Chapter I: Front Matter

STORIES
OF THE
GORILLA COUNTRY

NARRATED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

BY
PAUL DU CHAILLU

AUTHOR OF "DISCOVERIES IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA"
ETC., ETC.

NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION

LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
_Limited_
St. Dunstan's House
FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, E.C.
1893
[_All rights reserved_]

LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LD.,
ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL ROAD, E.C.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER II.
Arrival on the coast--A king and his palace--Dancing and
idol-worship 3

CHAPTER III.
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 with the
fever 13

CHAPTER IV.
A village on the seashore--Lying in wait for a leopard 23

CHAPTER V.
The Bay of Corisco--The mangrove trees--The wonderful flocks of
birds--What I found in the pouch of a pelican--How an old king
is buried, and the new king crowned 29

CHAPTER VI.
An old man killed for witchcraft--My journey to the country of
the cannibals--Starting on the route 37

CHAPTER VII.
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 of
gorillas 47

CHAPTER VIII.
I arrive among the cannibals--Their spears, bows, and
battle-axes--They take me for a spirit--Their king shakes when
he sees me--I give him a looking-glass--It astonishes him 59

CHAPTER IX.
An elephant hunt 67

CHAPTER X.
Life among the cannibals--Curious musical instruments--Cooking
utensils--A blacksmith's bellows and anvil--Cannibal diet 75

CHAPTER XI.
Journey to Yoongoolapay--Hunting with nets--The terrible
Bashikonay ants 83

CHAPTER XII.
Returning to the coast--Caverns and waterfalls in the
highlands--Crossing a river on mangrove roots--Stirring up a big
snake--A mutual scare 89

CHAPTER XIII.
Cape Lopez and an open prairie once more--King Bango and his
three hundred wives--His five idols--Slave barracoons--The
corpse and the vultures 97

CHAPTER XIV.
Slave barracoons--A big snake under my bed--A slave-ship off the
coast 103

CHAPTER XV.
Going into the interior--Sleeping with the king's rats--The
chimpanzee--Kill a gazelle--Too cold to sleep--The grey
partridge 109

CHAPTER XVI.
The hippopotamus--A speck of war--Reach Ngola--A Sunday
talk--The black man's God and the white man's God--How King
Njambai punished his wife--We build an olako in the woods 117

CHAPTER XVII.
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 tail?--A
quarrel over the brains--The guinea hens--The monkeys 125

CHAPTER XVIII.
Alone in camp--Hunting for elephants--Aboko kills a rogue--I cut
another python in two--We shoot some wild boars--A buffalo
hunt--Return to Sangatanga--King Bango sick 133

CHAPTER XIX.
A jolly excursion party--A race for the fishing banks--The
Oroungou burial-ground 143

CHAPTER XX.
Our camp at Point Fetish--An African watering-place--Fishing,
but not bathing--The sharks--Curing mullets, etc.--Turning
turtles--Bird shooting--A leopard springs upon us 149

CHAPTER XXI.
Bound for the interior--A sea voyage--A tornado--We reach the
Fernand-Vaz--Sangala wishes to detain me--A night
alarm--Prospect of a war--Arrayed for battle--A compromise--My
Commi friends 157

CHAPTER XXII.
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
"big king," Olenga-Yombi--A royal ball in my honour--The
superstitions of the natives--A man tossed by a buffalo 169

CHAPTER XXIII.
Capture of a young gorilla--I call him "Fighting Joe"--His
strength and bad temper--He proves untameable--Joe
escapes--Recaptured--Escapes again--Unpleasant to handle--Death
of "Fighting Joe" 179

CHAPTER XXIV.
The hippopotamus--A duel--Shooting on the river--Nearly
upset--A night-hunt on land--My companion fires and
runs--Appearance and habits of the hippopotamus 189

CHAPTER XXV.
Visit of King Quengueza--I promise to visit him--The kindness of
the Commi--The dry season of the Fernand-Vaz--Plenty of birds
and fishes--The marabouts--The eagles--A bad wound 199

CHAPTER XXVI.
Another expedition to Lake Anengue--Difficult passage up the
river--The crocodiles--King Damagondai and his troubles--I
buy an mbuiti, or idol 207

CHAPTER XXVII.
A visit to King Shimbouvenegani--His royal costume--Hunting
crocodiles--How they seize their prey--The nkago--The ogata 215

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The nshiego mbouvé--Bald-headed apes--Their houses in the
trees--Lying in wait for them--We kill a male--The shrieks of
his mate--Description of the animal--Farewell to Shimbouvenegani 221

CHAPTER XXIX.
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 village
deserted--I become Viceroy at Washington 227

CHAPTER XXX.
Hunting in the woods--The mboyo wolf--We catch another young
gorilla--He starves to death 237

CHAPTER XXXI.
Going to unknown regions--Quengueza sends his son as a
hostage--I take him along with me--Reception by the king--Our
speeches--Quengueza afraid of a witch--An incantation scene 241

CHAPTER XXXII.
Gorilla hunting--My companions, Mombon, Etia, and Gambo--Etia
kills a large gorilla---We make up a large party--Camp stories
about gorillas--We capture a young gorilla--Her untimely death 247

CHAPTER XXXIII.
Voyage up the river--We build a village near
Obindji--Quengueza's plan for keeping the Sabbath--Kindness of
the natives--A trial by ordeal 253

CHAPTER XXXIV.
The kooloo-kamba--The gouamba, or meat-hunger--Exploring the
forest--Gorilla hunting--Within eight yards of a large
gorilla--He roars with rage and marches upon us 259

CHAPTER XXXV.
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 boy cut
to pieces for witchcraft--A useful idol--The ebony trees 265