10 NATURAL HISTORY IN ANECDOTE.

him. As we moved up he began to yell, and made a dash
upon a poor fellow who was in advance. The fellow ran
and tumbled down in affright. By his fall he escaped the
tender mercies of Joe’s teeth; but he also detained the
little rascal long enough for the nets to be thrown over him.”
But Joe was a child of nature and could not live with the
chain of civilisation around his neck, and he died somewhat
suddenly some ten days afterwards and finally found his
way to the British museum.

Gorilla According to du Chaillu, the natives entertain
Superstitions. many superstitions about the gorilla, among the
commonest of which is the belief that some gorillas are
inhabited by human spirits. In his “Stories of the Gorilla
Country” he gives an interesting illustration of this. “In the
evening,” he says, “the men told stories about gorillas. ‘I re-
member,’ said one, ‘my father told me he once went out to
the forest, when just in his path he meta great gorilla. My
father had his spear in his hand. When the gorilla saw
the spear he began to roar; then my father was terrified
and dropped the spear. When the gorilla saw that my
father had dropped the spear he was pleased. He looked
at him, and then left him and went into the thick forest.
Then my father was glad and went on his way.’ Here all
shouted: ‘Yes! so we must do when we meet the gorilla. Drop
the spear; that appeases him.’ Next Gambo spoke. ‘Several
dry seasons ago, a man suddenly disappeared from ray
village after an angry quarrel. Some time after an Asbira
of that village was out in the forest. He met a very large
gorilla, That gorilla was the man who had disappeared;
he had turned into a gorilla. He jumped upon the poor
Ashira and bit a piece out of his arm; then he let him go.
Then the man came back with the bleeding arm. He told
me this, I hope we shall not meet such gorillas.’ Chorus:
‘No; we shall not meet such wicked gorillas.’ “I myseif,”
says du Chaillu, “afterwards met that man in the Ashira