The Shasta courier., 1867-05-18

their enemy, break an arm or tear his bow
els open, and then beat a retreat, leaving
their victim to shift for himself.
The wounded female died in the course of
the next day; her moaning were more fire.
quent in the morning, and they gradually
became weaker as her life ebbed out. Her
death was like that of human being, and
affected me more than l could have thought
possible. Her child clung to her to the last,
and tried to obtain milk from her breast after
she was dead. | photographed them both
when the young one was resting in its dead
mothers lap. | kept the young one alive
for three days after its mothers death. 1t
moaned at night most piteously. l fed it on
goats milk, for it was too young to cut ber
ries. 1t died the fourth day, having taken
an unconquerable dislike to the milk. 1t
had, | think, begun to know me little
As to the male, l made at least a dozen
attempts to photograph the 1rascible little
demon, but all in vain. The pointing of
the camera toward him threw him into a
perfect rage. and | was almost provoked to
give him sound thrashng. The day after,
however, succeeded with him, taking two
views, not very perfect, but sufficient for
my object.
must now relate how these three animals
were caught, promising tina. the capture of
the female was the first instance that had
come to my knowledge of an adult gorilla
being taken alive. The place where they
were found was on the left bank of the Fer
nand Naz. about thirty miles above my
village. At this part narrow promontory
projects into the river. 1t was the place
where | had intended to take the noted
traveller, Captain Burton, to show him a
live gorilla, if he had paid me visit, as l
had expected, for | had written to invite
him while he was on tour from his Con.
sulate at Fernando Po to several points on
the West African coast.
A woman belonging to a neighboring vii
laSe had told her people that she had seen
two squads of female gorillas, some of them
accompanied by their young ones, in her
plantain field. The men resolved to 90 in
chase of them; SO they armed themselves
with guns, axes and spears, and sailed
forth. The situation was very favorable for
the hunters; they formed line across the
narrow strip of land and pressed forward,
driving the animals to the edge of the water
When they came in sight of them, they
made all the noise in their power, and thus
bewildered the gorillas, who were shot or
beaten down in their endeavors to escape
There were eight adult females altogether,
but not single male. The negroes thought
the males were in the adjoining woods, hav-
ing probably been frightened away by the
noise.
This incident led me to modify somewhat
the opinions | had expressed in I" Adven
lures in Equatorial Africa" regarding
some of the habits of the gorilla. 1 there
said that believed it impossible to capture
an adult female alive, but l ought to have
added, unless wounded. / have also salts
fed myself that the gorilla is more gregarious
than formerly considered it to be; at least
1t is now clear that, at certain times of the
year, it gees in bands more numerous than
those | saw in my former journey. Then
never saw more than five together. / have
myself seen, on my present expedition, two
of these bands of gorillas, numbering eight
or ten, and have had authentic accounts
from the natives of other similar bands. 1t
is true that when gorillas become aged they
seem to be more solitary, and to live in
pairs, or, as in the case of old males, quite
alone. | have been assured by the negroes
that solitary and aged gorillas are some
times seen almost white; the hair becomes
grizzled with age, and | have no doubt that
the statement of their becoming occasionally
white with extreme old age is quite correct.