Through this open fabric one could see without obstruction on all sides, and yet feel a certain sense of safety from being devoured by leopards or panthers.
Over this frail fortress was a roof of bamboo leaves, and it was provided with curtains of canvas to be hung up in case of rain. The floor was of thin boards, steeped in tar, and the structure was set up about two feet from the ground, on nine small posts.
WAITING AND WATCHING IN THE CAGE
It was furnished with a bed, made of heavy canvas supported by two poles of bamboo, attached to the edge of it. One of these poles was lashed fast to the side of the cage, and the other was suspended at night by strong wire hooks, hung on the top of it. During the day, the bed was rolled up on one of the poles, so that it was out of the way. I had a light camp chair, which folded up, and a table was improvised by a broad, short board hung on wires. This could be set up by the wall of the cage at night, out of the way. To this meagre outfit was added a small kerosene stove, and a swinging shelf.
A few tin cases contained my wearing apparel, blanket, pillow, photograph camera and supplies, medicines, and an ample store of canned meats, crackers, &c. A magazine rifle, revolver, ammunition, and a few useful tools, such as a hammer, saw, pliers, files, and a heavy bush-knife, completed my stock, except some tin platters, cups and spoons. These served in cooking, and also for the table, instead of dishes.
With this equipment I sailed from New York on the 9th of July 1892, viâ England, to the port of Gaboon, the site of the colonial government of the French Congo. This place is within a few miles of the equator, and near the borders of the country in which the gorilla lives. I arrived there on the 18th of October of the same year, and after a delay of a few weeks I set out to find the object of my search.
Leaving this place, I went up the Ogowe River about two hundred miles, and through the lake region on the south side of it. After some weeks of travel and inquiry, I arrived at the lake of Ferran Vaz, in the territory of the Nkami tribe. The lake is about thirty miles long, by eight or ten wide, and interspersed with a few islands of large size, covered with a dense growth of tropical vegetation. The country around the lake is mostly low and marshy, traversed by creeks, lagoons and rivers. Most of the land is covered by a deep and dreary jungle, with a few sandy plains at intervals.
In the depths of this gloomy forest, reeking with the effluvia of decaying plants, and teeming with insect life, the gorilla dwells in safety and seclusion. In the same forest the chimpanzee makes his abode, but is less timid and retiring.
On the south side of this lake, not quite two degrees below the equator, and within some twenty miles of the ocean, I selected a place in the heart of the primeval forest, erected my little fortress, and gave it the name of Fort Gorilla.