WORLD* a woNDEfts. 51? 



and closely resembles the roll of distant thunder along the sky, 

 for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it where I did 

 not see the animal. So deep is it that it seems to proceed less 

 from the mouth and throat than from the deep chest and vast 

 paunch. His eyes began to flash fiercer fire as \ve stood motion- 

 less on the defensive, and the crest of short hair which stands 

 on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and down, while his 

 powerful fangs were shown as he again sent forth a thunderous 

 roar. And now truly he reminded me of nothing but some 

 hellish dream-creature a being of that hideous order, half-man, 

 half-beast, which we find pictured by old artists in some repre- 

 sentations of the infernal regions. He advanced a few steps 

 then stopped to utter that hideous roar again advanced again, 

 and finally stopped when at a distance of about six yards from 

 us. And here, as be began another of his roars and beating his 

 breast in rage, we fired and killed him. 



" With a groan which had something terribly human in it, and 

 yet was full of brutishness, it fell forward on its face. The 

 body shook convulsively for a few minutes, the limbs moved 

 about in a struggling way, and then all was quiet dei:th had 

 done its work, and I had leisure to examine the huge body. It 

 proved to be five feet eight inches high, and the muscular devel- 

 opment of the arms and breast showed what immense strength 

 it had possessed." 



A quarrel took place among Du Chaillu's men about the 

 apportionment of the meat, of which they are excessively fond, 

 which would no doubt have led to bloodshed had he not interfered 

 and divided the carcass himself. The brain was very carefully 

 preserved by the men to make charms, which were of two kinds, 

 one of which would give them a strong hand for the hunt, and 

 the other make them successful with women. 



A VISIT AMONG THE FAN CANNIBALS. 



THE next morning after killing the gorilla, Du Chaillu accepted 

 an invitation to visit a large Fan village, in order that he might 

 learn whether the stories told about their cannibal propensities 

 were true or not, a curiosity which he had an unquenchable desire 



