The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-11-17
TRAPPING A GORILLA
Story OF a Vicious Struggle In
the African jungle.
A NET THAT FAILED TO HOLD.

The Shared Monster Broke Through
lts Msshss and Was the cavss Of
One Dsath Before Hs Was himsslf
Killed BY the Attacking Party.
Captain Fritz Duquesne. tho Boer
ivory hunter. was commissioned By q
German naturalist society 10 capture
one Of each species Of African quadru-
mana. He was entirely successful In
the work. except that he could obtain
no gorilla. Finally q pygmy pointed
out q portion Of the dank Jungle In
which q gorilla had been seen.
The captain Immediately Arranged
biz camp and laid his plans and made
preparations TO trap the monster and
get him alive II possible. thoush be
fully realised the danger Of the under
taking.
FOR four days" said tho captain.
we camped In this hotbed q disease.
Beaters went out In all directions
searching for the gorilla. At iast some
deep. wide scratches were found on Q
cluster Of vines. On close examinAtion
the unmistakabls hair Of tt,s 0oeiiia
was found on Q broken twig.
"Aftef tome hours We found the tEoe
where thu gorilla lived. We eouh tell
Il BY thu greasy appearance oe the
bark made 20 By tho repeated rubbing
e the gosilia's body. We could ten By
ths fresh marks. With sap stiN wet,
that the animal bud recently ascended
the tree. The scratches wees short
and deep, showing that It hAd Mud
itsslf up and had not slid down. which
would have made . long. shallow
scratch.
I'VE spread . strong net asoand the
tree In circle sloping upward on the
outer side Around the top Of tho net
there were drawn ropes from four d.
rections. held By half dozen natives
hidden tu the bush. These weee to
bring tho top Of the net together and
thus bag our game
after waiting homo hours the leaves
above rustled and then opensd a. q
ak foot male gorilla descended un-
suspectirsly and entered tho trap. ]
signaled, the forr ropes were pulled
at once, and We had our animaNfor
q moment He roared In fury. twist
Ing. jumping and biting the rope into
pieces. The natives were pulled about
like dolls a. he tried to reach 6rst one
and then another. The professor jump
ed about In excitement, trying to TO
Gus camera on the infuriated animal.
"At last the mighty arms Of the 60
rilla broke holO through the net. and
he tore the rest from him as though
It were q rotten rag. Most Of the ma.
lives fed In dh'may. The professor
dropped his camera and tried to es-
cape. In moment the gorilla grasp
ed him In its terrible hands.
II seized my rifle and fred in the
air to frighten the animal. In my DO
sition / could not shoot at him with
out hitting my friend. For q moment
the gorilla stood still. holding the now
unconscious man as though he were
a baby. the brute's lips drawn back
from his glistening teeth.
II thrust another cartridge In my
rife. As did so there was q buzz in
the air, and an arrow, shot by q ma
tive, pierced the gorilla's side. A roar
burst from his red throat, and he drop
ped his victim. Like q fash, before
I could shoot, native sprang from
the leaves and. half throwing, half
thrusting. drove an assagai into the
gortlla's heart With q Rroan the
brute fell dead
Examining the professor, I found
THAI his right arm was broken and
that some Of his ribs were crushed into
his lungs. We gave up the effort to
get q live gorilla and. placing the IN
5ured man In hammock. carried him
back toward the east coast
HE died on the road. Out ON the
veldt beside a native village q lonely
little slab marked Carl Bloch sticks
up above the grass. 1t Is the profess
or's grave. Hunting Is not all excit.
Ing adventure and laughing victory.
1t has its tears. like other things."-