ESCAPE OF A YOUNG GORILLA. 439 



had gone into the bush to cut some creeper to 

 serve as ropes to tie it to a pole so as to carry it 

 more easily, unfortunately Fortuna let go his hold, 

 and giving Tom Dick a severe bite in the calf of 

 the leg, the little brute managed to eifect his 

 escape into the bush, and although we followed up 

 his trail for some distance we saw nothing more of 

 him. 



I was thoroughly disgusted at this careless- 

 ness, but there was nothing to be done; so after 

 tracking up the sign of the male- gorilla into some 

 almost impenetrable forest, where it was almost 

 hopeless to follow further, I gave up the pursuit 

 for that day, and we returned to King Bapi's 

 town. 



About a mile to the south of this village is the 

 empty bed of a lagoon, about three miles long, 

 which is covered over with a rich herbage, and I 

 saw so many fresh marks of wild cattle here that 

 I determined to visit it late in the evening, at 

 which time N'adoma said they always came out to 

 graze. Just before dusk I went out with N'adoma 

 and M'pogola, and we waited for some time with- 



