To Sdnga - Tdnga and Back. 117 
foot, and the late rains had made the swamps 
somewhat odorous. After an hour of cautious 
walking, listening as we went, we saw evident 
signs of Mister Gorilla. Boughs three inches in 
diameter strewed the ground ; the husks of Ntondo 
or I here (wild cardamom) had been scattered 
about, and a huge hare's form of leaves lay some 
five yards from the tree where Forteune declared 
that Mistress and Master Gorilla had passed the 
night, Paterfamilias keeping watch below. A little 
beyond we were shown a spot where two males 
had been fighting a duel, or where a couple had 
been indulging in dalliance sweet; the prints 
were 8 inches long and 6 across the huge round 
toes; whilst the hinder hand appeared almost 
bifurcate, the thumb forming nearly a half. 
This is explained in the “ Gorilla Book” (chap, 
xx.) : “ Only the ball of the foot, and that thumb 
which answers to our great toe, seem to touch 
the ground.” 
Presently we came upon the five bushmen who 
had been appointed to meet us. They were a 
queer-looking lot, with wild, unsteady eyes, re¬ 
ceding brows, horizontal noses, and projecting 
muzzles; the cranium and the features seemed 
disposed nearly at a right angle, giving them a 
peculiar baboon-like semblance. Each had his 
water-gourd and his flint-gun, the lock protected 
by a cover of monkey’s skin or wild cow’s hide, 
