About the time I reached here, two Esyira hunters came from a distant village, and brought with them a smart young chimpanzee of the kind known in that country as the _kulu-kamba_. He was quite the finest specimen of his race that I have ever seen. His frank, open countenance, big brown eyes and shapely physique, free from mark or blemish of any kind, would attract the notice of any one who was not absolutely stupid. It is not derogatory to the memory of Moses that I should say this, nor does it lessen my affection for him. Our passions are not moved by visible forces nor measured by fixed units: they disdain all laws of logic, and spurn the narrow bounds of reason; they obey no code of ethics that can be defined, and conform to no theory of action. As soon as I saw this little ape I expressed a desire to own him, so the trader in charge bought him and presented him to me. As it was intended that he should be the friend and ally of Moses, although not his brother, we conferred upon him the name of Aaron, as the two names are so intimately associated in history that the mention of one always suggests the other. Aaron was captured in the Esyira jungle by these same hunters, about one day's journey from the place where I secured him; and in this event began a series of sad scenes in the brief but varied life of this little hero that seldom come within the experience of any creature. At the time of his capture his mother was killed in the act of defending him from the cruel hunters, and when she fell to the earth, mortally wounded, this brave little fellow stood by her trembling body, defending it against her slayers, until he was overcome by superior force, seized by his captors, bound with strips of bark, and carried away into captivity. No human can refrain from admiring his conduct in this act, whether it was prompted by the instinct of self-preservation or by a sentiment of loyalty to his mother, for he was exercising that prime law of nature which actuates all creatures to defend themselves against attack, and his wild, young heart throbbed with like sensations to those of a human under a like ordeal. I do not wish to appear sentimental by offering a rebuke to those who indulge in the sport of hunting, but much cruelty could be obviated without losing any of the pleasure of the hunt, and I have always made it a rule to spare the mother with her young. Whether animals feel the same degree of mental and physical pain as man or not, they do, in these tragic moments, evince a certain amount of concern for one another, which imparts a tinge of sympathy that must appeal to any one who is not devoid of every sense of mercy. It is true that it is often difficult, and sometimes impossible, to secure the young by other means; but the manner of getting them often mars the pleasure of having them, and while Aaron was, to me, a charming pet and a valuable subject for study, I confess the story of his capture always touched me in a tender spot.