Through a Window (10 page)

The first of these took place at the end of April. Figan and Faben jointly attacked Evered, who took refuge up a tree, whimpering and screaming. The brothers continued to charge about below for over half an hour until, during a lull, their victim finally managed to escape.

Four days later came the second. This time Figan tackled Humphrey—a far more dangerous opponent than Evered when it came to actual fighting, since Humphrey weighed at least fifteen pounds more than either Figan or Evered. It happened in
the evening. All four main characters were present—indeed they had been together all day in a large mixed group, feasting on the lush crops that abound at the end of the long wet season. There had been the usual kinds of excitement—charging displays and squabbles. Nothing out of the ordinary. As the sun sank low towards the lake in the west, Figan was feeding by himself, some distance from the others. The sound of snapping branches and rustling leaves indicated that the chimpanzees were beginning to make their nests for the night. It was a peaceful time, a time for gentle relaxation after the long day, before stretching out with a full belly.

Figan stopped feeding. For a few moments he sat motionless in his tree and then, quite calmly, he climbed down. But by the time he reached the others his hair had begun to bristle and, as he climbed their tree, moving ever faster, he swelled until he seemed twice his normal size. Suddenly he was off, displaying wildly through the branches, swaying them violently, leaping and swinging from one side of the tree to the other. There was instant pandemonium as chimpanzees screamed and fled his approach, many of them leaping from their nests. Figan briefly chased an old male, swatted him in passing and then, having worked himself into a frenzy, leapt down onto Humphrey where he sat in his nest. The two males, locked in combat, fell at least thirty feet to the ground. Humphrey pulled away and fled, screaming. Figan chased him a short distance and then, still without pause for breath, climbed back into the tree and continued to leap about in the branches.

During the next fifteen minutes Figan displayed five more times. Twice he attacked a low-ranking male and the frantic screaming of his luckless victim added to the general confusion. Finally Figan became still (he must have been quite exhausted) and sat with heaving sides. Seeing this, Humphrey, who had unobtrusively climbed back into the tree, made himself another nest. Too soon! He had barely laid his head on a bunch of
soft green leaves when Figan began yet another display and once again hurled himself down onto his rival. For a second time the two fell to the ground; for a second time Humphrey broke away and, screaming loudly, fled into the undergrowth.

By this time it was almost dark. Figan sat for a while on the ground and then climbed up the tree and made himself a nest. Only then did Humphrey return and, very quietly, make his third bed. This time he was able to settle down for the night without further interruption.

Throughout that entire skirmish, big brother Faben had watched from his nest. I wonder if Figan would have dared attack his powerful adversary had Faben not been present? I suspect not. As it was, he surely knew that Faben would have helped him if he needed it. Perhaps more importantly, Humphrey knew it too.

After that decisive victory, a triumph watched by more than half the members of the Kasekela community, Figan's top rank seemed assured. But although he now accepted Humphrey's show of deference quite calmly, almost as his due, Evered, it seemed, was still perceived as a threat. After all, he had been dominant to Figan for years, and during his long quest for power had shown far greater persistence and vigour than had Humphrey. The grand finale came towards the end of May and, as before, Faben supported Figan throughout.

It took place on a hot, humid afternoon. The two brothers were feeding peacefully when Evered's distinctive pant-hoots sounded from the far side of the valley. They glanced at one another, their hair bristled, and they grinned widely in excitement. Then, leaping to the ground, they raced off in the direction from which the calls had come. They found Evered in a tree on a steep hillside. Terrified, he crouched there as the brothers charged back and forth below, dragging branches and hurling rocks. Then, as one, they leapt up into the tree and threw themselves on their victim. Locked together, grappling, the three males fell
to the ground and Evered managed to break free. He fled some way up the hillside, then took refuge in another tree. The brothers followed and, for the next hour, displayed on and off below him. Poor Evered, there he stayed, occasionally whimpering and screaming in fear until, at last, Figan and Faben moved away. Not until they were some distance away and out of sight did Evered dare to climb silently from the tree and make his escape.

Figan had made it to the top.

I
T IS ONE THING
to rise to the top-ranking position of a community. It is another matter to remain on top day after day, month after month. Figan had attained his goal thanks to the support of his brother—and Faben would not always be around, for every hour of every day. How would Figan manage then if one of the other males should challenge the new order?

The test came all too soon when Faben, involved in romantic dalliance with a female, vanished for three whole weeks to the northern part of the community range. Figan was extremely worried—and rightly so, for Humphrey and Evered might well have challenged their new alpha had they realized that his ally was so far away. Every so often Figan would climb a tall tree and, from the higher branches, gaze out in all directions as through searching for signs of his missing brother. Occasionally he would give the long, loud screaming calls that serve to attract the attention of friends in times of need—SOS screams, we call them. But Faben was too far away to hear and Figan was forced to rely on his own resources.

It reminded me vividly of the time when, at the beginning of Mike's reign as alpha, we had removed his tin cans: for he had relied on them during his struggle for supremacy much as Figan had relied on Faben. In his effort to compensate for their loss
Mike had expended huge efforts to make his displays impressive in other ways. He had hurled the very biggest rocks, dragged and flailed enormous branches—even two branches at a time. Once as he rushed towards a group of adult males with a palm frond in each hand, he had actually paused to gather up yet a third. Only very gradually had Mike relaxed, realizing that even without his precious cans he still held the respect of the other males.

And now, ten years later, Figan responded to a similar challenge in much the same way. The frequency and vigour of his charging displays increased dramatically, and he was a past master when it came to planning and executing these performances. Thus he would, if possible, move quietly upslope from some unsuspecting group, then charge down. Not only did this give him an element of surprise, but it enabled him to appear at his most impressive as he bore down upon the group, flat out, from above. And, of course, it is less tiring to run downhill; there will be more energy to spare if, in the face of any insubordination, it should be necessary to repeat the performance.

Most effective were his wild arboreal performances at the crack of dawn when it was still almost dark and the rest of the group was still abed. These caused pandemonium, with confused chimps screaming and hurling themselves from their nests. Back and forth, up and down—Figan leapt from branch to branch, shaking the vegetation, snapping great branches and, for good measure, pounding, from time to time, on some unfortunate subordinate. The confusion and the noise were unbelievable. And then, when it was all over, their new alpha, all bristling magnificence, would sit on the ground and, like some great tribal chief, receive the obeisance of his underlings.

And so, as a result of high motivation, determination and the expenditure of much physical effort, Figan stayed on top. And when Faben finally returned to the centre of the community range, Figan was able to relax and enjoy to the full the fruits of
his labours—the respect of all the other members of his social group and the right of prior access to any feeding place or sexually attractive female that he fancied. Power.

One day, soon after Faben's return, I watched as the two brothers, who had been on their own for a while, approached three of the other males who were peacefully feeding on fallen fruits. As Figan, closely followed by Faben, charged towards them, all three screamed and rushed up trees. Their point made, the brothers sat with bristling hair and looked up into the branches above. Satan, a good deal larger than the new alpha, and in his prime, hastened down and, with loud panting-grunts of submission, pressed his mouth to Figan's thigh. And Figan, utterly relaxed, utterly self-confident, laid a munificent hand on the bowed head before him. Then, as Satan began to groom Figan, Jomeo and Humphrey also approached to pay their respects and, for a while, Figan was groomed by all three.

Faben, probably because of his paralysed arm, had never become a high-ranking male. But as brother of the alpha he was treated with a new respect by the other males—at least when Figan was around. Faben probably realized this quite quickly, for, after that initial three-week period in the north, he rarely spent more than a few days away from Figan.

Some adult males spend a good deal of time on their own—Mike, even when alpha, had sought occasional spells of solitude. But Figan, from earliest childhood, had wanted to be in the thick of things, been happiest when part of a noisy, excitable group—males, females, the more the better. And Faben, now that he was spending so much time with Figan, became more social too. The two brothers formed, in a way, the hub around which the wheel of society revolved. The other chimps, particularly the males, were fascinated as well as intimidated when Faben, charging along with his splendid upright gait, limp arm swinging, hair bristling, joined in the already impressive displays of their alpha.

For the first two years of his reign Figan held a position of almost absolute power in the community. This meant that he could, if he so wished, maintain all but exclusive mating rights over any female who caught his fancy. Once he had proclaimed his interest by threatening any would-be suitors who approached too closely, his mere presence, close to the lady friend of the moment, was usually sufficient to inhibit the sexual advances of the other males. He established a pattern, taking over the community females, one after the other, when they were at their most alluring—during the last four or five days of their swellings.

Faben's privileged position was very apparent at such times for Figan usually shared his sexual possessions with his brother much as he shared precious food items, such as meat. And Figan received a payoff for his generosity: Faben helped to keep an eye on the current lady friend when Figan was momentarily busy elsewhere. However, even Figan and Faben between them could not prevent their female from enjoying occasional clandestine intercourse with one or other of the frustrated lower-ranking males. Such opportunities arose when the attention of the alpha male and his brother was temporarily diverted. Once, for example, when Figan and Faben were intently watching a troop of colobus monkeys with an eye to acquiring monkey meat, three other males copulated with their female in quick succession: neither of the brothers even noticed!

It always surprised us that the females themselves were prepared to cooperate in these illicit affairs. Because when Figan did notice he would race towards the pair and, very often, bash the female for her faithlessness. This made more sense than attacking the rival male—for a skirmish of that sort would have left the female unguarded and available for yet another quick clandestine mating!

The male who sneaked the most copulations with Figan's females was adolescent Goblin. He was utterly fascinated by sex and, incidentally, utterly fascinated by Figan, too. Because he
was not perceived as a rival (he was only nine years old when Figan came to power) Goblin was able to maintain surprisingly close proximity to the succession of females with whom the alpha male satisfied his sexual needs. Thus, even if Figan's attention was diverted but momentarily, Goblin was on hand to take advantage. And since the sexual act comprises no more than ten to twelve rapid pelvic thrusts, the briefest of opportunities sufficed—so long as the females cooperated, and for some reason they usually did. So closely did Goblin follow those tempting pink bottoms that he was occasionally able to snatch a few seconds of sexual gratification as Figan led the way through dense undergrowth.

Sometimes an adolescent male selects one of the senior males as his "hero." He is attentive to all of them, but it is his hero whom he watches most closely, and with whom he is most likely to travel when he leaves his family. Figan, without a shadow of doubt, was Goblin's hero. Often, after watching Figan closely, Goblin imitated his behaviour. One day I watched as Figan did a magnificent display, dragging a large branch, slapping and stamping on the ground, and drumming on the buttress of a large tree. Goblin, from a discreet distance, watched intently and then displayed in his turn, following the exact route that Figan had taken, dragging the self-same branch and drumming on the same tree. I was reminded of those times when Figan had practised with Mike's empty cans.

Figan, for his part, was remarkably tolerant of his small and persistent shadow, but very occasionally, when Goblin got too close—when he was feeding, for example—Figan threatened him mildly. This would throw Goblin, temporarily, into a frenzy of apology. Sometimes Figan supported his young friend if he got into trouble with other individuals. Little did any of us realize then the far-reaching consequences, both for Figan and for Goblin, of this special relationship between them.

Under the rule of a powerful male the conflicts between the
other members of the community are kept to a minimum, for he uses his position to prevent too much fighting among his subordinates. What motivates him is not always clear. Sometimes there may be a genuine desire to help the underdog. At other times it may be that the alpha feels his position is challenged if another male initiates a fight. I remember once when Figan and Faben jointly attacked a female during the excitement of a reunion. But when, a few moments later, young Sherry attacked the same female, Figan, a picture of chivalry, raced over, bashed the aggressor and so "rescued" the female. But whatever the driving force behind Figan's interventions in the affairs of his underlings, his behaviour served to terminate countless squabbles. Moreover, I suspect that many would-be aggressors, anticipating the displeasure of their boss, exercised more self-restraint when he was around. Thus Figan, during the years of his power, helped to promote and maintain an atmosphere of social harmony among the members of his group.