THE GORILLA. 



679 



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 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, just as he began another of his roars, 

 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, he fell forward on his 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 what immense strength he had possessed." 



Du Chaillu's account of the gorilla was at first received with incredulity by some 

 prominent British naturalists ; they could not believe that it was left for a young 

 American to bring to light a creature so far exceeding in size and ferocity anything 

 of the kind before known. But fortunately he had brought home with him a number 

 of skeletons, skulls, and stuffed skins of the creatures ; and among them, as it hap- 

 pened, was the skin of the very one whose death is described above. This skin 

 measured about five feet eight inches as it stood stuffed. Had the lower limbs of the 

 animal been as long in proportion to its hight as those of a man, the whole hight 

 would have considerably exceeded six feet ; while the muscular developments were 

 enormous. If one will imagine a boxing-glove furnished with huge fingers and claws, 

 he will get a fair idea of the paw. This collection after having been inspected by 

 thousands in America, was shipped to London, and the impugners of Du Chaillu 

 came to signal grief. Many of these specimens were purchased for the British Mu- 

 seum, where they now are. Du Chaillu, in another work,* gives some account of the 

 gorilla at home, and in the bosom of his family : 



" Now and then I could see the foot- prints of gorillas that had wandered, like 

 myself, through the woods, but these foot-prints were several days old. I came to a 

 place where pine-apple plants were abundant, and where the gorillas had evidently 

 feasted on the leaves, for thousands of them had been plucked out, and only the white 

 part eaten. Here and there a young pine-apple had been partially eaten away, one or 

 two bites taken, and the fruit then thrown aside. I had to be very careful in walking, 

 for fear of making a noise, for the forest not being dense, gorillas could have seen me 

 at a long distance. After awhile I came to a place where a large male gorilla had 

 been. The foot-prints were of enormous size, and he must have been a monstrous fel- 

 low. I could see by the foot prints of the monster that he had been on all-fours, and 

 suddenly had raised himself to an erect posture ; while the bending of a branch about 

 eight or nine feet high, just above the marks, showed that the animal had supported 

 himself by it. I left the place, and continued my ramble ; when in the far distance 

 I spied a gorilla. It was a female, and she did not see me. I hid myself behind a 

 tree, and watched 11 her movements unseen. She was seated on the ground before 

 a cluster of pine-apples, quietly eating one. She soon threw it away, and plucked 

 some of the leaves. She grinned now and then, probably from the pleasure the food 

 gave her ; when suddenly, to my utter astonishment, a little gorilla, about two and a 

 * Wild Life under the Equator, 78. 



