Someone Wishes to Speak to You Read Online Free Page B

to listen carefully, before using their pangas to hack at some of the sturdier ringed stems of a nearby bamboo stand to create as much noise as possible among the vegetation, in order to alert the gorillas as to their presence. Within no more than thirty seconds of the disturbance, the tranquility of the forest was broken by the deep-bellied roar of an adult male silverback that had been in quite close proximity to them. This was soon to be followed by a further roar, the noise of breaking branches and the crushing of nearby bamboo stems.
    With a gorilla so nearby, Deschryver had taken over the lead position; the Pygmies immediately looked more at ease as they smiled at each other in seeming relief and gratitude. Then, after the party moved on a little further, through a gap in the heavy foliage Mathew gained his first sight of a magnificent eastern lowland gorilla in the wild. The young silverback was sitting on the far side of a fallen tree; his jet-black head, sparsely haired chest and the long hairs on his arms and stomach contrasted significantly with the light grayness of his silver back. As soon as Deschryver had seen the gorilla he had taken some leaves to chew, and by not looking directly at the silverback, he kept making the soft, rumbling noise of a gorilla welcome and repeating in an equally soft voice, ‘com-com’, ‘com-com’, ‘com-com’. The silverback responded to this by giving a deep yawn, throwing his head back and displaying a fine array of ivory-white teeth, which were set within an oasis of pinkish gums. He then shifted his position slightly and suddenly stood up, executed with his cupped hands the familiar gorilla chest-beat display of ‘pok-a-pok’, ‘pok-a-pok’, ‘pok-a-pok’, ‘pok-a-pok’, then turned his back on them and disappeared out of view into a small valley beneath where they had been standing.
    ‘I believe that the young silverback has come into the area from a nearby small group of bachelors to try to lure somefemales away from Casimir,’ whispered Deschryver. Casimir was the leader of a family group, an elderly silverbacked male that Deschryver had befriended some five years previously. ‘With all the chest-beating and vocalisations of this young male, Casimir’s family will be very unsettled – I very much doubt we’ll see anything more today, we may as well retrace our tracks.’
    About half an hour later, Deschryver heard a branch being snapped about 25 m to the right and, within two minutes, they came upon the large bulk of Casimir lying down with his back towards them, with six members of his family relaxing to the rear of him. Another large male, whom Deschryver had named Hannibal, sat in a restful position to the right of his younger family members, with his broad back leaning against a massive tree trunk. Hannibal’s attention appeared to be divided between the casual regarding of the knuckles of his right hand, and seemingly contemplating what to do next; although at the same time glancing good-naturedly in Deschryver’s direction. Three of the younger gorillas were tussling together like friendly wrestlers, with two adult females grooming and picking through the thick black hairs of Casimir’s shoulders and arms, while two juveniles peered inquisitively from behind them, as if seeking some type of reassurance that this small group of humans were not a threat to their well-being.
    While the gorilla family relaxed during the mid-morning period, it was customary for Deschryver to always do likewise; to just stand or lie down on the peaty soil and to take notes of his observations and, as if sharing his lunchtime with the gorillas, to continuously chew some leaves. Mathew noticed that Lucienne often acted in a similar fashion, and he could see by her keen sense of alertness and constant excitement when following the Pygmies and Deschryver that she was in her element. Whenever Lucienne had stopped to peer through the foliage at the gorillas and Mathew had been