The Shasta courier., 1867-05-18

about four feet and a half from the head to
the tip of the tail. The flesh of the ipiis good
eating, Those that l captured were very
lean, But l was informed by the natives
thatghsy are sometimes very fat. l found,
on dis ection, nothing but the remains of
ants Ia their stomachs. The tail is very
thick, and makes large track on the ground
in walking.
HUNT FOR THE GORILLA.
I had not been at the village long before
news came that gorillas had been recently
seen in the neighborhood of plantation
only half mile distant Early in the morn.
ing of the 25th of June, wended my way
thither, accompanied by one of my boys,
named Odango. The plantation was a
large one, and situated on very broken
ground, surrounded by the virgin forest. 1t
was lovely morning; the sky was almost
cloudless, and all around was still as death,
except the slight rustling of the tree tops,
moved by the gentle land breeze. When |
reached the place, had first to pick my way
through the maze of tree stumps and half
burned logs by the side of field of cassada.
| was going quietly along the borders of
this, when | heard, in the grove of plantain
trees toward which | was walkingSa great
crashing noise, like the breaking of trees. l
Immediately hid myself behind bush, and
was soon gratified by the sight of female
gorilla bat before | had time to notice its
movements, a second and third emerged
from the masses of colossal foliage; at length
no less than four came into view
They were all busily engaged in tearing
down the larger trees. One of the females
had young one following her. l had an
excellent opportunity of watching the move
ments of the impsh looking band. The
shaggy hides, the protuberant abdomens,
the hideous features of these strange crea-
lures, whose forms so nearly resemble man,
made up a picture like 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 powerful arms
pull it down, a matter of not much difficulty
with so loosely formed a stem as that of the
plantain. They then set upon the juicy
heart of the tree at the bases of the leaves
and devoured it with great voracity. While
eating they made kind of chuckling noise,
expressive of cOntentment. Many trees they
destroyed apparently out of pure mischief
Sometimes they stood still and looked around
Once or twice they seemed on the point of
starting off in alarm, but recovered them
selves and continued their work. Gradually
they got nearer to the edge of the dark
forest, and finally disappeared. 1 was SO
intent on watching them that let go the
last chance Of shooting one almost before l
became aware Of it.
The next day l went again with Odanga
to the same spot. / had no expectation of
seeing gorilas in the same plantation, and
was carrying light shotgun, having given
IL L. 1 N A. L
carry. The plantation extended over two
hills, with a deep hollow between, planted
with sugar cane. Before | had crossed the
hollow | saw on the opposite slope a mon
strous gorilla, standing erect and looking
directly toward me. Without turning my
face / beckoned to the boy to bring me my
rifle, but no rifle came-the little coward
had bolted, and l lost my chance. The
huge beast stared at me for about two min
utes, and then, without uttering any cry,
moved off to the shade of the for est, running
nimbly on his hands and feet.
As my readers may easily imagine, had
excellent opportunity of observing, during
these two days, the manner in which the
gorillas walked when in open ground
They move along with great rapidity on all
fOurs, that is with the knuckles of their
hands touching the ground. Artists, in
the gorilla walking, generally
make the arms too much bowed outward,
and elbows too much bent; this gives the
figures an appearance of heaviness and awk.
wardness. When the gorillas that | watch
ed left the plantain trees, they moved off at
a great pace over the ground, with their
ar.ns extended straight forward toward the
ground. and moving rapidly. | may men,
ton also that having now opened the stom-
achs of several freshly killed gorillas, | have
never found anything but vegetable matter
in them.
THREE LIVE GoRfLLAs CAUGHT.
The natives of all the neighboring country
were now so we'll aware that [ wanted live
gorillas, and was willing to give high price
for them, that many were stimulated to
search with great perseverance; the good
effects of this were soon made evident.
One day, as l was quietly dining with
CAPTAIN Holder, of the Cambria IA vessel
Just arrived from England), one of my men
came in with the startling news that three
live gorilas had been brought, one of them
full grown. had not long to wait; in they
came. First, very large adult female,
bound hand and foot then her female child,
screaming terribly; and lastly, vigorous
Young male, also tightly bound. The
female had been ingeniously secured by the
negroes to strong stick, the 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 and strange that |
shall never forget it. The fendish counte-
nances of the Calibanish trio, one of them
distorted by pain for the mother gorilla was
severely wounded), were lit up by the ruddy
glare Of native torches. The thought struck
me, what would | not give to have the group
in London for few days
The Young male | secured by cham
which | had in readiness, and gave him
henceforth the name of Tom. We united
his hands and feet; to show his gratitude Tor
this act of kindness he Immediately made
rush at me, screaming with all his might /;
happily the chain was made fast, and took
care afterwards to keep out OF his way
The old mother gorilla was IN an unfortu
nate plight. She had an arm broken and
wound in the chest, beside being dreadtully
beaten on the head. She groaned and roar
ed many times during the night, probably
from pain.
| noticed next day, and on many occa-
sions, that the vigorous young male, when,
ever be made a rush at any one and missed
his aim, Immediately ran back. This cor
responds with what is known of the habits
of the large males in. their native woods ;
when attacked they make furious rush at