The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-22 00:00:00

NEWS FROM THE GORILLA COUNTRY.

Mr. Winwood Ronde and the famous !what.
hunter known u " The Old Shekarry," who went out to th..
Cahoon about a year ago, arrived in the colony in earl%
spring, and went over the pound described in M. d,
ChaiSn's book. At the end of five months they we
position to speak. The Atheivrant of todey publishes
following letter from Mr. Reads :
. _

" Loanda, Sept. 7.

" Having spent five active mouths in the Gorilla Countn.
I am in a position to state that IS. do Chaillu ha, rho
neither leopards, buffaloes, nor gorillas ; that the gerilL,
does not beat his breast like a drum ; that the killu.k.smi,
doss not utter the cry of ' bootee,' or anything like it ,
the young gorilla in captivity is not savage; and that while
dtt Chaillu affects to have been ' a poor feverstrin.r.
wretch' at Gamma (June 1, 1859), he was really reoxlm.: .L
robust health at the Gaboon.

" Ifoegilomba, who is not a native hunter at all, sad alio
was in my service three months as steward and natural-
history assistant, duped Mr. 8.. B. Walker in ueerting the
M. du Chaillu had killed two gorillas ; nor did be en..
accompany that gentleman except in the above capacity.
" From the Balengi of the Muni, from the Sheicani an!
Fans of the Galloon, from the Conrad Bakele, &c., of eh.
Fernand Vas, upon the hanks of which rivers I has.
hunted (always unsuocessfully) gorillas, examining thin.
only who were hunters, and reserving alone such evideacc
as was corroborative, I have gleaned the following facts
respecting this ape of contention. The gorilla dwells
in the densest parts of the forests ; he feeds exelunre:r
on vegetable matter, sad one kind of gran is
sure indication of hie proximity ; at noon and e.
he approaches the village plantations for the sake ~f th.
plantains, occasionally uttering a wild kind of cry, h.:
which in rage (as imitated by Etia) becomes a quick abari.
bark. By day he moves along the ground on all fours (oi,
having crawled for haws on their tracks, I can testify),
sometimes iumendlog the trees. By night he chooses a Lirgt
tree to sleep in. He is exceedingly wary and keen of ‘eir,
When the female is pregnant, he builds a nut (as d.,
the kfilu-kamha and the chimpanzee), where she b
livered, and which is then abandoned. These nest., serend
of which I have seen, are simply rode layers of dry stidk
and of small branches evidently torn off the bye tree Li-
the hand. With regard to his ferocity, an a nil,
when mislead or wounded, he will charge. Hi.
charge, from which the natives often escape, heing
themselves nimble as apes, is made on all-four-.
Etia, whose left band ha been severely crippled,
informed me that the gorilla seized his wrist with his Lind
foot, and dragged his hand into his mouth as he would hare
done a bunch of plantains. Two things suet least certain -
that thegorilla isles' feared than the leopard; and thertory
of a man killed by a gorilla at Camma is a complete fabrica-
tion. Traditional accounts of such an incident exist, but
nothing of the kind has happened within the memory ,Amani
The tale of the gorilla mewing a boxing attitude, and
beating his breast like a drum, originated from Quenguen,
and was unanimously refuted by all hunters from the Mimi
on the north, to the Fernand Vas on the south. Thus it
an obscure African village an old sevage could tall a Le,
which has blazed through Europe.

" The Apiugi country, which is the Ultima Thule of M. du
Chaillu's explorations, is distant from Gambi ( Ngumlii) four
foot-days' journey, in a southerly direction. lu tracing the
course of the Rambo, however, he adopted a longer route.
" His deecription of the Fans (Bafanh), whom he visited
in company with Mr. Mackey, of Corium, is very good. Is
ascending the Gaboon to ire rapids in the bosom of the
Sierra del Crystal, I advanced some distance into their
country, and found them gentle, hoepitable, bat cannibals
undoubtedly, as one of them confessed to rue. Even the
account of their ghoul-like propensities is in one case sup-
ported by evidence which I find it impossible to disbelieve.
" This book, so strange a tmlanyc of truth and fiction,
wee prepared by a gentleman well known io the New York
literary world, from copious notes made by M. du Challis
when engaged in theme expeditions. And I must do the
litter the justice to confess, that from the same payees which
afforded me proofs of his impostures, I learn that be is I
good marksman; possessed of no common cou-age and
endurance ; that he has suffered many privations and min
fortunes of which he has said nothing ; that his character as
a trader has been unjustly blemished ; that his labours se a
naturalist have been very remarkable ; and that during hie
residence in Africa he woo the affection of the natives sad
the esteem of those who moat merit to be esteemed—the
missionaries. And a fellow-labourer, though an humble one,
may be permitted to regret that, actuated by a foolish
vanity or by ill-advice, he should bare attempted to all
artificial flowers to a wreath of laurels which be had fairly
and hardly earned. " W. WINWOOD READL"

THE FIMIT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP. —We kin.
from the &coral, a well-known clerical organ, that the tight
for the championship, between Mace and Kiog, " is fired to
come off on Tuesday next, at a place near Aldershott."
DlOtTntiE OF CHESTER.—ORDI?iATIoN.—TIie Doi
Bishop of Chester intends to hold hie next ordination at
Chester, on the second Sunday in Lent, March 1, 1:,..3.
Candidates for ordination un that day are required to for-
ward all their necessary papers complete, on or helm
Monday, January 26, to his lordship's secretary (Charles
T. W. Parry, Esq., Cheater), from whom all necessary it
structione and information may be obtained. PREM,,.
miacrs.—The Her. George Ramsay Feilden, M.A., has beet
instituted by the Lord Bishop of Chester to the rectors. of
Bebingtou, Cheabire, vacant by the death of the Rev.
Robert Mosley Feilden : patron, Rey. G. R. Feilden. The
Rev. Benjamin Maddock, M.A., ban been licensed to the
perpetual curacy of Marple, Cheshire. vacant hy cession of
Rev. Richard Dawson : patron, the rector of Stockport.
ALARMINii FIRE AT THE SEAT OF Slit MAmFT
LOPEK, BART., M.Y.—Yesterday morning, shortly before '
o'clock, fire was discovered to be issuing from the minim
room of Mariston Hall, the residence of Sir Massey Lopes.
Bart, M.P., about five miles from Plymouth. The mansion,
which is an Elizabethan structure of great brauty, Las bees
recently undergoing extensive repairs. At the time of the
alarm Sir Massey and Lady Lo pal had not arisen for the
day, and the household were for the mad part in their
rooms. Messengers were instantly despatched on bareback
to Plymouth for engines, which were at once sent out, and
meanwhile hose were attached to a reservoir near the house,
and at an elevation of 50 feet above it. With such seeress
I was this stream brought to hear that the fire was centiord to
the wing of the mansion in which it originated, and was got
under iu the course of an hour. The damage, probably, all
nut exceed 1001.
MYSTERIoUn AFFAIR.—!i. singular story f.irwil
a topic of conversation yesterday in Dublin. It is stated
that a young lady of high respectability, daughter of a
well-known merchant in Dublin, left her fatlaer'a red.
denim early on Tuesday afternoon for a walk. Not re-
turning home at the hour at which die was expected,
her friends became uneasy for Ler safety, and their
anxiety increased when Lour after hour passed by with'
out any tidings of her being received. Search sets, el
course, made, and peewees sent in various directions to co-
I deuirour to discover some intelligence as to what had
I become of her, but it was not until late in the evening
I that she was discovered 'oy one of the servants. who foetid
the young lady tied hand and foot to a tree in her father''
shrubbery, her month being so completely pet:el that she
was totally unable to cry for help, or utter A 6011111 She
was, of course, immediately released, and couveyed to the
house, but it was some time before she win restored hew
the condition of exhaustion to which she had been relereL
On recovering, she stated that while walking through the
grounds she suddenly met two men engaged in tab.. ~,t to
one hofo t he I:arm; followed t the
Le r,moment
a hkeis
and, having gagged her, so an to prevent her c*,.in, fl
• Lelp, they decamped, first cautioning her that if she vdvw
: ch,eurre life
d
tyingndiscloseoth er
tthe anytm IlL'ewn":"1 ' 'lt'd
h3.1'..
did nut offer her any molestation. The stile of th:rr,trh%
which the lady remained until discovered I,y the ~.,sent
' may be readily imagined. It is stated that hei father ass'
aequently received an anonymous letter warning boo to
take no proceedings to pursue the matter further. as. if be
took any step towards discovering the pattie4, his ilmithtrr
i would be shot. It is surmised that the parties were 04"
! fleeted with the murder of Mr. Braddell. and that oar ol
them was Haves, and that they feared that the bay lid
• overheard sufficient of their conversation to piut out Who
I they were.
BOILER ExPLOSIoN AT AtERTIITR.—()Ii M.,t,,i.ir
night last a boiler. belonging to an engine wlvelk vodo h
machinery in the Old Puddling Forge. at the Duels,-
Works, exploded with a tremendous report, waiter%
pieces of the boiler and the brickwork in which it vin no'
bedded for • conaiderable dint ince around . and with =!vh
' force that a puddling furnace and its stick were levelled
with the ground. We regret to add that the engineer ma
four other men were severely injured ; one badly e•Aldel.
; and the others much injured by the falling rid,r,,. T 1
surgeons of the works were promptly iu ar'endentw• Wl'
every requisite appliance, and under their skilful treatment
.• the poor men are doing well, no fatal result being Art VIP
l peed. Most fortunately no men were working at
. I:t
I furnace which was knocked down, or the loos of life wonld.
no doubts have been great The cause of the eaphenn los
i not yet been aticertsoned.—Bristol Msearry.
1 ARRIVAL OF THE WELLESLEY FROM 711,,L1t01".:.,
PEN7ANCE. NOV. 21.--The Wellesley, Captain .Inlet Siitli%
from Melbourne on the 22nd of August, arrived oil' ••01!
yesterday. She
have
landed
ehda
hdenion board 140 passengem, about 10 of