Stories of the Gorilla Country, Narrated for Young People

by Paul B. Du Chaillu

The forest here, as everywhere else, was full of rough, strong, climbing plants, many of which reach to the top of the tallest trees. They are of every size; some bigger than a man's thigh, while many are as large as the ropes of which the rigging of a ship is made. These creepers the natives twist together; and, after working very hard, they succeed in constructing a huge fence, or obstruction. Of course, it is not sufficient to hold the elephant; but when he gets entangled in its meshes, it is strong enough to check him in his flight, till the hunters can have time to kill him. When an elephant is once caught, they surround the huge beast, and put an end to his struggles by incessant discharges of their spears and guns.

While the others worked, I explored the forest. Seeing that the men were careful in avoiding a certain place, I looked down on the ground, and saw nothing. Then, looking up, I saw an immense piece of wood suspended by the wild creepers, high in the air; and, fixed in it at intervals, I saw several large, heavy, sharp pointed pieces of iron pointing downwards. The rope that holds up this contrivance is so arranged that the elephant cannot help touching it, if he passes underneath. Then the hanou (such is the name given to the trap) is loosened, it falls with a tremendous force on his back; the iron points pierce his body, and the piece of wood, in falling, generally breaks his spine.

I also saw in different places, large, deep ditches, intended as pitfalls for the elephant. When he runs away, or roams around at night, he often falls into these pits, and that is the end of him; for, in falling, he generally breaks his legs. Sometimes, when the natives go and visit the pit they have made, they find nothing but the bones of the elephant and his ivory tusks.

The fence that the natives had made must have been several miles long, and in many places was several rows deep; and now there were elephant pits beside, and the hanous.

We were, you must remember, in a mountainous country; and I could scarcely believe my eyes when I saw plainly the footprints of this animal where I myself had to hold to the creepers to be able to ascend.

When everything was ready, part of the men went silently and hid themselves upon the limbs or besides the trunks of trees near the barrier or "tangle." Others of us took a circuitous route in an opposite direction from that in which we had come. After we had got miles away from the "tangle," we formed a chain as long in extent as the fence, and moved forward, forming a semi-circle, with the men ten or twenty yards apart from each other.

Presently, all along the line the hunting horns were sounded, wild shouts were sent up, and, making all the noise they could, the Fans advanced in the direction of the "tangle." The elephants were entrapped. Hearing the noise, of course they moved away from us, breaking down everything before them in their flight. If they tried to go to the right, they heard the same wild shouts; if they tried to go to the left, they heard the same. There was no other way for them to go but straight ahead; and there, though they did not know it, were the tangle, the pits, and the hanous. They were going to surer death than if they had tried to break our lines; for then most, if not all of them, would have escaped. We were too far from each other to hinder them.

Onward we pressed, the circle of those giving chase becoming smaller and smaller, and the crashing of the underbrush more distinct, as we approached the elephants in their flight. The men's countenances became excited. They got their spears in readiness; and soon we came in sight of the tangles. What an extraordinary sight lay before me; I could distinguish one elephant, enraged, terrified, tearing at everything with his trunk and feet, but all in vain! The tough creepers of the barrier in no instance gave way before him. Spear after spear was thrown at him. The Fans were everywhere, especially up on the trees, where they were out of the reach of the elephant. The huge animal began to look like a gigantic porcupine, he was stuck so full of spears. Poor infuriated beast! I thought he was crazy. Every spear that wounded him made him more furious! But his struggles were in vain. He had just dropped down when I came close to him; and to end his sufferings, I shot him through the ear. After a few convulsions of limb all became quiet. He was dead.

Some of the elephants had succeeded in going through the tangle, and were beyond reach.