The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1870-02-04
THE LEOPARD OF THE AIR.
A sketch by Paul Du chaillu

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air; the bird that feeds on gazcllcs, goats
and monkeys the bird that is the most
difficult Of any to find and TO kill" eyes"
said Querlaouen sin my younger days
remember that my wife and myself were
on our plantation, with some jbf our
slaves, and one day we heard the cries
of a baby, and saw child carried up
into the sky by one of these guanionicns
The baby had been laid on the ground,
and the guanionicn, whose eyes never
miss anything, and which had not been
noticed soaring above our heads, poun
ced on its prey, and then laughed at us
as he rose and flew to distant part OF
the forest" Then Querlaouen showed
me fetch partly made of two huge
claws of this bird. What tremendous
things those taIons were! How deep
they could go into the flesh
Then came wonderful stories Of the
great strength oftbo bird,
The people were afraid Of them, and
were compelled to be very careful OF
their babies These grand eagles do not
feed on fowls; they are too small game
for them. Monkeys are what they like
best they can watch them as they float
over the top of the trees of the forest,
but sometimes the monkeys get the bet
ter Of the n.
"PcopIe had better not try to get hold
of the guanionien's young if they want
to keep their sight," said Gumbo; for,
as sure as we live the old bird will
pounce upon the man that touches its
young"
''For long time l had heard the peo-
pie talking of the guanionicn, bat had
never yet had a glimpse of one.
"Now, looking up again, L saw sew
eral of them. How high they were -
At times they would appear to be quite
still in the air; at other times they
would soar. They were so high that |
do not sec how they could possibly see
the trees everything must have been
in haze to them; monkeys Of course
could not be seen. They we're no doubt
amusing themselves, and | wonder if
they tried toscc how near they could 50
to the sun. Some at times few so high
that lost sight of them.
Gin the afternoon | thought would
ramblc round. ! took double barrelcd
smoothbore gun, and loaded ono side
with bullet, in case should see large
game; the other loaded with shot No.
,. Then | carefully plunged into the
woods till reached the banks Of a little
stream, and there | heard the cry Of the
mondi (ColOdnS SGtGnas), which is one
of the largest monkeys of these forests.
From their shrill cries, thought there
must be at least half a dozen together.
| was indeed glad that had one barrel
loaded with big shot. If the mondis
were not too far off, | would be able to
get fair shot and kill one.
81 advanced very cautiously until l
got quite near to them. | could then see
their big bodies, long tails, and long, jet
black shining hair. What handsome
beast they were! what looking
muf their skins would make | thought.
"Just as | was considering which Of
them | would fire at | saw some big
thing, like huge shadow suddenly
come down upon the tree Then | heard
the tapping Of heavy wings, and also
the death cry Of poor mondi. Then |
saw a huge bird, with a breast spotted
somewhat like leopard, raise itself
slowly into the air, carrying the monkey
in its powerful, fnger-Ake talons The
claws Of one leg were fast in tIe upper
part Of the neck of the monkcy-so deep
we're they in the flesh that they were
completely buried, and few drops of
blood fell upon the lcavsc below. The
ether leg had its claws quite deep in the
back of the monkey. The left leg was
kept higher than the right, and could
see that the great strength Of the bird
was used at that time to keep the neck
and also the back of the victim from
moving. The bird rose higher and high
or, the monkeys tale swayel to and fro,
and then both disappeared. 1t was d
guanionen. Its prey was no doubt talk
en- to some big tlc2 where it could be
dcvourcd.
The natives say that the first thing
the guanionen does is to take out the
eyes of the monkeys they catch. But
there must be a fearful struggle, for these
mondis are powerful beasts, and do not
die at the eagles will There must be
great trial Of strength for if the monkey
is not seized at an exact place on tie
neck. he can turn his head, and he then
inAicts fearful bite on the breast Of the
eagle, or on his neck or leg, which dis
ab!e his most terrible enemy, and :hcu,
both falling. meet their death.
II looked on without firing. The
monkeys seem'd parIyzed with fear when
the eagle came down upon them, and
did not move until after the bird ofprey
had taken one Of their number, and then.