CHAPTER LXXVII. 



IN THE LAND OF THE GORILLA. 



JACK HARVEY and 

 Bob Marshall tarried 

 at Port Natal several 

 days after the depar- 

 ture of Mr. Godkin and 

 Dick Brownell for In- 

 dia. Finally they se- 

 cured passage to Cape 

 Town, where, after an- 

 other tedious wait, they 

 shipped in a Portu- 

 guese vessel, bound for 

 the Gold Coast, the cap- 

 tain of which, for a gen- 

 erous consideration, agreed to run into the 

 Gaboon and land his four passengers ; for 

 our friends had picked up a couple of hunters 

 bound on the same errand as themselves, 

 I should have told you that Jack and 

 Bob, having become satisfied that their 

 ponies would be valueless in the gorilla 

 country, left them in safe hands at Cape 

 Town. The Texan would not part with 

 Apache at any price, and Bob had formed 

 so strong an attachment for his own steed 

 that he was glad of the prospect of seeing 

 him again. 



If the result of their visit to Equatorial 



Africa should render it unnecessary to return to the Cape of Good Hope, it would 

 be a simple matter to send for the horses and have them shipped home. 



The two acquaintances formed on the ship were Englishmen just from India, 

 where they had spent a couple of months in hunting, and proposed to wind up their 

 sport under the Equator. 



The opening experience of the party in the Gaboon country was enough to 

 dampen the ardor of the most enthusiastic of sportsmen. 



443 



