Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1909-04-08
GETTING A GORILLA
VICIOUS STRUGGLE WITH ANIMAL
IN AFRICAN JUNGLE.
Brute's Enormous Strength Enables 1t
to Break Bonds and Stay Mem
Der of Party Trying to
Capture It,

Capt. Fritz Duquesne, the Boer ivory
hunter, was commissioned by Ger.
man naturalist society to CAPTURE one
of each species of African quadru-
mana He was entirely successful in
the work, except that he could obtain
no gorilla he writes in Hampton's
Magazine under the title Hunting
Ahead of Roosevelt in East Africa"
Finally pigmy pointed out a portion
OF the dark jungle in which a gorilla
had been seen.
For four days" continues the cap
tain we camped in this hotbed of dis
ease. Beaters went out in all direc-
tons searching for the gorilla At
last some deep, wide scratches We're
found on a cluster of vines On close
examination the unmistakable hair of
the gorilla was found on broken
tWlg. After some hours we found the
tree where the gorilla lived We could
tell 1t by the greasy appearance of
the bark, made so by the repeated
rubbing of the gorillas body. We
could tell by the fresh marks, with
sap still wet, that the animal had re-
Gently assembled the tree. The
scratches We're short and deep show
ing that it had lifted itself up and
not slid down, which would have made
a long, shallow scratch.
I'VE spread a strong net around the
tree in circle sloping upward on
the outer side. Around the top of the
net there We're drawn ropes from four
directions held by half a dozen ma
tives hidden in the bush. These We're
to bring the top of the net together,
and thus bag our game
After waiting some hours the
leaves above rustled and then opened
as six-foot male gorilla descended
nnsuspectingly and entered the trap.
| signaled, the four ropes We're pulled
at once, and we had our animal-for
a moment. He roared in fury. twist
ing, jumping and biting the rope into
pieces. The natives were pulled about
like dolls as he tried to reach first one
and then another. The professor
jumped about in excitement, trying TO
focus a camera on the Infatuated ami
NAL
At last the mighty arms of the 60
rilla broke hole through the net and
he tore the rest from him as though
it We're a rotten rag. Most of the ma
tives fled in dismay The professor
dropped his camera and tried to es-
cape; in a moment the gorilla grasped
him in its terrible hands.
Il sliced my rifle and fired in the
air to brighten the ANIMAL In my po-
sition | could not shoot at him without
hitting my friend For moment the
gorilla stood still holding the now I'M
conscious man as though he were a
baby the brute's lips drawn back from
his glistening teeth | thrust another
cartridge in my rife. AS | did so
there was buzz in the air and an ar
row shot by a native pierced the go
rilla's side. A roar burst from his red
throat and he dropped his victim. Like
a fash, before | could shoot, a native
sprang from the leaves. and, half
throwing, half thrustng. drove an as
segai into the gorilla's heart With a
groan the brute fell dead
Examining the professor. found
that his right arm was broken and
that some OF his ribs were crushed
into his lungs. We gave up the eff
fort to get a live gorilla and placing
the injured man in a hammock. car
ried him back toward the east coast.
He died on the road. Out on the veldt
beside native village a lonely little
slab marked Carl Bloch sticks up
above the grass. Bunting is not all
exciting adventure and laughing vic
tory. 1t has tears, like other things. .