In the little village of Ntondo, near the Kuilu, Güssfeldt saw a fetish called Bunsi, constructed of the skulls of animals, and quite peculiar to Bakunyaland. It consisted of a pile of the skulls of animals which had been slain in hunting, and which were brought as an offering to the fetish by the hunter in order that his good luck might be maintained. The heap consisted for the most part of the skulls of antelopes, buffaloes, and wild boars, but there were also many skulls of gorillas. Among these Güssfeldt saw two fine specimens with high bony crests. When he inquired where gorillas were found and killed, the natives of Ntondo pointed to a neighbouring forest.[108] Güssfeldt describes the character of the forest of Mayombe, where gorillas are also found, somewhat as follows:--This forest does not correspond to our idea of a primeval tropical forest, and would perhaps perplex a South American traveller, since it is more like the forests of mountainous districts in Germany. The luxuriant growth of lianas is characteristic of a tropical primeval forest: they form a second roof of leaves above the green masses of the closely set trees. But in this case the parasitic vegetation is scanty, although not wholly absent, as the kautschukranke (_Landolphia florida_) shows, which was at one time very abundant, but is now nearly extinct. Its growth no longer obstructs the view of the tall and slender trees, somewhat resembling beeches. The underwood of our German forests is here chiefly supplied by the large linear leaves of the scitamines, of which the most common variety is termed matombe by the natives. Ferns, or rather tree-ferns, are not wanting, and the ground is covered with dead leaves. The trees of this forest have been untouched by the axe, except in places cleared for the construction of a new village. Where a tree falls there it lies, encumbering, as it may for years, the narrow path which leads through the thicket. An eternal twilight always prevails here, and on cloudy days it might be supposed that the sun was eclipsed. The atmosphere is close and damp, like that of a hothouse, and its weight is most depressing to mind and body. The dense stillness is rarely broken by the wailing cry of a bird, and no wild creature can be seen. Those who wander in these forests are always going up or down hill, since there is no level ground, and by paths scarcely wide enough for a white man, which are covered with smooth and slippery roots, while the feet and clothes are constantly caught by boughs and lianas, which also sting the face, so that the traveller longs for free, unimpeded motion, for light and air, and rejoices to see the cleared space on which the village of Bayoma stands, surrounded by palms and bananas.[109] In the work I have quoted on the Loango Expedition, a fine water-colour drawing, by Pechuël-Lösche, of a forest frequented by gorillas is reproduced, and I subjoin a copy of this interesting illustration (Fig. 62).