Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1863-03-28

From orthc oming work entitled "Adventures in Many
Lands
My black guide whose movements were
as nolscless aud gliding ns hose of snake,
was about two yards IN front of me, push.
ing gently but swiftly on hunds and knee,
through The tangled underwood and thorny
creepers, which made the entrance into the
dense aud gloomy recesSeS Of the prlmeval
African forest almost impassuble 10 The
hardiert Of he human race, aud was ca.
gerry following iu the track which he had
made, when suddenly he paused, uttered a
low, slight hiss and pIaciug his right hand
behind him, made with it u gentle move.
ment warning me 10 be silent aud cuu.
lions.
How long We both remained mOtionless
aud hardly daring 10 draw cath, know
not. 1t may have been five mmntes. Ii
APPEARED 10 me as many hours. felt uei
lher fear nor uppleuslou vi danger, but my
anxiety 10 obtain ii sight Oi u living gorilla,
aid, II possible To get within shot OF han,
ana the hope, that my black hunter had at
length marked one, caused my heart TO
tbrob with expectation SO loudly, that in
order to slII 1t | was Obliged To hold my
bre.th forciby until The s,ne of SulfJca.
ton became unbearable, and it was wi h
great iliculty l reprcssed spasm, die
tendency TO relieve the oppressed lungs by
scream. At length my guide moved for.
ward, but SO silently that his progress was
more like that OF a shadow than of auyth.
ing having life and weight in it. lis hand
was still carried behind him, the open palm
towards me, and every motion Of the hu
gers Instinct with Intelligence and warnings
ot the presence OF danger he most immin-
ent and deadly. The Fua (my guide was
splendid specimen OF that nobIest of the
Central African tribes) again stopped -
His palm expanded and instantly paused
The ground shook with II slight tremor.-
The air vibrated aronnd us and hutterugly
upon our cars, as the reader may have felt
when the deepest bass of great organ is
gently touched. At first did not perceive
that the agitation was the result OF souLd,
but as the vibration was passing away |
distinguished low, deep roar, and found
that some terrible beast, most probable
either lion or gorilla, was close at hand,
and was either cOuverSing in low tone with
his mate, or was uttering the FIRST notes of
suspicion or alarm.
had seen the nasty little birds Which
attended the rhnoceros and perform for the
deep folds of bis thick but not nsensibe
hide the duty which 10 civilized society is
remtted to lhe small tooth comb knew
how shap watch and ward they keep over
the safely of their living feeding ground,
aud how they scream and dig their sharp
and searching beakS into the fierce brute's
ear when anything dangerous or strange
approaches his resting place and feared
lest some such courtierly parasite of the
woods might have attached itself to the
service and the court of the anthropodal
apish mouarch aud was now whispering in.
10 his majcsty's ear its suspicious that Ger
tain barbarian invaders or low and villain
oHs revolutionlsts of an inferior order of the
gorilla species were trespassng within the
bounds which his majesty had been gra.
ciously pleased 10 reserve as the limits of
his own exclusive domain. | listened bul
no particular note or chirp struck my ear.
The slIeuce was almost appalling So was
the darkness of that portion Of the dense
forest into which we had penetrated =
Very shortly after we had entered The
woods The fierce glare of The sun had ceas.
ed 10 penetrate 10 the ground except at
rare intervals The broad, luXurant, Up.
per foliage OF the mighty Iees completely
excluded the blaZe oi the tropical sun.
which shone iown through yellow atmos
phere like the mouth OF au open faruace,
from sphere OF POLISHED, glariug, reden.
ed brass Al first there were cool, cxlen.
sve forest gladeS, aud vast avenues of ri.
gantic trees, populous aud noisy with Ids
Of gorgeous plumuge but dlscordant voiceS;
then came closer stems aud lesser growth
Uf clOnS spriRgi1g etnulOusly admist the
giant parent of The woods. Thick IanRles
Ol tough Stulked creepers iutert Winiug with
thorny plants, like briers of gigantic
growth, next barred our path ia places
which were thereby made absolutely impen
etrable. AT length, after threading our
way through tracks which he wild ANIMALS
had slightly made, we reached those dal K,
est. drnseSL portions of the wood where the
Eau hunter knew that the gorilla could be
only found, if found at all.
Here, in the inlerpenelralia, the voice of
the forest had altogether ceased. The
"'sS VI selpehti 'he lWlIler ol ErasshOp
per or locust, the boot Of an owl, or the
chatter of a stray monkey might indeed be
occasionally heard, but such sounds were
lew aud far between, and they served rather
To illustrate and mark the silence by show
ng how exceptional aud discordanl will all
things around they were. The darkness,
although nearly as deep as that af d star.
less night, was not night.lke IL WaS ASt
hick aud close aud pitehyS prSSSsstiFs Of
closed eyes aud slumbeF ; 10 was gfeeofsB
black, living startling ihseltgeeS sad