THE UNION TIMES — JANUARY 31, 1902
FOREST MONSTER
A message from Buluwayo states that news, apparently corroborating the presence of a prehistoric monster in the forests of the Congo, comes from Elizabethville.
A Belgian prospector and hunter, Gapelle, who has returned from the interior of the Congo, states that he followed up a strange sport for twelve miles, and finally sighted a beast which was certainly of the rhinoceros order.
It had large scales reaching far down it very thick kangaroo-like tail a horn on its snout, and a lump on its back.
The hunter fired shots at the head which threw up its head and disappeared into the swamp.
This beast answers the description of the brontosaurus, which was the ultimate cause of a recent accident to a party of scientists from the Smithsonian Institute. Hearing stories of the presence of such an animal in the Congo, the scientists were proceeding hither from South Africa, When a runaway truck collided with their train, injuring several of the party.
The brontosaurus belongs in the genus dinosauri of the order Saurapoda, whose fossil remains have been discovered in the Jurassis strata. They were gigantic four footed creatures, growing to at length of over 50ft. and a height of 10ft. The tail and the neck were long, and the back is believed to have been covered with scaly plates, while the nose bore one or more horns. Scientists are of the opinion that the brontosarus was herbivorous.
From— The Gloucester Advocate. (NSW : 1905 - 1954), 20 Dec. 1919. Trove. National Library of Australia.
