1benn? Hstburs Xeveson 5*5 



Before his final return to England, however, " the 

 Old Shekarry " had made an expedition into the Niger 

 country in search of the terrible gorillas about which 

 Du Chaillu's book had set all the world agog. Leveson 

 found, indeed, that the gorilla existed and was as big as 

 Du Chaillu had described. But the mighty hunter who 

 had achieved many a victory over elephant and lion, 

 tiger and bear, smiled at the ludicrously exaggerated 

 perils of gorilla-hunting. " Doubtless," he observes, " a 

 man that had never seen any game larger than a rabbit 

 might feel a little nervous in facing his first gorilla, an 

 animal which I found to be as hard to stalk as a red- 

 deer, and as little to be dreaded by any one having a 

 loaded gun in his hands." Many a deer-stalker has had 

 more trouble in securing his quarry than "the Old 

 Shekarry " took in the following affair : 



" Selecting the footprint that appeared the largest, 

 I was following it up, when I heard a low hoarse 

 barking, which M'pongola declared was the usual noise 

 made by the N'gina v/hen feeding, and creeping gently 

 through the bushes for a short distance, I heard the 

 breaking of branches a short distance in front, which 

 was followed by a succession of low grunts, now and 

 then interrupted by a snappish yelp, like the barking of 

 a cur. Making signs to the people to lie down, I crept 

 forward, and soon, to my intense delight saw three 

 gorillas upon a wild jungle fruit-tree looking like a haw- 

 berry. One was standing on his hind legs, with his 

 head stretched in my direction, as if listening for some 

 sound that had attracted his attention, and as he was 

 not more than eighty yards distant, I raised my rifle 



