During all these feats the man talked to him, as far as I could tell, in the native language only; though he declared to me that some of the words that he had used were those of the ape’s own speech. However, he said that many words that the ape knew were of the native speech, and that the ape had no such words in his language. One thing that especially impressed me was a sound which I have elsewhere described as meaning “good” or “satisfaction,” which this man said was the word which these apes use to mean “mother.” My own servant had told me the same thing, but I am still of the opinion that they are mistaken in the meaning of the sound, although it is almost exactly the same as the word for mother in the native speech. The difference being in the vowel element only, it is possible, I grant, that the word may have both meanings. A little later one of the women came to the door of a house and said, in the native language, that something was ready to eat; whereupon the children and the ape at once started. In the mean time she set in front of the house an earthen pot, containing boiled plantains, from which all the children and the ape alike helped themselves. In brief, the ape was a part of the family and was so regarded by all in the town. I do not know to what extent those natives may have played upon my credulity, but so far as I could discern, their statements concerning the animal were verified. I proposed to buy the ape, but the price asked was nearly twice that of a slave. I could have bought any child in the town at a smaller cost. I have never seen any other chimpanzee that I so much coveted. When standing in an upright position, he was quite four feet in height, strongly built and well proportioned. He was in a fine, healthy condition and in the very prime of his life. He was not handsome in the face, but his coat of hair was of good color and texture. He was of the common variety, but a fine specimen. Mr. Otto Handmann, formerly the German consul at Gaboon, had a very fair specimen of this same species of chimpanzee. He was a rough, burly creature, but was well disposed and had in his face a look of wisdom that was almost comical. He had been for some months a captive in a native town, during which time he had become quite tame and docile. By nature he was not humorous, but he appeared to acquire a sense of fun as he grew older and became more familiar with the manners of men.