Abbot] 138 [March 6, 



cerning a male gorilla which he has recently captiu'ed, and which Is a 

 very fine specimen of these men of the woods, so well described by 

 M. Paul du Chaillu. 



The gorilla is larger than the Orang-Outang. His height is as 

 much as two metres and fifty centimetres. His muscular strength is 

 considerable. They are rather numerous in the forests of Western 

 Africa. 



In the month of November last, M. Berthiol, having learned that a 

 gorilla had been seen in the .neighborhood of his camp, started im- 

 mediately in pursuit, with a number of negroes. They hunted in 

 vain for him for many days. One morning the hunters were silently 

 making their way through a thick underbrush, when they heard not 

 far off, a sound like the breaking of branches of trees. Then sud- 

 denly a terrible cry resounded and froze them with terror. One 

 must have heard the cry of a gorilla to have an adequate idea of it. 



" The roaring of this animal," says M. du Chaillu, '-is at the same 

 time the strangest and the most fearful sound that can be heard. It 

 begins by a sort of jerking bark like that of an angry dog, then 

 changes into a deep growl, which literally resembles the roll of dis- 

 tant thunder, so much so that at times I have been tempted to be- 

 lieve that it really thundered when I heard this animal without seeing 

 him." Sometimes the cry is single, piercing, short, almost an explo- 

 sion. 



The hunters waited with their guns at their shoulders ; the bushes 

 opened. The animal advanced with caution upon his two hind feet, 

 beating his huge chest with his nervous arms. He was about two 

 metres in height. He carried his head erect, and his eyes flashed in 

 the demi-obscurity of the forest. 



At about fifteen paces from us, writes M. Berthiol, he stopped, 

 pouring forth roar upon roar. His closed fist threatened us, his jaws 

 displayed his long and pointed teeth. A young tree surrounded by 

 numerous lianas obstructed his passage. He seized it roughly; the 

 tree cracked and fell broken ; the animal passed on. 



At this moment, MUo, a black, began the attack. A ball whistled 

 and struck the gorilla in the shoulder at the moment when his chest, 

 vigorously beaten by his closed fists, was resounding like a drum. The 

 ape whirled round, uttering a plaintive bark. Then, raising himself, 

 with a bound he advanced. At five paces a second ball struck him 

 full in the chest. He roared fearfully, and with another bound threw 

 himself upon a negro, who escaped him, leaving his gun in his hands. 

 The weapon was flattened and hurled against a tree where it was 

 dashed in pieces. At this moment a shot from a revolver, better di- 

 rected, brought down the animal. 



He was surrounded with great caution, seized by the neck by means 



