Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1890-08-21


Mission, West Africa. He says:
The getting Of great hope is like
the setting OF tho sun. says Longfel.
low in the opening page of his Hyperion.
/ quote his sentiment apropos OF my
giving up tho hope of obtaining you
a gorilla brain. have chung to the
hope and had the decided belief that
could obtain it, but now believe it i'm
possible; except for one like a traveller
or explorer or some one who would
make a business of it, hampered by
nothing else, who could sit down in a
native village for a few weeks, hiring
tho hunters to out daily That is the
way Du Chaillu obtained his. | do not
believe that he or any other white man,
unaided, can obtain gorilla"
After hunting yainly for brain in
August, 1880. he determined to go into
the gorilla region; 81 made all my plans
with great forethought as to detail" he
continues. ''The season would be the
cool day when | could hunt with less
discomfort There are scarcely any
gorillas in this Talaguga region.
know of but two being killed in the
eight years have been here, so closed
my house and went down the river
seventy miles 10 Kangwe. There
chose good crew of eight young men.
Your carboy of chloride of zinc had been
carefully kept all these years. took
iugful of it, Not to waste my alcohol,
which was TO immerse the brain as IL
should finally go to YOU ! took along
several gallons Of whisky. took my
Winchester and ublo-barreled gun and
united with mo NJ. Gacon, Swiss sharp.
shooter. The native hunters we're also
armed.
owe took a six-oared gig at Andinde
and went twenty miles down the river
TO the village Of man named Aveya.
There we ate dinner and took q man
TO guide us among the innumerable
islands of Lake O-Nange and 0gemwe.
The islands are all covered with heavy
forests growing out Of volcanic rocks.
The lake is very deep in places and
most of the approaches to the islands
very rocky and unsafe. We found an
island protected with cove and smooth
sandy beach. There we pitched our
tents and took our supper. The island
was small and uninhabited. No wild
animals-perhaps snakes. Startled at
our camp-ires, the hippopotami snorted
in the lake shadows. They attack in
the water only when wounded or while
in charge of their young They never
leave the water to attack ashore. We
arose early and moved on to another
island where we were given lodging by
a native 0kendo.
IN. Gacon and 0gula went on a hunt
ing expedition and returned with the
report that they had seen signs of goril-
las, but not the animals themselves. A
council was held IN the evening with
tho villagers as to time, route and the
art of hunting gorillas. Some two or
three old men and half dozen young
men, whom did not know, voluntarily
attached themselves to our party. evil
IDENTIFY for gain, and eventually for
bade them following us, for they ham
pered us. Everybody was sure | would
not be in the village four days without
succeeding. They told wonderful stories
of the numbers and audacity of the gor-
rillas. Not two days passed but some
one saw them in the gardens. As the
garden work is done principally by
women, it was they who most frequent
ly saw them, sometimes actually meet
ing them in the paths and being pur-
sued by males. From all their accounts.
the gorilla is full OF arts and tricks OF
the monkey tribes-quick to read faces.
The women being unarmcd and afraid.
the animals were more daring to them
than to the men,
"But they all said we white people
would have no chance OF getting so
near; that the animals would detect our
strange odor and fear our white faces
They hoped we would kill many, for
their gardens were devastated by the
gorillas, pigs, oxen and elephants. Most
OF the men said though they often saw
these animals they we're afraid 20 shoot
with their flint locks that often uncer-
tainly flashed in the pan. or whose slug
shets we're not Immediately fatal.
for then they were at tho mercy
OF the wounded beasts They
warned US that il we met with
a male who dared to face us. not
20 fire till only few yards distant. and
even then not to aim at the head, fot
the animal had the art-being acquaint-
cd with guns and all having informed
each other tas the sailors believel-oi
ducking It's head down at the click OF
the trigger. We we're to aim at the
abdomen, which from its size could not
fail to be injured. and the head or chest
would probably be pierced by the ami
NAL having ducked bis head down to
dodge a shot aimed, as It supposed, az
sts head.
"The next day we all, some fourteen !
men and eight dogs, went In the boat to
a large island shortly after sunrise. My
own crew of six we're afraid and left |
them in the boat. and Ogula described |
the lay Of the land so they we're to fol- /
low around to another part where we /
would probably emerge. The rest Of US Z
entered the thicket, very dense. Il /
grows up on wherever there are aban- /
doncd plantations. The original forest /
is easily threaded for the dense foliage /
OF the tall trees kills out by its shade /
the underhrush. But the gorillas are 4
looked for mostly 10 the plantations, old /
and new. But after four hours of search 4
nothing was heard OF oven seen except /
the tracks 81 Wild pigs
''We returned 70 dinner IN the after
noon Okendo. whose plantation is on (.