, it
was true, was dead, but so was the god, leaving us happily still alive
and practically untouched. Never more would the Kalubis of Pongo-land
shiver out their lives at the feet of this dreadful divinity who soon or
late must become their executioner, for I believe, with the exception of
two who committed suicide through fear, that no Kalubi was ever known to
have died except by the hand--or teeth--of the god.

What would I not give to know that brute's history? Could it possibly,
as the Motombo said, have accompanied the Pongo people from their home
in Western or Central Africa, or perhaps have been brought here by them
in a state of captivity? I am unable to answer the question, but it
should be noted that none of the Mazitu or other natives had ever heard
of the existence of more true gorillas in this part of Africa. The
creature, if it had its origin in the locality, must either have been
solitary in its habits or driven away from its fellows, as sometimes
happens to old elephants, which then, like this gorilla, become
fearfully ferocious.

That is all I can say about the brute, though of course the Pongo had
their own story. According to them it was an evil spirit in the shape
of an ape, which evil spirit had once inhabited the body of an early
Kalubi, and had been annexed by the ape when it killed the said Kalubi.
Also they declared that the reason the creature put all the Kalubis to
death, as well as a number of other people who were offered up to it,
was that it needed "to refresh itself with the spirits of men," by which
means it was enabled to avoid the effects of age. It will be remembered
that the Motombo referred to this belief, of which afterwards I heard
in more detail from Babemba. But if this god had anything supernatural
about it, at least its magic was no shield against a bullet from a
Purdey rifle.

Only a little way from the fallen tree we came suddenly upon a large
clearing, which we guessed at once must be that "Garden of the god"
where twice a year the unfortunate Kalubis were doomed to scatter the
"sacred seed." It was a large garden, several acres of it, lying on a
shelf, as it were, of the mountain and watered by a stream. Maize grew
in it, also other sorts of corn, while all round was a thick belt of
plantain trees. Of course these crops had formed the food of the god
who, whenever it was hungry, came to this place and helped itself, as we
could see by many signs. The garden was well ke