The gorilla is not dangerous, but he is impressive. I have taken a tape and measured around the chests of two good-sized men standing back to back. The two together measured three inches less than Bradley's gorilla alone. His chest unexpanded was 62 inches. He weighed about as much as two men, 360 pounds.
Although not so tall as Dempsey, the gorilla weighs nearly twice as much, and his arms are longer and more powerful. But his legs, on the other hand, are much shorter. Unquestionably a well-developed man can travel both faster and farther than a gorilla.
One can visualize something of his size by a comparison of his measurements with those of Jack Dempsey.
| GORILLA | DEMPSEY | |
| Height | 5 ft. 7½ in. | 6 ft. 1 in. |
| Weight | 360 lbs. | 188 lbs. |
| Chest | 62 in. | 42 in. |
| Upper arm | 18 in. | 16¼ in. |
| Reach | 97 in. | 74 in. |
| Calf | 15¾ in. | 15¼ in. |
The next morning we decided to return to our base camp on Mikeno, a thousand feet lower down. I think we all wished to stay at the Saddle Camp longer because of the marvellous beauty of the place, but our guides and porters complained so bitterly, and I think so justly, against the cold that a decision was made on their account rather than our own. The guides, however, were not content with their return to the Mikeno Camp, but insisted on quitting their jobs entirely. While this was a disarrangement of our plans, my appreciation for all they had done and sympathy with their just complaints caused me to pay them off and let them go. The following day they returned, a very dejected and penitent lot, and their explanation for their return was interesting, to say the least. When they reached home their sultan had asked them if my work was finished and if they had stayed until I no longer required them. They had admitted that I had given my consent unwillingly. He had told them that they must come back to me and stay until the work was finished and that they must bring to him a report from me of complete satisfaction.
Bradley and I remained two days longer, and these guides were on the job every minute. It was a demonstration of honour and manliness on the part of the sultan that I have rarely seen equalled in a savage.
Mrs. Bradley and Miss Miller went to the Mission Camp, but Bradley and I remained for two days of photographing and the cleaning up and the packing of the gorilla material. The third and last day we made the descent of the mountain, sending the porters ahead with their loads to Burunga, but retaining our guides for another hunt in the bamboos.
We had descended well down toward the lower level of the bamboo when the guide led us along a cattle trail up a ridge of Mikeno. We came to a track of a single old male gorilla on this trail, which, after we had followed it for a half hour, had been joined by others. Ultimately we were on a perfectly fresh trail of a whole band. The purpose of the hunt was to get more pictures and to add to our series one more specimen, a young male if possible. At this time I had not seen more than one male with a gorilla band and I felt that a group of two old males, two females, and a youngster of four years would be misleading; that if I used them I would have to use one of the old males as an intruder in the family group. I had to explain to my gun-bearer that we must go slowly because I did not want to come up with the gorillas in jungle so dense that I could not photograph them; and that we must try to manage not to disturb them until they had come to more open country where the chance for observation would be better. We were near the edge of a ravine the opposite slope of which was cleared of bamboo and bush. I suggested to him that if we could possibly see them in a place like that, it would enable us to do the things that we wanted to do. Not that I actually hoped for any such luck; but as a matter of fact, fifteen minutes later we heard the bark of a gorilla. Peeping through the bush we saw the entire band on that opposite slope, all of them in full view. There were at least three old males, I think four, and perhaps a dozen females and youngsters. They, of course, had seen us. They were making off toward the crest of the opposite slope as fast as possible.
My first thought was along these lines: