Year: 1870

One morning / hear a strange cry
high up in the air. look, and what do
l see ?-what do l see yonder up in the
sky An eagle. But what kind Of an
eagle {? for If appears to me 50 much
larger than any eagle / have ever met
with before. And as asked this, my
men exclaimed


at is a guanionieni the leopard OF
the air; the bird that feeds on gazelles,
goats, and monkeys; the bird that is the
most difficult of any to find and to kill. -


"Yes," said Querlaouen; Gin my
younger days, remember, my wife and
myself were on our plantation with some
of our slaves, and one day we heard the
cries of a baby, and saw a child carried
up into the sky by one of these guanion-
lens. The baby had been laid on the
ground, and the guanionien, whose eyes
never miss anything, and which had not
been noticed soaring above our heads,
pounced on its prey, and then laughed
at US as he rose and flew to a distant part
of the forest.


Then Ouerlaouen showed me fetch
partly made Of two huge claws of this
bird What tremendous things those
talons were how deep they couidgo in
to the flesh! @ER aE


Then came wonderful stories of the
very great strength of the bird. The
people were afraid Of them, and were
compelled to be very careful of their
babies. These grand eagles do not feed
on fowls; they are too small game for
them. Monkeys are what they like best;
they can watch them as they float over
the top of the trees Of the forest but
sometimes the monkeys get the better Of
them EE4 A AE&
People had better not try to get hold
of the guanienien young, if they want
to keep their sight said Gambo "for,
as sure as we live, the old bird will
pounce upon the man that touches its
young.


For a long time l heard the people
talking ofthe guamonien, but had never
yet had a glimpse of one. Now, look
ing up again, saw several of them
How high they were! At times they
would appear to be quite still in the air;
at other times they would soar. They
were so high that I do not see how they
could possibly see the trees everything
must have been in a haze to them !;
monkeys, of course, could not be seen.
They were no doubt amusing themselves,
and I wonder if they tried to See how
near they. .couldsgo to the sun. Some at
times flew so high that l lost sight of
them.


In the afternoon l thought l would
ramble round. I took double-barreled
smooth-bore gun, and loaded one side
with a bullet, in case I should see large
game; the other barrel loaded with
Shot No. ?. Then l carefully plunged
into the woods til I reached the banks
of a little stream, and there / heard the
cry of the mondi (Colobus Satanus),
which is one of the largest monkeys of
these forests. From their shrill cries
thought there must be at least half a
dozen together. I was indeed glad that
I had one barrel loaded with big shot
If the mondis- were not too far of, l
would be able to get fair shot, and kill
one.


I advanced very cautiously until l got
quite near to them. l could. then see
their big bodies, long tails, and long,
iet-black, shining hair. What handsome
beasts they were what a nice looking
muff their skins, would make, Thought


lust as was considering Which of
them would ire at, saw some big
thing, like a Shadow, suddenly come





tapping of heavy wings, and also the
death-cry. of poor mondi. Then l saw
a huge bird, w a breast spotted some
what like a leopard, raise itself slowly
into the air, carrying the monkey in its
powerful, hnger-like talons. The claws
of one leg were. .fastlin the upper part Of
the neck of the monkey so deep were
they in the flesh that they were complete
ly buried, and few drops of blood fell
onsthe leaves below. a;Eheaother alep
had its claws quite deep into the back Of
the monkey The left leg was kept high
er than the right. and / could see that
the great strength of the bird was used
at that time to keep the neck, and also
the back, of the victim from moving.
The bird rose higher. and higher, the
monkeys tail sWayed to and fro, and
then both disappeared. Itwas a qua
nionien. It's prey was, no doubt, taken
to some big tree where it could be de-
voured.


The natives say that the first thing the
guanionien does is to take out the ewes
Of the monkeys they catohs But there
must be a fearful struggle, for these mon
dis are powerful beasts, and do not die
at the eagles will. There must be a great
lIldl VI SuctlStui toi II ulC monkey IS
not seized at an exact place on the neck.
he can turn his head, and he then inficts
a fearful bite. on the breast Of the eagle,
or on his neck or leg, which disables his
most terrible enemy, -and then both,
falling, meet their death.


looked on without firing. The mon
keys seemed paralyzed with fear when
the eagle came down upon them, and
did not move until after the bird of prey
had taken one Of their number, and
then decamped. When I looked for
them they had fed for parts unknown to
me in the forest. was looking so in
tently at the eagle and its prey that for a
while had forgotten the mondis. do
not wonder at it, for MONKEYS | could