McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4, September 1893Various
General
McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 4, September 1893
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals
She may have been a
widow, and if so, I should think her chances to remain so were very
fine, if beauty goes at par among her beaux, for she certainly was one
of the most hideous-looking things I have ever seen.
The temptation to shoot her was almost too great to resist, and the
desire to capture the babe made it all the more so, but I have
refrained, so far, from firing my gun anywhere near my cage. I could
have shot this one to-day with such ease and safety that I almost
regret that I did not, but she may return.
I have had the pleasure this afternoon of hearing three others howling
in different directions, one of which appears to be a very large one.
I have been told that the gorilla builds a rude hut or shelter in
which he makes his home, but, so far, I have found no trace of any
kind of structure built by them, nor can any native tell me where one
can be found. I do not believe that he has the most remote idea of a
home. He is nomadic in habit, and I doubt if he ever spends two nights
in the same place. During the day gorillas wander about from place to
place in quest of food, and wherever night finds them they remain till
morning. They are not nocturnal in habit, and the stories of their
howling and talking all night are not well founded. They do sometimes
yell at night, I have no doubt, but I think it is not common with
them, though at the first sign of dawn they make their presence known,
and no one will mistake the cause of the sound. One morning, about
five o'clock, I was startled from my sleep by one of the most terrific
yells, within about one hundred feet of my cage. It was not simply one
great shout, but a long series of sounds of varying pitch and
loudness, and at intervals of something like a minute they were
repeated, for about ten or twelve times, and to my ear appeared to be
exactly the same each time. I quietly turned out of bed and dressed
myself; I took my rifle and sat down, and watched until long after
sunrise, in the hope that they would pass by my cage. All the sounds
came from one direction until the last two, which indicated to me that
the author of them was changing his location. My interpretation of the
sound was that it was from the king gorilla, to arouse his family, who
were doubtless scattered off into different trees for the night. The
sound did not suggest to my mind any idea of fear, anger, or mirth,
but business, and I am inclined to believe that the chief of the clan
summons all to the march when he thinks it time to move. The
succeeding morning I heard the same sounds repeated in another
direction, and, I suspect, by the same gorilla.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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