Unlike the boring last two chapters, chapter 4 is pretty exciting. It begins in the jungle, the Ape chief Kerchak(not to be confused with lovable daddy figure in the Disney film) is on a rampage he even chews open one of the younger females. Another female ape, Kala, with a young infant attempts to get out of Kerchak's way by jumping up a nearby tree only to drop her infant in the process. This is genuinely tragic. In a few short and violent paragraphs the wheels of Tarzan's adoption have already begun to turn. (notice how much better this is then his actual parent's backstories which went on for far to long and was boring as hell).
We then learn that Kala's mate is an ape named Tublat and that the infant was her first child. We also learn that these 'apes' are not gorillas or even chimpanzees but possibly some kind of missing link creature given their capacity for language(their names have meanings, Tublat for instance means 'broken nose').
When the group later goes looking for food on the seashore where John Clayton built the cabin Kala is still clutching her dead baby and its only when she hears Tarzan crying during the ensuing fight between Kerchak and John Clayton that she finally rouses and rescues the human baby before Kerchak kills it too.
There's a very interesting scene after this where Kerchak attacks Alice's body not realizing at first that she's dead and accidentally shoots off Clayton's rifle. Its a bit out of place but goes a long way in showing these are still animals and therefor unpredictable and dangerous.
As they return home Kala shows herself to be very protective of her new baby especially around the other apes and it is thus that the chapter ends.
This chapter was great. As much as I tease Burroughs there is a real strength to these jungle sequences it feels very dynamic and primitive and it helps that this at last the real meat of the story. My only real complaint is the amount of time spent on Kerchak exploring the Clayton's cabin after he kills Tarzan's father. Its good but it feels a little extraneous. Kala's the one we should have been focusing on. Not Kerchak. That being said look forward to tomorrow's installment.
p.s. Given how short this blog turned out I may start doubling up chapters.
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