The Gorilla Hunters | Page 7

around, every object that met my eye
seemed strange, and wild, and foreign, and romantic. We three were
reclining round an enormous wood fire in the midst of a great forest,
the trees and plants of which were quite new to me, and totally unlike
those of my native land. Rich luxuriance of vegetation was the feature
that filled my mind most. Tall palms surrounded us, throwing their
broad leaves overhead and partially concealing the starlit sky. Thick
tough limbs of creeping plants and wild vines twisted and twined round
everything and over everything, giving to the woods an appearance of
tangled impenetrability; but the beautiful leaves of some, and the
delicate tendrils of others, half concealed the sturdy limbs of the trees,
and threw over the whole a certain air of wild grace, as might a
semi-transparent and beautiful robe if thrown around the form of a
savage.
The effect of a strong fire in the woods at night is to give to
surrounding space an appearance of ebony blackness, against which
dark ground the gnarled stems and branches and pendent foliage appear
as if traced out in light and lovely colours, which are suffused with a
rich warm tone from the blaze.
We were now in the wilds of Africa, although, as I have said, I found it
difficult to believe the fact. Jack and I wore loose brown shooting coats
and pantaloons; but we had made up our minds to give up waistcoats
and neckcloths, so that our scarlet flannel shirts with turned-down
collars gave to us quite a picturesque and brigand-like appearance as
we encircled the blaze--Peterkin smoking vigorously, for he had
acquired that bad and very absurd habit at sea. Jack smoked too, but he
was not so inveterate as Peterkin.
Jack was essentially moderate in his nature. He did nothing violently or
in a hurry; but this does not imply that he was slow or lazy. He was
leisurely in disposition, and circumstances seldom required him to be
otherwise. When Peterkin or I had to lift heavy weights, we were

obliged to exert our utmost strength and agitate our whole frames; but
Jack was so powerful that a comparatively slight effort was all that he
was usually obliged to make. Again, when we two were in a hurry we
walked quickly, but Jack's long limbs enabled him to keep up with us
without effort. Nevertheless there were times when he was called upon
to act quickly and with energy. On those occasions he was as active as
Peterkin himself, but his movements were tremendous. It was, I may
almost say, awful to behold Jack when acting under powerful
excitement. He was indeed a splendid fellow, and not by any means
deserving of the name of gorilla, which Peterkin had bestowed on him.
But to continue my description of our costume. We all wore homespun
grey trousers of strong material. Peterkin and Jack wore leggings in
addition, so that they seemed to have on what are now termed
knickerbockers. Peterkin, however, had no coat. He preferred a stout
grey flannel shirt hanging down to his knees and belted round his waist
in the form of a tunic. Our tastes in headdress were varied. Jack wore a
pork-pie cap; Peterkin and I had wide-awakes. My facetious little
companion said that I had selected this species of hat because I was
always more than half asleep! Being peculiar in everything, Peterkin
wore his wide-awake in an unusual manner--namely, turned up at the
back, down at the front, and curled very much up at the sides.
We were so filled with admiration of Jack's magnificent beard and
moustache, that Peterkin and I had resolved to cultivate ours while in
Africa; but I must say that, as I looked at Peterkin's face, the additional
hair was not at that time an improvement, and I believe that much more
could not have been said for myself. The effect on my little comrade
was to cause the lower part of his otherwise good-looking face to
appear extremely dirty.
"I wonder," said Peterkin, after a long silence, "if we shall reach the
niggers' village in time for the hunt to-morrow. I fear that we have
spent too much time in this wild-goose chase."
"Wild-goose chase, Peterkin!" I exclaimed. "Do you call hunting the
gorilla by such a term?"

"Hunting the gorilla? no, certainly; but looking for the gorilla in a part
of the woods where no such beast was ever heard of since Adam was a
schoolboy--"
"Nay, Peterkin," interrupted Jack; "we are getting very near to the
gorilla country, and you must make allowance for the enthusiasm of a
naturalist."
"Ah! we shall see where the naturalist's enthusiasm will fly to when we
actually do come face to face with the big puggy."