THE LONE MALE OF KARISIMBI 229 
knees and under a mass of dense vegetation, and as 
we got to our feet on the other side we saw a huge 
old silver back moving along in plain sight about 
Itwenty-five yards away. 
If the gorilla were as aggressive an animal as he has 
been credited with being, this old fellow should have 
charged that twenty-five yards in a few seconds and 
given us a chance to defend the ladies heroically from 
threatened death. However, he didn’t know his part, 
for it was evident that his one idea was to go away. 
His departure was interrupted by a shot from Bradley 
which hit him in the neck. He fell like a log. While 
we were congratulating Bradley and before we had 
started for the prize, one of the guides suddenly 
called our attention to the fact that the gorilla was 
moving off. He disappeared from view. We fol- 
lowed, scrambling along as rapidly as possible but 
not making very fast progress. But our time was as 
good as the gorilla’s, for we had glimpses of him as he 
went down and up the other side of a gully to the crest 
of aridge beyond. Ashe reached the top of this ridge 
he came into full view perhaps fifty yards from where 
we were. Bradley fired again. This shot sent him roll- 
ing down the slope, stone dead. He lodged against the 
base of an old tree. He was a fine specimen, a huge 
creature weighing three hundred and sixty pounds. I 
believe that he was the big lone male of Karisimbi 
of which we had been told. He had unquestionably 
met white men before because at one time he had been 
badly wounded in the pelvis, leaving a permanent 
deformation of the pelvic region and a crook in his 
