g bunches of twigs and
leaves in its fury. Suddenly it rushed upon us rapidly by means of its
fore legs or arms.

"Look out, Jack!" we cried in alarm.

Jack stood like a rock and deliberately levelled his rifle. Even at
this moment of intense excitement I could not help marvelling at the
diminutive appearance of my friend when contrasted with the gorilla. In
height, indeed, he was of course superior, and would have been so had
the gorilla been able to stand erect, but his breadth of shoulder and
chest, and his length and size of arm, were strikingly inferior. Just
as the monster approached to within three yards of him, Jack sent a ball
into its chest, and the king of the African woods fell dead at our feet!

It is impossible to convey in words an idea of the gush of mingled
feelings that filled our breasts as we stood beside and gazed at the
huge carcass of our victim. Pity at first predominated in my heart,
then I felt like an accomplice to a murder, and then an exulting
sensation of joy at having obtained a specimen of one of the rarest
animals in the world overwhelmed every other feeling.

The size of this animal--and we measured him very carefully--was as
follows:--

Height, 5 feet 6 inches; girth of the chest, 4 feet 2 inches; spread of
its arms, 7 feet 2 inches. Perhaps the most extraordinary measurement
was that of the great thumb of its hind foot, which was 5 and a half
inches in circumference. When I looked at this and at the great bunches
of hard muscles which composed its brawny chest and arms, I could almost
believe in the stories told by the natives of the tremendous feats of
strength performed by the gorilla. The body of this brute was covered
with grey hair, but the chest was bare and covered with tough skin, and
its face was intensely black. I shuddered as I looked upon it, for
there was something terribly human-like about it, despite the
brutishness of its aspect.

"Now, I'll tell you what we shall do," said Jack, after we had completed
our examination of the gorilla. "We will encamp where we are for the
night, and send Makarooroo back to bring our fellows up with the packs,
so that you, Ralph, will be able to begin the work of skinning and
cleaning the bones at once. What say you?"

"Agreed, with all my heart," I replied.

"Well, then," observed Peterkin, "here goes for a fire, to begin with,
and then for victuals to continue with. By the way, what say you to a
gorilla steak? I'm