The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-12-06

ue0 oOtlU9I oI GTN1ttaIhh1u8 war ~ S.-th
a hand were beating n hollow tree. The
natives say that the male makes this noise
to call his mate this theory n~asu!al,nts
only when the gorilla IL excited and angry
that he drums. and the natives sny that
he drums upon q hollow tres. trunk. and
not upon his chest AS IL currently believed.
] am not able tn give an opinion ON this
Subject. All I know il that ! heard h
sound.
After u time. at a given signal, the ma
tives spr,ad themselves oslt. and making
n long dctoir, surrounded the spot where
rest. They were not mistaken, for On the
edge of ~ small glade the big brute sat
fast asleep, with his hack against n tree.
With his head fallen tn one side ON his
shoulder, his legs crooked i'm front of him,
and his long arms hanging ny his side. he
Looked X a drunken misshappen satyr.
There was no female gorilla to In, seen.
We waited patiently for some minutes,
until my attention was drawn tn som:
bright spots On the edge of the small
clearing. which proved to he the spear
heads Of the Fans. who had made the cir
cult, and were ready for the attack.
the encounter. and after n pause hc
emerged from cover as near as he could
to the gorilla, hut the thick underground
point farther away from the brute than he
wished. He poi~.s, his spear i'm readiness
:" ,iir Ss w IL; an w';h I',s p ~ e.. s'" ~ aHrr Sariiiai
when suddenly the animal rolled his head
from ONE side to the other.
QUICK AS ~ HASH Tie, young CnIG1 urODIDeNI
to the earth and lay motionless among
the rank grass. The beast breathed heav-
ily, opened his eyes for one second in n
hearing nothing, but dimly conscious thai
mischief vas around. Slowly the chiefs
head rose above the grasses. and his leg
crack went "a rotten twiR beneath his
hand ar foot.
The ape was thoroughly aroused. and
leaning " raised itself into am awk-
ward. partly erect. attitude. with knees
bent, body shopping and feet turned in,
and balanced himself i'm his position by
swinging his heavy arms as a ropt-walker
does with his pole. The gorilla invariably
charges ON all fours, not erect, as so
many ra's,S "s s;ins,t hay" W I iaat and ara, anii n a,d had %a,
with any idea Of charging just then. IL
the young chief had lain still, all would
showing on before me. and accordingly
rose tn his feet, flashed his spear at the
brute and made for the cover of the
OF the gorilla, which instantly tore the
weapon out bodily, savaRely hit the
wound, and dashed on all fours after his
with "a horrible SCREAM OF age.
All the Fans on the opposite of the
clearing now boldly dashed in, throwing
their spears, or as they got close enough
to him, thr,lsting them into the brute's
body. Wounds inflicted with such
weapons could not prove Immediately
fatal, and could only Kill the creature by
of the gorilla il SO great that even a rifle
ball seldom arrests at once his headlonx
If il had not been for the danger, this
spectacle of the contest between tho Fans
and the Ape would have been amusing, as
lodged. and the ape hacked slowly away
from them, making horrible grimaces and
gradually working himself into n blind
more than a minute. and then the ape
was AT the edge of the clearing. about
forty feet from where ] stood. Here an
a. 4. q. 49,. =. s..nH him. nRL nff.s
standing amazed for a second, he rushed
at his first assailant, seized him
by. the leg. and before "a hand could be
raised, he swung him around his head
ringing the poor fellows skull i'm contact
with u tree trunk and cracking it like u
II was "a terrible sight hut il was done
! had the power tn prevent it. l
raised my rifle and was about to- shoot. hut
the arena. right i'm front of the blood
stained beast, came Mt him with u ter
rible roar.
Oshupu leaped to one side, and shorten
ing his spear thrust IL clear through tho
body of the ape. which turning. grabbed
Mt his daring assailant. He missed his
in which Oshupu's foot had got caught.
Tn. beast almost smiled and drew the
vine in hand over hand. as il he knew his
advantage Oshupu struck him again
with his spear, which broke i'm two and
placed the hunter at the apes mercy.
help D-hmpu. and quick as thought sent
two bullets ploughing their way through
the apes head, tearing thc top of The
clean OH. He reelcd and fell. rose
again. clenchcd AT the mass of vines. and
rolled over, still convulsively twitciling
and tearing at the underground, while
Oshupu got his foot clear. and coming to
me. placed my hand on his head i'm oxen
that his life hcnceforth belonged to me-.
There the brute lay. "a strange sight,and
one of which the stuffed gorilla skins of
the natural history collections can give
but "a faint idea. The face was hIdeous;
the breadth of chest was grand, the arms
and hands were massive; but the huI O
trunk dwindled into "a pair of legs. thin,
bent and decrcpit as those of an ola
woman. The natives may be well cN-
ctIsed for entertaining "a superstitious awe
of the animal in it's freedom.
Their idea il that n man Is sometimes
transformed into "A sylvan demon, " no IL
like n gorilla, and cannot bc killed 10y II
black man unless the spears have been
specially treated by the medicine man.
I wished to preserve the skin, but before
l could prevent their action the natives
had around the body, making "a
perfect sieve of il with spear thrusts. The
head was destroyed. SD l simply took
measurements of the beast; he was five
feet four inches i'm height. and cut of the
hands and feet as trophies. We buried
the young chief, after carrying him back
to the village, hut no funeral rites were
observed AS lac had been killed by "a Hor
rilla. and so was believed to be he
witched.