Stories of the Gorilla Country, Narrated for Young People

OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS CONTINUED--A REBELLION IN CAMP--NOTHING TO EAT--I SHOOT A FISH AND MISS AN ELEPHANT--I KILL A BIG SNAKE, AND THE OTHERS EAT HIM--MY FIRST SIGH...

HUNTING FOR FOOD--WE KILL A FEMALE NSHIEGO MBOUVÉ--A YOUNG NSHIEGO WITH A WHITE FACE--HE BECOMES MY PET TOMMY--HIS AFFECTION FOR ME--HIS STEALING PRANKS--TOMMY GETS DRUNK--HIS B...

I have been a great wanderer. On the 5th of February, 1857, I was on board of a little schooner, of forty-five tons burden, bound for the mouth of a river called Fernand-Vaz. Fr...

One fine day I remained in the camp, for I had been hunting so much that I wanted a day of rest. All the others had gone to hunt. I was left alone, and I enjoyed the solitude, e...

WAR THREATENED--OSHORIA ARMS HIS MEN--WE BLUFF THEM OFF, AND FALL SICK WITH FEVER--THE MBOLA IVOGA, OR END OF MOURNING TIME--A DEATH AND BURIAL--FINDING OUT THE SORCERER--THE VI...

I remember well the day when I first possessed a live gorilla. Yes, a gorilla that could roar; a young gorilla alive! He was captured not far from Cape St. Catherine, and dragge...

In the year 1856 I was again in the equatorial regions. I was in the great forest, on my way to the cannibal country; yes, the country where the people eat one another. It was a...

A WEEK IN THE WOODS--A TORNADO--THE LEOPARDS PROWLING ABOUT--I KILL A COBRA AND A SCORPION--FIGHT WITH A BUFFALO--HUNTING FOR WILD BOARS--A LEOPARD TAKES A RIDE ON A BULL--SICK...

I BUILD A VILLAGE, AND CALL IT WASHINGTON--I START FOR THE INTERIOR--MY SPEECH ON LEAVING--THE PEOPLE APPLAUD ME VOCIFEROUSLY, AND PROMISE TO BE HONEST--WE REACH ANIAMBIA--THE "...

What have we yonder in the water? A flock of hippopotami! Their bodies look for all the world like so many old weather-beaten logs stranded on a mud-bank or a sand-bar.

AN UNSUCCESSFUL HUNT FOR ELEPHANTS--I TAKE AIM AT A BUFFALO--A LEOPARD IN THE GRASS NEAR US--WE SHOOT THE LEOPARD AND HER KITTEN--GREAT REJOICING IN CAMP--WHO SHALL HAVE THE TAI...

As we came in sight of the land, which was covered with forest, canoes began to start from the shore towards us; and, as we neared the land, we could see the people crowding dow...

Now that you have followed me in the Benito country, and to Cape St. John, I will take you a little further down the coast to the Bay of Corisco. There, two rivers empty their w...

I left the good villagers of Yoongoolapay, and pursued my way to the seashore. On the route we came to a high ridge, or plateau. This was the highest land I had seen between the...

They are great hunters. One day a woman returning from the plantations brought news, that she had seen elephants; and that one of the plantain fields had been entirely destroyed...

I remember well the first Fan village I approached. It stood on the summit of a high hill in the mountains. All its inhabitants were very much excited when they perceived we wer...

Sunrise found us under way again; and before us lay a fine stretch of prairie, on the farther borders of which were quietly grazing several herds of buffaloes, which, as we appr...

Our camp presented a very picturesque appearance, and was unlike the one described a little while ago, and of which I gave you a picture. Here each man had built for himself a c...

After this I went again to visit King Bango, and was announced to his Majesty by his great mafouga. I had an important object in paying this visit. I wished to ask the king to p...

One fine morning there was a great bustle on the banks of the river at Washington, where two canoes were loading. I was about to start on another expedition. I called King Ranpa...

One fine day I was quietly seated in my bamboo house, and reading over, for the fiftieth time, the letters of the dear friends who had not forgotten me, and were so kind as to r...

After we reached Ndiayai, I went back to my little hut, and found everything I had left there. I had hidden my powder and shot in different places, and had dug holes in which to...

Cape Lopez is a long sandy arm of land reaching out into the sea. As you approach it from the ocean it has the appearance of overflowed land. It is so low that the bushes and th...

Quengueza had a slave named Mombon, whom he loved greatly. Mombon was his overseer, chamberlain, steward, man of business, and general factotum, the man whose place it was to ta...

Time passed on. It was several years since I left the United States, but nevertheless I determined to set out for the head waters of the Fernand-Vaz, and for countries undiscove...

We established ourselves in a deserted Bakalai village, a few miles from the banks of the Ovenga, and about ten miles above Obindji. I was glad that I had no olako to build.

On my way to the seashore from the cannibal country, I had a good deal of trouble. I had taken quite another route to come back; Mbéné and his people left me on the banks of a r...

I resolved to embark again on the waters of the Anengue Lake and make a little journey of exploration. Damagondai went in the canoe with me. He was to take me to another king, a...

Not long after we returned from our hunting expedition, I prepared to go to Fetich Point on a fishing excursion. For this purpose it was necessary to have canoes. I had called o...

One day I passed by an immense enclosure, protected by a fence of palisades about twelve feet high, and sharp-pointed at the top. Passing through the gate, which was standing op...

On the promontory called Cape St. John, about a degree north of the Equator stood a Mbinga village, whose chief was called Imonga. This was, I think, in the year 1852. The count...

King Quengueza accompanied me on my voyage up the Rembo and Ovenga rivers. We were followed by a great many canoes, and by chiefs of the Ashira and Bakalai tribes. We were going...

WE GO UP THE RIVER TO N'CALAI BOUMBA--A SEVERE ATTACK OF FEVER--THE TENDER CARE OF THE NATIVES FOR ME--ANGUILAI ACCUSES HIS PEOPLE OF BEWITCHING ME--I GO OUT AND QUIET HIM--A BO...

AS I was trudging along one day in the woods, rather tired of the sport, and on the point of going back to the camp, I happened to look up at a high tree which we were passing a...

Everything went on smoothly among the good Commi. When I absented myself they took great care of my property. They seemed proud of their honesty; and though it was a wild countr...

Hunting for food--We kill a female nshiego mbouvé--A young nshiego with a white face--He becomes my pet Tommy--His affection for me--His stealing pranks--Tommy gets drunk--His b...

I build a village, and call it Washington--I start for the interior--My speech on leaving--The people applaud me vociferously, and promise to be honest--We reach Aniambia--The "...

We go up the river to N'calai Boumba--A severe attack of fever--The tender care of the natives for me--Anguilai accuses his people of bewitching me--I go out and quiet him--A bo...

An unsuccessful hunt for elephants--I take aim at a buffalo--A leopard in the grass near us--We shoot the leopard and her kitten--Great rejoicing in camp--Who shall have the tai...

A week in the woods--A tornado--The leopards prowling about--I kill a cobra and a scorpion--Fight with a buffalo--Hunting for wild boars--A leopard takes a ride on a bull--Sick...

Our journey through the wilderness continued--A rebellion in camp--Nothing to eat--I shoot a fish and miss an elephant--I kill a big snake and the others eat him--My first sight...

War threatened--Oshoria arms his men--We bluff them off, and fall sick with fever--The _mbola ivoga_, or end of mourning time--A death and burial--Finding out the sorcerer--The...