Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-06-20
THE GORILLA.

10 AShdHgO- ldHOj ContdluS tiicSt pdScdSCt
in relation TO the gorilla They viii be
read with the greater interest for, the rea;
SON that, one or two species excepted, the
gorilla is the nearest approach the ape
makes to man: .s.s'ia8 =. 81 -'
,9'.. :. HUNT FOR THE GORILLA. fyfa. e,1
had not been in the village long before
news came that gorillas had been recently
seen in the, neighborhood of q. plantation
only half mile distant. 20 Early in the
morning of the 25th of June [ wended my
way thither accompanied by one of my
boys, named Odanga. The plantation was
a large one, and situated on very broken
ground, surrounded by the virgin forest.
1t was a lovely morning the sky was al
most cloudless, and all around was still as
death, except the slight rustling of the tree,
tops moved by the gentle land breeze.
WhenI reached the place, | had, first. to
pick. my way bhrough the maze OF tree
stumps and half burned logs by the side of
a field of cassadai 70 Twas going quietly,
along the, borders, Of this, when,I heard, in
the grove of plantain trees tOWardcWhlch /
was walking, great crushing noise, like
the breaking of trees. | Immediately hid
myself behind a bush, and was soon graft
fed by the sight Of a female gorilla; but
before had time to notice its movements, a
second and third emerged from the masses
Of colossal foliagsg It length no lesat lsaa,
They were all ybusily engaged in tearing
down the largertrees One Of the females
had young one following her. had an
excellent. Opportunity of watching the
movements of the impish looking band.
The shaggy hides, the protuberant abdo-
mems, the hideous features of these strange
creatures, whose forms so nearly resemble
man, made up q picture like a. vision in
some morbid dream. In destroying tree,
they first grasp the base of the stem with
one of their feet and then with their pow
erful armsZphI il down, a. matters Of not
much difficulty with so loosely formed a
stem as that oftthe Iplantaifl, They then
set upon the Juicy heart OF the tree at the
bases of the leaves, and deyoured it with
great voracity. While eating, they made
a kind of clucking noise, expressive of
Contentment. Many trees they destroyed
and then theystoodstill and looked around
Once or twice they seemed on the point of
starting off in alarm, but recovered them
selves and continued their work. Grad
ually they got NEARER to the edge of the
dark forest, and finally disappeared | was
so intent on watching them, thatI let go
the last chance of shooting one almost be-
fore | became aware Of it.
The next day | went again with, Odanga
to the same spot9 ! had no expectation Of
seeing gorillas in the same plantation, and
was carrying light shot gun, having Civ
en- my heavy doubles arrelled iiaesto the
boy to carry The plantation extended
over two hills, with deep hollow between,
planted with sugar cane Before I had
crossed the hollow L saw on the Opposite
slope monstrous gorilla, standing erect
and looking directly toward me, q, Without
turning my face beckoned to the boy to
bring me myrtle, but no rifle came-the
little coward had bolted and lost my
chance. The huge beast stared at me for
about ~ two minutes, and then fiwithout#
uttering~ any cry, moved offAtot the shade
of the forest, running nimbly on his hands
and feetI TsfTTHEEH nHTTETGt
Asjmy readersrrnay easily imagine, Ihadi
excellent Opportunity OF observing, during
these two days, the manner in which goril-
las walked when in open ground drhey
move alorg with great rapidity on all
fours-that is, with the knuckles of their
hands touching the. ground Artists. IN
representing the gorilla WI king, generally
make the arms too much bowed outward,
and the elbows too much bent Tthis1 gives
the figures an appearance Of heaviness and
awkwardness. When the gorillas that T
watched leftthe plantain trees, they moved
off tlagreat pace over the ground with
their arms extended straight forward tow
ard the ground, and moving rapidly II
may mention also that having now opened
the stomachs of several freshly Killed go 8
rillas, ! have never found anything but veg
etable matter in them. dsiaa .53 j u b sa11
THREE LIVE GoRILLAs CAUGHT. 't'3'
The natives of all the neighboring coun-
try We're now 80 well aware that L wanted
live gorillas, and was willing to give
high price for them, that many were slim
ulated to search with greatTperseYerance
Ehes good efectslof this were soon made
evident.
One day, as I was quietly dining with
Captain Holder, of the Cambria Ca vessel
Just arrived from England, one of my
men came in with the startling news that
three live gorrillas had been brought, one
Of them full-grown. | had not long to
wait; in they Came. ' First. a very large
adult female, bound hand and foot; then
her female child, screaming terribly and
lastly, q vigorous young male, also tightly
bound. The female had been ingeniously
secured by the negroes to strong stick, |
he wrists bound to the upper part and the |
ankles to the lower, SO that she could not
reach to tear the cords with her teeth. 1t |
was dark, and the scene was one so wild |
md strange that | shall never forget it.
The tiendish countenances of the Caliban-
sh trio, one of them distorted by -paiu-
or the mother gorilla was severely wound |
,d-were Lit up by the ruddy glare of ma
i've torches. The thought struck me,
What would | not give to have the group
n London for few days. isg ls14s.G p
The young male l secured by chain
which l had in readiness, and gave him |
lencetorth the name of Tom. We united |
lis hands and feet; to show his gratitude |
or this act of kindness he Immediately
made rush at me, screaming with all his
night Happily the chain was made fast,
md took care afterward to keep out of
lis way. The old mother gorilla was in
IN unfortunate plight She had an arm
broken and wound in the chest, besides
oelng dreadfully beaten on the head. She
sfoaned and roared many times during the
ngns, probably from pain.
notlced next day, and on many occa-
ayer he sn s,t tne vigorous young male, when
bis ai inc mace ;n0 rush at any one and missed
nls ann, immediately ran hack This cor
responds with what's known Of tho ba hts
Of the large males in the;r "a 0no nauieo