544 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



suspense by firing. I have never fired at a male at a greater 

 distance than eight yards, and from fourteen to eighteen feet is 

 the usual shot. At last the opportunity comes ; and now the 

 gun is quickly raised, a moment'sanxiousaim at the vast breadth 

 of breast, and then pull trigger. 



"In shooting the hippopotamus at night and on shore, the 

 negro always scampers off directly he has fired his gun. When 

 he fires at the gorilla he stands still. I asked why they did not 

 run in this case, too, and was answered that it was of no use ; to 

 run would be fatal. If the hunter has missed, he must battle 

 for his life face to face, hoping by some piece of unexpected 

 good fortune to escape a fatal blow, and come off, perhaps, 

 maimed for life, as I have seen several in the up-river villages. 

 Fortunately, the gorilla dies as easily as man ; a shot in the breast, 

 if fairly delivered, is sure to bring him down. He falls forward 

 on his face, his long, muscular arms outstretched, and uttering, 

 with his last breath, a hideous death-cry, half roar, half shriek, 

 which, while it announces his safety to the hunter, yet tingles his 

 ears with a dreadful note of human agony. It is this lurking 

 reminiscence of humanity, indeed, which makes one of the chief 

 ingredients of the hunter's excitement in his attack of the gorilla. 



" The common walk of the gorilla is not on his hind legs, but 

 on all-fours. In this posture, the arms are so long that the head 

 and breast are raised considerably, and as it runs the hind legs 

 are brought far beneath the body. The leg and arm on the same 

 side move together, which gives the beast a curious waddle. It 

 can run at great speed. The young, parties of which I have 

 often pursued, never take to trees, but run along the ground, 

 and at a distance, with their bodies half-erect, look not unlike 

 negroes making off from pursuit. I have never found the 

 female to attack, though I have been told by the negroes that a 

 mother with a young one in charge will sometimes make fight. 

 It is a pretty thing to see such a mother with the baby gorilla 

 sporting about it. I have watched them in the woods, till, eager 

 :i* I was to obtain specimens, I had not the heart to shoot. But 

 in such cases my negro hunters exhibited no tender-heartedness, 



