THE WOULD S WON! >i: IIS. 515 



was quaking with fear ; one of his three spears fell to the ground, 

 his lips were ashen, and his shield rattled with his trembling. 

 The women were no less agitated, for all thought the white man 

 was a spirit just come down out of the sky, nor did their fears 

 subside until Du Chaillu's men came up, when a few presents of 

 beads seemed to reassure them, and on going to their village Du 

 Chaillu was kindly received, and food was purchased in any 

 quantity desired, so that his party were enabled to continue their 

 journey with full stomachs. 



SHOOTING HIS FIRST GORILLA. 



Two days after leaving the Fan village, while working their 

 tedious way through a thick jungle, the guide, Miengai, gave a 

 cluck with his tongue, which indicated caution and the approach 

 to something unusual. Following this warning, quickly came the 

 noise of breaking branches, and with this Du Chaillu felt certain 

 that he was Hearing one of the kings of the forest. He relates 

 the adventure as follows : 



"Suddenly, as we were yet creeping along, in a silence which 

 made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the woods were at 

 once filled with a tremendous barking roar of the gorilla. 

 Then the underbrush swayed rapidly just ahead, and presently 

 before us stood an immense male gorilla. He had gone through 

 the jungle on his all-fours ; but when he saw our party he 

 erected himself and looked us boldly in the face. He stood 

 about a dozen yards from us, and was a sight I think never to 

 forget. Nearly six feet high, with immense body, huge chest, 

 and great muscular arms, with fiercely-glaring large deep gray 

 eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like 

 some nightmp.e vision : thus stood before us this king of the Afri- 

 can forests. He was not afraid of us. He stood there, nndboat 

 his breast with his huge fists till it resounded like an immense 

 bass-drum, which is their mode of offering defiance : meantime 

 giving vent to roar after roar. 



"The roar of the gorilla is the most singular and awful noise 

 heard in these African woods. It begins with a sharp bark, like 

 an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally 



