Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1889-12-28

of locust rose from the matted grass.
No other sounds could be distinguished,
except the chatter of stray monkey, or
the boot of an owl.
We seemed to enter into region Of
semi-darlness, where the light was Of a
faint greenish black. / could feel the
pupils of my eyes dilate in an effort to
condense the faint light filtered from
above through the green, tightly-drawn
curtain overhead, so that I might dis
tinguish the tree-trunks from 0shupu,
for in that strange light every thing
seemed to move, and If stood still
became dizzy.
At about the third hour after sunrise,
as nearly as could Judge, the light
either became stronger, or my eyes be-
came more accustomed to the gloon,
and could see better than before. My
guides, apparently, had found no diff
Guilty in seeing we'll all the time. The
greatest caution and silence were OBJ
served, for our aim was to catch go
rilla asleep. 1 wished the natives to
hunt him in their own style, and held
my double eight" as reserve force to
use in case of accidents.
am an old stalker, yet my skill was
sorely tried in that labyrinth, in which
dead branches lay thickly about under
foot After time the underground be-
came less dense, and Oshupu whispered
to me that this circumstance indicated
the presence Of water, and that the ami
mails coming and going in all directions
kept the underground more or less trod-
den down.
Suddenly my guide stopped short,
and holding up his finger, crooked IL
over his head, pointing to the left.
turned my head in the direction indi-
Gated, and at distance of about three
hundred feet away saw an immense ape
slowly moving through the trees on all
tours, swinging to and fro in manner
not unlike the plantigrade movement of
a grizzly.
Oshupu reached his hand behind as
signal for me to move up to him, and
when l had done so, he said: '"The
gorilla has fed, and is lazy. If he sees
us, he will run, and we shall never catch
rest here, and we will drum for his mate
and sleep. Then we shall catch him."
Accordingly we all sank down, only
Oshupu watching. Presently the muf-
fed sound of drumming was heard as
if hand we're beating a hollow tree.
The natives say that the male makes
this noise to call his mate; this theory
naturalists do not authenticate, but af
firm that it is only when the gorilla is
excited and angry that he drums, and
the natives say that he drums upon
hollow tree-trunk, and not upon his
chest as is currently believed. l am not
able to give an opinion on this sub
ject. All know is that 1 heard the
sound.
After time, at given signal, the
natives spread themselves out, and maxi
ing long detOur, surrounded the spot
where it was believed the gorilla had
stopped to rest. They were not mis-
taken, for on the edge of small glade
the big brute sat fast asleep, with his
back against a tree. With his head
fallen to one side on his shoulder, his
legs crooked in front of him, and his
long arms hanging by his side, he looked
like drunken, misshapen satyr. There
was no female gorilla to be seen.
We waited patiently for some min
utes, until my attention was drawn to
some bright spots on the edge of the
small clearing, which proved to be the
spear-heads of the Fans, who had made
the circuit, and were ready for the at
tack.
1t was deputed to young chief to
open the encounter, and after pause he
emerged from cover as near as he could
get to the gorilla, but the thick under
growth compelled him to enter the
glade at point farther away from the
brute than he wished. He poised his
spear in his hand in readiness to throw
it, and, step by step, approached until
he was within thirty feet of the gorilla,
when suddenly the animal rolled his
head from one side to the other.
Quick as a flash the young chief
dropped to the earth, and lay motionless
among the rank grass. The beast
breathed heavily, opened his eyes for
one second, in dreamy, leery way see
ing nothing, hearing nothing, but dimly
conscious that mischief was around.
Slowly the chiefs head rose above the
grasses, and his leg was drawn up under
him to move, when ''crack" went rot
ten twig beneath his hand or foot.
The ape was thoroughly aroused, and
leaping forward raised itself into an
awkward, partly erect attitude, with
knees bent, body STOPPING and feet
turned in, and balanced himself in this
position by swinging his heavy arms as
a rope-walker does with his pole. The
gorilla invariably charges on all-fours,
and not in an erect attitude, as so many
authors have said, and this ape had
raised himself to look around, and not
with any idea of charging just then.
If the young chief had lain still, all
would have been well; but he was de-
sirous of showing off before me, and ac-
cordingly rose to his feet, dashed his
spear at the brute, and made for the
cover of the thicket. The spear went
through tho arm of the gorilla, which
instantly tore the weapon out bodily,
savagely bit the wound and dashed on
all-fours after his assailant, with hor-
rible scream of rage.
All the Fans on the opposite side of
the clearing now boldly dashed in,
throwing their spears, or, as they got
close enough to him, thrusting them
into the brute's body. Wounds inflicted
with such weapons could not prove inn
mediately fatal, and could only kill the
creature by causing loss of blood, as the
vital power of the gorilla is so great that
even rife-ball seldom arrests at once
his headlong course.