Gorillas & ChimpanzeesGarner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Science
Gorillas & Chimpanzees
Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch)
Chimpanzees; Gabon -- Description and travel; Garner, R. L. (Richard Lynch), 1848-1920 -- Travel; Gorilla
I now prepare my repast for midday, by opening a can of meat or fish,
and warming it in a tin plate on the little stove. I have no vegetables
or dessert, but with a few crackers broken up, and stirred into the
grease, and plenty of water to drink with it, I find it an ample meal.
When it is finished, Moses coils up in his little hammock, swung by my
side, and takes his siesta. The boy, when there, stretches out on the
floor, and does likewise.
During the hours from ten till two, few things are astir, though I have
seen some interesting sights during that time.
It must not be supposed that the change is sudden at these periods, for
such is not the case. It is not a fixed time for everything to cease
its activity. It is by slow degrees that one after another becomes
quiescent, until life appears almost extinct for a time; but as the sun
begins to descend the western sky, things begin to revive, and by three
o'clock everything is again astir.
Now a lone gorilla comes stalking through the bush, looking for the red
fruit of the _batuna_ that grows at the root of the plant. He plucks
a bud of some kind, tears it apart with his fingers, smells it, and
throws it aside. Now he takes hold of a tall sapling, looks up at the
shaking branches, and turns aside. He pauses and looks around as if
suspicious of danger. He listens to see if anything is approaching, but
being reassured he resumes his search for food. Now he gently parts the
tangled vines that intercept his way, and creeps noiselessly through
them. He hesitates, looks carefully around him, and then proceeds
again. He is coming this way. I can see his black face as he turns his
head from side to side, looking for food. What a brutal visage! It has
a scowl upon it, as if he were at odds with all his race. He is now
within a few yards of the cage, but is not aware of my presence. He
plucks the tendril from a vine, smells it, and puts it in his mouth. He
plucks another and another. I shall note that vine, and ascertain what
it is. Now he is in a small open space, where the bush is cut away, so
as to afford a better view. He seems to know that this is an unusual
thing to find in the jungle, so he surveys it with caution. He comes
nearer. Now he has detected me. He sits down upon the ground, and looks
at me as if in utter surprise. A moment more he turns aside, looks back
over his shoulders, but hurries away into the dense jungle.
It is now four o'clock, and I hear a wild pig rooting among the fallen
leaves. I see a small rodent that looks like a diminutive hedgehog. He
is gnawing the bark from a dead limb, possibly to capture some insect
secreted under it; but as rodents usually live upon vegetable diet, he
may have some other reason for this.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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