Lost in the Jungle; Narrated for Young PeopleDu Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni)
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Lost in the Jungle; Narrated for Young People
Du Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni)
Africa, West -- Description and travel; Africa, West -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
How glad I was. I saw at once that we had killed the very animal I
wanted. His height was five feet nine inches, measured to the tip of the
toes. His arms spread nine feet. His chest had a circumference of
sixty-two inches. His arms were of most prodigious muscular strength.
His hands, those terrible, claw-like weapons, almost like a man's,
having the same shaped nails, and with one blow of which he can tear out
the bowels of a man and break his ribs or arms, were of immense size. I
could understand how terrible a blow could be struck with such a hand,
moved by such an arm, all swollen into great bunches of muscular fibres.
When I took hold of his hands, I shall not say _in_ mine, for his were
so large that my hands looked like those of a baby by the side of his.
How cold his hands were, how callous, how thick and black the nails, as
black as his face and skin. What a huge foot he possessed! Where is the
giant that could show such prodigious feet?
We disemboweled the monster on the spot. Malouen and Querlaouen, who had
heard our guns, joined us, and we built a camp close by. My three
fellows were very fond of gorilla's meat, and they had a great treat.
The brain was carefully saved by them.
In the evening Gambo told us some stories, one of which, the last one, I
will relate to you. It relates to the leopard, and goes to prove that
this ferocious animal has no friend.
THE LEGEND OF CONIAMBIÉ.
Coniambié was a king, who made an orambo (a trap) in which a ncheri
(gazelle) was caught. After it had been caught, it cried and called for
its companion; then a ngivo (another gazelle) was caught. The ngivo
cried, and a wild boar came and was caught; then an antelope came, and
was caught; afterward a bongo and a buffalo came, and all were caught,
and all of them died in the trap. At that time Coniambié was in the
mountains. A leopard was caught also, but did not die. Then came a
turtle, who released the leopard from the trap. Then the leopard wanted
to kill the turtle which had saved him. The leopard got hold of the
turtle to kill it, but the turtle, seeing this, drew her head, legs, and
tail inside her shell, but not before she had managed to get into the
hollow of an old tree, with the leopard after her in the hollow, and he
could not get away. The tree is called ogana, and bears a berry on which
monkeys are fond of feeding. So there came to the tree at this time, for
the purpose of feeding, a miengai, or white-mustached monkey; a ndova,
the white-nosed monkey; a nkago, the red-headed monkey; an oganagana, a
blackish monkey; a mondi, which has very long black hair; a nchegai and
a pondi, who all came to eat the berries. When the leopard heard the
noise of the monkeys, he shouted, "Monkeys, come and release me!" Then
they came and helped the leopard out of the hole. But the leopard,
instead of being grateful, fought with the monkeys, and ate the nkago
and the ndova. Then the monkey called a mpondi said, "_Mai! mai!_ That
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