THE GORILLA, 9

A Young A young gorilla which some natives succeeded

Gorilla. in capturing for M. du Chaillu, and which he
named “Fighting Joe,” forms the subject of one of his most
interesting chapters. The young cub was caught by the adroit
use of a cloth which one of the natives managed to throw
over his head, but not until he had severely bitten one of
his captors in the hand and taken a mouthful out of the
leg of another. He was about three years old, three feet
six inches in height and of great strength. A cage was
made for him, from which he twice escaped, on each occasion
being recaptured by the use of fishing nets. On his first
escape he concealed himself under the bed in M. du Chaillu’s
house. “Running in,” says the writer, “to get one of my guns,
I was startled by an angry growl. It was master Joe; there
was no mistake about it; I knew his growl too well. I
cleared out faster than I came in. I instantly shut the
windows and called in my people to guard the door. When
Joe saw the crowd of black faces he became furious, and
with his eyes glaring, and every sign of rage in his face and
body, he got out from beneath the bed. He was about to
make a rush at all of us. He was not afraid. A stampede ot
my men took place, I shut the door quickly (from outside)
and left Joe master of the premises.” While the men
outside were devising means for his recapture, the young
gorilla carefully inspected the furniture and M. du Chaillu
became apprehensive for the safety of his clock, the ticking of
which was likely to attract unwelcome attention. However,
by means of a net dexterously thrown over him, he was
secured once more and carried back to his cage, which in
the meantime had been repaired, the full strength of four
men being required for the purpose. On his second escape
he made for the woods and took refuge in a large clump of
trees. “This we surrounded,” says M. du Chaillu. “He
did not ascend a tree, but stood defiantly at the border of
the wood. About one hundred and fifty of us surrounded