The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1865-02-16


siumberins conscience. Perhaps the next
bell may SUMMON you to the bal. Of Judge.
ment TN. r. Lndspsndsss.
"a o. oosing . Gorilla. x
e SCENE IN AFRICA. :..ss NJ
,Slddenly Mlengai my attendant. uttered
. little chuck with his tongue, which is the
natives way Of showing that something is
stirring. and that sharp lookout is neces-
ssry. And presently noticed, ahead of Us
seemingly, noise as Of some one breaking
down branches or twiss OF trees.
ibis was the gorilla, knew at once BY
the ssgor and satis6 cd looks Of ths men,
They looked enos mere carefully at their
guns, to see il by any chance the powder
had fallen out of the pans. I also examined
mine, 10 make sure that all were right; and
then we marched on cautiously.
The singular noise Of the breaking Of tree
branches continued. We walked with the
greatest care, making no noise at Al. The
countenances Of the men showed they
thought the'psslvos engaged in a very seri-
Gus undertaking but we pushed on. until
finally we thought we saw. through the
thick woods. the moving OF the branches
and small trees which the great beast was
tearing down, probably to get from them
the berries and fruits he lives on.
Suddenly, rs we were yet creeping along,
in silence which made heavy breath
seem loud and Distinct, the wo,hs were at
once filled with tine tremendous barking
roar Of the garilla.
Then the underbfush swaysd rapidly
jnst ahead. and p esently before us stood
an immense male gorilla. He had gone
through the jungle on all fourx but when
he saw our party he erected hi mself and
looked US boldly in the face. He st,od
about dozen yards from us, and was =
sight think shall never forget. Nearly
six feet (he proved four inches shorter with
immense body, huge chest, and great mus.
cular arms with fiercely glaring large deep
grey eyes, and hellish expression Of face,
which seemed to me like some nightmare
vision. Thus stood before Us this king of
the African forests.
Ei A cHALiAxGE.
He was not afraid Of u.s. lie stood there,
and beat his breast with his huge fsts till it
resounded like an iIpmcu,e hsss drum,
which Is their mode Of offering defiance,
meantime, giving vent to roar after roar.
The roar Of the gorilla is the most singu-
lar and awful noise heard in these African
woods. It begins With = sharp bark, like
an angry dog. then glides into a deep bass
roll, which literally and closely resembles
the roll OF distant thunder along the sky,
for which have sometimes been tempted
to take it where did not see the animal. -
So deep is it, that it seems to proceed less
from the mouth and throat than from the
deep chest and vast paunch. His eyes be.
gan to Aash 6ercer Are - we stood motion
less on the defensive; and the crest of short
hair which stood on his forehead began to
twitch rapidly up and down, while his pow.
erful fangs were shown IS he again sent
forth Q <hxn1arsus roar. And now truly he
reminded ,ne Of nothing but some hellish
drcam-creatxre being Of that hideous or
der, hati man. kaif beast, which We and
pictured BY old artists in some represents.
tons OF the inferuna regions. He advanced
fsv steps-then stopped to utter that hid
essa rssr agaia --advanoe again, and 6nai.
y stopped when ak distance Of about six
yards from US. Aad here, As he began IN.
sthG sf he roars ard beating his breast ia
rage, we f-ed and killed him.
% aos Est Aoar.
With groan. which had so0sthisg ter.
ritiy hxman in it, and yet was full Of bru.
tishness. it fsll forva op its lAee. The
body shook eonvu'sively for few minutes
the limbs mevsd aAoAt in struggling way
and then IN Was qu,et--death had done II.
work and he'd leisure To exassins the huge
body. 1t proved to be Ave feet eight inch.
e. high, and the n,nsoplar developments o.
the arms and breast showed whak immens,
| streagth il had possessed.
| Nv men, though rejoicing At our luck
Immediately began to quarrel shout the ap
port,onment Of this meat--for they really
eat this creature 1 saw that we shoult
~or,a IA hlo,U, nsosanh1u f 1iA MT su xar