Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-08-01
BECAME A CORILLA'S BRIDE.
The Remarkable Adventure of an African
Woman in the Congo Region.

''The natives of Africa are towards
in war" said Carl Steckleman, the ex-
plorer, who started last week for New
York preparatory to going to the Con-
90 region. ''They prefer to take
prisoners, and comparatively few of
their enemies are killed outright. They
are afraid to strike for fear they viii
receive a more damaging blow in re-
turn. They make slaves of their pris-
oners, and the captives have sorry
time.
'sOf all enemies they dread the goril-
Ia most. And he is a foe that no man
dares despise. He will fight at sight
Numbers do not deter him. He is so
human and so desperate in his de-
tense and attack that the Africans have
long learned that to fight with a goril-
la is to fight to the death. This dread
full animal keeps to the woods, as it is
necessary for him to grasp hold of the
boughs as he walks on his hind legs.
A man is therefore comparatively safe
if he is on the prairie.
There are some extraordinary things
told of the gorilla. | will relate one
of them. | had always heard it said
that the male gorilla would not harm
a woman. This is the common belief
in some tribes. One day we came to a
village in which one hut had been
built apart from the rest. We in
quired for the reason of this and found
that it had been dedicated to witch.
This witch was greatly revered. She
had been the wife of gorilla. The
woman had lived in the village in a
| house which stood on the edge of the
forest. A great tree Overhung her
shanty. In the village all the trees
| had been cut down as a precaution
against the gorillas. One night one
of these animals came out of the for
est, got up into the big tree which
| oyerhung the woman's house, climbed
| down onto the roof, threw the roof off,
swung down into the hut, seized the
woman, climbed up through the hole
in the roof up in the tree and went
away into the woods, carrying the
woman with him. His great strength
made this an easy thing for him to do.
! He could hold her IN one arm and with
his two hind legs and his one free arm
make his way up and down trees OF
through the woods. The woman was
| gone for many days. The people saw
that her house roof had been torn off.
They looked carefully around the
house and saw there were no tracks
whatever. They then knew that the
dread enemy had carried her off. One
day she came back. She told Won
derful story. The gorilla had carried
her for miles into the woods, and final
ly had climbed great tree and de-
posted her in his home. There he
treated her kindly, brought her food
and drink, but would not permit heI
to leave. After watching her care.
fully for many days he finally left her,
probably intending to return in short
time, convinced that she would remain.
The woman came down to the ground
and after wandering in the forest fol-
several days made her way back to the
village. The people at first were
about to kill her, but, they finally con
Guided that she was possessed of eX
traordinary powers. They therefore
built her house for herself, supplied
her with every comfort, and looked VI
to her as a sacred person. Indian
! GDOl2S Means