Evening star., 1930-06-01
Carl Akeley ON
the Long Trail to
the Kivu Gorilla
Land-Fighting
Fe ger Amid the
TreacherousBeauty
of q Dark Forest.

nortering thus relieving us OF the very serious
problem of supplying them with posho.
That night our camp seemed translated TO
another world Heavy clouds made it impos-
sible to see more than a few feet ahead The
voices of the naked porters, crouchlng over
tiny bamboo fires in improvised shelters under
the overhanging trees, and OF our own boys In
their tents nearby echoed and re-echoed as II
amplified by the fog which enveloped us.
In the morning we awoke to the patter OF
heavy rain on our tents, but in the afternoon
the sun came through for little and showed
us for the first time the world around us. We
were Just above the bamboos plunged in head
high vegetation and in the edge of the forest
of giant trees hung with heavy MOSES. The
lifting clouds in the late afternoon gave US
a heeting glimpse of pinnacled Mikeno, OF the
rounded dome of Karisimbi. covered with fresh
snow and of the silver sheet OF Lake k1Vu,
1850 feet below us, blended into the western
sky.
EOR three days after we reached Rweru It
continued to rain. Nearly all of Carl's old
Kongo boys of 1921, hearing that he had re-
turned to the country, now joined us. With
them came Mguru, who had been his guide and
gun bearer when he collected his gorillas. It
was delightful to see how they reported to us.
waiting for no message, but taking 1t for
granted that their old master would need and
want them. Further events proved that their
loyalty and their interest in him far out
weighed any pecuniary reward.
The second day after we reached Rweru
Carl awoke with nausea and fever. He said he
felt exactly as he had in 1921 while hunting
gorilIas. At that time, in spite of his illness,
his eagerness to find the animals he had come
so far to see and his satisfaction and excitement
when he actually secured his specimens and
motion pictures carried him through the hard
est days he had ever known in the field. He
afterward confessed to me that then he had
we exhausted
caring for skins and skeletons unaided that he
had seriously doubted when it was all over II
he could ever get back to camp.
During our second day at Rweru he felt bet
ter. He spent long afternoon in my tent, tell
ing me all that the expedition had meant to
him. He was able to eat his dinner and to sit
with around our little campfire. But the
next day, after another night of fever and
nausea, he felt very weak and remained quietly
in bed, reading and sleeping. I recall that he
was reading appreciation Of o. Henry writ
ten by Arthur w. Page, his lifelong friend,
whose "opinicn he preferred to that of all the
world besides"
Raddatz, IN charge of the porters had moved
the bulk of our provisions up to the high camp
site called by the natives Kabara, and there
had begun the clearing of ground for our tents.
And on the thirteenth Derscheid anxious to
begin his observations at high altitude, had
joined him.
In my anxiety for my husbands welfare, Bill
began to be invaluable to me. With a speaking
knowledge of half dozen native languages, he
quickly assumed authority over our strange Kivu
porters. Not only was he devotion itself to my
husband and to me throughout our whole expe-
dition, but in matters of dealing with the ma
tives his Judgment and authority proved in
valuable
The following morning Carl felt better and
after light breakfast decided to start to the
saddle camp He said he would walk across
the gorge, too steep for the boys to carry him
down and up, but he promised me that he
would not attempt to walk further. AS he
walked quickly out Of our camp he said. "It is
a wonderful thing to be here surrounded only
by loving care" Across the canyon he got in
the hammock and walked behind him. Soon
the wild celery near us crashed and we heard
deep gutteral voice. "There is your first 60
rilla," he told me. The waving bushes showed
me where he had vanished.
Once Carl made the boys stop to show me
the beautiful tiny nest of q sunbird hanging
from a branch Of laurel tree and interviewer
in a wide banner of graybeard moss. Again,
when we came to the giant trees whose heavy
limbs were covered with wide platforms Of
green moss and hung with waving streamers Of
fern, he said:
Mary do you see now where the fairies
dance?"
Finally, when we got into the deepest, most
beautiful forest, he said "Here 1 am actually
on my old trail"
Then he pointed out the slope on which he
had killed his first gorilla, so steep to seem
almost perpendicular. It was here he had tied
himself and the gorilla to a tree on the brink
of canyon while Skinning and Skeletonizing
the animal I had seen wild country before,
but nothing difficult of access as this.
Presently Carl said he felt cold and would
walk. It was now dismal and dark In the
forest. as q chill wind was driving the clouds