36 
NATURAL HISTORY. 
my people to guard the door. When Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and, 
with his eyes glaring, and every sign of rage in his little face and body, got out from 
beneath the bed. We shut the door at the same time and left him master of the premises, 
preferring to devise some plan for his easy capture rather than to expose ourselves to his 
terrible teeth. How to take him was now a puzzling question. He had shown such strength and 
such rage already, that not even 1 cared to run the chance of being badly bitten in a hand-to-hand 
struggle. Meantime Joe stood in the middle of the room looking about for his enemies, and examining, 
with some surprise, the furniture. I watched with fear, lest the ticking of my clock should strike his 
ear, and perhaps lead him to an assault upon that precious article. Indeed, I should have left Joe in 
possession, but tor a tear that he would destroy the many articles of value or curiosity 1 had hung 
about the walls. Finally, seeing him quite quiet, I dispatched some fellows for a net, and opening the 
door quickly, threw this over his head. Fortunately we succeeded at the first throw in perfectly 
entangling the young monster, who roared frightfully, and struck and kicked in every direction. 
L took hold of the back ot his neck, two men seized his arms, and another the legs, and thus 
held by four men this extraordinary little creature still proved most troublesome. We carried him as 
quickly as we could to the cage, which had been repaired, and there once more locked him in. I 
never saw so furious a beast in my life as he was. He darted at every one who came near, bit 
the bamboos of the house, glared at us with venomous and sullen eyes, and in every motion showed a 
temper thoroughly wicked and malicious. As there was no change in this for two days thereafter, 
but continual moroseness, I tried what starvation would do towards breaking his spirit ; also, it began 
to be troublesome to procure his food from the woods, and I wanted him to become accustomed 
to civilised food, which was placed before him. But he would touch nothing of the kind; and as for 
temper, after starving him twenty-four hours, all I gained was that he came slowly up and took some 
berries from the forest out of my hand, immediately retreating to his corner to eat them. Daily 
attentions from me for a fortnight more did not bring me any further confidence from him than this. 
He always snarled at me, and only when vrry hungry would he take even his choicest food from 
my hands. At the end of this fortnight I came to feed him, and found that he had gnawed a 
bamboo to pieces slyly, and again made his escape. Luckily ho had hut just gone; for, as I looked 
around, I caught sight of Master Joe making off on all-fours, and with great speed, across the little 
prairie, for a clump of trees. I called the men up, and we gave chase. He saw us, and before wo 
could head him off made for another clump. This we surrounded. He did not ascend a tree, but 
stood defiantly at the border of the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded him. 
As we moved up he began to yell, and made a sudden dash upon a poor fellow who was in 
advance, who ran, tumbled down in affright, and, by his fall, escaped, but also detained Joe 
sufficiently long for the nets to be brought to bear upon him. Four of us again bore him, 
struggling, into the village. This time I could not trust him to the cage, but bad a little light 
chain fastened around his neck. This operation he resisted with all his might, and it took us 
quite an hour to securely chain the little fellow, whose strength was something marvellous. Ten 
days after he was thus chained he died suddenly. He was in good health, and ate plentifully of 
his natural food, which was brought every day for him ; did not seem to sicken until two days 
before his death, and died in some pain. To the last he continued entirely untamable; and, after 
his chains were on, added the vice of treachery to his others.” 
In one of bis hunting excursions Du Chaillu obtained a younger Gorilla than the last, but its end 
was sad enough. 
“ I was accessory to its capture,” writes Du Chaillu, “ and we were walking along in silence, when 
I heard a cry, and presently saw before me a female Gorilla, with a tiny baby Gorilla hanging to her 
breast and sucking. The mother was stroking the little one, and looking fondly down at it ; and the 
scene was so pretty and touching that I held my fire, and considered— like a soft-hearted fellow — 
whether I had not better leave them in peace. Before I could make up my mind, however, my hunter 
fired and killed the mother, who fell without a struggle. The mother fell, but the baby clung to her, 
and, with pitiful cries, endeavoured to attract her attention. I came up, and when it saw me it hid 
its poor little head in its mother’s breast. It could neither walk nor bite, so we could easily manage 
it; and I carried it, while the men bore the mother on a pole. When we got to the village another 
