmly convinced that the
gorilla and chimpanzee tribes have Ian
guage.
II brought back TO London with me two
chimpanZees. They died soon after their
debut into civilization. / preserved their
skins and skulls. L also brought the vocal
organs of four chimpanzees and three
gorillas and the brain Of gorilla. The
brain of one OF the chimpanzees which
died in London was sent 10 Oxford, at the
request of the university, where il will be
examined and an official report rendered.