The current opinion that a gorilla will attack a man without being provoked to it is another popular error. He is shy and timid. He shrinks alike from man and from other large animals. When he is in a rage he is both fierce and powerful; but his ferocity and strength are rated above their value. In combat no doubt he is a stubborn foe, but no one I have ever met has seen him thus engaged. His mode of attack, as described by certain travelers, is a mere theory. It is said that in this act he walks erect, furiously beats upon his breast, roars, and yells. In this manner he first terrorizes and then seizes his adversary, tears open his breast and drinks the blood. I have never seen a large gorilla in the act of assault. During my stay in the jungle I had a young gorilla in captivity. I made use of him in studying the habits of his race. I kept him tied with a long line which allowed him room to play or climb about in the bushes, and at the same time prevented him from escaping into the forest, as he always tried to do the instant he was released. I frequently released him for the purpose of watching his mode of attack when recaptured. While being pursued he rarely looked back, but when overtaken he invariably assailed his captor. This gave me an opportunity of seeing his method of attack. In this he displayed both skill and judgment. As my native boy approached him he calmly turned one side to the foe and, without facing the boy, rolled his eyes in such a manner as to see him and at the same time conceal his own purpose. When the boy came within reach, the gorilla grasped him by thrusting the arm to one side and obliquely backwards. When he had seized his adversary by the leg, he instantly swung the other arm around with a long sweep, so as to strike the boy a hard blow. Then he used his teeth. He seemed to depend more upon the blow than upon the grasp, but the latter served to hold the object of attack within reach. In every case he kept one arm and one leg in reserve until he had seized his adversary. It is true that these attacks were made upon an enemy in pursuit, but his mode of doing this appeared to be natural to him. He struck a severe blow and showed no sign of tearing or scratching his opponent. In these attacks he made no sound. I do not say that other gorillas never scream or tear their victims, but I take it that the habits of the young are much, if not quite, the same as those of their elders; and from a study of this specimen I am forced to modify many opinions imbibed from reading or from pictures and museum specimens which I have seen. Many of them represent the gorilla in absurd and sometimes impossible attitudes. They certainly do not represent him as I have seen him in his native wilds. I had a young female gorilla as a subject for study for a short time. Her mode of attack was about the same as that just described, but she was too large to risk very far in such experiments.