Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1877-06-20
The Leopard Of the Air.
BY PAUL DU CHAILLU.

younger days, | remember, my wife and
myself were on our plantation with some
Of our slaves, and one day we heard the
cries Of q baby and saw child carried
up into the sky by one of these guam
oniens. The baby had been laid on the
ground, and the guanionien, whose eyes
never miss any thing, and which had rot
been noticed soaring above our heads,
pounced on it's prey, and then laughed at
us as he rose and few to a distant part
Of the forest"
Then Querlaoun showed me fetch
partly made of two huge claws of this
bird. What tremendous things the
talons! how deep they could go into the
flesh!
Then came the wonderful stories of
the very great strength Of the bird.
The people were afraid of them, and
compelled to be very careful of their
babies. These grand eagles do not feed
on fowls; they are too small of 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 better
them.
People had better not try to get hold
Of the guanionien young, if they want to
keep their sight" said Gambo. " for, as
sure as we live, the old bird will pounce
upon the man that touches its young"
For a long time [ heard the people
talking of the guanionien, but had never
yet had a glimpse Of one. Now, look
ing up again, | saw several 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 up 50 that [ do not see how they
could possibly see the tree; everything
must have been in haze to them; mon
keys, of course, could not be seen. They
were, no doubt, amusing themselves;
and [ wonder if they tried to see how
near they could 90 to the sun. Some at
times flew so high that I lost sight of
them.
One afternoon thought I would ram
bic round. [ took q double barrel,
smooth bore gun, and loaded one side
with a bullet, in case [ should see larger
game; the other barrel I loaded with
shot No. 2. Then I carefully plunged
into some woods until | reached the
banks of a little stream, and there 7
heard a cry Of mondi (Colobus Satanus),
which is the largest monkey of these
forests. From their shrill cries thought
there might be at least six. [ was glad
indeed that I had one barrel loaded with
big shot If the mondis were not too
far off, l would be able to get fair shot
at one.
advanced very cautiously until [ got
near to them, I could then see their
big bodies, long tails, and long, jet-black
shining hair. What handsome beasts!
what nice looking mufF their skins
would make.
Just as [ was considering which of
them I would fire at, | saw some big
thing, like shadow, suddenly come down
ping Of heavy wings, and also the death
cry of poor mondi. Then [ saw huge
bird, with breast spotted somewhat
like leopard, raise itself slowly into the
air, carrying the monkey in its powerful,
fnger-like talons. The claws Of one leg
was fast in the upper part of the neck of
the monkey; 50 deep were they in the
flesh that they were completely buried
and few drops of blood fell upon the
leaves below The other leg had its
claws quite deep into 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 higher, the monkey s
tail swayed to and fro, and then both
disappeared. 1t was a guanionien. Its
prey was, no doubt, taken to some big
tree where it should be devoured.
The natives say that the first thing the
guanionien does is to take out the eyes
Of the monkeys they catch. But there
must be fearful struggle, for these
mondis are powerful beasts, and do not
die at the eagles will. There must be
a great trial of strength, for if the mon
key is not seized at an exact place on the
neck he can turn his head and then in
ficts terrible bite on the breast of the
eagle, or on his neck or leg, which dis
ables his most terrible enemy, and then,
both falling, meet their death.
[ looked on without firing. The mon
keys seemed paralyzed with fear when
the eagle came down upon them, and did
not move until after the bird of prey
had taken one of their number, and then
decamped. When [ looked for them
they had fled to parts unknown to me
in the forest. was looking SO intently
at the eagle and its prey that for awhile
I had forgotten the mondis. | do not
wonder at it, for monkeys [ could see
often, but it is only once in great
while that such scene as | witnessed
could be seen by man. It was grand
and / wondered not that the natives
called the guanionien the leopard of the
air.
THERE is a certain sort Of guileless-
ness which never wears out. We were
reminded of this while standing at the
entrance To Rarnum's circus the other