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 kept my supply of water in a large jug, which was placed in the shade
of the bushes near the cage. I also kept a small pan for Moses to drink
out of. He would sometimes ask for water, by using his own word for it.
He would place his pan by the side of the jug and repeat the sound a
few times. If he was not attended to he proceeded to help himself. He
could take the cork out of the jug quite as well as I could. He would
then put his eye to the mouth of it, and look down into the vessel to
see if there was any water. Of course the shadow of his head would
darken the interior of the jug so that he could not see anything. Then
removing his eye from the mouth of it, he would poke his hand in it,
but I reproved him for this until I broke him of the habit. After a
careful examination of the jug he would try to pour the water out. He
knew how it ought to be done, but was not able to handle the vessel
himself. He always placed the pan on the lower side of the jug; then
leaned the jug towards it and let go. He would rarely ever get the
water into the pan, but always turned the jug with the neck down grade.
As a hydraulic engineer he was not a great success, but he certainly
knew the first principles of the science.
I tried to teach Moses to be cleanly, but it was a hard task. He would
listen to my precepts as if they had made a deep impression, but he
would not wash his hands of his own accord. He would permit me or the
boy to wash them, but when it came to taking a bath, or even wetting
his face, he was a rank heretic on the subject, and no amount of
logic would convince him that he needed it. When he was given a bath,
he would scream and fight during the whole process; and when it was
finished he would climb up on the roof of the cage and spread himself
out in the sun. This was the only occasion on which I ever knew him to
get up on the roof. I don't know why he disliked it so much. He did not
mind getting wet in the rain, but rather seemed to like that.
He had a great dislike for ants and certain large bugs. Whenever one
came near him he would talk like a magpie, and brush at it with his
hands until he got rid of it. He always used a certain sound for this
kind of annoyance; it differed slightly from those I have described as
warning.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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