Kitabı oku: «Gorillas & Chimpanzees», sayfa 7

CHAPTER XI
THE DEATH OF AARON AND ELISHEBA

At the end of forty-two long days at sea we arrived at Liverpool. It was near the end of autumn. The weather was cold and foggy. Elisheba was failing in health, as I feared she would do in coming from the warm, humid climate along the equator, and, at the same time, having to undergo a change of food.

On arriving at the end of our long and arduous voyage, I secured quarters for them, and quickly had them stowed away in a warm, sunny cage. Elisheba began to recover from the fatigue and worry of the journey, and for a time was more cheerful than she had been since I had known her. Her appetite returned, the symptoms of fever passed away, and she seemed benefited by the voyage rather than injured. Aaron was in the best of health, and had shown no signs of any evil results from the trip.

On reaching the landing-stage in Liverpool, some friends who met us there expressed a desire to see them, and I opened their cage in the waiting-room for that purpose. When they beheld the throng of huge figures with white faces, long skirts and big coats, they were almost frantic with fear. They had never before seen anything like it, and they crouched back in the corner of the cage, clinging to each other and screaming in terror.

When they saw me standing by them they rushed to me, seized me by the legs, and climbed up to my arms. Finding they were safe here, they stared for a moment, as if amazed at the crowd, and then Elisheba buried her face under my chin, and refused to look at any one. They were both trembling with fright, and I could scarcely get them into their cage again; but after they were installed in their quarters with Dr. Cross, they became reconciled to the sight of strangers in such costumes.

In their own country they had never seen anything like this, for the natives to whom they were accustomed wear no clothing as a rule, except a small piece of cloth tied round the waist, and the few white men they had seen were mostly dressed in white; but here was a great crowd in skirts and overcoats, and I have no doubt that to them it was a startling sight for the first time.

During the first two weeks after arriving at this place, Elisheba improved in health and temper until she was not like the same creature; but about that time she contracted a severe cold. A deep, dry cough, attended by pains in the chest and sides, together with a piping hoarseness, betrayed the nature of her disease, and gave just cause for apprehension.

During frequent paroxysms of coughing she pressed her hands upon her breast or side to arrest the shock, and thus lessen the pain it caused. When quiet, she sat holding her hands on her throat, her head bowed down, and her eyes drooping or closed. Day by day the serpent of disease drew his deadly coils closer and closer about her wasting form, but she bore it with a patience worthy of a human being.

The sympathy and forbearance of Aaron were again called into action, and the demand was not in vain. Hour after hour he sat with her locked in his arms, as he is seen in the portrait given herewith. He was not posing for a picture, nor was he aware how deeply his manners touched the human heart. Even the brawny men who work about the place paused to watch him in his tender offices to her, and his staid keeper was moved to pity by his kindness and his patience.

For days she lingered on the verge of death. She became too feeble to sit up, but as she lay on her bed of straw, he sat by her side, resting his folded arms upon her, and refusing to allow any one to touch her. His look of deep concern showed that he felt the gravity of her case, in a degree that bordered on grief. He was grave and silent, as if he foresaw the sad end that was near at hand. My frequent visits were a source of comfort to him, and he evinced a pleasure in my coming that bespoke his confidence in me and faith in my ability to relieve his suffering companion; but, alas! she was beyond the aid of human skill.

On the morning of her decease, I found him sitting by her as usual. At my approach he quietly rose to his feet, and advanced to the front of the cage. Opening the door, I put my arm in and caressed him. He looked into my face, and then at the prostrate form of his mate. The last dim sparks of life were not yet gone out, as the slight motion of the breast betrayed, but the limbs were cold and limp. While I leaned over to examine more closely, he crouched down by her side and watched with deep concern to see the result. I laid my hand upon her heart to ascertain if the last hope was gone; he looked at me, and then placed his own hand by the side of mine, and held it there as if he knew the purport of the act.

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.

The news contained in the letter was a greater shock to me than that in the telegram, for which, in part, the former had prepared me; but no one can imagine how deeply these evil tidings affected me. I could not bring myself to a full sense of the fact. I was unwilling to believe that I was thus deprived of my devoted friend. I could not realise that fate would be so cruel to me; but, alas! it was true.

Not being present during his short illness or at the time of his death, I cannot relate any of the scenes attending them; but the kind old keeper who attended him declares that he never became reconciled to the death of Elisheba, and that his loneliness preyed upon him almost as much as the disease.

When I looked upon his cold, lifeless body, I felt that I was indeed bereft of one of the dearest and one of the most loyal pets that any mortal had ever known. His fidelity to me had been shown in a hundred ways, and his affections had never wavered. How could any one requite such integrity with anything unkind?

To those who possess the higher instincts of humanity, it will not be thought absurd in me to confess that the conduct of these creatures awoke in me a feeling more exalted than a mere sense of kindness. It touched some chord of nature that yields a richer tone; but only those who have known such pets as I have known them can feel towards them as I have felt.

I have no desire to bias the calm judgment or bribe the sentiment of him who scorns the love of nature, by clothing these humble creatures in the garb of human dignity; but to him who is not so imbued with self-conceit as to be blind to all evidence and deaf to all reason, it must appear that they are gifted with like faculties and passions to those of man; differing in degree, but not in kind.

Moved by such conviction, who could fail to pity that poor, lone captive, in his iron cell, far from his native land, slowly dying? It may be a mere freak of sentiment that I regret not being with him to soothe and comfort his last hours, but I do regret it deeply. He had the right to expect it of me, as a duty.

Poor little Aaron! In the brief span of half a year he had seen his own mother die at the hands of the cruel hunters; he had been seized and sold into captivity; he had seen the lingering torch of life go out of the frail body of Moses; he had watched the demon of death bind his cold shackles on Elisheba; and now he had, himself, passed through the deep shadows of that ordeal.

What a sad and vast experience for one short year! He had shared with me the toils and dangers of the sea and land over many a weary mile. He seemed to feel that the death of his two friends was a common loss to us; and if there is any one thing which more than another knits the web of sympathy about two alien hearts, it is the experience of a common grief.

Thus ended the career of my kulu-kamba friend, the last of my chimpanzee pets. In him were centred many cherished hopes, but they did not perish with him, for I shall some day find another one of his kind in whom I may realise all that I had hoped for in him; but I cannot expect to find a specimen of superior qualities, for he was certainly one of the jolliest and one of the wisest of his race.

However fine and intelligent his successor may be, he can never supplant either Moses or Aaron in my affections: for these two little heroes shared with me so many of the sad vicissitudes of time and fortune that I should be an ingrate to forget them or allow the deeds of others to dim the glory of their memory.

I have all of them preserved, and when I look at them the past comes back to me, and I recall so vividly the scenes in which they played the leading rôles– it is like a panorama of their lives.

CHAPTER XII
OTHER CHIMPANZEES

Among the number of chimpanzees that I have seen are some whose actions are worthy of record; but as many of them were the repetition of similar acts of other specimens which are elsewhere described, we shall omit them, and relate only such other acts as may tend to widen the circle of our knowledge, and more fully illustrate the mental range of this interesting tribe of apes.

In passing through the country of the Esyira tribe, I came to a small village where I halted for a rest. On entering the open space between two rows of bamboo huts, I saw a group of native children at the opposite end of the space, and among them a fine big chimpanzee, who was sharing with them in their play.

When they discovered the presence of a white man in the town, they left their sport and came to inspect me. The ape also came, and he showed as much interest in the matter as any one else did. I was seated in a native chair in front of the king's hut, and the people, as usual, stood around me at a respectful distance, looking on as if I had been some wild beast captured in the jungle. The ape was aware that I was not a familiar kind of thing, and he appeared in doubt as to how he should act towards me. He sat down on the ground among the people, and stared at me in surprise, from time to time glancing at those around him as if to ascertain what they thought of me. As they became satisfied with looking, they retired one by one from the scene, until most of them had gone, but the ape remained. He changed his place a few times, but only to get a better view. The people were amused at his manner, but no one molested him.

At length I spoke to him in his own language, using the sound which they use for calling one another. He looked as if he knew what it meant but made no reply. I repeated the sound, when he rose up and stood on his feet as if he intended to come to me. Again I uttered it, and he came a few feet closer, but shied to one side as if to flank my position and get behind me. He stopped again to look, and I repeated the word, in response to which he came up near my right side, and began to examine my clothing. He plucked at my coat-sleeve a few times, then at the leg of my trousers and at the top of my boot. He was getting rather familiar for a stranger, but I felt myself to blame for having given him the license to do so. For a while he continued his investigations, then deliberately put his left hand on my right shoulder, his right foot on my knee, and climbed into my lap. He now began to examine my helmet, ears, nose, chin and mouth. He became a little rough, and I tried to get him down out of my lap, but he was not disposed to go. Finally, I told my boy, who acted as interpreter, to tell the native lads to come and take him away. This amused them very much, for they saw that I was bigger than the ape, and thought I ought therefore to manage him myself. They complied, however, but his apeship declined to go until one of the men of the town interfered and compelled him to do so.

As he got down from my lap, one of the boys bantered him to play. He accepted the challenge, and ran after the lad until they reached the end of the open space between the houses, when the boy fell upon the ground and the ape fell on him. They rolled and wallowed on the ground for a time, when the ape released himself and ran away to the other end of the opening, the boy pursuing him. When they reached the end of the street, they again fell upon each other and another scuffle ensued. It was plain to be seen that the boy could run much faster than the ape, but he did not try to elude him.

The other children crowded around them or followed them, looking on, laughing and shouting in the greatest glee. First one boy and then another took his turn in the play, but the ape did not lose interest in me. He stopped from time to time to take another survey, but did not try again to get upon my lap.

After a long time at this sport, the ape quit playing and sat down by the wall of a house, with his back against it; the children tried in vain to induce him to resume, but he firmly declined, and sat there like a tired athlete, picking his teeth with a bamboo splinter, which he had pulled off the side of the house.

His conduct was so much like that of the children with whom he was playing, that one could not have distinguished him from them except by his physique. He enjoyed the game as much as they did, and showed that he knew how to gain or use an advantage over his adversary. In a scuffle he was stronger and more active than the boys, but in the race they were the more fleet. He screamed and yelled with delight, and in every way appeared to enter into the spirit of the fun.

He was about five years old, and his history, as it was given to me, was that he had been captured when quite young in the forest near that place and ever since that time had lived in the village. He had been the constant playmate of the children, ate with them, and slept in the same houses with them. He was perfectly tame and harmless; he knew every one in the village by name, and knew his own name.

The king's son, to whom he belonged, assured me that the ape could talk, and that he himself could understand what he said; but he declined to gratify my request to hear it. However, he called the ape by name, and told him to come to him, which he obeyed. He then gave him a long-necked gourd, and told him to go to the spring and bring some water. The animal hesitated, but on repeating the command two or three times, he reluctantly obeyed. After a few minutes he returned with the gourd about half filled with water. In carrying the vessel he held it by the neck, but this deprived him of the use of one hand. He waddled along on his feet, using the other hand, but now and then would set the gourd on the ground, still holding to it, and using it something after the manner of a short stick. On delivering the gourd of water to his master, he gave evidence of knowing that he had done a clever thing. I expressed a desire to see him fill the gourd at the spring. The water was then emptied out, and the gourd again given to him. On this occasion we followed him to the place where he got the water. On arriving, he leaned over the spring and pressed the gourd into the water, but the mouth of it was turned down so that the water could not flow into it. As he lifted the gourd out, it turned to one side and a small quantity flowed into it. He repeated the act a number of times, and seemed to know how it ought to be done, although he was very awkward in doing it. Whenever the water in the mouth of the gourd would bubble, he would dip it back again and was evidently aware that it was not filled. Finally, raising the vessel, he turned and offered it to his master, who declined to relieve him of it. We turned to go back into the town, and the ape followed us with the gourd, but all the way along continued to mutter a sound of complaint.

He next sent him into the edge of the forest to bring firewood. He was only gone a few minutes when he returned with a small branch of dead wood which he had picked up on the ground. He again sent him, together with three or four children. When he returned on this occasion he had three sticks in his hand. The man explained to me that, when the ape went alone he would never bring but one twig at a time, and this was sometimes not bigger than a lead-pencil; but if the children went with him and brought wood, he would bring as much as he could grasp in one hand. He also told me that the animal would sit down on the ground and lay the sticks across one arm in the same manner as the children did, but invariably dropped them when he would rise up. Then he would seize what he could in one hand, and bring it along. He also said, that in carrying a single stick the ape always used the hand in which he held it; but if he had three or four pieces that he always curved his arm inwards, holding the wood against his side, and hobbled along with his feet and the other hand.

The next thing with which he entertained me was sending the ape to call some one in the village. He first sent him to bring a certain one of the man's wives. She was several doors away from where we sat. The ape went to one house, sat down at the door for a moment, looking inside, and then moved slowly along to the next, which he entered. Within a minute he appeared at the door holding the cloth that the woman wore tied around her, and in this manner led her to his master. He next sent him to bring a certain boy, which he did in a similar manner, except that the boy had on no clothing of any kind, and the ape held him by the leg.

During all these feats the man talked to him, as far as I could tell, in the native language only, though he declared to me that some of the words that he had used were those of the ape's own speech. However, he said that many words that the ape knew were of the native speech, and that the ape had no such words in his language. One thing that especially impressed me was a sound which I have elsewhere described as meaning "good" or "satisfaction," which this man said was the word which these apes use to mean "mother." My own servant had told me the same thing before, but I am still of the opinion that they are mistaken in the meaning of the sound, although it is almost exactly the same as the word for mother in the native speech. The difference being in the vowel element only, and it is possible, I grant, that the word may have both meanings. A little later one of the women came to the door of a house and said, in the native language, that something was ready to eat, whereupon the children and the ape at once started. In the meantime she set an earthen pot, containing boiled plantains, in front of the house, from which all the children and the ape alike helped themselves. In brief, the ape was a part of the family, and was so regarded by all in the town.

I do not know to what extent they may have played upon my credulity, but, so far as I could discern, their statements concerning the animal were verified.

I proposed to buy the ape, but the price asked was nearly twice that of a slave, and I could have bought any child in the town at a smaller cost. I have never seen any other chimpanzee that I so much coveted. When standing in an upright position, he was quite four feet in height, strongly built, and well-proportioned. He was in a fine, healthy condition, and in the very prime of his life. He was not handsome in the face, but his coat of hair was of good colour and texture. He was of the common variety, but a fine specimen.

Mr. Otto Handmann, formerly the German consul at Gaboon, had a very fair specimen of this same species of chimpanzee. He was a rough, burly creature, but was well-disposed and had in his face a look of wisdom that was almost comical. He had been for some months a captive in a native town, during which time he had become quite tame and docile. By nature he was not humorous, but appeared to acquire a sense of fun as he grew older and became more familiar with the manners of men.

On my return from the interior, I was invited by the consul to take breakfast with himself and a few friends; but owing to a prior engagement I was not able to be present. It was proposed by some one of the guests present that my vacant seat at the table should be filled by the chimpanzee. He was brought into the room and permitted to occupy the seat. He behaved himself with becoming gravity, and was not abashed in the presence of so many guests. He was served with such things as were best suited to his liking, and his demeanour was such as to amuse all present. On proposing a toast, all the guests beat with their hands upon the table, and in this the chimpanzee joined with apparent pleasure. After a few rounds of this kind, one of the guests, occupying the seat next to him, failed to respond with the usual beating; the chimpanzee observed the fact, turned upon the guest, and began to claw, scream, and pound him on the back and arm until the gentleman proceeded to beat, whereupon the ape resumed his place and joined in the applause. On this occasion he acquitted himself with credit, but an hour later he had fallen into disgrace by drinking beer until he was actually drunk, when he awkwardly climbed off the chair, crawled under the table, and went to sleep.

One of the clerks in the employ of the consul also had a fair specimen of this same species. It was a female, perhaps two years younger than the one just described, but equally addicted to the habit of drinking beer. It is the custom among people on the coast to offer to a guest something to drink, and on these occasions this young lady ape always expected to partake with others. If she was overlooked in pouring out beer for others, she always set up a complaint until she got her glass. If it was not given to her, she would go from one to another, holding out her hand and begging for a drink. If she failed to secure it, she would watch her opportunity, and while the guest was not looking, would stealthily reach up, take his glass off the table, drink the contents, and return the glass to its place. She would do this with each one in turn, until she had taken the last glass; but if a glass was given to her at the same time that the others were served, she was content with it and made no attempt to steal that of another.

In this act she evinced a skill and caution worthy of a confirmed thief; she would secrete herself under the table or behind a chair, and watch her chance. She made no attempt to steal the glass while it was being watched, but the instant she discovered that she was not observed, or thought she was not, the theft was committed.

Her master frequently gave her a glass and bottle of beer to help herself. She could pour the beer out with dexterity. She often spilt a portion of it, and sometimes filled the glass too full, but always set the bottle right end up, lifted the glass with both hands, drained it, and refilled it as long as there was any in the bottle. She could also drink from the bottle, and would resort to this if no glass was given her. She knew an empty bottle from one that contained beer.

This ape was very much attached to her master, would follow him, and cry after him like a child. She was affectionate to him, but had been so much annoyed by strangers that her temper was spoiled and she was irritable.

I may remark here, that I have known at least five or six chimpanzees that were fond of beer, and would drink it until they were drunk whenever they could get it. I have never seen one, that I am aware of, that would drink spirits.

Arriving on the south side of Lake Izanga, I found a young chimpanzee at the house of a white trader. It was tied to a post in the yard, where it was annoyed by the natives who came to the place to trade. On approaching it for the first time, I spoke to it in its own language, using the word for food. It recognised the sound at once and responded to it. As I came nearer, it advanced as far towards me as the string with which it was tied would allow. Standing erect and holding out its hands, it repeated the sound two or three times. I gave it some dried fish which it ate with relish, and we at once became friends. Its master permitted me to release it on the condition that I should not allow it to escape. I did so, and took the little captive in my arms. It put its arms around my neck as if I had been the only friend it had on earth. It clung to me, and would not consent for me to leave it. I could but pity the poor, neglected creature. There it was, tied in the hot sun, hungry, lonely, and exposed to the tortures of every heartless native that chose to tease it. When it was not in my arms, it followed me around and would not leave me for a moment. Its master cared but little for it, and left it to the charge of his boy, who, like all other natives, had no thought or concern for the comfort of any creature but himself. I tried to purchase it, but the price was too much, and after two days our friendship was broken for ever. But I was glad to learn, soon after this, that another trader secretly released it, and let it escape into the forest. The man who did this told me himself that he did it as an act of mercy. I often recall this little prisoner to mind, and always feel a sense of gladness at knowing that he was set at liberty by a humane friend. Whatever may have been his fate in the forest, it could have been no worse than to be confined, starved, and tormented as he was, while in captivity.

Another small specimen, which I saw at Gaboon, was not of much value except from one fact, and that was, it was broken out with an eruptive disease prevalent among the natives. It is called crawcraw or kra-kra. It is said to originate from the water, either by external or internal use of it. This animal was infected in the same way and on the same parts of the body as men are affected by the same disease, and is another instance of their being subject to the same maladies as those of man. The specimen itself also exemplified the difference in intellect among these animals, for this one had in its face the look of mental weakness, and every act confirmed the fact. It was silent, inactive and obtuse.

During my residence in the cage I did not see so many chimpanzees as I saw of gorillas, but from those I did see it was an easy matter to determine that they were much less shy and timid than the gorilla.

On one occasion I heard one in the bush not far away from the cage. I called him with the usual sound and he answered, but did not come to the cage. It is probable that he could see it, and was afraid of it. I tried to induce Moses to call him, and he did once utter the sound, but he appeared to regret having made the attempt. I called again and he answered, and from the manner in which Moses behaved it was evident that he understood it. He would not attempt the call again, but clung to my neck with his face buried under my chin. It was probably jealousy that caused him to refuse, because he did not want the other to share my attentions. I gave the food sound, but I could not induce the visitor to come nearer. I failed to get a view of him so as to tell how large he was, but from his voice he must have been about grown. Whether he was quite alone or not I was not able to tell, but only the one voice could be heard.

Another time, while sitting quite alone, a young chimpanzee, perhaps five or six years old, appeared at the edge of a small opening of the bush. He plucked a bud or leaf from a small plant. He raised it to his nose and smelt it. He picked three or four buds of different kinds, one or two of which he put in his mouth. He turned aside the dead leaves that were lying on the ground as if he expected to find something under them. I spoke to him, using the call sound; he instantly turned his eyes towards me, but made no reply. I uttered the food sound and he replied, but stood where he was. He betrayed no sign of fear, and little of surprise. He surveyed the cage and myself, and I repeated the sound two or three times. He refused to approach any nearer. He turned his head from side to side for a moment as if in doubt which way to go; then turned aside and disappeared in the bush. He did not run or start away as if in great fear, but by the sound of the shaking bushes it could be told that he increased his speed after he once disappeared from view.