AFRICAN JUNGLE SECRET.

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 4 July 1929, Page 7

AFRICAN JUNGLE SECRET.

—-c> APES FOR FOSTER PARENTS ‘ ‘SECVLI-H UMA NS ” REAR GIR.'L. An elephant hunter is stated to have shot at a' herd of apes when hunting in the Ca,mere,mis, and later found that one of the wounded proved to be not au ape, but a negro woman, sayis the “World’* Pictorial News.” She was, t- > all appearances in the trees, just another of the ferocious animals, but closer investigation revealed her origin It is supposed that the apes stole her when a, baby, and brought her up with them in their nests or huts. As years went on .she was as one of the apes, and climbed the trees with the facility of her foster-parents. There is nothing strange in thus finding a human being living with the apes,. In Africa, at the junction of the Ulbana. River and. the Great Congo, a tribe of “semi-huninns” were surprised by a lioat’o crew, who had landed to try for a shot at the big game abounding in the neighbourhood i:f the rivens. As soon as the strange beings, sa.w the sailors they assumed a threatening attitude, and after two or three shots, took to the forest with screams more like those of frightened w oman than fleeing apes.

ILL-FATED EXPEDITION. In connection with that report made by the captain when he returned to Antwerp, an expedition way formed to investigate. The River Ghana, takes a northern course from the confluence with the Congo, but the latter river flows, into the wildest and most dangerous tract of all the African coast. It was at the town of Leopoldville, in the Belgian Congo, that the expedition wa;s halted, and from that centre set out to discover, if possible, the main, body or headquarters of the semi-human apes. Captain Louis Vartilli. and his wife' Aii'iia, were the leaders of the expedition. Warnings were issued by the, 1 local officials, and every precaution wn a ,s taken to make the strange quest ns safe as possible. It- was on a. morning in May when, the party set out The isun had not as yet made its appearance, for the hour was just 2 a. til. Days passed without anv word or the venturous party. Twenty carriers or “hoys,” were with that expedition. None ever returned to the starting point, though it was arranged that •uu-h day a. runner would set out to give «i* detailed account of their progress and any discovery thev niig'ut have made. , - . The river ran in places under dark arches of thick foliage. Giant cobras, the fearful anaconda, the slim water snake,'all had to be taken into, account. The, banks, were watched, for it wm , v ,,|l understood that the tribe of arms: mould net go far from the water. THE APE-GIRL.

Six weeks after the expedition set cut one of the be ats was found sunk j in shallow water. Ali supplies were j gone, ami of the other boat there was | no sign. Later it- was discovered half j burned in a little bay about ten miles | from where the first boat had been found. That way the last of the expedition. No soul over returned nor i;,!> to a' short time ago was there any, theory as to why the two white people had disappeared. Then came startling news: A. native of the Congo, who had absconded into French territory, gave a vivid: description of his wanderings. He had had to live in the depths of the forest, travel at night in the open where possible, and get what shelter he could from the broiling sun by day The trees were a, safe place if one ' was, sure they wore not already in possession of a cobra, or other reptile. The ground was alive after dark with the tilings that kill, and knowing his woodcraft, this native sought out a colony of apes, for where they could live in safety a 'human being might manage to get through. The shrill chatter of the tribe of apes reached him one day as he made his way through the forest. He turned and made for the bank of the River Congo, and there, in a secluded grove, he saw the huts which he knew were those of the apes. Describing these, huts, the native said that they were built by the male, and, perched in the fork of a stout tree’, the doorway was always facing south. How the brain of the apo determined the proper direction is not known, but it is a fact that all the openings into these huts, are lacing south.

The moon was at its full on this ni(dit as the native name within sight, of "the colony. He knew they were not dangerous if one did not try to get near the huts. The males are nearly alwavK on the look-out for rivals; and are a terribly jealous species, lulling bv .strangulation their rival is of other enemies'. , , The native took wp Ins post in the fork of a giant redwood tree., and was, about, to sleep when to his amazement ho saw a, girl drop to the ground from a hut on a near-by tree, amt m a, manner not at all like the female, ape,, make her way to the river. He followed 'and saw her wash her face, and drv it with a leaf from the cactus tree. He looked at this strange being. ITo knew apes , monkey s of all kinds he was familiar with, but this being— THE FAIR HAUL

Slowly he, approached her. She was alone, and all the colony apparently unaware of her absence. The native was about to turn away when lie saw the being loolc toward him, make no sign of being frightened or otherwise alarmed, and taking this as an invitation he slowly came nearer and nearer expecting to hear a sh rill scream and see the being in night Nothing of the sort happened. Thev both sat on the grass. l*e native, advanced his hand timidly and was allowed to, touch the flesh of the one by his side. It was smooth. ■ No mass-'of sticky hair met his fingers, and looking into the hiioo lie- -saw that it was almost human —more like a human being’s face than his own! He tried to talk in his own language. She whispered some words he did not understand, and after a futile effort to get an explanation from this strange creature lie, -allowed her to return to her but on the tree. Before she climbed to the hut she went to a. mound by the river. The native went, there after she had gone and found a roughly-formed grave. I air hair lay cn the top of the moist clay, but/ there was only the hair and the bones there.

Was this the girls motherf She was. not expecting to be a mother when she set out with her husband, it i,s now well established that the skeleton is that of Anna, the missing wife of the captain, and the fact that the human-locking being living in the trees knows of that lonely grave, and caresses the fair hair nightly, speaks with the force of human nature.