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
Of course, to him this had no real meaning, but it was an index to the
desire which prompted it. He seemed to think that anything that I did
would be good for her, and his purpose, doubtless, was to aid me. When
I removed my hand, he removed his; when I returned mine, he did the
same; and to the last gave evidence of his faith in my friendship and
good intentions. His ready approval of anything I did showed that he
had a vague idea of my purpose.
At length the breast grew still and the feeble beating of the heart
ceased. The lips were parted and the dim eyes were half-way closed,
but he sat by as if she were asleep. The sturdy keeper came to remove
the body from the cage; but Aaron clung to it, and refused to allow
him to touch it. I took the little mourner in my arms, but he watched
the keeper jealously, and did not want him to remove or disturb the
body. It was laid on a bunch of straw in front of the cage and he
was returned to his place, but he clung to me so firmly that it was
difficult to release his hold. He cried in a piteous tone, fretted and
worried, as if he fully realised the worst. The body was then removed
from view, but poor little Aaron was not consoled. How I pitied him!
How I wished that he was again in his native land, where he might find
friends of his own race!
After this, he grew more attached to me than ever, and when I went to
visit him he was happy and cheerful in my presence; but the keeper said
that while I was away he was often gloomy and morose. As long as he
could see me or hear my voice, he would fret and cry for me to come to
him. When I would leave him, he would scream as long as he had any hope
of inducing me to return.
A few days after the death of Elisheba, the keeper put a young monkey
in the cage with him for company. This gave him some relief from the
monotony of his own society, but never quite filled the place of the
lost one. With this little friend, however, he amused himself in many
ways. He nursed it so zealously and hugged it so tightly that the poor
little monkey was often glad to escape from him in order to have a
rest. But the task of catching it again afforded him almost as much
pleasure as he found in nursing it.
Thus he passed his time for a few weeks, when he was seized by a sudden
cold, which in a few days developed into an acute type of pneumonia.
I was in London at the time and was not aware of this, but, feeling
anxious about him, I wrote to Dr. Cross, in whose care he was left,
and received a note in reply, stating that Aaron was very ill, and not
expected to live. I prepared to go to visit him the next day, but just
before I left the hotel I received a telegram stating that he was dead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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