eeded with him, taking two views, not very perfect, but
sufficient for my object.

I must now relate how these three animals were caught, premising that
the capture of the female was the first instance of an adult gorilla
being taken alive. The place where they were found was on the left bank
of the Fernand Vaz, about thirty miles above my village. At this part a
narrow promontory projects into the river. It was the place where I had
intended to take the distinguished traveler, Captain Burton, to show him
a live gorilla, if he had paid me a visit, as I had expected, for I had
written to invite him whilst he was on a tour from his consulate at
Fernando Po to several points on the West African coast.

A woman, belonging to a neighboring village, had told her people that
she had seen two squads of female gorillas, some of them accompanied by
their young ones, in her plantain field. The men resolved to go in chase
of them, so they armed themselves with guns, axes, and spears, and
sallied forth.

The situation was very favorable for the hunters; they formed a line
across the narrow strip of land and pressed forward, driving the animals
to the edge of the water. When they came in sight of them, they made all
the noise in their power, and thus bewildered the gorillas, who were
shot or beaten down in their endeavors to escape. There were eight
adult females altogether, but not a single male. The negroes thought the
males were in concealment in the adjoining woods, having probably been
frightened away by the noise.

This incident led me to modify somewhat the opinions I had expressed, in
'Adventures in Equatorial Africa,' regarding some of the habits of the
gorilla. I there said I believed it impossible to capture an adult
female alive, but I ought to have added, unless wounded. I have also
satisfied myself that the gorilla is more gregarious than I formerly
considered it to be; at least it is now clear that, at certain times of
the year, it goes in bands more numerous than those I saw in my former
journey. Then I never saw more than five together. I have myself seen,
on my present expedition, two of these bands of gorillas, numbering
eight or ten, and have had authentic accounts from the natives of other
similar bands. It is true that, when gorillas become aged, they seem to
be more solitary, and to live in pairs, or, as in the case of old males,
quite alone. I have been assured by the negroes that solitary and aged
gorilla