"Its height is about five feet; it is disproportionately broad across
the shoulders, thickly covered with coarse black hair, which is said to
be similar in its arrangement to that of the 'Enche-eko'; with age it
becomes grey, which fact has given rise to the report that both animals
are seen of different colours.
"HEAD.--The prominent features of the head are, the great width and
elongation of the face, the depth of the molar region, the branches
of the lower jaw being very deep and extending far backward, and the
comparative smallness of the cranial portion; the eyes are very large,
and said to be like those of the Enche-eko, a bright hazel; nose broad
and flat, slightly elevated towards the root; the muzzle broad, and
prominent lips and chin, with scattered gray hairs; the under lip highly
mobile, and capable of great elongation when the animal is enraged, then
hanging over the chin; skin of the face and ears naked, and of a dark
brown, approaching to black.
"The most remarkable feature of the head is a high ridge, or crest of
hair, in the course of the sagittal suture, which meets posteriorily
with a transverse ridge of the same, but less prominent, running round
from the back of one ear to the other. The animal has the power of
moving the scalp freely forward and back, and when enraged is said to
contract it strongly over the brow, thus bringing down the hairy
ridge and pointing the hair forward, so as to present an indescribably
ferocious aspect.
"Neck short, thick, and hairy; chest and shoulders very broad, said to
be fully double the size of the Enche-ekos; arms very long, reaching
some way below the knee--the fore-arm much the shortest; hands very
large, the thumbs much larger than the fingers...
(FIGURE 11.--Gorilla walking (after Wolff).)
"The gait is shuffling; the motion of the body, which is never upright
as in man, but bent forward, is somewhat rolling, or from side to side.
The arms being longer than the Chimpanzee, it does not stoop as much in
walking; like that animal, it makes progression by thrusting its arms
forward, resting the hands on the ground, and then giving the body a
half jumping half swinging motion between them. In this act it is
said not to flex the fingers, as does the Chimpanzee, resting on its
knuckles, but to extend them, making a fulcrum of the hand. When it
assumes the walking posture, to which it is said to be much inclined, it
balances its huge body by flexing its arms upward.
"They live in bands, but are not so numerous as the Chimpanzees: the
females generally exceed the other sex in number. My informants all
agree in the assertion that but one adult male is seen in a band; that
when the young males grow up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the
strongest, by killing and driving out the others, establishes himself as
the head of the community."
Dr. Savage repudiates the stories about the Gorillas carrying off women
and vanquishing elephants and then adds:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account