Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 August 1859 — The Gorilia. [ARTICLE]

The Gorilia.

In Dickens’ All the Year Round is the following description of this animal, which i - said to be the most closely allied, in structure, to the human form, of any of the brute creation: “The gorilla is of the average .night of man, five feet six incites; his brain case ilow and narrow, and, os the Core part oi the skull is high, and there‘is a very prominent ridge above the eyes, the top ot he head is perfectly Hat, and the brow, with its thick integument, forms a •scowling, penthouse over the eves.’ Couple with this a deep lead-colored skin, much wrinkled,a prominent jaw wilh the canine teeth (in the males) of huge size, a receding chin, and we have an exaggaration o-f the lowest and most forbidding t pe of human physiognomy. The neck is short and the head pokes forward. The. relative proportions of body arid limbs are nearer those oi man, yet they are of more ungainly aspect than, in any .oilier oi the brute kind. Lorig,-s!iapek‘.-s arms, thi -k and muscular, with scarce -any diminution oi size deserving the name oi w>•■,<>, ( : or at the smallest 'they are fourt cn inches round, while a strong man’s wrist is not above eight,) a wide, thick hand,- the. palm long, ami the fingers short, swollen and goutylooking; capacious chest, broad sh osiers, legs also thick Hand shapeless, destitute ot calves and very muscular, yet shod; a iiaiid--1 ike foot with a thumb to ii, ‘of huge dimensions and portentous power of grasp.’ No wonder the lion skulks beiorc t his mows! or, and even the elephant is baffled by his malicious cunriing, activity and strength. The teeth indicate vegetable diet, hut the repast is somelivest varied witli eggs or a; broou oi young chickens. The chid reason ol- ins enmity to the elephant appears to be, not that it ever intentionally injures him, hut ! merely that it shares his taste -r c daiii favorite fruits; anu when, from his watchtower in the upper branches of a tree, lie j perceives the elephant helping hims- ii to : these delicacies, lie steals along the bough, 1 and striking it sensitive pr buscr. a violent J blow with the club with which lie is almost j always armed, drives off the startled giant, : trumpeting shrilly with rage and pain. “Toward the negroes the gorilla seems to j cherish an implacable hatred. He attacks I them' quite.' unprovoked. If a party ol blaicks [ approaches unconsciously within range ot a : tree haunted by one of these wood-dom’ou: , swinging rapidly down to the lower branches, ho clutches with his thumbed foot at the j nearest part of them, his green eyes flash with rage, his hair stands on end, the skin . above his eyes, drawn rapidly up and down, ] give him a fiendish scowl. Sometimes during their excursions in quest of ivory, in those gloomy forests, the natives will first i discover the pVoxlmity of a gorilla by a sud- j den mysterious disappearance of one of their j companions. The brute, angling (Or him [ with his horrible foot dropped from a tree while his strong arms grasp it firmly, stretches down his huge hind loot, seizes the helpless wretch by the throat, draws him up into the houghs, and, as soon ns his

j struggles have ceased, drops him down a i strangled corpse. “A tree is a gorilla’s sleeping-place by j night, lus pleasant abode by day, and hia castle of defense. From that coigne of advantage he awaits his foe, should the latter |be hard or foolhardy enough to pursue. No ; full-grown gorilla has ever been taken alive. A bold negro, the leader of an elephant huntj mg expedition, was offered a hundred dolj for a live gorilla. ‘lf you gave me the j weight of yonder hill in gold, I could not do j rt,’ lie said. ‘‘Nevertheless, he lias his good qualities, jin a domestic point of view; he is an amia- ! bie and exemplary husband and father, watching over the young family with affectionate Voiiei ude, and exerting in their deI on-.* his utmost strength and ferocity. The mothers show that devotion to their young in time of danger which is the most universal of instincts. ‘•Trie gorilla constructs himself a snug I hammock out of the long, tough, slender ! stems n: parasitic plants, and lines it with Aim broad, dried (rones of palms, or with ■ ng gras i sort of bed surely not to be fie.-, i-ed—swung in the leafy branches of a ir e. By diy.im sits on a bough, leaning ; his back against the trunk, owing to which h i .it elderly gorillas become rather bald in ; those regions.”