Part 17 (2/2)
Du Chaillu chronicles the end of his first successful hunt as follows:
”Before us stood an ile on his all-fours; but when he saw our party he erected himself and looked us boldly in the face He stood about a dozen yards froet Nearly six feet high (he proved two inches shorter), with ireat ray eyes, and a hellish expression of face, which seeht of the African forests He was not afraid of us He stood there and beat his breast with his huge fists till it resounded like an i defiance--orilla is the ular and awful noise heard in these African woods It begins with a sharp bark, like an angry dog, then glides into a deep bass roll, which literally and closely rese the sky, for which I have sometimes been tempted to take it where I did not see the animal So deep is it that it seems to proceed less from the mouth and throat than froain sent forth a thunderous roar, and now truly he re but so of that hideous order, half-man half-beast, which we find pictured by old artists in soions”
[Illustration: The Gorilla (_Troglodytes Gorilla_)]
The explorer relates that flying gorillas so rese for their lives, and their discordant cries seemed so human, that he felt al obtained a number of specimens, he now used his utmost endeavors to obtain an ape alive, and speaks of his success as ”one of the greatest pleasures of rief, however, the intractable and savage brute soon died Regarding it, Du Chaillu writes:
”Soorilla alive I cannot describe the eed into the village All the hardshi+ps I had endured in Africa were rewarded in that moment It was a little fellow of between two and three years old, two feet six inches in height, and as fierce and stubborn as a grown animal could have been”
Several were captured from time to time, but all died after short confinement Every effort to subdue their ferocity, whether by force or by persistent kindness, utterly failed; they were never other than morose, bellicose, and treacherous
Another very interesting ani ape, a before unknown species, which was discovered by our explorer al along, rather tired of the sport, I happened to look up at a high tree which ere passing, and saw ashelter built in its branches I asked Aboko whether the hunters here had this way to sleep in the woods, but was told, to enious nest was built by the _nshi+ego mbouve_, an ape The material is leafy branches hich to make the roof, and vines to tie these branches to the tree The tying is done so neatly, and the roof is so well constructed that, until I saw the nshi+ego actually occupying his habitation I could scarce persuade myself that hu neatly rounded on top for this purpose The oes up and builds the nest, while the fes him the branches and vines”
Yet another member of the ape fa notice in his oords:
”The koo-loo-lamba has for distinctivequite around the face and below the chin; the face is round; the cheek-bones prominent; the cheeks sunken; the jaws are not very prominent--less so than in any of the apes; the hair is black, long on the arular cry distinguishes it at once fro a closer general resemblance to man than any other ape yet known It was very rare, and I was able to obtain but one speciorilla, and stouter than the feorilla The head is itsan expression curiously like an Esqui the worst pests of Africa are ants, especially the bashi+kouay, which travel in a line about two inches wide and often th
Du Chaillu says: ”They devour and attack all with irresistible fury The elephant and gorilla fly, the black men run for their lives In an incredibly short time a leopard or deer is overwhelht Often have I been awakened out of sleep and obliged to rush from my hut and into the water to save my life A bashi+kouay arhest trees in pursuit of their prey”
The results of his four years of research in the interests of ethnography, geography, and natural history, were placed before the public in a valuable work entitled ”Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa” The book gave rise to bitter, harsh, unjust criticisendered endless discussions Du Chaillu's journey to the interior was entirely discredited, and his accounts of the animals and natives were characterized as mere fabrications Discoveries necessarily develop discrepancies between the realities brought to light and existing beliefs produced through inference or ieography, Du Chaillu learned ho is the willingness of a jealoustruth
Justification came speedily, for the explorations of Serval and Bellay, of the very next year, proved the accuracy of Du Chaillu's account of the great Ogowe River, and indicated the general correctness of his map of the Ashi+ra country Burton confir the cannibalistic habits of the Fans, and other state to the quick by the adverse criticis fro residence in Western Africa, deter his observations as would be absolutely convincing as to their truthfulness; especially he deterorilla To ensure accuracy he went through a course of instruction in the use of instru to make, test, and reduce astronomical and hypsometrical observations, and acquired proficiency in the then difficult art of photography As regards geographical explorations he had a vague hope that he ht reach from the west coast of Africa soht be able to reach the land in August, 1863, Du Chaillu's first destination was the mouth of Fernand Vaz River, about one hundred and tenselected both because he knew the natives and also because that river valley being unknown afforded hi of his journey
In landing through the terrible surf that erous, Du Chaillu was nearly drowned and all his astronoed This necessitated his delay in that region until other instruland; but the time was not lost, for he had aorillas, which abound there; fortunately he captured four, an adult and three young, one of which he shi+pped alive to London, but it died during the voyage
[Illustration: A Village of Dwarfs]
Du Chaillu started on his journey with ten Couard, and fifty porters in place of the hundred needed, thusup the Fernand Vaz River to its tributary, the Rembo, he left this latter stream at Obindshi+ and travelled southeasterly to Olenda Here a council was held by the local chief, who forbade hii country, but allowed hi delayed and robbed by the natives In crossing the Ngunie River, on his way eastward to the Ishogo country, he was surprised to obtain ferriage in a large, flat-bottoe and party across in seven journeys
Near the end of June, while traversing a tract of wild forest near Yangue, Du Chaillu came suddenly upon a cluster of most extraordinary and diminutive huts, which he was told were occupied by a tribe of dwarf negroes In his previous journey in the Apingi country he had given no credence to exaggerated descriptions and reports that had often co the stories to be fables
Noever, with these curious huts before hier to obtain personal infor these little folks, whose existence had been vouched for centuries before by Pomponius Mela, Herodotus, and Strabo, and ere described in a fairly accurate way, by Andrew Battell, in 1625 In answer to Du Chaillu's inquiries the natives said that there were es in the adjacent forests, and that the tiny os
He found the huts entirely deserted, but from scattered traces of recent household effects, it was quite evident that the Obongos, alarers, had fled for safety to the dense jungle of the neighboring forest He thus describes their habitations: ”The huts were of a low, oval shape, like a gypsy tent; the highest part, that near the entrance, was about four feet froreatest breadth was about four feet also On each side were three or four sticks for the man and woman to sleep on The huts were made of flexible branches of trees, arched over and fixed into the ground at each end, the longest branches being in thecovered with heavy leaves”
On June 26, 1864, Du Chaillu entered Nieo Land, in the vicinity of which, he learned with great joy, was situated an inhabited encaos, or hairy dwarfs, as he tero natives offered to acco that it was likely the village would be found deserted; for, said they, the Obongos (the dwarfs) are shy and tiazelle, and as wild as the antelope To see them, you must take them by surprise They are like to the beasts of the field They feed on the serpents, rats, and mice, and on the berries and nuts of the forest
[Illustration: A Pigmy Warrior]