The people have never invented any form of
alphabet, yet the abundance of tale, legend, and proverb which
their dialect contains might repay the trouble of acquiring it.
Chapter V.
To Sanga-Tanga and Back.
My objects in visiting Mbata, the reader will have understood,
were to shoot a specimen or specimens of the gorilla, and, if
possible, to buy or catch a youngster. Even before landing, the
pilot had assured me that a "baby" was on sale at the Comptoir,
but on inquiry it proved to have died. I was by no means sanguine
of success--when the fight is against Time, the Old Man usually
wins the day. The short limits of my trip would not allow me to
wander beyond the coast and the nearer riverine regions, where
frequent villages and the constant firing of muskets have taught
all wild animals that flight is their only defence; thus, besides
being rare, they must be shy and timid, wary and knowing, "like
an old hedgehog hunted for his grease." The first glance at the
bush suggested, "Surely it is impossible to find big game in such
a land of farms and plantations.
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