Wiki Went Off Into A Paroxysm Of
Falsetto Sneezes The Like Of Which I Have Never Heard; Nor Evidently
Had
The gorilla, who doubtless thinking, as one of his black co-
relatives would have thought, that the phenomenon favoured Duppy,
Went off after his family with a celerity that was amazing the
moment he touched the forest, and disappeared as they had, swinging
himself along through it from bough to bough, in a way that
convinced me that, given the necessity of getting about in tropical
forests, man has made a mistake in getting his arms shortened. I
have seen many wild animals in their native wilds, but never have I
seen anything to equal gorillas going through bush; it is a
graceful, powerful, superbly perfect hand-trapeze performance. {208}
After this sporting adventure, we returned, as I usually return from
a sporting adventure, without measurements or the body.
Our first day's march, though the longest, was the easiest, though,
providentially I did not know this at the time. From my Woermann
road walks I judge it was well twenty-five miles. It was easiest
however, from its lying for the greater part of the way through the
gloomy type of forest. All day long we never saw the sky once.
The earlier part of the day we were steadily going up hill, here and
there making a small descent, and then up again, until we came on to
what was apparently a long ridge, for on either side of us we could
look down into deep, dark, ravine-like valleys. Twice or thrice we
descended into these to cross them, finding at their bottom a small
or large swamp with a river running through its midst. Those rivers
all went to Lake Ayzingo.
We had to hurry because Kiva, who was the only one among us who had
been to Efoua, said that unless we did we should not reach Efoua
that night. I said, "Why not stay for bush?" not having contracted
any love for a night in a Fan town by the experience of M'fetta;
moreover the Fans were not sure that after all the whole party of us
might not spend the evening at Efoua, when we did get there,
simmering in its cooking-pots.
Ngouta, I may remark, had no doubt on the subject at all, and
regretted having left Mrs. N. keenly, and the Andande store
sincerely. But these Fans are a fine sporting tribe, and allowed
they would risk it; besides, they were almost certain they had
friends at Efoua; and, in addition, they showed me trees scratched
in a way that was magnification of the condition of my own cat's pet
table leg at home, demonstrating leopards in the vicinity. I kept
going, as it was my only chance, because I found I stiffened if I
sat down, and they always carefully told me the direction to go in
when they sat down; with their superior pace they soon caught me up,
and then passed me, leaving me and Ngouta and sometimes Singlet and
Pagan behind, we, in our turn, overtaking them, with this difference
that they were sitting down when we did so.
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