GORILLAS AHEAD!

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 185, 6 August 1932, Page 8 (Supplement)

GORILLAS AHEAD!

AFRICA'S FIERCE JUNGLE APE TRAPPING HIM IN THE WILDS A COLLECTOR'S ADVENTURES. (By J. L. BUCK.)

As the Buck "expedition" sails for Africa this year, we wonder, my son and I, if the present trip will reward us with such a prize as Bushman, the young 501b gorilla we captured last year up above Moyenc, in the French Congo. When we landed Bushman at Philadelphia a few months after we had caught him he became the fourth gorilla in captivity in the United States, and my son and I had captured two of this distinguished quartet. The story of how we took Bushman from his thorny, twilight forest home is one of hard work and exceeding patience. Our hunt began in a little village ruled over by old Chief Karumpa, near Moyenc, in the French Congo. We were on the trail, with the hot sun beating relentlessly through the interlaced tree branches, when Hector abruptly tugged at my arm. I looked up, and something caught within me. Thirty yards or so ahead of us—there was a gorilla band. I wish I could recreate the thrill that comes to you in the damp, hot forest when suddenly the rare gorilla shows himself. All our lives we who collect wild animals imagine such a moment. And then, on a stifling hot day, in some twilight forest, the miracle occurs—as it did that day in the uplands above Moyenc. Following that first pleasurable shock, I silently marshalled the'boys. Their tasks had long before been explained to them. My gun carrier, pressed close to my left hand—his nearness might mean preservation in the moment of attack. Hector was at my right. Over the thorn-grown patch we pushed, straining our eyes, toward the prize. In the group were a full-grown male of fine proportions, two females, which appeared to be full grown, and two little ones, almost toddlers. The breeze was in our favour. They would not get our scent. As we crept after them, I marvelled at the extreme 6ilence of their movements, at the ease with which they moved through the underbush. The cruel chorus which tore my skin left their thick, shaggy hides unscratched. . I wondered, if they could see us or smell ue. ( Apparently they couldn't, for the next, moment, quite off their guard, they squatted down to' rest under a nearby tree, and were presently joined by several others. -. i A 'Huge Arm Flailed Out.

Though I wished mightily. to count them, I did not dare push Uside my curtain of vines lest the 'noise should ! alarm them., , So, peeping through the leaves, I watched as best I could. An old gorilla sat in the middle of the group. He seemed to be the leader, and his deep notes dominated the medley of gorilla voices. A younger male, which I-could barely glimpse, did not seem to be on particularly friendly terms with the leader, and there was a strange uneasiness apparent in the band. To the left a mother slapped a little one. For a moment I heard the baby's wail, strangely human, and then < the two males claimed my entire attention. : They were up on their rear legs. Suddenly a huge arm flailed out, and a superb "battle had started. Whatever \vas the trouble, the two males were fighting , passionately. My ears ached from the, din of their cries. And then, just.as suddenly as the fight had started, it was over. The younger male turned his back upon his opponent and plunged into the bushes. He had conceded defeat. The old fellow returned to his tree, and back to his side came the other members 'of the group which had fled abruptly 'as the battle started. Over everything settled a painful hush. Ijftter, as I watched, a grown gorilla, which I took for a female, slipped off through that 'break in the covert into which the vanquished male had plunged. Why did she desert the group, I wondered. Was it because she chose the young male, even in his defeat—as many women have clung to unfortunate men? And what had those two been fighting for? Mastery of.the harem? .And can we prove that they arrange their domestic affairs on the harem plan? .Abruptly "my musings were interrupted. Bustle had succeeded quiet among the gorillas. They were moving off through the twilight to the rendezvous where they would spend the night. A Surprise Bag.

Tho next, day we set out again. It could not have been more than ten o'clock when we topped a ' little rise where - the way was fairly good going, and almost shouted in triumph. There, just ahead of us, was another band of six or seven-gorillas! They seemed like men who, 'facing a long journey, have decided to take it at a slow and steady gait'. •• - i Again the task faced us of separating a straggler from its elders. Back in the village I had rehearsed the boys in another strategy. Six were assigned to work their way forward and then to swing. across the baby gorilla's path, dropping bananas in front of him in the hope that these would tempt him into further delay. At this juncture we were to steal up with the nets. Tile .chosen boys Went ahead, and, guarding our footfalls, we followed them. Steadily we gained on the little straggler. The boys had crossed in front of him now and had dropped a handful of bananas. He stooped, picked one of them up. Wo could hear his lips smacking—as I raised a finger to caution silence. Then I plunged. I can still feel the sharp sting of nettles as I shot the net out with a singing swish. I can still fee! the arc my body described as I followed the net and grabbed that gorilla to smother his cries. And I can still remember my amazement when I discovered that we had two struggling gorillas struggling in our net—the baby ind a ha^f-grown fellow that must have been hidden from us by a bush. My son and Hector had leaped forward with me. Now, suddenly, in the struggle ivith this jumbled netful of furry black irms and snapping teeth, we were swept sflf our feet and went rolling, tearing, scratching and scrambling through the jrambles. As we struggled to untangle ourselves, we rolled into a clearing. My son managed to free himself and began struggling desperately to free me. rlcctor also was up, and likewise trying o pull me to safety. Still tangled in he net, the two gorillas and "I were ottering on the edge of a 20ft cliff, fhe. furry bundle rolled slowlv forward.

then toppled over. As it started its descent I felt a strong jerk on my leg. Sector JiaiT pulled 'me "free of the . tangled net. The two jabbering, scratching and biting gorillas landed below the cliff and rolled for a few yards. Then they » managed to free themselves—and race away. Again •we had failed. There followed a succession of scorching days without a sign of gorillas to break the monotony. And then luck again' came our way. From the crotch of a tree I suddenly spied a band of gorillas in the distance. Closer and . closer they came, halting finally beneath a tree just a short distance from L where I sat. There they held a grave" I- and garrulous communion, and when s they had settled whatever was troubling . them, all of the band, except one old chap; who seemed to be the leader, went . into a tree to sleep, though it is seldom that gorillas 6leep in trees. The night offers no time for a gorilla capture, so we slept as best we could in our own tree crotch. I suppose I must have nodded. The day had been weary enough, goodness knows. Suddenly I was awakened by the sound of a terrific fight. "The old gorilla is doing murder," I thought, as I tried to pierce the gloom. For long minutes the battle raged, impressing itself upon me by sound alone. Why, I wondered, is the cry of one of the ■ combatants so strangely treble? Did gorilla ever emit a cry like that? The noise of the conflict slowly died away, until once more all was hushed. At dawn stirrings at the foot of the nearby tree prompted me to separate the barrage of vines and brambles I had drawn across my tree crotch. The gorillas, three or four of them, were even then disappearing. And under the tree lay a leopard—dead! i Many an African traveller has heard how the . leopard travels after the gorilla band, hoping to seize a straggling young one. But this leopard had miscalculated, and his mistake cost him his life. I pierced this together with another bit of animal lore. Almost invariably, we . have been told, the gorilla, sleeps, upon the ground. When lie does take to a tree, as these gorillas had, it is because the leader sends them aloft while he awaits the enemy below. Precisely this appeared to have happened .while I was marooned in my tree crotch. The. Capture. We had been on the road scarcely an hour when wo caught up with the gorilla band. The old familiar thrill surged through me again. In such an electric moment forgotten is the weary way, the danger' and the failure—and the old animal inan eagerly bends his scratched shoulders to the new trail. Silently wo pushed after the gorilla party. Were our efforts again to be doomed to failure? Would still another band of gorillas manage to elude us without our taking one of them captive ? Gradually, all the details preliminary to the' great moment of capture began to click. Within half an hour a likely little fellow was lagging behind the band, and the boys I had sent forward to intercept him gradually drew closer and closer. Soon they had manoeuvred in front of him and had dropped the tempting bananas.

Cautiously I motioned to the boys behind to shake out the nets. A difficult task—shaking out a liana net while you are fighting your way through a dense underbrush. But somehow we managed both to open the nets and to cover the ground between us and the fairly clear spot near the top of the rise, where the baby gorilla was by now greedily enjoying our bananas. The magic moment of capture was at hand. Signalling to my boys, I darted toward the hairy little back above me. The net was balanced, ready to be tossed about our prize. Raising myself on tiptoes, I took careful aim and threw it—darting after it as it swirled about the baby gorilla. The next moment I had grabbed the little fellow and was muffling his cries with my hands, while my circling legs held him down. My son rushed up with a sponge of ether. Soon the biting, scratching little body was relaxed. Ten minutes later we had started back toward the village, with my . son trailing along behind us—a rear bodyguard to watch out for a solicitous gorilla mother that might come hunting for her runaway.