STANLEY gives the following description of the
scenery of Central
Africa : Unyamwezi is a wide undulating table-land, sinking
west-
ward toward Tanganyika. Any one taking a bird's-eye view
of
the land would perceive forests, a purple-hued carpet
of foliage,
broken here and there by barren plains and open glades,
extending
toward every quarter of the heavens. Here and there rise
masses of
rocky mountains, towering like blunt cupolas above the
gentle undula-
tions of the land, on to the distant horizon. Standing
upon any pro-
jecting point, a scene never before witnessed meets the
view. Nothing
picturesque can be seen ; the landscape may be called
prosaic and
monotonous ; but it is in this very overwhelming, apparently
endless,
monotony that its sublimity lies.
The foliage is bright with all the colors of the prism
; but as the
woods retreat towards the far distance, a silent mystical
vapor enfolds
them, and bathes them first in pale, and then in dark
blue, until they are
lost in the distance. But near the lake all is busy life.
The shore
immediately adjoining the Lake of Ugogo is formed by
a morass of at
least sixty feet wide, and extending on every side. It
is an impenetrable
tangle of luxuriant sedge and rushes, where the unwieldy
hippopotamus,
going his nightly rounds, has left his watery footsteps
imprinted in the
swamp. Numerous buffaloes, zebras, giraffes, boars, kudu
antelopes,
and other animals come here at nightfall to quench their
thirst.
The shores and surface of the lake are alive with an amazing
number
of aquatic birds — black swans, ducks, sacred ibises,
cranes, and pelicans ;
high overhead, watchful for their prey, hover kites and
fish eagles ; while
the shore is vocal with the loud call of the guinea-fowl,
the hoarse scream
of the toucan, the cooing of the pigeons, the hoot of
the owl mingling
with the cry of the snipe and wild fowl rising from the
long grass by the
water's edge. These shores are also the paradise of the
long-legged
stork and the heron, the saddle stork, the marabout,
an ugly bird, in
spite of its wonderful and costly feathers, the giant
heron, while the
curious stilt-bird, or shoebill, of Africa, one of the
most singular birds
of the globe, inhabits the more northern marshlands,
vast impenetrable
morasses of the White Nile, and some of its tributaries.
This bird has a
bulky body, a thick neck, a large head and a curiously
formed bill, not
unlike a clumsy wooden shoe. Its color is an ashy gray,
with jet black
wing feathers.
The shoebill is the giant of the wading birds and is found
in pairs or
smaller societies as remote as possible from human habitations,
mostly in
the impenetrable swamps f)f the White Nile and some of
its tributaries.
At the approach of man it flies away, and when frightened
by shots it
rises to a great altitude and never returns to its swamps
as long as there
is any suspicion of danger. This bird selects for its
breeding place a
small elevation in the reeds, either immediately on the
border of the
water or in the swamp, mostly where surrounding water
renders an
approach difficult.
Wonderful Luxuriance.
The flora concentrates all its luxuriance in the first
months of the rainy
season, leaving the autumn, when the grass of the steppes
is withered, to
fare less richly. The scenery varies much less than in
the most mo-
notonous districts of our own country, but it has nevertheless
its alter-
nation of clustering groves of bushes, its clearings
with noble trees more
than thirty or forty feet in height, its luxuriant undergrowth
broken by
grassy reaches or copses of tall shrubs.
Palms play a subordinate part in this scenery ; the fan
palms are found
clustered together in groves ; and in the marshy steppes
grows the
prickly date, perhaps the primitive type of the date
palm. Then come
the leather-leaved fig trees of every kind, and among
them the grandest
monuments of African vegetation, the sycamores, together
with large-
leaved tamarinds.
Very characteristic of the country are the patches of
primeval forests,
watered by running streams, and known by the name of
galleries. The
soil is unusually rich in springs of water, which keep
up a perpetual
overflow of the brooks ; and while in the northern districts
the rivers
have to find their way across open lowlands where the
volume of water
soon diminishes, and is lost in the parched earth, the
country here is like
a well-filled sponge. The result of this abundant moisture
is that the
valleys and fissures of the earth through which the water
flows, whether
in the form of little brooks and streamlets, or of great
rivers, are clothed
with all the majesty of a tropical forest; while an open
park-like glade,
the chief feature of which appears at the first glance
to be the amazing
size of its foliage, fills up the higher-lying spaces
between the water-
courses and the galleries. The number of distinct types
of trees, and
the variety of forms among th^ undergrowth, is very great.
Trees with
large trunks, whose height throws into the shade all
the previously seen
specimens of the Nile flora, not excluding the palms
of Egypt, are here
found in serried ranks, without a break, and beneath
their shelter the
less imposing platforms are arranged in terraces.
Magniflcent Forests.
In the interior of thesp virgin forests, leafy corridors,
rivalling the
temple walls of Egypt, lie veiled in deep perpetual shadow,
and are
spanned by a triple roof of foliage, rising vault above
vault. Seen from
without, the galleries appear like an impenetrable wall
of the densest
leafage, while from within corridors of foliage open
out in every direction
beneath the columns of the tree stems, and are filled
with the murmuring
voice of springs and water-courses.
The average height of the roof of leaves measures from
seventy-five to
ninety feet; but very often these galleries, seen from
without, by no
means produce the imposing effect which is felt from
within in looking up
from the depth of the valley or the: water-side; because
in many places
the depression of land or water which makes up the gallery
or tunnel-like
i character of the scene scarcely allows half of the
forest to rise above the
level ground, many galleries being entirely sunk in the
depression.
Great tree trunks, thickly overgrown with wild pepper,
rise from the
depths, and support wide-spreading branches draped with
lichens and
mosses, above which towers the remarkably fine tree called
the elephant's
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 585
ear, which grows in rich abundance. High up on the branches
are seen
the very large nests built by the " tree-termite."
Other tree stems, long since dead, serve as supports for
colossal vines,
and with their impenetrable festoons form bowers as large
as houses, in
which perpetual darkness reigns. From the depths of the
brushwood
gleam flame-red blossoms, and rivalling them in splendor
are seen tall
shrubs bearing large orange bell flowers. The eyes may
roam in every
direction, and meet with nothing but this unbroken impenetrable
greenery.
There where the narrow pathways wind along, partly through
and partly
under the tangle of shrub and bush ascending the valley
wall, bare roots
of trees form the supports which hold the loose friable
earth together.
Mouldering trunks, covered with thick mosses, are met
with at every
step, and make our advance through these waves of massive
greenery
anything but easy. The air we breathe is no longer that
of the free sun-
lit steppe, or of the cool leafy paths without; it is
the heavy, humid
atmosphere of our green- houses. There prevails a constant
moisture,
produced by the breath of the woods itself, and which
it is impossible to
escape.
A Taste for Honey.
The Negroes belonging to the caravan, while prowling through
the
backwoods in search of anything eatable, lighted here
upon an important
discovery; their cry of triumph guided us to the place
where they stood
clustered together round a tree, very busy with their
firebrands. They
bad discovered in the hollow stem a large quantity of
honey, and were
preparing to secure their treasure with great indifference
to the results of
their attack. Honey, wax, and even the little bodies
of the honey-
makers slain in the combat, were swallowed down by the
Negroes with-
out any distinction.
One of the birds peculiar to some parts of Central Africa,
and men-
tioned by Stanley, is the fish-eagle. The best known
and largest is the
white-headed eagle. The length is about three feet, and
the extent of
wings seven feet ; the female is somewhat larger. Its
usual food is fish,
but it eats the flesh of other animals, when it can get
it and often seizes
quadrupeds and birds of inferior flight, and when pressed
by hunger will
feed on carrion. The flight of this bird is very majestic
; it sails along
with extended wings and can ascend until it disappears
from view, with-
out any apparent motion of the wings or tail ; and from
the greatest
height it descends with a rapidity, which can scarcely
be followed by the
eye. The power of wing is not more remarkable than the
consummate
skill with which the strong pinions are made to cut the
air.
These birds live to a great age. They are generally seen
in pairs and
the union seems to last for life. The attachment of the
old birds to their
young is very great. The breeding season commences about
March and
though each male has but one mate during its entire life,
many and fierce
are the battles, which arise about the possession of
these spouses. It is
a singular circumstance in the formation of this bird
that the outer toe
turns easily backward, so as on occasion to have two
of the toes forward
and two backward, and it has a much larger claw than
the inner one.
This, and the roughness of the whole foot underneath,
are well adapted
for the securing of its prey. During the spring and summer
months the
osprey is frequently seen hovering over the rivers for
minutes without
visible change of place. It then suddenly darts down
and plunges into
the water, whence it seldom rises again without a fish
in its talons. When
it rises in the air it shakes off the water and pursues
its way towards the
woods.
In one part of his first expedition, Stanley refers to
the attractive views
which greeted him on every side.
Forest-clad Slopes and Beautiful Valleys.
Our traveller was now fairly in the midst of African scenes.
The
wilderness was broken only by the little villages which
everv now and
then appeared peeping through the crevices of their wonderful
fortresses
of acacia, and the people were fully up to the average
in genuine African
characteristics.
Crossing the Ungerengeri, a beautiful river with a broad
fertile valley,
and passing through the narrow belt of country which
is all that is left
to the warlike remnants of the once powerful Wakami tribe,
the
intrepid traveller entered the territory of the Wadoe,
a people full
of traditions, who have always defended themselves bravely
against
the encroachments of neighbors and the invasions of marauders.
The
region they inhabit might well have been guarded hy them
with jealous
courage.
Speaking of it, Mr. Stanley says: It is in appearance
amongst the most
picturesque countries between the coast and Unyanyembe.
Great cones
shoot upward above the everlasting forests, tipped by
the light fleecy
clouds, through which the warm glowing sun darts its
rays, bathing the
whole in a quickening radiance which brings out those
globes of foliage
that rise in tier after tier along the hill-sides in
rich and varied hues
which would mock the most ambitious painter's skill.
From the wind-
ing paths along the crest of ridges the traveller may
look down over
forest-clad slopes into the deep valleys, and across
to other slopes as
nymph's skin gayly clad, and other ridges where deep
concentric folds tempt him to
curious wanderings by their beauty and mystery and grandeur.
But
those lovely glades and queenly hills told saddest stories
of cruel deeds
and wrongs irreparable. It is the old story: envious
evil eagerly
invades with its polluting presence those sacred spots
where all is
loveliest ; infernal malice mars with strange delight
what is beautiful and
pure.
Cities Built by Insects.
Further on the caravan passed through the thin forests
adorned with
myriads of marvellous ant-hills, those wonderful specimens
of engineer-
ing talent and architectural capacity, those cunningly
contrived, model
cities, with which the tiny denizens of African wilds
astonish the traveller
continually; and on across plains dotted with artificial-looking
cones and
flat-topped, isolated mountains, and through marshy ravines,
where every
unlucky step insured a bath in Stygian ooze — the various
scenes of south-
ern Ukonongo —
" Where the thorny brake and thicket
Densely fill the interspace
Of the trees, through whose thick branches
Never sunshine lights the place" —
The abode of lions and leopards and elephants and wild
boars, one of
those splendid parks of the wilderness where majestic
forests and
jungles, and lawn-like glades, and reedy brakes and perilous
chasms
all unite to form that climax of wildness and beauty,
" the hunter's
paradise." It was just the place to arouse all the Nimrod
spirit a man
possesses, and the two days of rest were turned to good
account by
Mr. Stanley in testing the virtue of his fine rifles
on the masters of the
domain.
The surface stratum of the country is clay, overlying
the sandstone,
based upon various granites, which in some places crop
out, picturesquely
disposed in blocks and boulders and huge domes and lumpy
masses ;
ironstone is met with at a depth varying from five to
tvvelve feet, and
bits of coarse ore have been found in Unyanyembe by digging
not more
than four feet in a chance spot.
Waves of Rolling Land.
Duririg the rains the grass conceals the soil, but in
the dry seasons the
land is gray, lighted up by golden stubbles, and dotted
with wind -dis-
torted trees, shallow swamps of emerald grass, and wide
streets of dark
mud. Dwarfed stumps and charred "blackjacks" deform the
fields,
which are sometimes ditched or hedged in, whilst a thin
forest of para-
chute-shaped thorns diversifies the waves of rolling
land and earth hills.
spotted with sunburnt stone. The reclaimed tracts and
clearings are
divided from one another by strips of primeval jungle,
varying from two
to. twelve miles in length, and, as in other parts of
Africa, the country is
dotted with " fairy mounts " — dwarf mounds — the ancient
sites of trees
now crumbled to dust, and the debris of insect architecture.
Villages, the
glory of all African tribes, are seen at short intervals
rising only a little
above their impervious walls of lustrous green milk-bush,
with its coral-
shaped arms, variegating the well-hoed plains ; whilst
in the pasture
lands herds of many-colored cattle, plump, round-barrelled
and high-
humped, like Indian breeds, and mingled flocks of goats
and sheep,
dispersed over the landscape, suggest ideas of barbarous
comfort and
plenty.
It is astonishing what luxury is conveyed into the heart
of Africa by
Arab merchant-princes. The fertile plain about their
villages, kept in
the highest state of cultivation, yields marvellous abundance
and endless
variety of vegetables, and supports vast herds of cattle,
and sheep and
goats innumerable; while just above the houses the orange,
lemon,
papaws and mangoes may be seen thriving finely.
Add to these the tea, coffee, sugar, spices, jellies,
curries, wine, brandy,
biscuits, sardines, salmon, and such fine cloths as they
need for their
own use, brought from the coast every year by their slaves
; associate
these with a wealth of Persian carpets, most luxurious
bedding, complete
services of silver for tea and coffee, with magnificently
carved dishes of
tinned copper and brass lavers; and we have a catalogue
out of which
our imagination produces pictures of luxury that, amid
the wildness and
rudeness of that barbarous land, seem more like the magician's
work
than tangible realities, which await the worn-out traveller
across six hun-
dred miles of plains and mountains and rivers and swamps,
where a suc-
cession of naked, staring, menacing savages throng the
path in wonder
at a white face.
A further description of some of the tropical birds mentioned
by
Stanley will prove of interest to the reader who wishes
to obtain a cor-
rect idea of the wonders abounding in Africa.
A Native Bird.
Guinea-hens are peculiar to Africa, where they frequent
woods on the
banks of rivers, in large flocks. They feed on grains,
grasshoppers and
other insects. When alarmed they attempt to escape by
running, rather
than by flight. The common guinea-hen is slate colored,
covered all
over with round white spots and is about the size of
the common fowl.
They are very noisy and troublesome, always quarreling
with the other
inmates of the poultry yard, and they are hard to raise
from the delicacy
of the young and their liability to disease.
Their flesh is of fine flavor and their eggs are excellent.
They are
great feeders, requiring to be fed beyond what they can
pick up by them-
selves, and are apt to injure tender buds and flowers.
The crested guinea-
fowl or pintado has a crest of black feathers and the
body black with blue
spots ; the mitred pintado has the head surmounted by
a conical helmet
and is black, white spotted.
The four species of pintado hitherto known are all natives
of Africa and
of islands adjacent to the African coast. Their mode
of feeding is similar
to that of the domestic poultry. They scrape the ground
with their feet
in search of insects, worms or seeds. The females lay
and hatch their
eggs nearly in the same manner as the common hens. The
eggs, how-
ever, are smaller and have a harder shell. Buffon states
that there is a
remarkable difference between the eggs of the domestic
guinea-fowls and
those which are wild ; the latter being marked with small
round spots,
like those on the plumage of the birds, and the former
being, when first
laid, of a quite bright red and afterwards of the faint
color of the dried
rose.
The young birds, for sometime after they come into the
world, are des-
titute of the helmet or callous protuberance, which is
so conspicuous on
the heads of the old ones. The guinea-fowl is a restless
and clamorous
bird. During the night it perches on high places and
if disturbed,
alarms every animal within hearing by its cry. These
birds delight in
rolling themselves in the dbst for the purpose of ridding
themselves of
insects.
The Famous Ibis.
This is another African bird. There are about half a dozen
species of
this wading bird, including three in the United States.
The red or
scarlet ibis is about twenty-eight inches long, its bill
six and one-half
inches, and the extent of its wings a little over three
feet. This bird,
whose color is a uniform bright scarlet, is found in
South America and
the West Indies, The white ibis, or white curlew, whose
plumage is
pure white, is very common in the Southern Atlantic and
Gulf States,
occasionally straggling as far north as New Jersey. Its
flesh has a very
fishy taste and is rarely eaten except by the Indians.
The glossy ibis, a smaller species, is about twenty-one
inches long.
Its general color is chestnut-brown, with the back and
top of h^ad
metallic green, glossed with purple. It exists in great
numbers in
Mexieo and has been found as far north as Massachusetts.
Of this genus
there are about twenty species found in the warmer parts
of Africa, Asia
and South America, one of which is the Sacred Ibis of
the Egyptians.
It is about as large as a domestic fowl, and is found
throughout Northern
Africa.
This bird, which was reared In the temples of ancient
Egypt and was
embalmed, frequents overflowed lands and dry plains and
feeds on frogs
and small aquatic lizards. It is a migratory bird, appearing
simulta-
neously with the rise of the Nile and departing as the
inundation
subsides. It is a remarkable fact, that the ibis does
not visit Egypt
regularly any more as of old, breeding in the Soudan.
As soon as it-
arrives there it takes possession of its well-selected
breeding places, from
which it undertakes excursions in search of prey. It
is not afraid of the
natives and can often be seen among the cattle herds
picking up a grass-
hopper here and a frog or lizard there. Dr. Brehm met,
on his travels
up the Blue Nile, so many of this beautiful bird, that
he was able to kill
twenty of them within two days. The female lays three
to four white
eggs of the size of duck eggs. The bird is easily domesticated
and is
found in many zoological gardens of Europe and America.
A Feathered Idol.
In Egypt the ibis was regarded with great veneration by
the ancients,
who kept them in their temples, and embalmed them after
their death;
thousands of their remains are still found in the burial
places amid the
ruins of ancient Egypt. Various reasons have been given
for this cus-
tom, some saying that the ibis destroyed the noxious
serpents which
were so numerous in that country ; others that there
was supposed to be
some analogy between the plumage of the bird and one
of the phases of
themOon; while a third opinion is that the birds were
regarded with;
favor, because, their annual migration into Egypt taking
place at the
period of the rising of the Nile, they were considered
as the harbingers
of that event.
Stanley's glowing descriptions of tropical scenery find
a striking con-
trast of the account given of the African desert, and
the perils which
often overtake travellers who attempt to cross it.
The plain of Sahara is the gieat typical desert. Its name
comes from
an Arabic word, which means the plain. Not that the great
desert is by
any means an unbroken plain, or destitute of great variety
in its physical
characteristics. The true sandy desert occupies but a
relatively small
portion of the space marked upon our maps as the desert
of Sahara ; and
even upon the surface of this " true " desert the distribution
of sand is
very unequal. The stratum of the sand in some parts is
so thin that the-
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 595
underlying limestone is visible through it. The sandy
region attains its
greatest extent in the Libyan desert, and masses of sand
still drift in
from the Mediterranean, to settle down upon a bed which
in a recent
period was buried beneath the waves of the sea. These
sand floods
extend westward to Tripoli. Near that town the sandy
stretches are
varied by plantations of palm trees and fields of corn
; true deserts of
yellow sand, passing like a yellow ribbon from west to
east, between fields
wheat and barley.
Terrific Sand-storms,
The western Mongolian desert contains plains of sand perfectly
corres-
ponding with those of the Sahara and the Arabian desert.
Mounds of
loose sand are blown together and scattered again by
the wind : a mere
breeeze is enough to wipe out all trace of a long caravan
crossing the
waste. The sand is so extremely fine and light, that
in sudden storms
of wind trenches of thirty or forty feet deep are hollowed
out, and
swelling waves are raised like those of the Libyan desert,
making the
journey tedious and difficult to the camels as they cross
the shifting
plain.
It is true that large stretches of the plain of Sahara
are covered by
waves of sand, which were once sandy bars and dykes of
the sea ; but the
whole desert is by no means the product of the ocean
alone. Very much
of the sand is of local origin, formed from the soil
of the desert plain by
the sudden changes of temperature and the action of the
wind There
are many such centres of sand radiation, and the mechanically
powdered
fragments of rock are found in every phase of transition
from crumbled
stone to fine drift-sand. The ground above Khartoum,
to the west
of the Nile, consists partly of rose-colored granite,
and the whole
surface, of the rifted slope of rock is bestrewn with
fragments of different
sizes.
Dust whirlwinds of considerable size are sometimes observed
in the
Russian steppes ; but the best known phenomena of this
kind are the
high sand pillars of Sahara. Even in Australia these
rotary dust pillars
are met with, generally being seen upon shadowless plains.
It is thought
that these Australian whirlwinds are the channels which
carry the heated
air from the ground to the higher strata.
Fiery Wind.
Instead of the rolling waves and cool breezes of the sea,
this funereal
region only gives out burning gusts, scorching blasts
which seem to issue
from the gates of hell ; these are the simoon or poison-wind,
as the word
signifies in Arab. The camel-driver knows this formidable
enemy, and
596 WONDERS OF THE TROPICS.
so soon as he sees it looming in the horizon, he raises
his hands to
heaven, and implores Allah ; the camels themselves seem
terrified at its
approach. A veil of reddish-black invades the gleaming
sky, and very-
soon a terrible and burning wind rises, bearing clouds
of fine impalpable
sand, which severely irritates the eyes and throat.
The camels squat down and refuse to move, and the travellers
have no
chance of safety except by making a rampart of the bodies
of their beasts,
and covering their heads so as to protect themselves
against this scourge.
Entire caravans have sometimes perished in these sand-storms
; it was
one of them that buried the army of Cambyses when it
was traversing
the desert.
Camp, in his charming work on the Nile, describes in the
following
terms one of these desert tempests. It comes towards
one, he says,
growing, spreading, and advancing as if on wheels. Its
overhanging
summit is of a brick color, its base deep red and almost
black. In pro-
portion as it approaches it drives before it burning
effluvia, like the breath
of a lime-kiln. Before it reaches us we are covered with
its shadow.
The sound it makes is like that of a wind passing through
a pine-forest.
So soon as we are in the midst of this hurricane the
camels halt, turn
their backs, throw themselves down, and lay their heads
upon the sand.
After the cloud of dust comes a rain of imperceptible
stones, violently
hurled about by the wind, and which, if it lasted long,
would quickly flay
the skin from those parts of the body unprotected by
the clothes. This
lasted five or six minutes, and was frightful. Then the
sky became clear
again, and gave the same feeling of sudden change to
the eye as a light
suddenly brought into a dark place.
Extraordinary Storm Pillars.
Whirlwinds are generally preceded by a sultry, oppressive
air ; some-
times by absolute calm ; but the state of the wind never
appears clearly
connected with the phenomena. The storm pillars vary
greatly in form,
the sand columns being generally funnel-shaped, and the
water-spouts
like a pipe surrounded at the base by whirling vapors
and foaming water.
The height and diameter are also variable ; some of the
highest have
been estimated at 6,000 feet. In many cases the damage
caused by the
water is of such a kind as to show that there has been
an influx of air
from every side toward the base of the column.
But hurricanes, cyclones, and all the rush and roar of
the elements,
are not more wonderful than the curious forms of animal
and insect life
abounding in the Dark Continent.
The reptile tribe is represented here by some of its most
distinguished
members. The monitor-lizard crawls along the river banks
; the moun-
tain-monitor frequents the desert; a beautiful turtle
lives in the Nile.
Along the furrows and trenches, nimble bright-colored
lizards bask in
the sun, and the slippery skink burrows in the wall of
almost every
house. Along the walls of the houses dart and glide the
nocturnal little
gekkoes, the greedy but otherwise inoffensive "fathers
of leprosy."
Here and there upon the trees is seen the changeful play
of color of the
familiar chameleon, while other reptiles, often brightly-
colored, and some
of them more than a yard long, love the desert solitudes.
Egypt was
always famous as the land of snakes. It has about twenty
varieties,
poisonous and non-poisonous. As in the days of Moses,
so in our own
times, there are a large number of snake charmers; the
snakes which
they use in their performances, especially the once sacred
viper, urau
snake, and the Egyptian spectacle snake, are always first
deprived of
their fangs. The snake most frequently depicted by the
ancients is the
very deadly and dangerous horned viper.
Brilliant Insects.
In the great insect world Africa has many forms which
are known in
other parts of the world. Day butterflies are scarce,
while moths are
more abundant. The beetles are not exactly numerous,
but among them
are some very fine specimej;is of brilliant beetles,
sand beetles, and derm-
estes. The commonest are the blackbeetles, but the best
known of all is
the sacred scarabee beetle of Egypt, which is so frequently
represented
upon monuments and gems.
A characteristic scene of animal life, often to be observed
both in Cen-
tral and South Africa, are the manoeuvres of a company
of these droll
little creatures busily employed rolling up manure into
globes as large as
a walnut, pushing and thrusting each other aside until
the great business
is completed, and then, with their heads bent down to
the earth, rolling
away the work of their feet to bury it in a convenient
place. The beetle
rolls up these balls to feed its young, and deposits
its eggs in them. In
the theological symbolism of the ancient Egyptians, these
" pills " are
compared to the substance of which the world was formed,
and which
was also represented as globular. The beetle itself is
looked upon as the
principle of light and creative force, which, in union
with the sun, infuses
into matter the germs of light and creation, as the beetle
deposits its eggs
in the ball. The deity Ptah (that is, the forming and
impelling force)
then gives to these germs their form, and creates the
heavens and the
earth.
The wasp tribe is also represented by many fine and large
varieties.
The bee is nearly akin to our own, and has often been
introduced into
other countries. Ants, locusts, and cockroaches are at
times great pests.
The common house-fly is nowhere more bold and importunate,
and suc-
ceeds only too completely in rendering an otherwise pleasant
life most
disagreeable. The stinging gnat is just as bad, and its
unceasing hum is
almost more calculated to drive a new-comer to despair
than its painful,
burning sting.
At certain times its worm-like larvae abound in all standing
waters,
swarm in the drinking water, which can only be drunk
when strained
through a cloth, or, as is the usual practice with the
poorer classes
through the coat-sleeve held between the pitcher and
the lips. Vermin,
are only too abundantly represented ; fleas, bugs, and
lice of every kincf
abound, besides scorpions, tarantulas, centipedes, and
leeches, and those
implacable tormentors of animals, horse-flies and gnats.
The monoto-
nous character of the whole country is perceptible throughout
its flora
and fauna, for in almost every class of the animal world
the number or
varieties is comparatively small.
Brambles and Donkeys.
We now turn our attention to the country lying eastward
toward the
Red Sea. The path lies through a desert, which is not,
however, wholly
destitute of vegetation ; where, after abundant rain,
the valleys are trans-
formed into verdant pasture lands. The vegetation is
most abundant from
February to April, but the almost tropical heat destroys
one plant after
another, leaving only the more deeply rooted growths
for the summer
months. The plateau-like western portion of the desert
resembles, both
in its appearance and vegetation, the Libyan desert,
and is very poor in.
vegetable life. By far the most common plant of these
regions is the
desert bramble, a half-shrub, with flowers like its kindred
plant, the
radish ; it is this plant especially which, when seen
from afar, gives to the
valley the appearance of green meadow-land.
The wise Egyptian donkey, nothwithstanding the preference
shown by
his European kindred for thistles, is prudent enough
to keep at a respect-
ful distance from this plant, which the hard-mouthed
dromedary can eat
with great relish ; chewing the prickly masses without
losing one drop of
blood ; he even swallows with delight the thorns of the
acacia. In many-
places a plant resembling broom grows freely; it is a
long branched,
almost leafless bush, much liked by camels.
Shadowy groves of tamarisk, frequented by many birds and
insects,
often surprise us in the midst of the most barren solitudes
; and wherever
the soil has received any moisture, willows and rushes
refresh the eye of
the traveller. Cassia ranks high among the list of medicinal
plants found
in the desert, and colocynth, with its creeping cucumber-like
stems, filled
with fruit resembling our apple, first green and then
turning yellow, is
found along all the outskirts of the valleys. The natives
have a whole-
some awe of the drastic remedy, and scarcely ever touch
the gourd fruit;
while the Bedouins remove the inside pith and seeds,
and fill it with milk,
to take it next day as a remedy.
The date palm, it is true, is seldom seen, and then only
in a half-wild-
state ; but the fig tree is found laden with fruits.
The fruit of the caper
tree tastes like an odd mixture of sugar and mustard
; and the traveller
is refreshed by the pleasant acid of the sorrel, the
berries of .the lycium,
a thorny plant. The coast flora of the desert is very
peculiar, and depends
upon the salt vapors rising from the sea. The dense woods
of the shore
are famous in travellers' descriptions; they stand out
in the sea itself, and
are only dry at low tide. Ships are laden with its wood,
which is used
for fuel, and many camels live entirely on its great
laurel-like leaves. The
coast is covered in some places to great distances by
saltpetre shrubs,
and by many other saline plants.
The traveller who is forced to provide himself with food
by his rifle in
the chase devotes his attention chiefly to the wild oxen,
wild pigs, and
-different kinds of antelopes which provide him with
eatable food when
there are no tame creatures, such as goats, sheep, fowl,
and fish, to be
met with. The latter case, however, is seldom experienced,
for domestic
animals are sure to be found wherever there are Negro
settlements.
The wild ox is the same as the short-horned breed, also
found in
East Africa. The wild pig, which is also found, and frequently
makes its
appearance in herds, is known as the long-eared pig.
Its color is a dark
yellowish red. The flesh is pleasant as food, and is
liked also by Negroes.
The wild pigs are generally caught by the help of spears
and pits dug to
?ensnare them. These traps make certain parts of the
woods rather dan-
gerous to walk in, and the traveller has to submit blindly
to his guides,
who are taken from the adjoining neighborhood, and who
know exactly
where such traps are laid. In the east and the south,
this " most beauti-
ful of all possible pigs " is replaced by the bush pig,
while the whole of
Central Africa is the home of the clumsiest and ugliest
of all known bristly
animals, the wart-hog.
Elegant Animals.
There are at least ten kinds of antelopes in the forests
of Gaboon and
"the district of the Ogowe, from the elegant little dwarf
antelope, which
stands scarcely twenty inches high, to the white-striped
antelope of Bango,
which reaches the size of a fallow deer. Large herds
of these animals,
which are so frequently found in the open plateaus of
Central Africa, are
naturally unknown in the dense woods of the western part
of the con-
tinent. From the exceptional character of the animals,
their extreme
shyness and speed, they are very hard to capture in the
chase, and even
the Negroes generally catch them only in pits. Indeed,
a successful
hunt, with a large amount of booty, is a very rare occurrence.
Although
the woods are filled with game, the traveller seldom
comes across them,
and it is a mistaken notion to imagine that one has but
to enter the high
woods of the Tropics, and fire away right and left, in
order to bring home
an abundance of food.
Of the larger beasts of prey, the leopard is represented
; it is met with
all along the west coast, and is erroneously termed a
tiger. It is very
abundant in certain districts, and particularly dangerous
to the herds of
goats and flocks of sheep belonging to the factors and
the Negroes ;
indeed, it sometimes attacks men. When our traveller
was spending a
few days in a village of Banschaka, it happened that
a woman who went
late at night to a well about half a mile from the huts
did not return, and
on the following day evident traces of the disaster were
discovered. It
was, as usual, firmly believed among all the Negroes
of the west coast,
that the event was not in the natural order of things,
but that some one
an the village, transformed into a leopard, had devoured
the woman.
Swift Punislinient.
The family of the unhappy woman went to the priest and
magician of
the place, who soon discovered the culprit, and sentenced
him to eat the
poisonous bark of a tree, which paralyzes the action
of the heart, and
occasions certain death if it is not speedily expelled
from the system.
It may be readily imagined that accidents frequently occur
in the great
African hunts, as it is quite impossible to speculate
upon the species of
animals that may be driven into the net. One day a native
was suddenly
attacked and was killed by a leopard within a mile of
my station.
The grass had been fired, and the animals instinctively
knew that they
were pursued.
The man went to drink at a stream close to some high bushes,
when a
leopard pounced upon him without the slightest warning.
A native who
was close to the spot rushed up to the rescue, and threw
his spear with
such dexterity that he struck the leopard through the
neck while it had
the man in its mouth, killing it upon the spot. The man
was immedi-
ately broughtto me, but the lungs were lacerated, and
he died during the
night.
On another occasion five men were wounded (two fatally)
by a lioness,
which fought so gallantly that she at length escaped
from her assailants
with two spears in her body. I was not present on that
occasion, but I
have frequently admired the pluck of the natives, who
attack every
animal with the simple hunting-spear, which of course
necessitates a close
approach.
The Negroes eat everything in the shape of flesh, except
the feline
beasts of prey. Some of the smaller kinds of felines
are as dangerous
to poultry as are the large species of falcons and eagles.
With respect
to several kinds of flesh which are considered by us
to be uneatable, we
may say that different kinds of monkeys, porcupines,
large rats, croco-
diles, and other creatures, are used for food. It is
very singular that the
Negroes do not understand the milking of their domestic
animals, and
were above measure astonished when the explorers' servants
milked the
goats, and gave the milk to their master ; and the Negroes
often sur-
rounded him in crowds to see him eat hens' eggs, a diet
quite new to
them, although they ate numbers of the large round eggs
of the turtle,
and the still larger crocodile eggs.
Mosquitoes abound everywhere ; and next to them ranks
an insect
which has only been known in Africa during the last ten
years — the sand
flea, which is said to have been brought by the crew
of a Brazilian ship
who were suffering from them. They multiplied with incredible
rapidity.
The animalculae enter the skin beneath the toe-nails,
where they lay a
bag of eggs as large as a pea ; and the difficulty is
to remove this bag
"without breaking it. If this is done, the wound soon
heals ; but if not^
painful sores are the result, and the process of healing
is very slow.
Another interesting insect is the giant beetle, Goliath,
an insect measur-
ing nearly four inches. This black velvety beetle, marked
with white on
its upper side, is at home throughout all Africa ; and,
with its kindred
types, forms one of the principal treasures of our collections,
being so
much in request that twenty-five dollars is paid for
a fine specimen.
The Famous Gorilla.
The most interesting animals of these countries are beyond
all doubt
the gorilla and the chimpanzee. The gorilla is the largest
of the man-
like apes, an animal rather shorter, but considerably
more broad-
shouldered than a strong man. Although the gorilla was
mentioned
more than 2,000 years ago, by Hanno, the commander of
a Carthaginian
fleet, it is even now very imperfectly known. If the
statements respect-,
ing the strength and savageness of the gorilla are only
half true, there is
little prospect of ever being able to bring over full-grown
specimens to
America ; and the young gorilla presented to the zoological
garden of
Berlin unfortunately fell a victim to the foreign climate.
Even the skin,
skeleton, and remains of the gorilla preserved in spirits,
are ranked
among the greatest treasures of our Natural History Museums.
The second representative of the African man-like apes
is compara-
tively "frequent, and is well-known under the name of
the chimpanzee,
though few full-grown specimens have been brought to
this continent ;
it is much smaller, slenderer, and more elegantly built
than the gorilla,
and often measures sixty inches in length. While the
gorilla frequents
the densest woods, and is only found in the lands near
the coast, the
chimpanzee inhabits the whole of the West African sub-division,
and'
seems to prefer being near the open clearings of the
forests ; both kinds
of ape feed principally on fruits, nuts, and the young
shoots of trees,
perhaps also on roots.
As to the mental qualities of the chimpanzee in captivity,
much has
been written, and it is agreed that the animal may be
ranked among the
most highly gifted of its race. It not only learns to
know its master, to
love its friends, and avoid its enemies ; it is not only
inquisitive, but
actually desirous of knowledge. Any object which has
once excited
its attention increases in value as soon as it has learned
how to use it ;
the chimpanzee is cunning, self-willed, but not stubborn,
desiring what is
good for itself, betraying humor and caprices ; one day
cheerful and
excited, another depressed and sullen.
A Very Human Animal.
When ill, it is patient under the surgeon's knife ; and,
according to
Brehm, if not entirely human, has a great deal of the
human within it-
It cannot therefore excite our surprise that the natives
of West Africa
are of opinion that the chimpanzees were once men, who,
on account of
their bad qualities, have been thrust out from human
companionship ; and
still persisting in yielding to their evil impulses,
have gradually sunk to
their present degraded condition. Less is known of the
chimpanzee in
a state of freedom ; like the gorilla, it does not live
in troops, as do other
monkeys, but in pairs, or even alone ; it is only occasionally
that the
young are seen to assemble in larger bands. The chase
is difficult. From
twenty to thirty skilled hunters are required for the
pursuit. To them is
entrusted the difficult commission of climbing up the
trees for more than
eighty feet, trying to outdo the chimpanzee in speed,
and to capture it
in the nets, after which it is easily despatched by lances.
When thus brought to bay, the apes defend themselves with
savage-
fury, sometimes snatching the spears from the hunter's
hand, and strik-
ing out wildly right and left ; and even more dangerous
than this method
of defence is the grip of their pointed teeth, and the
amazing muscular
power of their nervous arms. Here, as in the woods on
the western
coast, legends are current of their carrying off human
beings, and of the
curious nest which it is said they build of leafy branches
in the crest of
the forest trees.
We must not omit to mention the smaller kinds of apes
; for although
they are very numerous in all the primeval woods of the
tropical belt of
Africa, they are principally found along the west coast
and near the
Upper Nile. The name sea-cats, by which they are sometimes
known,
^was given centuries ago to these merest and prettiest
specimens of the
monkey tribe, because they were brought over the sea
to Europe, and
because something in their shape resembles the cat. The
favorites of
the children, the nimble, quarrelsome, amusing inhabitants
of our men-
ageries and zoological gardens, which sometimes win from
the grave
man of science a smile, belong to this category. The
greyish green
imonkey, the slate-colored, white-bearded Diana, the
ill-tempered black
'monkey, the reddish huzzar monkey, and numerous other
kinds, are
included in this family.
It is a real pleasure to meet with a band of these monkeys
in the for-
est ; it is a wild chaos of busy life, crying and fighting,
quarrelling and
reconciliation, climbing, running, pilfering and plundering,
grimacing
and contortion. They recognize no leader of their commonwealth,
except the strongest of their race ; they acknowledge
no law but that
enforced by the sharp teeth and strong hands of their
chief ; they con-
sider that no danger can exist from which he is not able
to set them free;
they adapt themselves to every position, have no fear
of drought or fam-
ine, and spend their lives in perpetual activity and
merriment. ' Their
chief characteristic is the combination of most amusing
earnestness with
boundless frivolity, which accompanies the beginning
and end of all their
pursuits.
Inveterate Thieves.
No tree crest is too high, no treasure too safely hidden,
no property
"too respected, for their attacks. It is therefore not
astonishing that the
natives of East Soudan only speak of them with unutterable
contempt
and anger. " Only think, sir, the clearest proof of the
godless nature of
monkeys may be seen in their never bowing before the
word of God's
ambassadors : all other creatures honor and revere the
prophet; Allah's
peace be upon him ! The monkeys despise him. The man
who writes
an amulet, and hangs it up in his field to keep off the
hippopotamus, the
elephant, and the monkeys from devouring his fruit and
injuring his
property, always finds that the elephant alone pays any
heed to the
warning signal ; that is because he is a righteous beast,
while the ape has
ibeen transformed by the wrath of Allah into an abomination
to all men ;
a child of the unrighteous one, just as the hippopotamus
is the forbidding
image of the loathsome sorcerer."
But for the impartial spectator it is an attractive and
interesting spec-
tacle to watch a band of monkeys setting off upon their
predatory expe-
ditions. The audacity they displayed used to delight
me as much as it
enraged the natives. Under the leadership of the old
veteran father of
the tribe they approach the corn fields, the females
carrying their young
before them, instead of on their backs; the young ones,
to make them-
selves perfectly secure, twist their short tails round
the tail of their lady
mother. At first they approached with great circumspection,
travelling
generally from one tree top to another.
The old leader goes first, the others following exactly
in his steps, not
only seizing the same trees, but the same portion of
the same branch.
From time to time the leader climbs the highest tree,
and surveys the
country with careful glances: if his examination is satisfactory,
the good
news is announced to his followers by a low gurgling
sound; if not, the
usual warning is given. When close to the field, the
band descends the
tree, and hastens in vigorous leaps towards its paradise,
and then the
work begins with indescribable rapidity. First of all
they lay in a stock.
Quickly are the clusters of maize and ears of durrah
torn down and
stuffed into the mouth, until the cheeks are distended
to the uttermost,
and not until these storehouses are full do the marauders
allow them-
selves any relaxation. They then begin to be more particular
and dainty
in the choice of their food. All the ears and clusters
are carefully sniffed
and examined after being broken off; and if, as is often
the case, they do
not come up to the required standard, they are at once
thrown away. It
may be safely said that of nine clusters which are gathered,
only one is
eaten; and generally the epicures only take a grain or
two out of each
ear, and then throw the rest away.
Quick Retreat.
All the members of the band place implicit confidence
in the care and
prudence of their leader. The latter often rouses himself
from the most
dainty morsel to attend to his duties, standing upright
on his hind legs,
and looking keenly round. After each survey he announces
the result
either by the gurgling sound, which indicates that he
has seen nothing
disquieting, or by the peculiar inimitable quivering
cry of warning.
When that sound is heard, his followers are gathered
together in a mo-
ment, the mothers call their young ones, and all are
at once ready for
flight. The retreat is accomplished without the slightest
sign of terror
or cowardice.
The gorilla and monkey tribes appear to be closely allied
to the
orang-outang, found in some of the tropical islands.
We here quote
from the interesting narrative of a tropical traveller,
who captured several
orangs :
This monkey is found in Borneo, and thither Thursday (Thursday
was
a native) — now grown more civilized and more indispensable
— and I
turned our faces. We took passage on a craft going out
with Chinese
laborers, and a hard voyage we had of it, with head winds
and a heavy
sea. But at last, ten days late, we arrived at Saraouak,
and immediately
inquired of the native hunters where we could best find-
the game for
which we were in search. They advised the Sadong River,
running to
the east from Saraouak, and bordered its entire length
with dense forests.
I hired a Dyak porter to carry our provisions, and we
set out. Two
days later we were floating on the river, and my ardent
desire was about
to be gratified.
Arms Longer than Legs.
Orang-outang is a word meaning in Borneo, "Man-of-the-Forest,"
and is applied to what is now a species of small stature,
rarely five feet
high, but of stalwart build, the body being often in
circumference two-
thirds of the l^eight. His arms are a quarter longer
than his legs, so
that when travelling on all fours his attitude is half
upright; but he never
really stands on his legs like a man, popular belief
to the contrary not-
withstanding. When young his colo'r is tawny, but he
grows black with
years.
The orangs live in couples in the most secluded parts
of the forest, and
are never active, like the chimpanzees, but sit all day
with their legs
round a branch, their heads forward in the most uncomfortable
attitude,
occasionally uttering mournful sounds. When pursued they
climb slowly
up a tree, and at night sleep in the huts built to cover
their young, of
which they are very careful, and whose wants they supply
with almost
human tenderness and devotion. When taken young they
are suscep-
tible of taming and domesticating, like the chimpanzee,
but as they grow
older they become cross and violent, and, curiously enough,
the fore-
head — prominent in the adult — becomes retreating in
later years.
Formidable Foe.
After waiting some days without seeing any orangs, my
native guide
advised our going away from the river, deeper into the
unbroken forest;
and this we did, a two days' march. One morning, just
as I had killed
and was examining a queer wild pig, I heard a rustling
in the leaves over
my head, and looking up, was paralyzed with surprise
to see, some
twenty-five or thirty feet above me, an enormous orang-outang
quietly
seated on a tamarind branch, watching me and grinding
his teeth. My
porter was making ,rae elaborate signals of distress
which Thursday
translated into advice to shoot the beast, who was old
and fully grown,
with, my explosive-ball rifle. .
" He says he is an evil one," added Thursday, " and that
the old orangs
are very dangerous and will attack a man at sight."
"All right," I replied. " If he offers to attack us, I
will stop him
promptly with a bullet."
It is true that one of my most ardent desires was to obtain
a skeleton
of a fully-developed orang-outang, but I decided to postpone
the gratifi-
cation of it until I should have watched the animal's
movements in a
state of absolute freedom. I told my men to clap their
hands and shout,
to scare him, but all he did was to sit and grind his
teeth ; and I was
almost persuaded to try my Dyak's advice, when the orang-outang
coolly grasped a branch hanging near, and swung himself
slowly from
tree to tree without any apparent effort, about as fast
as we could walk
beneath. We followed him until the dense undergrowth
made the path
impracticable. An athlete would have performed this trapeze
act with,
perhaps, more grace, but nothing could surpass the indolent
ease with
which he left us behind.
Must Kill or be Killed.
This was my first interview with this peculiar animal
; and the super-
stitious Dyak assured Thursday, relating numerous parallel
cases, that as
I had not killed the orang, the orang would certainly
kill me. He said
he had known a great many travellers who had been attacked
by them
and killed, and that I would soon join their number,
although he con-
fessed that he had never himself been present at such
a misfortune.
One morning, as I was returning from a long walk through
the
woods in search of insects, one of my boys came running
toward me.,
shouting with excitement, " Quick, take your gun ! a
large orang, a large orang"
He had only breath enough left to tell me the animal was
up the path
toward the Chinaman's camp, and I hurried in that direction
followed by
two Dyaks. One barrel of my gun was loaded with ball,
and I sent
Charley — the boy — back to camp for more ammunition,
in case I should
find the game had kindly waited for me. We walked carefully,
making
almost no noise, stopping every now and then to look
round ourselves,
until Charley rejoined us at the spot where he had seen
the orang, and
I put ball in the other barrel and waited, sure that
we were near the
game. In a moment or two I heard a heavy body moving
from tree to
tree, but the foliage was so thick we could see nothing.
Finally, fearing I might lose him entirely, I fired at
guess into a tree in
which we thought he must be. For so large an animal he
moved with
remarkable swiftness and hilence, but I felt sure, if
we could follow his
general course, we should eventually catch sight of him
in some more
open bit of forest. And so it proved.
Cutting^Down the Tree.
Just at the spot where he had first been seen by Charley,
and to which
we had now got back, his tawny side and black head appeared
for an
instant ; I saw him cross the path, dragging one leg
as if it had been
broken. At any rate, he could not use it, and he took
refuge between
two branches of a lofty tulip-tree, sheltered from sight
by the thick
growth of glossy leaves. I was afraid he would die up
there, and I
should never get him or his skeleton. It was no use trying
to get the
Dyaks to climb the tree and cut the branch from under
him; they were
afraid, and said so. We tried to dislodge him with all
sorts of missiles,
but in vain. Finally we started to cut down the tree
; but when the
trunk was severed the tree only leaned over, and was
held in that position
by innumerable tough vines running to a dozen neighboring
trees. It
would take us all night to cut them all down ; still,
we began the work,
which almost immediately gave the tree such a shaking
that down came
the gigantic orang with a tremendous thud. When we came
to measure
him, we found him a giant indeed, stretching from hand
to hand over six
feet. When he fell the Chinamen lashed him to a litter
and carried him
into camp, where it took Charley and myself all day to
clean his skin and
boil the flesh from his skeleton. From this and many
similar experiences
I have become convinced that, in spite of stories to
the contrary, the
orang-outang never attacks man. His policy is always
flight, and to my
own testimony is added that of all the Chinese wood-cutters
whom I met
in Borneo ; and the island is full of them.
A Young Orang.
Soon after this a young orang fell into my hands, and
I determined to
rear him if I could. I started the Dyak off in search
of a goat, and told
him not to return until he found one. Meanwhile I mixed
sugar, bread,
and water together, and, although at first he declined
it energetically, he
soon sucked it from my finger with a decided gusto. It
proved, how-
ever, too strong food for so young a stomach, and I was
just beginning
to think he would die on my hands, when the Dyak, followed
by a
Chinaman and a goat, came into camp. The Chinaman was
sharp at
trading; but finally, after pretending that I cared nothing
whatever about
his goat, and after long haggling on his part, starting
at one hundred
rupees (twelve dollars and fifty cents) and coming down
to five, the goat
became mine, and the little orang-outang obtained a step-mother
that
soon rivalled its own mother in tenderness. She nursed
it and caressed
APES AMONG THE TREE (614)
STANLEY'S GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF AFRICA. 615
it exactly as if it had been her own, and a very pretty
sight it was. He
soon grew large enough to travel on his own sturdy legs,
at any sudden
alarm running quickly back to his nurse and clinging
to her with his
sinewy fingers.
When he strayed away out of her sight in the woods, it
was really
pathetic to hear her bleatings and his answering cries.
He had gradu-
ally come to know me, and he treated us all with the
greatest gentleness.
When he was three months old I began to give him bananas,
of which
he was very fond, and he afterward became accustomed
to other fruits ;
but nothing ever pleased him like the goat's milk.
He learned very quickly, and at five months knew all objects
in my
tent by name, bringing to me anything I called for, which
was certainly
more than many children of two or even three years could
have done.
But with the latter, development progresses with giant
strides after that
age, while with an orang it ceases. What an animal is
at one year of
age he always remains.
A Clever Monkey.
One morning a Chinaman came to offer for sale a tiny monkey
which
he had partially tamed. This little animal looked like
a pygmy beside
my young orang, but he could do a variety of things,
like feeding him-
self, etc., that the larger was not yet up to. So I bought
him, and put
them in the same hut, where they soon became fast friends
; the monkey,
on account of his more perfectly developed faculties,
being easily master.
When he wanted to sleep nothing would do but that the
orang must
lie down too, and let him pillow his head on him. But
there was ?
another side to this ; for the orang-outang looked upon
him as a kind of
doll, invented for his particular enjoyment, and when
he felt in playful
mood, he would seize the monkey by the ear or the neck
or the tail, and
swing him round and hold him in any uncomfortable position
at his own
sweet will. The monkey would rage and even weep, but
only interfer-
ence on our part would stop this rough treatment. He
learned early, as
all animals do, to distinguish the members of our party
and their rela-
tions, and, as master, he always treated me with respectful
obedience.
I taught him to eat rice boiled in milk, and to use a
spoon and bowl
like his little friend, who, by the way, was fond of
.stealing from him all
he safely could. They were both gluttons, and nothing
amused Thurs-
day more than to set them quarrelling over some bit of
choice fruit. As
the orang's teeth grew, his temper and character became
more pro-
nounced, and, like an ill brought-up child, he wished
all around him to
give way to his whims.
He had no consideration whatever for the Dyak, who washed
and
tended him with the greatest patience, but tried to pull
his hair and bite
him whenever the mood seized him. I named him Joseph
and the mon-
key Jack — after my chimpanzee friend — and they answered
promptly to
their names when called, without mistake, I was proud
of them and
their accomplishments, and tempted to send them home
to some natural-
ist, but chance prevented. You should have seen them
— Jack, a napkin
round his neck, seated at a corner of the table eating
slowly with fork
and spoon, like any well-taught child : Joseph, with
a napkin over his
arm, waiting upon him as solemnly as an English butler.
To be sure,
they stole the best fruit — but then, no one is perfect!
It was with a real
pang that I left these little fellows behind with a friend,
to whom I gave
them on my departure from Borneo.
Perhaps this is the only case on record of the growth
in captivity of a
young orang-outang, and it is interesting to note in
what ways he
resembled a child. When very young he lay nearly always
on his back,
with his legs in the air, and when he wanted anything
he simply put his
head back and howled till he got it. When he first began
to walk it
was with the same timid hesitation that a child does,
and when he suc-
ceeded in taking a few steps without falling, he glanced
at us with a
very human look of triumph. The appearance of the goat
always caused
him a high degree of satisfaction, expressed, again like
a child on the
entrance of its mother, by little sighs of contentment.
I may say, indeed,
that up to the age of four or five months I saw nothing
different in him
from what I have remarked in a child except that difference
of develop-
ment mentioned before.
CHAPTER XXVII.
A FAMOUS AFRICAN HUNTER.
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