MY FIRST GORILLA. 45 



cannot harm me ; it is a fetich, and only kills in my 

 hands." 



I fancy Thursday translated this literally, for the old 

 chief raised the rifle at once and pulled the trigger. 

 There was the faint report of the cap, and that was all. 

 M'Yenga returned the rifle hastily; and he and the other 

 natives, as if fearful lest some of its evil influence should 

 affect them, moved off to a respectful distance. Super- 

 stition has such a hold on this people that not one of 

 them would have accepted as a gift the gun that a mo- 

 ment before they all coveted. I was safe on that score. 



On measuring the gorilla, we found his waist nearly 

 two yards in circumference, proving him to be one of the 

 largest of his species. I asked Thursday why the chief 

 had not allowed me to shoot the female, leaving the 

 hunters to fire simultaneously upon the male, so that 

 we might take the little one alive and try to bring 

 it up on cow's milk and make our first experiment in 

 domesticating the gorilla. Of course I said nothing to 

 them about the scientific interest in such an experiment, 

 for science was a dead letter to them ; but I promised a 

 liberal reward to any one who should bring me a young 

 gorilla alive. They all assured me that that was easy 

 enough, but that without its mother it could not live 

 more than three or four days ; that the leopard or tiger 

 could be tamed, but never the gorilla, etc. ; but it all 

 seemed hearsay, and not one of the hunters spoke from 

 personal experience. Thursday explained that if I had 



