Evening star., 1926-05-16
BY T. ALEXANDER BARNS.

=" ROM my guide | now began
L to hear tales of the gorillas,
the mcgee, as the natives call
4 them hereabouts. From his
description and Judging by the
fact that he was able TO differentiate
between what he called the inpundu
rhe chinpanzD and the mcgee tthe
gorilla). it was evident I was within
measurable distance of seeing and
perhaps shooting a specimen of this
animal-the largest species of man
ape that walks the earth today.
What with rain and cold, bad and
grumbling porters. lack of food and
suitable guides. | had begun to won
der if the climbing of these volcanoes
was worth the candle. but the news
concerning the gofillas and the ar
rival of quantity of food putting
every one in 81 good humor. things
took turn for the better, and | de-
cided TO start for the higher regions
The saddle" that connects the two
volca noes of Mikeno and karisimbi
approximates an elevation of l0.500
feet and, as water is obtainable in
some small bogs that exist there.
decided to reach this and make 1T
my camping place for the further
exploration of this part of the range.
As the "safari' mounted to this
ridge evidences Of elephant and buf-
falo became more frequent. and the
bamboo and other tropical tollaGe
more dense. However, on approach
Ing the top, the hardy traveller will
reach definitely marked zone beyond
which the bamboo apparently Will not
grow and he will be delighted to find
himself amid open forest scenery that
can only be described as eysian.
This unique forest, which is little
more than two miles square. is com
posed almost entirely of old and knot
ted Magenta trees resembling the
European sumachl, on the gnarled
stems and branches of which are to
he seen massive pads OF dark green
moss. Hagenia trees growing else
where never attain thickness of
trunk much greater than two feet.
but here their growth for some TN
explained reason has become abnor-
NAL, many of their red arched and
buttressed trunks assuming giant
proportions three times this measure
ment.
When | left my damp and cold
camp the following morning for
still wetter and colder forest. l had
little hope Of bagging a gorilla. one
of the rarest and most interesting
animals that may fall to the hunters
rifle, the mere name of which had
often thrilled my younger days and
around which there still hangs some
thing primeval. Such luck seemed
too good to come true.
1t is perhaps not generally known
that gorillas are fond of bending over
long bamboos to make a kind OF low
platform upon which to sun them
selves and from which to pluck and
chew the tender leaves. Thus en-
gagged was the first gorilla / encoun-
tered.
MY Mhutu guide and myself had
AVA been going carefully along
through the dew-drenched forest.
when we were attracted by what
sounded like d cough and breaking
branch a considerable distance in ad-
vance of our position. This the ma.
tive assured me came from the animals
we sought, but quite how he could
distinguish the sounds from those
made by a buffalo | am at a loss to
understand.
However, he was right. for after
gingerly picking our way ahead for a
short distance, we disturbed one of
these hairy giants taking an early
morning sun bath on his platform.
He was. however, too quick for US.
for either sensing danger or having
seen us, he made one great leap off
his perch, accompanied by a scream