Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1888-03-30
MY FIRST GORILLA HUNT.

MY FIRST GORILLA HUN :.
In the gloomy recesses of the prim-
eval forests still to be found in Central
Africa there is a vast unexplored field
still stretching forth its unmeasured
space to the hunter and the natural
ist To those who know the face Of
nature as it is before the corrosive
hand of civilization sweeps across it,
there is little ground for wonder that
the two are almost always in greater
or lesser degree united. Occasionally
then. even the most ardent hunter
will lose the blood instinct that ami
mates him, and, lowering his rifle, per
haps in a moment of great personal
danger, will forget his long and labor
iously sought quarry to watch some
new trait or fresh instinct in the ami
NAL that, unconscious of his presence,
gambols before him. 1t is of such an
episode that / now write.
Nv guide and | had been for two
days after big game with but little
success, until shortly after noon on the
second day we struck what appeared
TO be one of the dense patches OF I'M
penetralia that cannot be described,
but must be seen TO be understood.
Behind us stretched vast avenues OF
trees. the height Of which was lost in
the leafv clouds which shut out the
| fierce, burning 'lare OF the sun, and
rendered even le terrible noontlde
cool and pleasant Ia front of us came
the closer stem Nd thick, intertwin-
| ing growth Of u les and creepers, with
stunted bushes and long pendant mass
es, impenetrable save where some gl-
gantic brute had crushed passage
! through, leaving his tracks in broken
branches. crushed bushes and thickly
scattered twigs Birds of gorgeous
plumage with harsh, discordant voices
peopled the trees, the chirp Of grass
hopper. the sharp hiss of a serpent, or
the shrill sound of a locust rose from
the matted grass, with occasionally
| the hoot of an owl, or the chatter of &
stray monkey, which sounded strange
ly in the peculiar silence of the forests.
As we advanced along the track, slow
ly and with great difficulty, we seemed
to leave them far behind. and entered
into region Of semi-darkness, faint
greenish black light, as though the
glorious sunlight overhead, baked in
finding a direct inlet TO the ground,
had been filtered through yards of
close growing foliage, and, unconquer-
ed by all the forces Of vegetation, had
succeeded in sending faint, subdued
semblance of itself, like that found in
some vast cathedral aisle. Ny eyes
struggled with the gloom and seemed
to have an instructive power to dilate
their pupils sufficiently to magnify or
condense the attenuated rays until
they were able to illumine the sur
rounding Plutonian depths.
My guide suddenly paused and made
a sign to me with his open palm, which,
| in the language of the hunter, said
that he had struck trail, or some to-
ken of the proximity of game that had
escaped my less acute powers. | eau
tiously advanced TO his side, and fol
lowing the direction of his finger,
peered through the brush, and saw
that we lay upon the edge of small
clearing, overshadowed by an enor-
nous tree, whose foliage, without re-
ally admitting a greater volume of
light, seemed to equalize the CLEAN,
and so render objects at distance of
thirty or forty yards perfectly percept-
ible.
Right opposite to us, with his back
against a tree, was the sleeping form
of huge gorilla, his hands hanging
down by his sides, his legs crooked in
front of him, and his head istlessly
living sidewise on his shoulder. Some
distance from him was the female, ap-
parently busily engaged in gathering
nuts, swinging from tree to tree, now
disappearing into the surrounding
forest, but ever and anon returning 10
keep watch and ward over the sleep
ing lord and master. For some min
utes | hesitated as to what course to
pursue. whether to attempt 10 get any
closer. "a the distance was rather
long one, in such light, to attack an
animal like the gorilla, who, if only
wounded, would, in all probability,
with the female, charge right down
into us: or if | should take all risks
and rely upon the second rifle of my
guide. At last | decided TO take my
chance where / was, but upon raising
nv rifle / heard scream of agony
from the female, which caused the
sleeper TO start to his feet, and as he
did so the female literally fell from a
tree on the edge of the clearing down
to the ground, uttering the most pier
cling cries that human imagination can
conceive.
Then a terrific roar that shook the
very ground broke upon the silence
and told the history of the female go
rilla's fright. 1t was a lion. and at the
sound of his voice she again fled into
| the trees, while the male uttered a
| deep. savage. hoarse roar that was the