The fate of a hunter is thus given by Du Chaillu, who pledges himself to three very debatable points: that the Gorilla meets its enemy erect; stands and fights; and kills by a blow across the abdomen:--“We set off towards a dark valley where Gambo said we should find our prey. The Gorilla chooses the darkest, gloomiest forests, for its home is found on the edges of the clearings only when in search of plantains, sugar-canes, or pine-apples. Often they choose for their peculiar haunt a wood, so dark that even at midday one can scarce see ten yards. This makes it the more necessary to wait till the monstrous beast approaches near before shooting, in order that the first shot may be fatal. It does not often let the hunter reload. Our little party separated, as is the custom, to stalk the wood in various directions. Gambo and I kept together. One brave fellow went alone, in a direction where he thought he could find a Gorilla. The other three took another course. We had been about an hour separated, when Gambo and I heard a gun fired, but a little way from us, and presently another. We were already on our way to the spot, where we hoped to see a Gorilla slain, when the forest began to resound with the most terrific roars. Gambo seized my arm in great agitation, and we hurried on, both filled with a dreadful and sickening alarm. We had not gone far when our worst fears were realised. The poor brave fellow, who had gone off alone, was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and I thought, at first, quite dead. His bowels were protruding through the lacerated abdomen. Beside him lay his gun. The stock was broken, and the barrel was bent and flattened. It bore plainly the marks of the Gorilla’s teeth. We picked him up, and I dressed his wounds as well as I could with rags torn from my clothes. When I had given him a little brandy to drink he came to himself, and was able, but with great difficulty, to speak. He said he had met the Gorilla suddenly, and face to face, and that it had not attempted to escape. It was, he said, a large male, and seemed very savage. It was in a gloomy part of the wood, and the darkness I suppose made him miss. He said he took good aim, and fired when the beast was only about eight yards off. The ball merely wounded it in the side, and it at once began beating its breasts, and with the greatest rage advanced upon him. To run away was impossible, for he would have been caught in the jungle before he had gone a dozen steps. He stood his ground, and, as quickly as he could, reloaded his gun. Just as he raised it to fire, the Gorilla dashed it out of his hand, the gun going off in the fall; and then in an instant, and with a terrible roar, the animal gave him a tremendous blow with its immense open paw, frightfully lacerating the abdomen, and with this single blow laying bare part of the intestines. As he sank bleeding to the ground, the monster seized the gun, and the poor hunter thought he would have his