In the order of nature the gorilla occupies the second place below man. His habitat is in the lowlands of West Tropical Africa, and is confined to very narrow limits. The vague line which bounds his realm cannot be defined with absolute precision, but those generally given in books that treat of him are not correct. If he ever occupied any part of the coast north of the equator, he has long since become extinct in that part, but there is nothing to show that he ever did exist there. So far as I have been able to trace the lines that prescribe his native haunts, he appears to be confined to the low, delta country, lying between the Equator and Loango along the coast, and reaching eastward to the interior, an average distance of about one hundred miles. The eastern boundary is very irregular. To be more exact, the extreme limit on the north side would be the Gaboon River to its head-waters, thence southward to the Ogowe River to the mouth of the Nguni River; up that river twenty or thirty miles, thence a zigzag line along the western base of the dividing lands between the Congo basin and the Atlantic watershed, to the head-waters of the Chi Loango River, and with that to the coast. Beyond these lines I have never been able to find any trace of him, and along this boundary only now and then are they found. I have seen two adult and two infant skulls of the gorilla that were brought by Mr. Wm. S. Cherry, from the Kisango Valley, which lies north of the middle Congo in the interior. The skulls are the only evidence I have ever found of this ape existing so far eastward, but they were said to have come from that part of the valley lying directly under the equator. Mr. Cherry did not collect them himself, but secured them from natives, and does not claim to have seen any of these apes alive.

There appear to be three centres of population: the first is in the basin of Izanga Lake; the second in the basin of Lake Fernan Vaz; and the third in the basin of the lake behind Sette Kama. They are rarely ever found in high or hilly districts, but appear to inhabit the hummock lands, which are only elevated a few feet above tide-level. This is singular, from the fact that the ape has a morbid dislike for deep water, and I think it doubtful if he can swim, although he has one peculiar character that belongs to aquatic animals, which is a kind of web between the digits, but its purpose cannot be to aid in swimming. I have been told that the gorilla can swim, and it may be true; but I have never observed anything in his habits to confirm this, while I have noted many facts that controvert it. I know of no valid reason why he should be confined so strictly within the limits mentioned, unless it be from a condition of climate which seems peculiar to this district. South of it the climate along the coast is much cooler, and the country back of it is hilly and barren; north of the Equator is a land of perpetual rain, while to the eastward, it is mountainous. Within this district the rainy and dry seasons are more fixed and uniform.

The gorilla appears to be an indigenous product which does not bear transplanting; he thrives only in a low, hot and humid region, infested by malaria, miasma and fevers. It is doubtful if he can long survive in a pure atmosphere.

The only single specimen that I have ever heard of north of the equator, was one on the south side of the Komo River, which is the north branch of the Gaboon. The point at which I heard of him was within a few miles of the equator. I also heard of five having been seen a few miles south-west from Njole, which is located on the Equator on the south side of the Ogowe, a little way east of the Nguni, and they were said to be the first ever seen in that part within the memory of man.

As to their being found between Gaboon and Cameroon, I can find no trace along the coast of one ever having been seen in that part. Certain writers have mentioned the fact that in 1851 and 1852 they came in great numbers from the interior to the coast. From such a statement it might be inferred that they were seen in herds or armies together, while the truth was that in those years a few more gorillas appeared to be in the jungle than was usual, but they were not north of the Gaboon River. They were in the Ogowe delta about 1° south latitude; but no one ever supposed that they came from the Crystal Mountains or any other mountains. At that time neither traders nor missionaries had ascended the Gaboon River above Parrot Island (which is less than twenty miles from the mouth), except to make a flying trip by canoe, and nothing was known of that part except what was learned from the natives, and that was very little. During my first voyage I went up that river as far as Nenge Nenge, about seventy-five miles from the coast. I spent two days there with a white trader who had been stationed there for a year, and I was assured by him that there were no gorillas known in that part. The natives report that they have been found in the lowlands south of there in the direction of the Ogowe basin; but their reports are conflicting, and none of them, so far as I could learn, claim that he is found north of there, nor in the mountains eastward. I admit the possibility that he has been found and may yet inhabit the strip of land between this river and the Ogowe, but I repeat that there is no proof that he was ever found north of the Gaboon. With due respect to Sir Richard Owen and others who have never been in that country, I insist that they are mistaken.

It is true that one of the tribes living north of the Gaboon has a name for this animal, but it does not follow that he lives in that country. The Orunga tribe have a name for lion, but there is not such a beast within 400 miles of their country, and not one of that tribe ever saw one.

A vast number of specimens have been secured at Gaboon, but they have been brought there from far away, because it is the chief town of the colony, and there are more white men there to buy them than elsewhere. It is quite impossible for a stranger to ascertain what part a specimen is brought from. The native hunter will not tell the truth lest some one else should find the game and thus deprive him of its capture and sale.

I once saw a specimen at Cameroon, and was told that it had been captured in that valley fifty miles from the coast; but I hunted up its history and found with absolute certainty that it was captured near Mayumba, 200 miles south of Gaboon. Even with the greatest care in hunting up the history of specimens one may fail, and often does in tracing it to its true source, but every one so far, that I have followed up, has been brought somewhere within the limits I have laid down. Contrary to the statement of some authorities that these apes "have never been seen on the coast" since 1852, the greatest number of them are found near the coast. I do not mean to say that they sit on the sand along the beach, or bathe in the surf, but they live in the jungle of that part.

Along the Lower Congo the gorilla is known only in name, and scores of the natives do not know even that. The nearest point to that river that I have been able to locate the gorilla as a native, is in the territory about sixty or seventy miles north-west of Stanley Pool.

I am indebted to the late Carl Steckelmann, who was drowned at Mayumba in my presence last October. He was an old resident of the coast, a good explorer, a careful observer, and an extensive traveller. I knew him well, and secured from him much information concerning the gorilla. He traced out with me, on a map, what he believed to be the south and south-east limits of the gorilla. Not thirty minutes before the fatal accident in which he lost his life, I had closed arrangements with him to make an expedition from Mayumba to the Congo, near Stanley Pool, by one route, and return by another, but his death prevented its fulfilment.

Dr. Wilson, who was the first missionary at Gaboon and located there in 1842, wrote a lexicon of the native language about six years after that time. In this he entirely omits the name of the gorilla. Dr. Walker eight years later gave the definition, "a monkey larger than a man." But he had never seen a specimen of the ape, except the skulls and a skeleton which were brought from other parts. It is true that Dr. Savage first learned at Gaboon about the gorilla, and secured a skull at that place from which he made drawings, and on which account his name was attached to the animal in Natural History. Dr. Ford a few years later sent the first skeleton to America, and Captain Harris sent the first to England. The former is in the Museum of Zoology at Philadelphia. Both of these specimens may have come from any place a hundred miles away from Gaboon.

It is possible at this early date the gorilla may have occupied the peninsula south of the Gaboon River, in greater numbers than he has ever done since, because up to that time there had been no demand for him; but if such was true at that time, it is not so now, and if he is not extinct in that part, he is so rare as to make it doubtful whether or not he is found there at all.

In four journeys along the Ogowe River and the lakes of that valley, I made careful inquiries at many of the towns, and the natives assured me that the gorillas lived on the south side of that river. I spent five days at the village of Mbiro, which is located on the north side of the river and about fifty miles from the coast. There I was told by the native woodsmen that no gorillas lived on the north side, but there were plenty of them along the lakes south of the river. They said that in the forest back of that town were plenty of chimpanzees, and that they were sometimes mistaken for gorillas, but there were absolutely none of the latter in that part. In view of these and countless other facts, I deem it safe to say that few or no gorillas can be found north of the Ogowe River at any point, and I even doubt if the specimen heard of on the Komo was a genuine gorilla. The natives sometimes claim to have something of the kind for sale in order to get a bonus from some trader, when in truth he may not have anything of the kind.

The only point north of the Ogowe at which I had any reason to believe a gorilla could be found was in the neighbourhood of a small lake called Inenga. This lake is nearly due west from the mouth of the Nguni River and something more than a hundred miles from the coast. Certain reports along that part appeared to have some flavour of truth, but there was no proof except the word of the natives.

In the lake region south of the river they are fairly abundant as far south as the head-waters of the Rembo Nkami and through the low country of the Esyira tribe, but they are very rare in the forests, and unknown in the highlands and plains of this country. South of the Chi Loango they are quite unknown, and south of the Congo never heard of.

There are no means possible to estimate their number, but they are not so numerous as may be supposed, and from the reckless slaughter of them by the natives in order to secure them for white men, they may soon become extinct. Their ferocity alone has saved them up to this time from such a fate, but the use of approved arms will soon overcome that.

The skeleton of the gorilla is so nearly the same as that of the chimpanzee, which has elsewhere been compared to the human skeleton, that we shall not review the comparison at length, but must note one marked feature in the external form of the skull, which differs alike from other apes and man.

The skull of the young gorilla is much like that of the chimpanzee, and remains so until he approaches the adult state; but as he approaches this period, the ridge above the eyes becomes more prominent, and at the same time a sharp, bony ridge begins to develop along the temples, and continues around the back of the head on that part of the skull called the occiput. At this point it is intersected by another ridge at right angles to it. This is called the sagittal ridge, and runs along the top of the head towards the face; but on the forehead it flattens nearly to the level of the skull, and divides into two very low ridges, which turn off to a point above the eyes and merges into that ridge. These appear to be a continuous part of the skull, and are not joined to it by sutures. The mesial crest in very old specimens rises to the height of nearly two inches above the surface of the skull, and imparts to it a fierce and savage aspect; but in the living animal the crests are not seen, as the depressions between them are filled with large muscles, which make the head look very much larger than it would otherwise. These crests affect only the exterior of the skull, and do not appear to alter the form or size of the brain cavity, which is larger in proportion than that of the chimpanzee. These crests are peculiar to the male gorilla, and the female skull shows no trace of them.

There is at least one case in which this crest has failed to develop in the male. By reference to the series of skulls found in the cuts given herewith, No. 6 is that of an adult male, which I know to be such, as I dissected him and prepared the skeleton myself. He was killed in the basin of Lake Fernan Vaz, not more than two or three hours from my cage, and his body was brought to me at once. A good idea of his size can be obtained by reference to another cut given herewith, where I have some natives skinning him. In this picture he is sitting flat on the sand; his body is limp, and is somewhat shorter than it was in life, and yet it can be seen that the top of his head is higher than the hip of the man who is holding him. On the left of the gorilla, in the foreground, sits the man who killed him. He is sitting on a log, and it did not occur to me until too late to place them side by side in order to make a comparison. The body and head of this gorilla as he sits measured nearly four feet from the base of the spinal column to the top of the head. I did not weigh him, but made an estimate by lifting him in my hand, and believed he weighed at least 240 lbs. Yet he was not an old specimen, but if compared to No. 7, in which the crests are well developed, it is found to be larger, and other things point to the fact that he was older.

I am aware that one specimen of itself does not prove anything, but it shows in this case that this ape does not always develop that crest. His head was surmounted by the red crown which we have described, and No. 1, which is the skull of Othello, had the same mark. He was captured near the place where No. 6 was killed. No. 2, which is the skull of a young female nearly four years old, had the same, and she was also captured in the same basin, but on the opposite side of the lake. The facial bones of No. 6 showed that the animal had received a severe blow in early life, but the fragments had knitted together, and the effect could not be seen in the face of the ape while alive. In this same picture it will be noticed that the lower lip hangs down so low that the mouth is opened. The lip is very massive and mobile, and in this character he resembles the negro. The lower lip is much thicker and more flexible than the upper.

No. 8 is the skull of a large male from Lake Izanga, which is on the south side of the Ogowe River, more than a hundred miles from the coast, and is one of the three centres of population mentioned. I do not know its history. It was presented to me by Mr. James Deemin, an English trader with whom I travelled many days in the Ogowe River; and I wish here to take occasion to express my sincere thanks to him for the many kindnesses extended to me.

No. 5 is the skull of an adult female. By comparing it in profile to No. 6 it will be seen that they resemble, but the muzzle of the latter projects a little more, and the curvature of the skull across the top is less: the distance a little greater.

Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 are female; the others are all male.

Nos. 3, 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10 belong to the Liverpool Museum, but are shown here for comparison. The other four are all at Toronto University.

While this series is not complete in either sex, it is an excellent one for comparative study. I do not know whether the heads of those with the crests were the same colour as No. 6 or not, but the ntyii, which I have mentioned as possibly a new species of the gorilla, does not have this crown of red. His ears are also said to be larger than those of the gorilla, but smaller than the chimpanzee's, and he is reputed to grow to a larger size than either of them.

The skin of the gorilla is a dull black or mummy colour over the body, but that of the face is a jet black, quite smooth and soft. It looks almost like velvet.

One fact peculiar to this ape is, that the palms of both hands and feet are perfectly black. In other animals these are usually lighter in colour than the exposed parts. In all races of men, in all other apes, monkeys, baboons, and lemurs, the palms are lighter than the backs of the hands, and the same is true of the feet. The thumb of the gorilla is more perfect than that of the chimpanzee, yet it is smaller in proportion to the hand than in man. The hand is very large, but has more the shape of the hand of a woman than that of man. The fingers taper in a graceful manner, but appear much shorter, by reason of the web alluded to, than they really are. It is not really a web, in the true sense, but the integument between the fingers is extended down almost to the second joint, but the forward edge of the web, when the fingers are spread, is concave; when brought together, the skin on the knuckles becomes wrinkled, and the web almost disappears. This effect is more readily noticed in the living animal than in the dead. The texture of the skin in the palms is coarsely granulated, and the palmar lines are indistinct. The great toe sets at an angle from the side of the foot, like a thumb, but has more prehensile power than that of the hand; but the foot is much less flexible, and has less prehensile power.

At this point I desire to draw attention to one important fact. The tendons of the foot, which open and close the digits, are imbedded in the palm in a deep layer of coarse, gristly matter, which forms a pad, as it were, under the sole of the foot, and prevents it from bending; therefore it is not possible for the gorilla to sleep on a perch. In this respect he resembles man more than the chimpanzee does, but it is quite certain that neither of them have the arboreal habit. The gorilla is an expert climber, but cannot sleep in a tree. In the hand the tendons which close the fingers are the same length as the line of the bones, and this permits him to open the fingers to a straight line, which the chimpanzee cannot do.

One other important point I desire to mention. The muscles in the leg of a gorilla will not permit it to stand or walk erect. The large muscle at the back of the leg is shorter than the line of the bones of the leg above and below the knee; and when this muscle is brought to a tension, those bones form an angle of about 130 degrees, or thereabouts; and so long as the sum of two sides of a triangle is greater than the other side, a gorilla can never bring his leg into a straight line. In the infant state the muscle is pliant or elastic, and the bones less rigid, so that in that state it can be made nearly straight. The habit of hanging by the arms and walking with them in a straight line develops the corresponding muscle in that member, so that the bones can be brought in line.

The gorilla can stand upon his feet alone, and walk a few steps in that position; but his motion is awkward, because his knees turn outward, forming an angle of 30 or 35 degrees on either side of the mesial plain. He never attempts to walk in this position, except at perfect leisure, and then usually holds on to something with his hands. The tallest gorilla known, when perfectly erect, is about 6 feet 2 inches.

The leg of the gorilla from the knee to the ankle is almost the same size. In the human leg there is what is called the "calf" of the leg, but this in the apes is very small; however, there is a slight tendency in that direction, and it must be noted that in the human species the calf of the leg appears to belong to the higher types of men; and as we descend from the highest races of mankind this character disappears as we approach the savage. The pigmies and the bushmen have the smallest of any other men. It is not to be inferred from this that apes would ever have this feature developed in them by elevating them to a higher plane so long as they remained apes; but it is possible that such a result would follow in the course of time.

One thing which tends to lessen this in the gorilla is the size of the muscles about the ankle and the flexibility of that joint. Also the joint of the knee, being much larger in proportion to the leg, makes the calf appear smaller than it really is.

The corresponding part of the arm is more like that part of the human body.

In a sitting posture the gorilla rests his body upon the ischial bones, with his legs extended or crossed, while the chimpanzee usually squats, resting those bones upon his heels. He sometimes sits, but more frequently squats. When in these attitudes, both usually fold their arms across their breasts.

The hair of the gorilla is irregular in growth. It is more dense than that of the chimpanzee, but less uniform in size and distribution. On the breast it is very sparse, on the arms, long, and on the back, dense, and interspersed with long coarse hairs. The ground of colour is black, but the extreme end of the hair is tipped with pale white. This is so in early youth, and with age the white encroaches, until, in extreme age, the animal is quite grey. The top of the head is covered with a thick growth of short hair, of a dark tan colour, which looks almost like a wig. This mark seems to be peculiar to certain localities, but is uniform among those captured in the Fernan Vaz basin.

A white trader living on this lake claims to have seen a gorilla which was perfectly white. It was seen on the plain near the lake. It was in company with three or four others. It was thought to be an albino, but in my opinion it was only a very aged specimen turned grey. A few of them have been secured that were almost white. It is not, however, such a shade of white as would be found in an animal whose normal colour is white. I cannot vouch for the colour of this ape seen on the plain, but there must have been something peculiar in it to attract so much attention among the natives.

So far, only one species of this ape is known to science, but there are reasons to believe that two species exist. In the forest regions of Esyira the natives described to me another kind of ape, which they averred was a half-brother to the gorilla. They know the gorilla by the native name njina, and the other type by the name ntyii. They did not confuse this with the native name ntyigo, which is the name of the chimpanzee, nor with kulu-kamba, all of which are known to them; but they described in detail, and quite correctly, the three known kinds of ape, and in addition gave me a minute account of the appearance and habits of the fourth kind, which I believe to be another species of the gorilla. They claim that he is more intelligent and human-like than any one of the others; and they say that his superior wisdom makes him more alert, and therefore more difficult to find. He is said always to live in parts of the forest most remote from human habitation.

The dental formula of the gorilla is the same as that of man, but the teeth are larger and stronger, and the canine teeth are developed almost into huge tusks. One thing to be remarked is the great variety of malformations in the teeth of this animal. It is a rare thing to find among them a perfect set of teeth, except in infancy. The cause of this appears to be violence or accident.

The eyes of the gorilla are large, dark, and expressive, but there is no trace of white in them. That part of the eye which is white in man is a dark coffee-brown in the gorilla, but becomes lighter as it approaches the base of the optic nerve. The taxidermist or the artist, who often furnishes him with a white spot in the corner of his eye, does violence to the subject; and those who pose the animal with his mouth open like a fly-trap, and his arms raised like a lancer, ought to be banished from good society. It is true that such things lend an aspect of ferocity to the creature, but they are caricatures of the thing they mean to portray.

The ears of the gorilla are very small, and lie close to the sides of the head. The model of them is much like the human ear.

I shall not pursue the comparison into minute details, but leave that to the specialist, in whose hands it will be treated with more skill and greater scope. As my especial line of research has been in the study of their speech and habits, I shall confine myself to that, but the general comparison I have made is necessary to a better understanding of the subject.