THE GORILLA. 529 



creature— a being of that hideous order, half man, half beast, 

 which we find pictured by old artists in some representations 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 he 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 — death 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 development of 

 the arms and breast showed the immense strength it had 

 possessed." 



To kill a full-grown male gorilla is regarded as a great achieve- 

 ment by the native hunters of even the bravest of the negro 

 tribes. It gives them a life-long reputation for courage and 

 enterprise. These hunters are their most valued men, and Du 

 Ohaillu states, "A brave and fortunate one is admired by all 

 the women ; loved — almost worshipped— by his wives, and enjoys 

 many privileges among his fellow-villagers. But his proudest 

 time is when he has killed an elephant or a gorilla, and filled the 

 village with meat. Then he may do almost what he pleases." 



Mr. Joseph H. Reading, in a letter written in 1884, from the 

 Kangwe Mission Station, Ogowe river. West Africa, to a friend in 

 Philadelphia, accompanying a specimen of the gorilla he was 

 sending, observes : * " The great Ogowe delta, following the windings 

 of the river, is 165 miles in length, and perhaps ninety miles wide 

 at the widest part. The upper part contains many red clay hills, 

 one at least being 600 feet in height. Excepting these, the land 

 is low, most of it being just below the flood-line. The lowest 

 land is covered either with coarse grass — the food of the hippo- 

 potami and manati— or papavers. The higher lands and hills are 

 covered with a dense forest, or jungle of palm and other trees. 

 The gorilla seems to be attracted to this region by two particular 

 5 See " American Naturalist " for 1884. 



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