knees and under a mass of dense vegetation, and as we got to our feet on the other side we saw a huge old silver back moving along in plain sight about twenty-five yards away.
If the gorilla were as aggressive an animal as he has been credited with being, this old fellow should have charged that twenty-five yards in a few seconds and given us a chance to defend the ladies heroically from threatened death. However, he didn't know his part, for it was evident that his one idea was to go away. His departure was interrupted by a shot from Bradley which hit him in the neck. He fell like a log. While we were congratulating Bradley and before we had started for the prize, one of the guides suddenly called our attention to the fact that the gorilla was moving off. He disappeared from view. We followed, scrambling along as rapidly as possible but not making very fast progress. But our time was as good as the gorilla's, for we had glimpses of him as he went down and up the other side of a gully to the crest of a ridge beyond. As he reached the top of this ridge he came into full view perhaps fifty yards from where we were. Bradley fired again. This shot sent him rolling down the slope, stone dead. He lodged against the base of an old tree. He was a fine specimen, a huge creature weighing three hundred and sixty pounds. I believe that he was the big lone male of Karisimbi of which we had been told. He had unquestionably met white men before because at one time he had been badly wounded in the pelvis, leaving a permanent deformation of the pelvic region and a crook in his
