The name of this enormous ape has been known since 450 B.C. Hanno the Carthaginian, when off Sierra Leone, met with wild "men and women" whom the interpreter called GORILLAS. The males escaped and flung stones from the rocks, but several females were captured. These animals could not have been gorillas, but were probably baboons. Andrew Battell, already mentioned, described the gorilla under the name of Pongo. He says it is like a man, but without understanding even to put a log on a fire; it kills men, and drives off their elephant with clubs; it is never taken alive, but its young are killed with poisoned arrows; it covers its dead with boughs. Dr. Savage described it in 1847. Later Du Chaillu visited its haunts, and his well-known book relates how he met and killed several specimens. But Mr. Winwood Reade, who also went in quest of it, declared Du Chaillu, like himself, never saw a live gorilla. Von Koppenfels, however, saw a family of four feeding, besides shooting others. The late Miss Kingsley met several, one of which was killed by her elephant-men.
The gorilla has a limited range, extending from 2 degrees north to 5 degrees south latitude in west Africa, a moist overgrown region including the mouth of the Gaboon River. How far east it is found is uncertain, but it is known in the Sierra del Cristal. in 1851-52 it was seen inconsiderable numbers on the coast.
The Gorilla is the largest, strongest, and most formidable of the Primates. An adult male is from 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet high, heavily built, with arms and chest of extraordinary power. The arms reach to the middle of the legs. The hands are clumsy, the thumb short, and the fingers joined by web. The neck scarcely exists. The legs has a slight calf. The toes are stumpy and thick; the great toe moves like a thumb. The head is large and receding, with enormous ridges above the eyes, which give it a diabolical appearance. The canine teeth are developed into huge tusks. The nose has a long bridge, and the nostrils look downwards. The ear is small and man-like.
In color the gorilla varies from deep black to iron-gray, with a reddish twinge on the head; old animals become grizzled. The outer hair is ringed gray and brown; beneath it is a woolly growth. The female is smaller - not exceeding 4 feet 6 inches- and less hideous, as the canines are much smaller, and the ridges above the eyes are not noticeable, a feature common also to the young. Credulous or untrustworthy travelers have left still wrapped in mystery many of the habits of this mighty ape, whose fever-stricken, forest-clad haunts render investigation always difficult, often impossible. Many tales of its ferocity and strength are obviously untrue, but we think that too much has been disbelieved. That a huge arm descends from a tree, draws up and chokes the wayfarer, must be false, for native Africans have confessed to knowing no instance of the gorilla attacking man. That it vanquishes the leopard is probable; that it has driven the lion from its haunts requires proof. Nor can we accept the tales of the carrying off of children; and the defeat of the elephants, too, must be considered a fiction.
But we must believe that this ape, if provoked or wounded, is a terrible foe, capable of ripping open a man with one stroke of its paw, or cracking the skull of a hunter as easily as a squirrel cracks a nut.
Gorillas live mainly in the trees on whose fruit they subsist; they construct a shelter in the lower boughs for the family, and as a living-in place for the female. The male is said to sleep below, with his back against the tree - a favorite attitude with both sexes - to keep off leopards. On the ground it moves on all-fours, with a curious swinging action, caused by putting its hands with fingers extended on the ground, and bringing its body forward by a half-jump. Having a heel, it can stand better than other apes; but this attitude is not common, and Du Chaillu appears to have been mistaken when he describes the gorilla as attacking upright.
In captivity only immature specimens have been seen- Barnum's great ape being one of the larger forms of chimpanzee. Accounts vary as to the temper of the gorilla, some describing it as untamable, while others say it is docile and playful when young. When enraged, a gorilla beats its breast, as the writer was informed by a keeper, who thus confirmed Du Chaillu's account. Its usual voice is a grunt, which, when the animal is excited, becomes a roar.
