In a few minutes we came upon a female gorilla, which, all unconscious
of our approach, was sitting at the foot of a vine, eating the leaves.
There were four young ones beside her, engaged in the same occupation.
In order to approach within shot of these, we had to creep on all fours
through the brushwood with the greatest caution; for gorillas are
sharp-sighted, and they have a remarkably acute sense of hearing, so
that sometimes the breaking of a dry twig under one's foot is sufficient
to alarm them.
We did not venture to speak even in whispers as we advanced; but by a
sign Jack told Peterkin to take the lead. Jack himself followed.
Makarooroo went next, and I brought up the rear.
In all our hunting expeditions we usually maintained this arrangement,
where it was necessary. Peterkin was assigned the post of honour,
because he was the best shot; Jack, being next best, came second; and I
came last, not because our guide was a better shot than I, but because
he was apt to get excited and to act rashly, so that he required looking
after. I was at all times ready to lay hold of him by the hair of his
woolly head, which, as he was nearly naked, was the only part of him
that one could grasp with any degree of firmness.
After creeping in this manner for some distance, we got within range.
Peterkin and Jack took aim and fired together. The old gorilla and one
of the young ones fell instantly, and from their not struggling it was
evident that they were shot quite dead. The guide and I fired
immediately after, but only the one that I fired at fell. The other two
ran off as fast as they could. Sometimes they ran on all fours; and I
observed that while running in this fashion the hind legs passed between
the arms, or, as it were, overstepped them. Occasionally, however, they
rose and ran on their hind legs, in a stooping position.
When they did this I was particularly struck with their grotesque yet
strong resemblance to man, and I do not think that I could at that time
have prevailed upon myself to fire at them. I should have felt like a
murderer. In truth, my thoughts and sensations just then were anything
but agreeable. Nevertheless I was so excited by the chase that I am
quite certain no one, to look at me, could have guessed what was passing
in my mind.
We ran as rapidly as was possible in such a tangled forest, but we had
no chance with the young gorillas. Peterkin at last ran himself out of
breath. Stopping suddenly, he said, pantingly--
"It's--o'--no use whatever. Ho! dear me, my bellows are about
exploded."
"We've no chance in a race with these hairy men," responded Jack, as he
wiped the perspiration from his forehead.--"Why did you miss, Mak?"
"'Cause me no could hit, s'pose, massa."
"Very justly and modestly said," remarked Peterkin, with an approving
nod. "'Tis a pity that men are not more generally animated with your
spirit, Mak. Most people, when they do wrong or make a mistake, are too
apt to try to excuse themselves."
"Yes," I added, with a laugh; "particularly when they blow the tails out
of ostriches."
Peterkin shook his head, and said solemnly, "Ralph, my boy, don't take
to joking. It don't agree with your constitution. You'll get ill if
you do; and we can't afford to have you laid up on our hands in these
out-o'-the-way regions."
"Come, now, let us back to the gorillas and secure them, lest their
comrades carry them away," said Jack, turning to retrace our steps.
I was anxious to shoot as many gorillas as possible, in order that I
might study the peculiarities of, and differences existing between, the
different species--if there should be such--and between various
individuals of the same species in all stages of development. I had
made an elaborate examination of our first gorilla, and had taken
copious notes in regard to it. Being desirous of doing the same as far
as possible with the female and the two young ones we had just killed, I
hastened back with my companions, and we fastened them securely among
the branches of a conspicuous tree, intending to send out some of our
men for them on our return to camp.
After this we resumed our search for more, but wandered about for
several hours without meeting with any, although we observed
recently-made footprints in abundance. We went as nearly as possible in
a direction parallel to our camp, so that although we walked far we did
not increase our distance from it to any great extent.
Presently Makarooroo made a peculiar "cluck" with his tongue, and we all
came to an abrupt stand.
"What is't, Mak?"
The negro did not speak, but pointed eagerly in front of him, while the
whites of his eyes seemed to sparkle with animation, and raised his gun
to shoot.
We came up at the moment, and through an opening in the bushes saw what
he was about to fire at. It was a female gorilla, with a baby gorilla
in her arms. Fierce and hairy though she was, there was a certain air
of tenderness about this mother, as she stroked and pawed her little
one, that went straight to my heart, and caused me almost involuntarily
to raise my arm and strike up the muzzle of Makarooroo's gun, at the
moment he pulled the trigger. The consequence of this act was that the
ball passed close over their heads. The report of the piece was
instantly followed by a roar of consternation, mingled with rage, from
the mother, and a shriek of terror from the baby, which again was
immediately followed by a burst of laughter from us, as we beheld the
little baby clasp its arms tightly round its mother, while she scampered
wildly away from us.
Mak looked at me in amazement.
"What for you be do dat, massa?"
"To prevent you from committing murder, you rascal," said I, laughing.
"Have you no feelings of natural pity or tenderness, that you could
coolly aim at such a loving pair as that?"
The guide seemed a little put out by this remark, and went on reloading
his gun without making reply. He had received enough of moral education
at the mission stations to appreciate to some extent the feelings by
which I was actuated; yet he had been so long accustomed and so early
inured to harsh, unfeeling deeds, that the only idea that probably
occurred to him on seeing this mother and her baby was, how near he
could get to them in order to make sure of his aim.
"Ah! Ralph," said Jack, as we resumed our march, "you're too
tender-hearted, my boy, for a hunter in Africa. There you've lost a
chance of getting a gorilla baby, which you have been desiring so much
the last few days, and which you might have stuck in a bottle of
spirits, and sent home to be held up to universal admiration in
Piccadilly, who knows."
"Ay, who knows?" echoed Peterkin. "I think it more probable, however,
that it would be held up to universal ridicule. Besides, you forget
that we have no spirits to preserve it in, except our own, which I admit
are pretty high--a good deal overproof, considering the circumstances in
which we are placed, and the unheard-of trials we have to endure. I'm
sure I don't know what ever induced me to come, as a Scotch cousin of
mine once said, `so far frae my ain fireside' to endure trials. I do
believe I've had more trials since I came to this outrageous land than
all the criminals of the last century in England put together have had."
"Peterkin," said I seriously, "trials are a decided benefit and blessing
to mankind--"
"Oh, of course," interrupted Peterkin; "but then, as you have often
retorted upon me that I am of the monkey kind, I think that I could get
on pretty well without them."
"My opinion is that they are good both for man and monkey," said Jack.
"Just consider, now: it must have been a terrible trial for yon
gorilla-mamma to hear a bullet pass within an inch of her head, and have
her sweet little darling frightened almost out of its wits. Well, but
just think of the state of satisfaction and rejoicing that she must be
in now at having escaped. Had it not been for that trial she would now
have been in her ordinary humdrum condition. I quite agree with Ralph
that trials are really a blessing to us."
"I declare it is quite refreshing to hear that you `agree' with anybody,
Jack," rejoined Peterkin, in a tone of sarcasm.--"Perhaps Mr Rover will
kindly enlarge on this most interesting subject, and give us the benefit
of his wisdom.--And, Mak, you lump of ebony, do you keep a sharp lookout
for gorillas in the meantime."
The guide, whose appreciation of fun was very considerable, said, "Yis,
massa," grinned from ear to ear, in doing which he displayed a double
row of tremendous white teeth, and pretended to be gazing earnestly
among the bushes on either side in search of game, as he followed us.
The moment we began to talk, however, I observed that he came close up
behind, and listened with all his ears. If eager expansion indicates
anything, I may add that he listened with all his eyes too!
"I shall have much pleasure in obliging you, Peterkin," said I, with a
smile. "And in the first place--"
"O Ralph, I entreat you," interrupted Peterkin, "do not begin with a
`_first place_.' When men begin a discourse with that, however many
intermediate places they may have to roam about in and enlarge on, they
never have a place of any kind to terminate in, but go skimming along
with a couple of dozen `lastlies,' like a stone thrown over the surface
of a pond, which, after the first two or three big and promising bounds,
spends itself in an endless succession of twittering ripples, and
finally sinks, somehow or nohow, into oblivion."
"Ahem! Shakespeare?" said Jack.
"Not at all," retorted Peterkin. "If anybody gave utterance to the
sentiment before, it was Shelley, and he must have been on the sea-shore
at the time with a crotchet, if not a crab, inside of him.--But pray go
on, Ralph."
"Well, then, in the _first place_," I repeated with emphasis, whereat
Peterkin sighed, "trials, when endured in a proper spirit, improve our
moral nature and strengthen our hearts; the result of which is, that we
are incited to more vigorous mental, and, by consequence, physical
exertion, so that our nervous system is strengthened and our muscular
powers are increased."
"Very well put, indeed," cried Peterkin. "Now, Ralph, try to forget
your `secondly,' omit your `thirdly,' throw your `fourthly' to the
winds, and let your `first place' be your `last place,' and I'll give
you credit for being a wise and effective speaker."
I gave in to my volatile friend at that time, as I saw that he would not
allow me to go on, and, to say truth, I thought that I had exhausted my
subject. But, after all, Peterkin did not require to be incited either
to good thoughts or good actions. With all his exuberant fun and
jocularity, he was at bottom one of the most earnest and attached
friends I ever possessed. I have lived to know that his superficial
lightness of character overlaid as deeply earnest and sympathetic a
spirit as ever existed.
While we were thus conversing and wandering through the forest, we again
came upon the fresh tracks of a gorilla, and from their great size we
conjectured them to be those of a solitary male. It is a remarkable
fact that among several of the lower animals we find specimens of that
unnatural class of creatures which among men are termed old bachelors!
Among the gorillas these _solitaires_ are usually very large, remarkably
fierce, uncommonly ugly, desperately vindictive, and peculiarly
courageous; so much so that the natives hold them in special dread. It
is of these wild men of the woods that their most remarkable and
incredible stories are related.
"I don't think it's a gorilla at all," said Jack, stooping down to
examine the footprints, which in that place were not very distinct; "I
think an elephant or a rhinoceros must have passed this way."
"No, massa, them's not deep 'nuff for dat. Hims be a gorilla--a bery
big one, too."
"Don't let us talk then, lest we should scare it," whispered Peterkin.
"Lead the way, Mak; and mind, when we come close enough, move your great
carcass out of the way and let me to the front."
"No, no, lad," said Jack. "Fair play. It's my turn now."
"So be it, my boy. But get on."
The tracks led us a considerable distance deeper into the wood, where
the trees became so thick that only a species of twilight penetrated
through them. To add to our discomfort, the light, we knew, would soon
fail us altogether, as evening was drawing on apace, so we quickened our
pace to a smart run.
We had not proceeded far when we were brought to a sudden standstill by
one of those awfully loud and savage roars which we at once recognised
as being that of a gorilla. It sounded like what we might term barking
thunder, and from its intensity we were assured that our conjectures as
to the creature being a solitary male gorilla were correct.
"Dat him, massas!" cried our guide quickly, at the same time cocking
both barrels of his rifle. "Look hout! we no hab go after him no more.
Him's come to fight us. Most always doos dot--de big ole gorilla."
We saw from the deeply earnest expression of the negro's countenance
that he felt himself now to be in a very serious position, which would
demand all his nerve and coolness.
Again the roar was repeated with terrible loudness and ferocity, and we
heard something like the beating of a huge bass drum, mingled with the
cracking of branches, as though some heavy creature were forcing its way
through the underwood towards us.
We were all much impressed with this beating sound, and, as is often the
case when men are startled by sounds which they cannot account for, we
were more filled with the dread of this incomprehensible sound than of
the gorilla which we knew was approaching us. We might, indeed, have
asked an explanation from Makarooroo, but we were all too much excited
and anxious just then to speak.
We drew together in a group.
Jack, who stood a little in front of us, having claimed the first shot,
was whispering something about its being a pity there was so little
light, when his voice was drowned by a repetition of the roar, so
appalling that we each started, feeling as though it had been uttered
close to our ears. Next instant the bushes in front of us were torn
aside, and the most horrible monster I ever saw, or hope to set eyes on,
stood before us.
He was evidently one of the largest-sized gorillas. In the gloom of the
forest he appeared to us to be above six feet high. His jet-black
visage was working with an expression of rage that was fearfully
satanic. His eyes glared horribly. The tuft of hair on the top of his
head rose and fell with the working of his low wrinkled forehead in a
manner that peculiarly enhanced the ferocity of his expression. His
great hairy body seemed much too large for his misshapen legs, and his
enormous arms much too long for the body. It was with the fists at the
ends of those muscular arms that he beat upon his bulky chest, and
produced the unaccountable sounds above referred to. As he stood there
uttering roar upon roar--apparently with the view of screwing up his
courage to attack us--displaying his great canine teeth, and advancing
slowly, step by step, I felt a mingling of powerful emotions such as I
had never felt before in all my life, and such as cannot by any
possibility be adequately described.
I felt quite self-possessed, however, and stood beside my comrades with
my rifle ready and my finger on the trigger.
"Now!" whispered Peterkin. But Jack did not move.
"Now!" said he again, more anxiously, as the immense brute advanced,
beating its chest and roaring, to within eight yards of us. Still Jack
did not move, and I observed that it was as much as Peterkin could do to
restrain himself.
As it took the next step, and appeared about to spring, Jack pulled the
trigger. The cap alone exploded! Like a flash of light the other
trigger was pulled; it also failed! some moisture must have got into the
nipples in loading. Almost as quick as thought Jack hurled his piece at
the brute with a force that seemed to me irresistible. The butt struck
it full in the chest, but the rifle was instantly caught in its iron
gripe. At that moment Peterkin fired, and the gorilla dropped like a
stone, uttering a heavy groan as it fell prone with its face to the
earth--not, however, before it had broken Jack's rifle across, and
twisted the barrel as if it had been merely a piece of wire!
"That was a narrow escape, Jack," said I seriously, after we had
recovered from the state of agitation into which this scene had thrown
us.
"Indeed it was; and thanks to Peterkin's ever-ready rifle that it was an
escape at all. What a monstrous brute!"
"Much bigger than the first one," said Peterkin.--"Where is your
measure, Ralph? Out with it."
I pulled out my measure, and applying it to the prostrate carcass, found
that the gorilla we had now shot was five feet eight inches in height,
and proportionately large round the chest. It seemed to be a mass of
sinews and hard muscles, and as I gazed at its massive limbs I could
well imagine that it had strength sufficient to perform many, at least,
if not all of the wonderful feats ascribed to it by the natives.
Shortly after the death of the gorilla, night settled down upon the
scene, so we hurried back towards our camp, where we arrived much
exhausted, yet greatly elated, by our successful day's sport.
I spent a great part of that night making entries in my note-book, by
the light of our camp-fires, while my companions slept. And, truly, I
enjoyed such quiet hours after days of so great mental and physical
excitement. I observed, also, that the negroes enjoyed those seasons
exceedingly. They sat round the blaze, talking and laughing, and
recounting, I have no doubt, their feats of daring by flood and field;
then, when they began to grow sleepy, they sat there swaying to and fro,
making an occasional remark, until they became too sleepy even for that,
when they began to nod and wink and start, and almost fell into the
fire, so unwilling did they seem to tear themselves away from it, even
for the distance of the few feet they required to draw back in order to
enable them to lie down. At last nature could hold out no longer, and
one by one they dropped back in their places.
I, too, began to nod at last, and to make entries in my note-book which
were too disjointed at last to be comprehensible; so I finally resigned
myself to repose, and to dream, as a matter of course.