Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-10-03
MY ONE GORILLA
r., CRANE ALIEN.

looked mp from my beetles. The
night was warm.
n naked little black girl crossed the
dusty main street OF the village just in
front OF my hut, carrying in her hand
what seemed TO nc in the cleaning the
largest blossom ] had ever observed
since my arrival in Africa. That was a
blossom. II looked like an orchid, pale
cream color in hue. and very fantastic and
bizarre in shape; but what specially at
tracted my attention at first sight was
It's peculiar shining and glistening ef-
feet. like luminous paint, which made
it glow in the gray dusk with sort of
phosphorescent light such as one OBJ
serves in tropical seas on calm summer
evenings
10 a naturalist of course such vision
rs that was simply irresistible. "Hullo,
there, little girl!'' ] cried out in Fantee,
which had learned ny that time to
speak tluently, "let ms look ut your
flower, will you? Where Oh earth did
you get it?'
The natives crowded round with dis
interested advice and eyed the torn and
draggled blossom curiously. Its q
moon flower" they said in their own
dialect. Very rare Hard to get.
Comes from the deep shades in the
great forest.
How did you come by it, my child %
l asked, coaNingly. of my sobbing little
l0-year-old
My father Wrought 1t in,s the child
answered, with burst "He gave it
me week ago. He was out in the
country OF the dwarfs doing trade. He
went for ivory aud he brought this back
to me.
Boys" L cried to the negroes who
crowded round looking on, do YOU
know where it lives? / want to get
one. A good English rife to any man
in Tulamba who guides me to the spot
where l can pick q live moon Hower?"
The men shook their heads and
shrugged their shoulders obviously.
"Oh, no" they all answered, like
snpers at the theater. with one accord.
" Too far! too dangerous!"
Why dangerous? 2. cried, laughing.
The moon-hower won't bite you. Who
says danger in picking fower?"
My head guide and hunter stood out
from the crowd. and looked across at
me awe struck. "Oh, excellency.. he
said, in hushed and frightened voice,
the lnoon-tiower is rare; it is very
scarce; it grows only in the dark forest
of the inner land where the Npina
dwells. No man dare pick it for fear of
the Ngina."
"Oho!" said j. "Is that SO, nv
friend? Then I'm rot astonished." For
Ngina. as no doubt Your already aware.
is the native West African name for the
gorilla.
The more inquired of the natives
about the new plant the more was nv
curiosity piqned to possess one. ]
longed to bring a root of the marvellous
bloom to Europe. For the natives all
spoke Of it with certain hnshed awe
or superstitious respect. ut is the
Ngina's flower" they said; 1T grows in
the dark places-the gardens of the
Ngina If any man breaks one of that
is very bad luck; the Ngina will surely
oyertake and destroy him.
This superstitious awe only infia med
my desire to possess u root. The ne
groes' stories showed the moon flower
to be a most unique species. I gath
cred from what they told me that the
blossom had a Very long spur or sac,
containing honey at its hlae in great
quantities: that it was fertilizcd and
rifled by huge evening meth, whose
proboscis was exactly adapted in length
to the spur and its nectnry; that it was
creamy white in order to attract the
insects eyes i'll the gray shades Of dusk /:
and that, for the self-same reason, its
petals We're endowed with the strange
quality of phosphorescence, till now
unknown i'll the vegetable kingdom;
while 1T exhaled by night delicious
perfume, strong enough to be perceived
at some twenty yards distance So
great prize to a man Of my tastes was
simply irresistible. 1 made up INV
mind that, come what might, ] must.
could and would possess a tuber of the
moon flower.
One fortnight sulliced for me tn make
my final plans. Heavy brides over
came the scrllples of the negroes. The
promise OF good rifle induced the
1AuuoI VI VIC liSL specimen 10 take Scrv-
ice with me as u guide. Fullv
equipped for u weeks march aud we'll
attended with followers all armed to
the teeth, ] made my star; at last for
the home Of the moon flower.
10 cut long story short, We went
for three days into the primeval shade
OF the great equatorial African forest.
Dense roofs Of foliage shut out the light
of day; underfoot the ground was en-
numbered with thick. tropical brush
wood We crc!t along can iously.