The delight was not unanimous. In general our announcement about out adventure was received by our friends with a flat- tering gloom, “Why not the lake or chloroform or something usual and immediate results instead of taking the trouble to go to Africa and give ourselves to a lion for lunch ? Also, demanded the
merry ones, if anything did happen, were we planning to ship the consumer back to the Zoo so they could place memorial wreaths about its neck ?
They called attention to Mr. McCutcheon’s picture of the jolly little cemetery back of Nairobi with “Killed by Lion” on every cross, and quoted “The bulge was Algy,”with persistent humor. Especially they pointed out that the gorilla was not noted for hospitality and presented us with various accounts in which we came upon some such heartening paragraph as, “The poor brave fellow who had gone off alone was lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, his entrails torn out, his gun beside him, bitten in two by the gorilla’s teeth.”
I admit there was room for both humor and dismay. Between the lion’s chances for lunch and ours for a rug the odds we’re sportingly similar. Records were not encouraging, describing the grown male as a demon of ferocity, attacking on sight with a fury few hunters can withstand; but the records of the
gorilla were extremely scarce. It is surprising to learn how little has been discovered about the animal since Du Chaillu wrote his blood- curdling accounts of his adventures in the West Coast Jungle. There is no gorilla in a museum mounted by a man who ever saw a wild gorilla? We know almost nothing of habits or capacities”…
From the the book I’m currently reading.,
On the Gorilla Trail…by MARY HASTINGS BRADLEY.
Mary Bradley is listed as an author, she did pen some sci-fi books. But she wrote a series of books pertaining to her adventure in Africa looking for the great ape. The gorillas.
She spoke of coming to an island of them. Like In King Kong they must have been completely taken back arriving there. They came in to contact with all kinds of animals not seen live before, they also encountered cannibals of their travels. She may be listed as author but she is also a woman of the woods who went on an expedition few women got to do in their life, especially there and in the time in history.
I’ve been reading about the early gorilla encounters, seeing the similarities of what these zoologist/anthropologist went through in their quests as bigfoot researchers do now.
Most believe bigfoot is a great ape. So knowing about their history of discovery is helpful.
But reading this history is not, I repeat is not for the faint of heart. They were not treated well. Horrifically would be a good description of their treatment in the hands of man.
Captured, killed, experimented on, torn from their families.
After reading all this you may think twice about wanting to find a bigfoot alive and bring him in. Even if giving the easiest of opportunities, I’ll never do it, never. They don’t deserve us. Let history be a reminder….
Sources..
https://ia600903.us.archive.org/4/items/ongorillatrail00bradiala/ongorillatrail00bradiala.pdf
Sasysquatchgirl 