56 SEARCH FOR THE GORILLA AND THE IPL Chap. IIL 



an adult gorilla being taken alive. The place where 

 they were found was on the left bank of the Fernand 

 Vaz, about thirty miles above my village. At this 

 part a narrow promontory projects into the river. 

 It was the place where I had intended to take the 

 distinguished traveller, Captain Burton, to show him 

 a live gorilla, if he had paid me a visit, as I had 

 expected, for I had written to invite him whilst he 

 was on a tour from his consulate at Fernando Po 

 to several points on the West African coast. A 

 woman, belonging to a neighbouring village, had 

 told her j^eople that she had seen two squads of 

 female gorillas, some of them accompanied by their 

 young ones, in her plantain field. The men resolved 

 to go in chase of them, so they armed themselves 

 with guns, axes, and spears, and sallied forth. The 

 situation was very favourable for the hunters ; they 

 formed a line across the narrow strip of land and 

 pressed forward, driving the animals to the edge of 

 the water. When they came in sight of them, 

 they made all the noise in their power, and thus 

 bewildered the gorillas, who were shot or beaten 

 down in their endeavours to escape. . There were 

 eight adult females altogether, but not a single male. 

 The negroes thought the males were in conceal- 

 ment in the adjoining woods, having probably been 

 frightened away by the noise. 



This incident led me to modify somewhat the 

 opinions I had expressed, in ' Adventures in Equa- 

 torial Africa,' regarding some of the habits of the 

 gorilla. I there said that I believed it impossible to 

 capture an adult female alive, but I ought to have 



