I ILLINOIS

Production Note

Digital Rare Book Collections
Rare Book & Manuscript Library
University of Illinois Library at
Urbana-Champaign
2018

 

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DU CHAILLU’S
EQUATORIAL AFRICA.

EXPLORATION S AND ADVENTURES IN EQUA—
TORIAL AFRICA: with Accounts of the Manners
and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the
Gorilla, the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopota—
mus, and other Animals. By PAUL B. DU CHAILLU,
Author of “ Stories of the Gorilla Country,” “Wild Life
under the Equator,” &c. With numerous Illustrations.
8V0, Cloth, $5 00.

“ The notes and descriptions of a man of uncommon nerve and daring. They
trace the course of a traveller who, forsaking all beaten tracks, plunged into the
wilds of a country where no white man appears to have preceded him, and who
brings before us tribes marked by hideous moral degradation, and yet of not un
hopeful prospects; while as a hunte2, sportsmnan, and naturalist, he has tales to
tell which make the ears of all who hear to tingle.’ ’—Lo’7¢do7z Rewew.

“Stiikingly attractive and wonderful as are his descriptions, they all carry in
themselves an impiess of substantial tr 1thfulness.’ ’——Szr Roderick Murchison.

“ In this large volume we have not found one page which we were inclined to
skip. We can not too strongly express ou1 admiration of the undaunted pluck
and iesolution which carried him to the point actually accomplished. He per-
formed the whole distance, eight thousand miles, on foot, and the amount of feve1
he went through may be judged of by the fact that he consumed in four years
fourteen ounces of quinine. ”—LomZan S flectator

“ Its literary merits are considerable, for it is clear, lively, and judiciously
pruned 0f unimportant details. His explorations were in no degree exempt from
the hardships and dangers which are the condition of African travel. He 50} oumed
among cannibals, panthe1s, crocodiles, and snakes—underw ent fifty attacks of the
fever—walked several hundred miles on foot, and was constantly m a condition
so nearly bordering on sta1vation that he was sometimes, for days together, With-
out any other food than roots and berries ”—Londzm Saturday Rem’ew.

“ We must go back to the voyages of La Perouse and Captain Cook, and almost
to the days of wonder which followed the tlack of Columbus, for novelties of equal
significance to the age of their discovery. Du Chaillu struck into the very spme
of Africa, and lifted the veil of the torrid zone from its western rivers, swamps, and
forests. He found therein a variety of new types of living creatures, and othe1s
which were only partially and imperfectly known He sojourned among tribes or
races who feed on their kind and he encountered the animal more formidable
than any yet heard of. ”———L07zd<m 1 zmes.

“He has contrived to render his name forever memorable 1n the annals of geo-
graphical discovery. He traveled on foot, unattended by any other white man,
eight thousand miles secured two thousand birds, and killed upward of two thou—
sand quadrupeds. ”—Lomion Mamzmg Post.

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.
W SM! 5} mail, portage pmpaz'd, 012 retezlflt of $3 00.

 

 

 

 

 

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DU CHAILLU’S
GORILLA COUNTRY

STORIES OF THE GORILLA COUNTRY; Nar—
rated for Young Peoplef By PAUL B. DU CHAILLU,
Author of “ Discoveries in Equatorial Africa,” “Wild
Life under the Equator,” &c. Profusely Illustrated.
Izmo, Cloth, $1 75. i

“The stories it contains are full of the kind of novelty, peril, and adventure
which are so fascinating to children. . . . . It is a capital book for boys.”—L07z-
don Spectator.

“ Exceedingly interesting—as much so as even ‘ Robinson Crusoe ’ ever was—
not only to young people on account of its striking novelty and charming and nat—
ural style, but to the aged and learned as well.”———New York Herald.

“These stories are entertaining, and are well told, and they are calculated to
impart much knowledge of natural history to youthful readers.”—Bmz‘on Trav—
eller.

“ M. Du Chaillu tells his stories in a ‘once—upon-a—time’ way, with a personal
zest which is quite captivating.”———Har§fard Press,

“ Almost a rival of ‘ Robinson Crusoe ’ for intense interest, while it has this ad-
vantage over that work, that it is a narrative of facts.”—Sunda_y-Sclzool Times.

“ It is a book for young people—true, every line of it, but full of action, adven-
ture, enterprise, and peril, and as exciting as a well-told fairy tale.”——P/Lz'ladelphzkz
Press.

“ Du Chaillu’s stories of the cannibals, and of his adventures in the vast forests
of Africa, and among the wild beasts and men 110 less wild, are told in a pictur~
esque, vivacious style.”—New Yar/a Times.

“ Fresh, original narratives related in a style of incomparable naiveté, and with
a delightful confiding tone that must find its way to the heart of every juvenile
lover of the marvels of nature.”—-New York Trz'émze.

“ Full of rare adventure, and probably what is better, of truth.”—Zz'an’s H erald.

“ Too strange, as well as too life-like, not to be true.”-Clzrz'stz'zm Adwmte.

 

 

PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

W Sm! [2y mail, fosmge firepaz’d, 074 recez'pz‘ 9/ $1 75.

 

 

 

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\NLLD'LLFE

'UNDER THE EQUATOR

NARRATED FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.

BY PAUL DU CHAILLU,

AUTHOR OF'

“DISCOVERIES IN EQUATORIAL AFRICA,” “STORIES OF THE
GORILLA COUNTRY,” ETC.

W1 7 Y! N UIIIEK 0 US EJVGRA VIZVGS.

NEW YORK:
.HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1871,

 

 

 

 

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,

1n the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern
District of New York.

 

 

 

CONTENTS.

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER ............ Page 13

CHAPTER II.
Parrot IsIand.—How the Parrots build their Nests. —Parrot Soup ...... 15

CHAPTER III.
An African Creek.—-—A Leopard among the Chickens.—A night

Watch for Leopards ........................................................... 25
CHAPTER IV.
Hunting Elephants and Buffaloes.— A venomous Serpent.—— A Snake-
charmer.—He is bitten.—He commits Suicide ........................ ‘34-

CHAPTER V.
At Court in At’1-ica.—— Costumes 0? the Court.—- An African House-
hold.—~A false Alarm ........................................................ 44

CHAPTER VI.

Hunt for G0rillas.-— A large one shot.~— The Negroes make Charms
(if his Brain.——Mourning in a Bakalai Town ........................... 50

CHAPTER VII.

An African Fireside.~— A Camp by the Sea-shore.— The first Gorilla
Hunter. —Negro Blarney..,.= ....... . ...................................... 61

 

 

 

viii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

Hippopotamus hunting.-—V\’e kill one.— The Men eat it.—— Poor
Beef.-— What the Tusks are for ................................... Page 60

CHAPTER IX.
A great Gorllla ..................................... 75

CHAPTER X.

Death in an African Village.— Lamentations.—— The Funeral Cere-
monies.—~An African Cemetery .......................................... 82

CHAPTER XI.

A T01'nad0.—Bef01'e the_St0rm.— Thunder and Lightning.— After
the Storm ........................................................................ 87

CHAPTER XII. ‘
A Greek infested by Snakes.—Snake in the Boat.—An ugly Visitor... 93

CHAPTER XIII.

Drinking the Mboundou.——How Olanga-Condo could do it.—HOW
the Mboundou is made.—Thc Effect of the Poison .................. 101

CHAPTER XIV,

A royal Feast.—On the Banks of the Ovenga.~—Prepamtions.—The
Bill of Fare.—A taste of Elephant and a mouthful of Monkey ...... 108

CHAPTER XV.

The terrible Bashikouay. ——March of an ant Army.—They build
Bridges.—They enter Houses.—Their Habits ........................ 114

CHAPTER XVI.

The Sorrows of the Birds.—Curi0us African Birds.—.—-The Barbatula
du Chaillui.——The Barbatula Fuliginosa.~—The Sycobius Ni~
gerrimus ........................................................................ 125

 

 

 

0 ONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVII.
0n the Ofoubou River.—-—Elephants bathing—Pursuit through the

ix

Swamp.—Escape 0f the Elephants ............... ‘ ............... Page 138
CHAPTER XVIII.
I{jali-Coudié.—An African T0wn.—The Chief.—Courtship and Mar-
riage in Africa.—Buying a VVife.—— Quarrel over the Spoils..;... 145
CHAPTER XIX.
The Feast of Njambai.—The talking Idol.—Secret Proceedings.—
The \Vomen and their Mysteries..................................: ....... 150
CHAPTER XX.
Sick in a strange Land.—Adventure With a Snake.-—How a Squirrel
was charmed .................................................................. 157
CHAPTER XXI.
WitchcrafL—Accusation of Pendé.—Resu1t of his Trial .................. 163
CHAPTER XXII.
Gorilla hunting.—Preparations.—VVe kill a male Gox'illa.—Bringing
him to Camp .................................................................. 169
CHAPTER XXIII.
In the Buffalo Countl‘y.— The Paradise 0f Flies.—-— The various
Species... ........................................................................ 177
CHAPTER XXIV.
Elephant Pits.—A Captive.—Dividing the Meat—The Alethe
Castanea ........................................................................ 183
i
CHAPTER XXV.
A deserted Village.——Fear of Death.——VVars between Villages.—
African wild Boar.—The Hunt .......................................... 189

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CHAPTER XXVI.
In the wild F0rest.—~Hostile ’l‘ribes.——An intrenched Camp.-——Forays
forProvisions...“um ................................................. Page 197

C HAPTER XXVII.

‘Ne discover human Foot-prints.——We spy out the Enemy.—A
female G01‘illa.——Maternal Fondness ................. , .................. 208

CHAPTER XXVIII.

How we were received at Camp.—Threatcncd with Starvati0n.—-A
Night in Cam1.——-’\’[ala011cn‘s Story.....,,.‘.. .................... . ...... 215

”3

 

 

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

PAGE
UNDER WAY IN AFRICA .......................................... ....F7'0ntispiece.
PARROT ISLAND .................................................. . ............... 21
AN AFRICAN WAR DANCE ................................................... .. 27
ENCOUNTER WITH A LEOPARD .......................... . .................. 30
LYING Low FOR ELEPHANTS.. ......... .. ............ V ..................... . 35
THE SNAKE CHARMER... .......... .. ..................... . ....... ...... . 41
APPEARANCE OF THE KING AND HIS COURT ....... . ...... ...... . 45
FIERCE ATTACK OF A GORILLA .......... .. ................ .. ..... . ......... 55
EVENING AMUSEMENTS IN AFRICA ........ . ..................... ......... 63
HUNTING HIPPOPOTAMI. ............................... . .......... ...... . 71
HEAD OF HIPPOPOTAMUS ............................................ ..... 74
FOOT-PRINTS OF THE GORILLA .................................. . ...... . ...... 76
FEMALE QORILLA AND HER YOUNG. ............... ..... _79
MOURNING THE DEAD ..... . ...... ............ . ...... ......... 84
A NIGHT STORM IN AFRICA...... ...... . ...... .. ................. ......... 89
IN THE CREEK 0F SNAKES. ...... . ........ 95
DRINKING THE MBOUNDOU...................... ......... ..... 103
MARCH OF BASHIKOUAY ANTS ...... .......... . ......... 119
THE BASHIKOUAY ANT, MAGNIFIED TO TWICE 11's NATURAL SIZE 123
THE BARBATULA WORKING ........ .. .......... ............. 131
AFRICAN HANGING BIRDs’-NESTS ........ . ............. 133
HUNTING ELEPHANTS....... ................. .................. . ...... 143
INTERIOR OF THE NJAMBAI-HOUSE ............... .......... 154
CHARMING THE SQUIRREL. ..... .................. 16]
THE TRIAL OF PENDI’ ................... . ............... ...... 165
DEATH OF A MALE GORILLA............ ............................ 173
DANCING AROUND THE ELEPHANT MEAT .................................. 186

' 1‘

 

 

X11 LIST OF ILL USTRATIONS.

PAGE
KILLING FOUR WILD BOARS..... ........................................... 195
SMOKING OUT THE BEES ..................................................... 204
TRAPPING THE MONKM ...................... 206
WE DISCOVER FOOT-PRINTS ......................................... . .....

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHILE} 3113??) @I‘IEIEB WISE E®EEAT®LRQ

PRELIMINARY CHAPTER.

DEAR young folks I—In the book I wrote for you last
year, called “ Stories of the Gorilla country,” I said to
you “ cm ?evoz‘r.” that means good-bye till I come again.

I have come again to my publishers, who are also my
good friends, and Who have let me have my own way
about the illustrations of this book; they have told me
that you were pleased With the last book. Not only-
have they told me so, but many of you have said'the
same thing to me.

This'Was good news, for I delightto tell stories to '
young folks, and “ Stories of the Gorilla Country ” being
the first book I ever wrote for you, I was delighted to
hear of its success. -

I felt quite happy When I learned that I had been
able to interest you in What interested me7 While travel-
ling in far-distant countries. 3

I have taken my pen once more. ' I am going to lead
you into the great forest of Equatorial Africa. I am

 

 

14 WILD LIFE UNDER TIIE EQ UATOR.

going to try to make you travel With me in the Wild

country I hztve explored. I am going to bring you face I
to face With the gorilla, and lead you into the midst of

the Wild tribes of men I have discovered. I Will tell you

how they live, What queer superstitions they have, and

what sort of people these poor savages are.

I shall tell you about snakes, leopards, elephants, hip=
popotami, and other Wild beasts of the forest. About in-
sects, wonderful ants, and many other curious things.

You Will follow me in that great jungle; you Will get-
lost in it; you will build your camp With me, and you
will hunt With me; you Will be hungry With me; you
Will have the flies to plague you; you will have lots of
adventures, and perhaps wheri you close this book you
Will shout, “What a g10rious time we have had With
our friend Paul 1” I hope you Will not only be amused,
but that you Will be also instructed.» '

I have written two large volumes-“ Explorations in
Equatorial Africa” and “Journey to Ashzmgo Land”———-
for older people than yourselves, and I do not see Why I
should not write for young folks. NOW let me lead you
into that land of wonders, Where no civilized man had
ever trodden before me.

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER II.

PARROT ISLAND.-HOW THE PARROTS BUILD THEIR NESTE‘.“
PARROT SOUP.

THERE is an Island by the sea, in a far country, called
Nengue N gozo.

I shall always remember that Island ; for when I went
there I was young and wildwas wild as the waves of
that sea. I had no” mother to care for me; I had no
sister to love me when I came to this Island. The wide
world was before me. But I loved to roam in wild and
distant countries; I loved to look upon and study the
men, the beasts, the birds, the fishes, the insects, and the
trees. I had no one with me, but God was kind to me,
and took care of me, and he has now brought me back
safely, so that I might tell you all I haVe seen.

On Nengue Ngozo there was a little Village. That
Village had a King, who instead of a crown wore a woolen
cap, and for a sceptre he had a cane. '

Indeed, the Island of Nengue Ngozo, which means
Parrot Island, is a little kingdom of itself. It is covered
with forest, and is situated in the estuary called the Ga-
boon, formed in the bight of' Guinea, on the west coast
of Africa, some fifteen or sixteen miles north of the
equator, and a few miles from the sea. Not far from it
there is another Island called Konikey. (Both of these

 

 

 

16 WILD LIFE (LATER THE EQ UATOR.

islands are marked in the map published in my work
called “ Explorations in Equatorial Africa.”)

One part of Nengue Ngozo is tolerably high, the other
partislow and swampy. It is covered with a, great for-
est; some of the trees are very large and tall, and the
foliage of the palm-trees is very beautiful.

The Island is but a few miles in circumference.

The people of this Island are safe from wild beasts, as
there are no leopards to carry them away or kill their
goats, no elephants to destroy their plantations, and no
gorillas to roam about and frighten them. The cries of
the chimpanzee are not heard, the wild buffalo is not to
be seen, the graceful antelopes and gazelles are unknown,
and the chatter of monkeys 'does not fall upon the ear
of the people or resound strangely in the woods. But
all these roam at leisure on the main-land, where the
Villages of the warlike Shekiani and Bakalai people are
scattered over the great, wild forest.

As I looked upon the water I could see the majestic
pelican chasing the fishes, and the gulls flying in great
numbers through the air, their shrill cries sounding
strangely in the midst of the grand solitude by which I
was surrounded.

Cranes and other birds were walking to and fro on
the beach in search of their food. How quiet, silent and
sly they were as they stepped from place to place look-
ing for their prey; and, when they saw it, how quickly
their long beaks dipped into the water to seize it!

It was a very warm day when I landed on Nengue
Ngozo. The rays of the sun were powerful, and there
was not a ripple on the water. It was so hot that my
men had not even strength to paddle. 'Our sail, made

 

SIIARK/S. 1 7

of natives’ mats, flapped against the mast and was not
of the slightest use except to fan us. Happily the tide
carried us toward the Island. I had an umbrella over
my head, and now and then I wetted a handkerchief
which was in my hat to keep my head cool. I felt that
I was as red as a boiled lobster. I remember well how
much I suffered from the heat that day.

Now and then we could see the fins of sharks as they
came near our canoe, and a shudder went through us
all, for we knew well what would become of us if by
some misfortune we were to upset.

A few days before a fine boy had been devou’red by
these monsters. The sight of a shark when I am in a
canoe always makes me shudder. I fear a shark more
than I do snakes. Which is saying a great deal!

How glad I was when .I landed and rested myself un-
der the shade of the forest which grew to the very water’s
edge. I quenched my thirst in a little brook which rose
in the interior of the Island, and oh! how much better I
felt afterward. I had to drink out of a. large leaf which
I folded in the form of a cornucopia.

I saw on the sands what I knew to be the foot-prints
of men ; we followed them and at" last came to the very
small village of which I have spoken to you. The men
with me were Mpongwes, and belonged to the same tribe
as the people of the Island.

The King and his people at first stared at me, but a
word or two from my men made every thing right.

The luggage was landed from our canoe, the canoe
was then hauled on to the main-Iand and put under the
shade of the trees, and we were ready to rest, for we
were all very tired and I felt rather feverish.

5.9%

 

 

18 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

The wives of the King cooked food for us, and in the.
mean time huts had been given to us by his sable Maj-
esty.

I hardly tasted the food that was presented to me.
After my sham meal I fell asleep, and when I awoke the
sun had set, and all was dark and silent. I felt better,
however, and came out of my hut; the King was quietly
smoking his pipe, and we had a chat together; the
Queen came forth also; then a few old men of the place,
whom we may call the gray-beards, made their appearance.

These people of course knew what the sea was, knew
that the vessels sailed upon it to come to their country;
but they asked me many questions about the white man’s
country. For it stance :—

Had we men with only one eye in the middle of the
forehead ? .

Did our babies feed on milk? They had heard they
fed on spirits.

Of what material were our houses? Were they
built with the bark of trees? And many other appar-
ently foolish questions.

When I told them that we had no people with one
eye in the middle of their foreheads they did not believe
me. They had never seen any white man manufactur-
ing before them the goods we brought, therefore they
thought another species of men must make them, from
whom we bought them.

At last, looking at my watch, I saw that it was ten
o’clock: time to go to bed: so I bade good-night to the
King and his people and went back to my hut. I barri-
caded myself; slept with my gun by my side, and for
'my pillow laid my head on my revolvers.

 

THE PARROTS COME. 19

Toward three or four o’clock in the morning I was
startled by a tremendous noise. At first, just waking up,
I could not make out what it was; when 10 I I discover-
ed it was made by parrots, chattering away in a most
jolly and discordant manner. I had never heard such a
noise in my life before. The Island must have been full
of them. I tried in vain to sleep—turned myself one
way, then the other, but it was of no avail; the noise
was so terrific there was no rest for me. I don’t think
a hundred bells tolling together could have made more
noise. At any rate as they went on I wondered if they
could understand each other7 and how they could have
come to the Island. They had probably arrived while I
was asleep, just before sunset. '

Before the morning twilight came I was out, and as
soon as the dawn of day made its appearance, flock after
flock flew from the trees and went in different directions

toward the mainland. I followed them as far as my,

eyes could reach, but soon lost sight of them, for they
were going far away, very far away. rI‘hey were in
flocks, and each flock went in search of places where they
knew food was abundant. They went off by tens, by
twenties, and by hundreds together.

By sunrise not a parrot was to be seen on the Island,
and I could only hear the chatter of other birds. How
silent then every thing seemed !

During the day I went to the top of the hill in search
of land shells, and after five o’clock in the afternoon
the parrots began to arrive again. From the top of the
hill I could see them as far as my eyes could reach: they
were coming from immense distances. They continued
pouring in and pouring in, and I should not wonder if

 

 

 

20‘ WILD LIFE DWDER THE EQ UATOR.

some had come from thirty or forty miles,‘o.r perhaps
even more. They came and they c'arne, and they con-
tinued coming, even after the sun had set, and two flocks
came when it was almost dark. These had probably
come from far away and had mi'scalculated the time their
flight would take; or perhaps they had beendetained
by some dainty fruit on the road. At any rate they
came very late. I calculated that at least twenty thou-
sand parrots had arrived on the Island, although there
may have been one hundred thousand, for I do not claim
to have counted them all. They came to spend the
night on the Island of Nengue Ngozo, and I now ceased
to wonder at the strange name the natives had given to
the Island.

These gray parrots are said to live to be a hundred
years old and even more. Some years ago I myself knew
a sea-captain in New York by the name of Brown, an
old trader on the African coast, who had a parrot which .
he had kept for thirty years. I wish you could have
heard him talk and sing songs. Captain Brown is dead,
and I know not where his widow has gone, but perhaps
the parrot is still living. I could not help thinking that
some of these old parrots had come here every day, per-
haps, for a hundred years.

They perched by hundreds and perhaps thousands on
the same trees, and the trees on which they perched
showed their heads far above those of the other trees.
How beautifully their gray plumage and their red tails
contrasted with the green leaves from the midst of which
they appeared! Some of the old ones were almost white.
When old their feathers seem to be covered with a, white
powder, and if you pass your hand over their plumage

 

H0 W PARROTS BUILD THEIR NESTS. 2 1

this powder comes off. I have killed wild ones perfect-
ly splendid, much larger and handsomer than any I have
seen tame. ‘

. I wondered why these parrots had chosen this Island
as their bedroom. Why did they come from such dis-
tances every day When there were so many tall trees in
the forest on the main-land? I found that it was because
they were safer than on the main-land; there were no
genetm (a kind of wild cat) to pounce upon them and dis- .

. turb, or rather devour, them at night.

 

PARROT ISLAND.

- Days passed, and every morning and every evening the
parrots went away and the parrots came back, and be-
V tween three and four o’clock in the morning began their
charming noise; but I became quite accustomed to it and .
did not mind it at all after a while. I noticed also that

 

 

 

 

22 W'ILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUA TOR

generally the same number that started together in the
morning came back together.

These parrots must certainly.be endowed with a very
great instinct to know the way to the Island, as they come
from great distances, and from every direction.

Not only do they come to the Island of Nengue
Ngozo to sleep, but in the month of February and the
beginning of March many remain and have their nests on
the Island. They all would have had their' nests, I am
sure, if there had been hollows of trees enough for them.

These gray parrots do not build a regular nest, but
choose a tree where there is a deep hollow to lay their
eggs in. The nests are discovered by hearing their
young calling all day long for their parents to feed them.
I never saw more than two young ones in one nest, or
hollow of a tree, and very funny they looked when cover-
ed with down before their feathers had grown. .

What awful cries they utter as they see the human
hand coming through the darkness ready to catch hold
of them. And you had better look out for your fingers,
for they bite terribly hard, I assure you, as I know by
experience, and that in despite of their being very young.
There were days when I hid myself near a tree close by
the place where they came to sleep, but the parrots seem-
ed to know it, and would fly round and round it, and
then go away. It is but very seldom that I ever was
able to approach parrots when they were perched on a
tree standing by itself: they would fly away before I
could come within gunshot distance. They are exceed-
ingly shy.

When they approach their nests they always come
in the most silent manner, not uttering a single cry.

 

 

PARROT SOUP, 23

For a while after they have taken their flight the
young ones will follow their parents; after a while the
birds of the same age flock together. A young gray par-
rot has entirely black eyes. Before he is a year old a.
change takes ‘place: a ring shows itself round the black,
Which gradually turns yellow, then whitish-yellovv. In
the breeding season the natives capture a great many
young ones in their nests before they can fly away.

After a few days the fowls 0f the little kingdom of
Nengue Ngozo became scarce, and at last the King had
no more to give me; so I said to myself, Why should
not I kill some parrots and cook them?

One morning I awoke before daylight. TWO even-
ings before I had watched a tree not far away Where the
parrots were roosting in great numbers, and had made a
path leading to it. “Then I went by that path it was pitch
dark; I could not help thinking of snakes, but at last I
came to the foot of the tree. It was just before day—
break; the birds did not see me,’but they seemed to
mistrust something, for, though I had come very noise-
lessly, their chatter was of that kind Which showed dis-
tinctly that they were disturbed.

At last I raised my gun in the direction of What I
thought the midst of the tree; then I touched both trig-
gers, and, bang ./ bang ./ I let go both barrels at the same
time. The gun gave an awful recoil Which almost
knocked me down, and I heard a shower of parrots fall-
ing all round me; one fell right on the top of my head
and nearly frightened the life out Of me, for I fancied a
snake had just tumbled on top of me, or that a bough 0f
the tree was coming down. I

IVhat a terrific noise followed my two shots! I had

E.
r
‘3
E
E
.5
E.

 

 

24 i WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA T 01?.

never'heard any thing like it. They fled in dismay,
screaming with all their might; but where were they to
go? it was dark, and the whole population of parrots
was in terrible trouble. The next evening not a parrot
came upon that tree, and they were all very suspicious
as they came to the Island, flying round and round the
trees before they roosted.

When daylight came I found twenty dead parrots on
the giound, and had a giand feast. I had pairot soup,
which was not at all bad; roasted parrot; and grilled
parrot. ‘The old parrots were very tough. but the young
ones were excellent; their flesh was black and resemhled
in taste that of the pigeon.

V Now I have told you all I know about Nengue Ngozo.
Nengue, as I have said before, means an Island, and
Ngozo7 parrot. Should any one of you ever go to the
Gaboon country he will find the Island, and he will see
the parrotsflunless the natives have out ClOWD all the
trees.

In that part of Africa there are only two kinds of par-
rots: the giay s01t—which is very abundant, and much
handsome}: than the gray one found near Sierra Leone,
the gray being of a lighter color—and the green one,
which is very rare.

But I have one now in my possession, the only one
I have ever seen which Is extraordinary. It is pink and
gray; that is, it has pink and gray feathers,'and is a

' very beautiful bird, the rarest that was ever brought to
America or Europe, and probably the only one of its
kind that ever existed; for it is not a distinct species, but
a freak of Nature. '

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III.

AN AFRICAN CREEK.—A LEOPARD AMONG THE CHICKENS.—
A NIGHT WATCH FOR LEOPARDS.

NOW I had just left the Island of Nengue N gozo;
and if your eyes could have reached that part Of the
world, you might have seen me still in the same little
canoe, made of the trunk of a single tree, armed to the

teeth, making for the Ikoi Creek, which was not far dis-

taut. (This creek is also marked on my large map pub-
lished in my work called “ Explorations in Equato-
rial Africa”)

The canoe was going swiftly through the water, the
wind was good, and soon after our departure we entered
the creek. I felt anxious, for the Bakalai and Shekiani
villages were at war with each other~—a wild and treach-
erous set they are—-—and either tribe might have taken my
canoe for that of their enemy, and so pounced upon us in
great numbers and killed us all before we could let them
know that we were strangers belonging to the Mpongwe
tribe, their friends. I was watching continually to see
if there were not some canoes in ambush. After a while
the creek became narrower, the breeze ceased, the sail
had to be furled along the mast, the men took to the
paddles, and our canoe glided onward upon the waters
of the Ikoi. I ‘

B

— . .. .W.,w::.§:_:.:,3(V 7%)“? ”m \ V. -V

 

 

26 TIVILD LIFE UNDER THE’ EQ UATOR.

The sight was dismal enough: both banks were
flanked with swampy forests of mangrove; the tide was
low, and a prodigious number of "oysters were seen on
the roots of the mangrove-trees. As we came near
them I took an axe and cut some of the roots, which were
literally covered with oysters. We lit a fire at the bot-
tom of the canoe and roasted these oysters, and they
were excellent. I assure you it was quite a' treat.

Feeling better after our meal, we paddled on again.
The mangrove-trees became more'scaroe, and at last we
dame in sight of a Village of Shekianis.

'As soon as they saw us they met in great numbers on
the top of the hill where the village stood, and I could
hear their wild shouts of war. As we approached near-

igger their excitement increased; the war-drums beat, and
I 'could see them brandishing their spears. My men
sang songs in the Mpongwe language to show that we
were not their enemies.

In the mean time I did not feel comfortable at all, and
really thought that we might have a fight. I knew
these Shekiani people to be funny fellows: if we had
gone back, a dozen canoes armed with men would have '
been after us, for they would have immediately thought
we were their enemies. So we pushed on, and at last
came opposite the Village. Here we had to stop to speak
to them, and finally they entreated us to pass the night
among them, the chief himself coming to beg us to
stay.

As it was nearly night I concluded that it would be
better to sleep in a Village than in the woods, for there
we might have been attacked unawares, the people not
knowing who we were.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AN AFRICAN WAR DANCE. A

 

SHEKIANI VILLA GE. 2 9

These Shekianis crowded round to see me, and at every
move I made they all sent up wild shouts of astonish-
ment. . _ . . ,

They were all armed to the teeth, and had the air of
meti continually 0n the lookout for a fight.

Night soon came, and I went into the hut that had
been given to me, but could not sleep, for all the villagers
were awake, and the drums were'beating from one end
of the "village to the other. Songs of war were sung by
the men, women, and children around their Mbuiti (an
enormous wooden idol, which was in the midst of the Vil-
. lage). Besides, I thought the Village might be surprised
during the night by the warlike and treacherous Baka-
lais. So I need not tell you that all my guns were load-
ed and all the guns of my men likewise.

I did not like this kind of travelling at all.

These men were all painted with colored chalk, red
and yellow being the favorite colors; they were covered
with fetiches, which they believed would protect them ,
from the deadly weapons of their enemies; and by the
dim light of their fires and torches they appeared to me
more like devils than men. The village was also strong-
ly fenced with long poles.

At last the morning twilight made its appearance, and
after giving a present to the King, we got ready and by
sunrise were on our way.

We soon came to a Bakalai Village, and there I made
my headquarters. The country abounded in birds;
wild boars were also said to be abundant, and leopards
were rather common. This was just «the country in
which I expected to discover new species of birds and to
enjoy some grand hunting.

:95”, 2"!“ ‘ '1, ’ "JV. " 7 , ' v.._=‘~m.._avi , i , 7

 

 

 

30 WILD LIFE ’NDEB TIIE EQ UATOB.

The house I lived in was at the extreme end of the
village, and the villagers were very kind to me.

One night I heard a great cackling of my fowls, who
perched on a tree near my hut, and soon after I heard
them flying away in every direction. I jumped from
my couch and opened my door, thinking some one was

 

ENCOUNTER WITH A LEOPARD.

trying to steal some of them. The moon was in its last
quarter, so it was not dark as I stepped into the yard,
when 10! I was struck with terror to find myself face to
face with a tremendous leopard! How big he looked!
I was so astonished that for the space of thirty seconds—
which seemed to me to be minutes—or perhaps more, I
did not stir a step. I looked at the leopard, which cer-

 

 

A NIGHT WATCH FOR LEOPAIEDS. 31

tainly was not more than siX yards from me, and the
leopard, which probably was quite as much astonished
at my sudden apparition, looked at me. I must have
appeared to him like a ghost. I seemed to be spell-
bound. So did the leopard.

Suddenly I came to my senses, and having no weapon
with me I made a rush for the door, shut myself inside,
seized my rifle, then opened the door in the quietest pos-
sible way. NOW I felt strong with my gun in hand and
so looked out for Mr. Leopard; but the great beast had
gone. I fancy he was as much frightened as I was.

Such a sudden meeting in the night had never hap~
pened to me before, and has never happened to me since;
and I hope never will happen to me again. In the
morning, when I awoke, the enormous foot—prints 0f the
beast reminded me that it was not a dream. '

rI‘he next day I bought a goat and‘tied it by the neck
to a tree, just on the border of the forest clearing. Not
far from the tree where the goat was tied there was anoth-
er tree, ahuge one, so I concluded to lay in wait there for
the leopard, and at night, every preparation having been
made before dark, I brought back the goat to the Village.

About ten o’clock, with a torch in one hand and lead-
ing the goat with the other, I tied the animal in the most
secure manner, and so that the leopard would have trouble
to carry it off at once. I went and seated myself on the
ground, my back protected by the trunk of the huge tree
I havej ust spoken to you of, and facing the goat. Iam
sure I was not more than six yards from it. I extinguish-
ed the torch so that it was pitch dark. At first I could
not see a yard off, but at last my eyes got accustomed
to the darkness, and I could see the goat plainly. The

 

 

 

32 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UATORE

night was clear and the stars shone most beautifully
above my head. But how strange every thing looked
around me ! A chill ran through me as I gazed around:
every thing seemed so mournful ; I alone in such a place ;
while now and then the cry of the solitary owl broke the
deadness of the awful silence.

The goat in the mean time was continually bleating,
for the little creature had an instinctive dread of being
alone in such a place. I was glad he cried, for I knew it
would make the leopard come if the animal could only
hear him.

One hour passed away: no leopard! Two hours: no
leopard ! Three hours: nothing ! I began to feel tired,
for I was seated on the bare ground. Once or twice I
thought I heard snakes crawling, but it was no doubt a
fancy.

I do not know, but I thlnk I must have fallen
asleep, fo1 on a sudden, looking for the goat, I saw that
it was not there. I rubbed my eyes, for I really was not
sure of them, but I was not mistaken; no goat was to be
seen! I got up, and my wonder was great when at the
place where the goat had been I found blood. I could
not believe my senses. I lighted the torch and looked
at my watch: it was four o’clock in the morning: and
then I saw distinctly the footprints of the leopard.
There was no mistake about it; the leopard had come,
killed and carried away the goat, and during that time
I was fast asleep! _ .

J 11st think of it! I must have slept almost two
hours, and I thanked my stars that the leopard had taken
the goat instead of myself! It would have been a
dreadful feeling if I had been awakened as I was car

 

A WOMAN KILLED. 33

ried away in the jaws of the leopard, his teeth deep into
my body, as the thing might well have happened. I won-
dered Why it had not, and promised myself to be more
careful in future. Then I remembered how tired I felt
before I went to sleep.

If the goat had not been carried away I should
certainly have thought that I never had fallen asleep.

As I learned more about leopards I found they do
not generally leave their lairs before one o’clock, unless
pressed by hunger.

Sorrow soon afterward came in that village—a woman
was killed on the roadside by some unknown enemy:
the Villagers retaliated and went and laid in ambush and
killed some one belonging to another village ; the Whole
country had been involved in war for some time, and as
it was unsafe to walk anywhere, I concluded to leave
the poor deluded people Who had been very kindto me.
So, after packing my collections of specimens of Natural
History, I bade them a friendly farewell.

 

B2

A E ,
‘ E
‘ E

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV.

HUNTING ELEPHANTS AND BUFFALOES.—A VENOMOUS SER-
PENT.—A SNAKE CHARMER.—HE IS BITTEN.—-HE COMMITS
SUICIDE.

IT was midnight; the moon had risen, and I could
look at the expanse of the prairies situated near Point
Obenda, on the Gaboon estuary. The moon threw just
light enough to show me the great solitude, in the midst
of which there was not a living soul with me. As my
eyes gazed upon the broad expanse, I tried to see if I
could perceive any wild beast. At last I spied far off
what I thought to be a huge elephant; it stood still:
the great beast neither walked nor fed.

I immediately put my old Panama hat flat on my head
and walked in a stooping posture toward the huge mon-
ster, who was far Off. I approached nearer and nearer,
when 10! the big beast began to move toward me. A
feeling of awe crept over me; there was not a hill near
to hide myself; there was not a tree for me to climb
upon ; I thought how small I looked by the side of this,
the largest of the animals of the forest!

Did the elephant see me?

Did he come to meet me and attack me?

Such were the questions that came at once to my
mind. My courage began to quail. I was, as I said,
quite alone; I had left all my men in the camp: these

 

AN UGL Y VISI T 0152‘. 35

n -A-\wgywm. '
w

men were the slaves of some of my Mpongwes’ friends,
and they were, I knew, fast asleep; in case of accident ‘
I had no one to come to the rescue. At that time I was i 3
a young lad, and had no confidence in myself, and to ‘
fight an elephant which looked so big, seemed to me per- 3%;
fectly impossible. But very soon I got accustomed to 359‘;
face danger, and loved to hunt elephants. I was no more

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1.” <%m_u_-MAW‘L¢W‘ o;— wt,._...., o . v M

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LYING LOW FOR ELEPHANTS.

afraid of them. Well, the elephant kept still coming
toward me as I lay flat on the ground. At last he stop-
ped, and then I saw him raise his trunk; my heart be-
gan to beat terribly, for I thought he was coming down
to charge upon me. Then he sniffed two or three times
and suddenly ran away. I had shouldered my gun, re-

 

 

 

36 ' IVILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

solved at any rate to try to kill him instead of being
trampled down by his huge feet.

The sound of every one of his steps could be heard
distinctly, as he ran away from me, and he was soon out «a
of sight. He had gone into the forest, and nature fell
back into its accustomed stillness. Now and then the
voice of a frog resounded strangely from the prairie.

Suddenly a cloud came over the moon, and it grew
almost dark; the wind blew strongly, for it was in the
dry season and was quite chilly. After wandering a
while I came at last to a large ant‘hill and sheltered
myself there, thinking at the same time that it would be
a splendid place to hide and 100k for game.

How strange my shadow appeared by the side of that
ant-hill, when the moon shone again!

I did not wait long for game. I had not lain long by
the ant-hill before I saw coming out of the forest not far
off a herd of 305 brachichems, the wild hull of this part
of Africa. How fantastic their bodies appeared, as one
by one they came out of the forest: they were coming
toward where I stood, and the wind blew toward me.
I counted, I think, twenty of these wild buffaloes.
They stopped for a while as if to determine what direc-
tipn to take, and perhaps also to see if they might discov-
er or smell the leopard, which is their most dangerous
enemy, and then continued their march toward the ant-
hill where I was. I became very excited, cocked my
gun, and aimed at the bull which was heading the herd,
then pulled the trigger; bang! and down he came. A
general stampede followed, but just in the direction of
the ant-hill. What did these fellows mean? Did they
all want to charge me? No, they passed to the right and

 

 

 

VRETURN TO THE UAJMR ‘ 37

left of the ant-hill. After they had passed I turned
round and fired another shot into the midst of them, but
this time with less effect, for none fell, and this second
shot made them run away with greater speed than be-
fore. At any rate I was glad, for I had knocked down
the hull, the head of the herd.

I wished I had a horse and a 1asso;how quickly I
should have come to them, and ki11ed enough of them to
give meat to all my men for several days to come.

I went back and saw the 101111 lying on the ground,
not dead, but moaning terribly from pain. As I ap-
proached he tried to get up, but in vain; so another
bullet in the head finished him.

My men, who had been awakened by the shot, looked
round for me, and finding that I had gone, made for the
direction of the firing, and there was great rejoicing as
they approached and saw the huge bull lying on the
ground, for p1enty was to enter the camp with his car-
case.

The beast was at once cut to pieces; each man took a
load, and we made for the camp; for it was too cold to
linger. Besides, I was getting tired. We were afraid
to leave the animal‘alone during the night for fear of
leopards.

It was four o’clock in the morning when I reached
the camp.

Our camp was protected by the forest and was situ-
ated 0n the edge of it. I immediately started a tremen-
dous fire, and felt so tired that I fe11 as1eep directly on
the bare ground, telling my men to keep watch. The
good fe11ows were in good spirits, and a1ready began to
roast pieces of meat on the bright charcoal fire, and were

 

 

 

38 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

eating in such big mouthfuls that it would have made
you laugh to see them.

As for me, as I said, I went to sleep, and my men the
next morning said that I made a terrible noise snoring.
I denied it and said I never snored, but they said I did.
But after all, you know, I had no pillow, and I should
not wonder if I did snore a little.

Next morning the sun rose brightly, the air was some-
what chilly, the breeze was fresh. I was happy, I re-
member. These were bright days for me: I was with-
out care, and for some time the fever had left me. I
was in good health and spirits.

After an early breakfast I started for the hunt. I
had with me my best gun; the slave that followed me
had another gun; this one was loaded with bullets; I
had my dinner with me, and that dinner was a piece of
the bull I had killed the day before which had been
roasted on charcoal. I intended to dine on the banks
of some little rivulet so that I might have water to drink
during my meal. I would have no plate except a leaf;
the trunk of a fallen tree was to be my seat, and my
knees were to be my table.

With a light step I left our camp. My spirits were
buoyant; discoveries of new animals, of new birds, of
new countries loomed up in the distance. How much
I would have to tell my friends on my return from
that strange and wild land I had come to see, if God
granted me life and health!

We went through prairies, swamps, and forest. At
last we came to a spot where once a plantation stood; it
was intersected by several little brooks of clear water.
My man shouted, “ Omemba ompolofl’ (a large snake), and

 

 

A RUN FROM A DANGEROUS SNAKE 39

I saw at the same moment an enormous black shining
snake (a species of naja), one of the most dangerous
species. I knew he was coming in our direction and be-
longed to that species that when bullied raises itself
erect and wants to fight. He was a terribly big fellow,
one of the largest I had ever seen ; he looked loathsome
and horrid; I could see distinctly his triangular head.
I fired in haste, hoping to break his spine, but missed
the reptile, and immediately he erected himself to a few
feet in height and whistied in the most horrid man-
ner, his tongue coming out sharp and pointed like an
arrow. I fired again'right into his head, and I do not
know why, but I missed him again. Then the fellow
gave a spring ;. I really do not know if he came toward
me, for I fled panic-stricken, and when at a safe dis-
tance reloaded my gun with small shot, and returned
to the spot where I had shot at him. I spied something
just getting out of a little rivulet. It was the very
snake itself which had crossed the water, and before he ’
was entirely out I fired and killed him, or rather I sue-
ceeded in breaking his spine and making him helpless
for attack or for running away. But he was not dead,
and when I approached him he again gave a sharp whis~
tie. I cut a branch of a tree for a stick to kill him with,
and then examined his fangs: they were of enormous
size, and almost an inch in length.

This snake was about ten feet long. We left it on
the spot, taking its head and tail with us, which we
carefully packed in leaves, for we wanted to show to our
fellows 0f the camp what a big snake we had killed.

This species of naja is the only one I have ever seen
which could erect itself.

 

 

 

 

40 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

One day I witnessed a fearful scene. A man, a native
of Goree, an island on the coast of Senegambia, who had
the reputation of being a snake-charmer and was then
at the Gaboon, had succeeded in capturing one of these
large‘naja. He was a bold man, and prided himself on
never being afraid of any snake, however venomous the
reptile might be; nay, not only was he not afraid of any
of them, but he would fight with any of them and get
hold of them.

I had often seen him with snakes in his hands. He
was careful, of course, to hold them just by the neck be-
low the head, in such a manner that the head could not
turn on itself and bite him.

That day he brought into a large open place, perfect-
ly bare of grass, one of these wild naja that he had just
captured, and was amusing himself by teasing the horrid
and loathsome creature when I arrived. It was a huge
one!

Most of the people of the Village had fled, and those
natives who like myself were looking on, kept a long
way off. Not a Mpongwe man, not a single inhabitant of
the whole region I have explored, would have ever
» dared to do what the Goree man did.

Two or three times, as the snake crawled on the
ground, we made off in the opposite direction with the
utmost speed,myse1f,I am afraid, leading off in the
general stampede; though I had provided myself with a
gun. -

It was perfectly fearful, perfectly horrid and appalling
to see that man making a plaything of this monster;
laughing, as we may say, at death, for it could be noth-
ing else, I thought.

UIIARIIIING A NAJA, 4-]

At first when I saw him he had the snake around his
body, but he held it firmly just below the neck, and I
could see by the muscles of his arm that he had to use
great strength. As long as this part of the body is held
firmly the snake loses much of its great power of crush-
ing one to death as the boa-constrictor oi" python does

 

THE SNAKE CH ARMEB.

with larger animals, and as small snakes do With smaller
game; but with this naja the danger would have'been
the venomous bite.

Then With his other hand he took the tail of the snake,
and’gave it a swin‘g and gradually unfolded the reptile
from his black body, which was warm and shining With

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42 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ U21 TOR.

excitement, but always holding the head. On a sudden
he threw the snake on the ground. Thenthe creature
' began to crawl away, when suddenly the Goree man came
in front of it with a light stick and instantly the monster
erected itself almost to half its full length, gave a tre-
mendous whistle, which we all heard, looked glaringly
and fiercely in the man’s face with its sharp, pointed
tongue out, and then stood still as if it could not move.
The Goree man, with his little stick in his left hand,
touched it lightly as though to tease it. It was a fearful
sight—and if he had been near enough the snake would
no doubt have sprung upon its antagonist. The man, as
he teased and infuriated the snake with the rod he held
in his left hand, drew the attention of the reptile toward
the stick; then suddenly and in the wink of an eye, al-
most as quick as lightning, with his right hand he got
hold of the creature just under his .head.

The same thing that I have just described again took
place. The snake folded itself round his body; then he
unfolded the snake, which was once more let loose, and
now this horrid serpent got so infuriated that as soon as

' he was thrown on the ground he erected himself, and the
glare of his eyes was something terrific. It was indeed
an appalling scene; the air around seemed to be filled
with the whistling sound of the creature.

Alas! a more terrible scene soon took place! The
man became bolder and bolder, more and more care
less, and the snake probably more and more accustomed
to the mode of warfare of his antagonist, and just as the
monster stood erect, the man attempted to seize its neck
as he had done many and many a tirrie before, but grasp-
ed the body too low, and before he had time to let it go

 

 

 

THE SNAKE CHARMER DIES.' 43

the head turned on itself and the man was bitten! I was
perfectly speechless, the scene had frozen my blood, and
the wild shrieks of all those round rent the air. The set-
pent was loose and crawling on the ground, but before it
had time to go far a long pole came down upon its back
and broke its spine, and 111 less time than I take to write
it down the monster was killed.

To the French doctor who had charge of the little col-
ony the man went (happily he was just at hand); all the
remedies were prompt and powerful; the man suffered in-
tensely, his body became swollen, his mind wandered,
and his life was despaired 0f ; but at last he got better,
and though complaining of great pain near the heart, he
was soon able to go out again. A short time after this
accident, having an axe in his hand, going as he said to
cut wood, he suddenly split his own head in two. He
had become insane! '

 

 

 

 

OHAPTE R V.

AT COURT IN AFRICA.—COSTUMES OF THE COURT.—-AN AF‘
RICAN HOUSEHOLD.-—A FALSE ALARM.

IN the midst of the great forest, far from the sea,
stands a village of Mbondemo.

Before I entered it the gate had to be opened in order
to let me in. The Village was composed only of a single
street, each end was barricaded with stout sticks or pali-
sades, and, as there was war, the doors or gates of the Vil-
lage were finally Closed, and persons approaching, if they
could not explain their intentions, were remorselessly
speared and killed, ,

On the ends of the sticks making the palisadeswere
skulls of wild boars, 0f gorillas and 0f chimpanzees.
At the gate I entered there was a large wooden idol, and
close by the idol was a very large elephant’s skull.

If I had come alone I should probably never have en-
tered the Village, but I had with me one of the King’s
numerous sons-in-law belonging to a far ,town, and he
had sent word that I was coming with him and some of
his people.

I had hardly entered when all sorts of wild shouts
were heard from one end of the village to the other; the
women ran away; the children hid in their huts; and

 

 

 

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A R0 YAL RECEPTION. 4 5
t

the men kept at a distance, so the way to the palaver-
house was free. I

These men were all armed to the teeth and were
ready for fight. They were continually in hot water with
their neighbors, and never knew when they were to be
attacked. They are a quarrelsome people.

The palaver-house was a large shed built in the mid-
dle of the street, and there we seated ourselves. A few

   

 

» ,r/ » M

APPEARANCE OF THE KING AND HIS COURT.

1

men braver than the rest came to look at what they
thought the strange being, “the Spirit,” that had come
among them.

His Majesty headed the party, followed by his head-
man. He wore an old red English coat and no other
garments. He wasa short, thiek-huilt negro, and wore an
immense pair of iron ear-rings. He was followed by what
I supposed to be the second head-man, 0r prime minister.

 

 

 

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5 i
i

 

 

 

 

46 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

This one had for his costume an old shirt which had only
one sleeve and no sign of a button to be seen anywhere,
a shirt that formerly must have been White but had nev-
er been washed since he got it, which was several years
before. This prime minister had nothing else on. The
third man, who of course formed part of his Majesty’s
suite, had on an old beaver hat and nothing else. An-
other that followed him had one of those old-fashioned
black neck-ties (as tight as the neck itself, and attached
with a buckle) Which were worn some thirty years ago,
and nothing else. How the deuce did that fellow get i
that eravat? I asked myself. I learned afterward that
he had inherited it. Then came a fellow who by hook
or by crook had possession of an old pair of shoes; how
he had got them I was unable to find out. His father
had perhaps left them to him. How steady, how grave
they looked, as they passed one after another before me.
These were the leading men of this Mbisho Village. They

. thought themselves splendid, and their people thought

the same. They came out‘in state.

I had seen before so much of the same kind of African
court costumes that I tried to look sober, as they made
their appearance in the midst of the shouts of their peo-
ple, who praised their good looks.

They looked at me and I looked at them, and at last
with one voice they asked me to notice how handsome
they were, each at the same time in one way or another
making the most of what he wore. I said they were
very fine.

The houses of that Village had no windows or doors,
except on the side toward the street ; and when the gates
of the streets at each end were looked the Village was in-

 

 

THE NEW JPIOON IN AFRICA. 47

deed a fortress. As an additional protection trees had
been cut down, and all the surrounding approaches had
been thus blocked up. This Village was situated on the
top of a high hill.

Interiorly the houses were divided by a bark parti-
tion into two rooms; one the kitchen, where every body
sits or lies down on the ground about the fire, smokes
his pipe, and goes to sleep, while listening to the oth-
ers. There also in the evening the harp is played.

The other is the sleeping apartment. This one is per-
fectly dark, and here are stored all their provisions, all
their riches. To ascertain how large a family any house-
holder has, you have only to count the little doors which
open into the various sleeping apartments: “So many
doors, so many Wives.” These houses, like all the houses
I had seen in the interior, were made of the bark of trees.

There is nothing more disgusting than the toilet of
one of these Mbondemo fellows, except it be the toilet of
his wife. The women seem to lay on the oil and red
earth thicker than their husbands.

The third night after I arrived in that strange village
there was a new moon. As soon as the shades of even-
ing came no one talked except in an under-tone. The
people hardly came out of their huts ; all was silent. In
the evening the King came out of his house and danced
along the street; his face and body were painted white,
black, and red, and spotted all over with spots the size
of a peach. In the dim moonlight he had a frightful ap-
pearance, which made me shudder at first, for I could
not help thinking of' the devil. [I asked him why he
painted thus, but he only answered by pointing to the
moon without speaking a word.

r « .st-"“«.‘“-r- ru~ w >~~ ' , , " ,r“*H_,s,__n,fi_yu_» 7-“, v

 

 

48 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

rI‘he day of the new moon when the evening comes a
strange kind of dread seems to seize these people. In
all the tribes that day theyvmark their bodies with ochre,
but I have never been able to find out the reason. To
them the moon is the emblem of time. Hence, as the
moon appears, many think that before it has disappear-
ed again it will eat people; that is to say, that some one
may die. '

The fifth day I had been in that village, in the mid-

dle of the night, I was awakened by the war-drnm beat- -

ing,.shouts of war, and a terrific uproar. Men and women
were running to and fro, and all said the enemy was
near. One man had been seen outside the palisade and

when challenged had run away. “Let them home!”
they shouted, “let them come! We have the sz'm't
among us !” (meaning me). “ Dare to come, and we will

kill you all l”

It was not a very pleasant situation to be in. I did
not come to make war with one party or the other.
The large Mbniti was instantly brought out, and the peo-
ple danced round it in the most strange and fantastic
way ; one by one the great Mbisho warriors came'by her,
and sung songs to her—the idol was a woman. One
warrior danced tremendously before her; "he kicked his
legs up and down one after the other, then put himself
in the most supplieating posture, his two hands forward,
and simply asked that he might kill every man that
came to attack him. At last he got so excited that I
thought he would go mad. His eyes became wild, the
foam came out of his mouth, the muscles on his face
worked eonvulsively, he seized his spear with tremendous
force, and his face looked like that of a demon. While he

 

.stnt'au '5

 

A FALSE ALARM 49

was in that state the other people caught the excitement,
the drum beat more loudly, they sung more ferociously
than before, the Whole town became warlike in the ex- -
treme. Of course there was no more sleep for me.

The morning at last came, but no warriors had appear-
ed to attack the village. I am sure a panic had seized
my friends, and that Which they took for a man was
nothing but some Wild animal passing by the Village
walls.

The rainy season had fairly set in in these regions at
the time of my arrival, and thunder, lightning, and heavy
showers were common both day and night.

 

 

   

CHAPTER VI.

HUNT FOR GORILLAS.—A LARGE ONE SHOT.—-THE NEGROES
MAKE CHARMS OF HIS BRAIN. —MOURNING IN A BAKA-
LAI TOWN.

I AM in the densest part of the jungle!

What am I doing in that jungle, armed to the teeth,
and loaded with provisions?

If you could have looked closely you would have
I seen three black men with me. They also were armed
to the teeth and were loaded with provisions. Their
bodies were painted and they were covered with war-
fetiches ; and if they thought their fetiohes had any power
it was time to wear them, for if we were not going to make
war with man, we were to hunt and try to meet the ter-
rible and ferocious gorilla.

Yes, we were in fighting trim, and we intended to re-
main in the forest as long as our provisions would hold
out.

I had my best gun with me, which had been loaded
in the most careful manner that very morning. My three
men, Miengai, Makinda, and Yeava, had also loaded their
guns, which were flint-locks. They had loaded them
tremendously, and instead of lead bullets had rammed
down four or five pieces of iron bar or rough broken cast-
iron pieces, making the whole charge eight or ten fingers
deep.

 
   
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
  
  
 
  
   
   

 

AFTER G ORILLAS. 5 1

The country was very rough, hilly, and densely crowd-
ed with trees, and under the trees the jungle was almost
impassable, consequently our hunting could hardly be
counted sport, for we had to work fearfully hard and
with the greatest care; but I felt strong, for I had rested
for two or three days and the fever had let me alone.

We saw several gorilla tracks, and about noon divided
our party in the hope of surrounding the resting-place
of one whose tracks were very plain. I had scarcely
got away from my party when I heard a report of a gun,
then of three more going off one after the other. Of course
I ran back as fast as I could, hoping to see a dead ani-
mal before me, but was disappointed: my Mbondemo
fellows had fired at a female, and had wounded her, as
I saw by the clots of blood which marked her tracks, but
she had made good her escape. We set out in pursuit;
but these woods were too thick, she knew their depths
better than we did, and could go through them much
faster.

I was greatly disappointed. This Was the second
time I had seen gorillas and they had run away.

I had heard of the fierce courage of the gorilla and
his attacking mana I began to believe that ’all that
had been told me was untrue; and said so to Miengai,
who for sole answer said—“ We have not yet seen a man
gorilla. The mother gorilla does 'not fight.”

N ight came upon us as we were still beating the bush,
and it was determined a little before sunset to camp by
the side of a beautiful stream of clear water and to try
our luck the next day. We had shot some monkeys
and two beautiful guinea-fowls. After our fire had been
lit the men roasted their monkey-meat over the coals; I

3

 

 

 

52 T/VILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

roasted my birds before the blaze on a stick. I was
very hungry and enjoyed them.

Then I fixed my two fires in such a way that they
would last for a long time. I laid between them, and
instead of a roof of leaves I made one with the bark of
trees, and soon fell asleep; but the wars of the leopards
and the dismal cries of the owls awoke me several
times.

We started early the next day, not discouraged, and
pushed for the most dense and impenetrable part of the
forest, for there, in those deep recesses, we hoped we might
find a gorilla. Hour after hour we travelled, and yet no
signs of gorillas—we had hardly met a track. We could
only hear at long intervals the little chattering 0f monk-
eys, and occasionally of birds. The solitude was grand,
the silence profound, so much so that we could hear our
panting breath as we ascended hill after hill. I was be-
ginningte despair.

Suddenly Miengai uttered a little Cluck with his
tongue, which is the native’s way of showing that some-
thing is stirring, and that a sharp lookout is necessary;
in a word, to keep ourselves on our guard, or that danger
was surrounding us. Presently I noticed, ahead of us
seemingly, a noise as of some one breaking down
branches or twigs of trees.

“7e stopped and came Close together. I knew at
once by the eager and excited looks of the men that it
was a gorilla. They looked once more carefully at their
guns, to see if by any Chance the powder had fallen out
of the pans; I also examined mine, to make sure that
all was right, and then we marched on cautiously.

The singular noise of the breaking of the branches

 

 

 

 

AN ENORMO us GORILLA. 53

continued. We walked with the greatest care, making
no noise at all. The countenanees of the men showed
that they thought themselves engaged in a very serious
undertaking; but we pushed on, until I thought I
could see through the woods the moving of the branches
and small trees which the great beast was tearing down7
probably to get from them the berries and fruits he
lives on.

I remember how close we were to each other.

Suddenlyras we were still creeping along7 in a silence
which made a heavy breath seem loud and distinct, the
woods were at once filled with the tremendous barking
roar of the gorilla.

Then the underbrush swayed rapidly ahead, and pres-
ently there stood before us an immense male gorilla. He
had come through the jungle on all-fours, to see who
dared to disturb him; but when he saw our party he
steed up and looked us boldly in the face. He stood
about a dozen yards from us, and it was a sight I shell
never forget. He looked so big! Nearly six feet high,
with immense body, huge chest, and great muscular
arms, with fiercely-glaring, large, deep, gray eyes, and a
hellish expression of face, which seemed to me like some
nightmare Vision. Thus stood before me the king of
the African forest.

How black his face was!

He was not afraid of us. He stood there, and
beat his breast with his huge fists till it resounded like
an immense bass-drum, which is their mode of offering
defiance; meantime giving vent to roar after roar.

This roar was the most singular and awful noise I
had ever heard in these African forests. It began with

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54 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR-

a sharp bark, like that of an angry dog; then glided
into a deep bass 7‘0ll which literally and closely resem-
bled the roll of distant thunder along the sky. I have
heard the lion'roar, but greater, deeper, and more fearful
is the roar of the gorilla. So deep is it that it seems to
proceed less from the mouth and throat than from the
deep chest and vast paunch 0f the beast.

The earth was literally shaking under my feet as he
roared, and for a while I knew not where I was. Was
it an apparition from the infernal regions? Was I asleep
or not? I was soon reminded that it was not a dream.

I said quietly to myself——“ Du Chaillu, if you do not
kill this gorilla, as sure as you are born he will kill
you.”

His eyes began to flash fierce fire as we stood motion-
]ess 0n the defensive, and the crest of short hair which
stands on his forehead began to twitch rapidly up and
down and was perfectly frightful to look at. His pow-
erful fangs, or enormous canines, were shown as he again
sent forth a thunderous roar: the red inside of his mouth
contrasted singularly with his intensely black face.

.And now truly he reminded me of nothing but
some hellish dream—creatnre—a being of that hideous
order, half man, half beast, which we find pictured by 0101

artists in some representations of the infernal regions';’

but nothing they ever painted could approach this horrid
monster in ugliness.

He' advanced a few steps in a waddling way, for his
short legs seemed incapable of supporting his huge body ;
then stopped to utter that hideous roar again—advaneed
again, and finally stopped when at a distance of five or
six yards from us. And then—as he extended his arms

 

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THE GORILLA LS SIIOT. 57

as though ready to clutch us, and just as he began
another of his frightful roars, beating his breast with rage
——what a huge hand he had I—I fired, and killed him.

With a groan that had something terribly human in
it7 and yet was full of hrutishness, he fell forward on his
face like a man when he is struck by a bullet in the
chest. He shook eonvulsively for a few minutes, his
limbs moved about in a struggling way, the tremor of
the muscles ceased, and then all was quiet—death had
done its work.

The monster was hardly dead when I suddenly began
to tremble all over7 my lower jaw met my upper one in a
way I did not like at all, and my men looked at me with
their mouths wide open in perfect amazement. They
could hardly believe their eyes, but having recovered
themselves, they asked me what was the matter. I an-
swered that I did not know, and that I had asked myself
the same question.

For fifteen minutes my jaws went on cracking against
each other, and the more I tried to stop them the more
they chattered. I felt awfully mortified; but there was
no help for it.

I said—“Next time you will see; I shall not do it
again.” I kept my word, but I never met a large male
gorilla without thinking that it might be the last of me.

There was great rejoicing, but it did not last long,
for they soon began to quarrel about the apportionment
of the meat. They really eat the creature, and the Fans
told me that next to the flesh of man the gorilla meat
was the best. It looked wonderfully like beef, only it
seemed to be almost wholly composed of muscle.

I saw that they would come to blows presently if I

C 2

 

£38 WILD LIFE UNDER TJfE EQ UATOR.

did not interfere; hence I said that if they were going
to fight I would join in; and taking the butt-end of my
gun, I said I would smash the heads of the three while
they were fighting With each other.

This saying of mine at once made them laugh and
they became quiet. They knew that I meant what I
said, and they did not fancy getting a thrashing.

The subject of the quarrel was about the brain of the
gorilla. Miengai said he would have the whole of it,
for he was the oldest. What would they have known
about the spirit pointing out to me if it had not been for
him? He said this with such complacency and self—sat-
isfaotion that I could not help smiling ; but this argument
of Miengai did not seem to satisfy Makinda and Yeava.

So I said I would give part of the brain to each of
them, and when they had it they wrapped it most care—
fully in leaves, and I was told that mondco (charms)
were to he made of thiS—charms of two kinds. Prepared
in one way, and mixed with bone, claws, feathers, ashes
of certain beasts, birds, and trees, the charm would give
the wearer a strong hand for the hunt, after he had rub-
bed his hands and arms with the mixture, Prepared
another way it gave the wearer success with women;

’ he became irresistible, and all the pretty girls were will-
ing to become his 'wives. I could not help thinking that
if that latter charm was real, how much bachelors and
widowers would like to possess it at home where pretty
girls are so difficult to please.

My men in the evening fed on the gorilla meat, and
I fed on the meat of a small and beautiful little gazelle
which Makinda had killed.

The blazing fires shed their light through the beauti-

 

 

 

 

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TIIE PEOPLE SCARED. 5 9

ful forest, and I went to sleep happy: but during the
night I awoke, uttering a tremendous shout which made
my men laugh, for they had been up for some time in
order to eat a little more of the gorilla meat. I had the
nightmare, and had dreamed that I was pursued by half
a dozen gorillas, and when I gave that awful shriek I
had just fancied that one of these monsters was clutching
me and was going to carry me away to the forest.

We were tired and worn out7 but at last we reached
a deserted Village which we hadyfound before our hunt-
ing and where we had our camp. J udge of our astonish-
ment when I found the place in possession of a division
of travelling Bakalais! The village was full of them:
men, women7 children and babies were there; they had
quantities offood; all their baggage, composed of old bask-
ets, cooking-pots, oalabashes, mats; and all their farming
implements. The men were all armed. ‘

My apparition among them threw them into the utmost
confusion, and if I had not been followed by Miengai, who
shouted to them to keep still, they would have fled ; but
after a while we were great friends, especially after I had
distributed a few beads among the women.

They had been living on the banks of a river called
Noya, and were moving far from that place toward an-
other village where the old chief had two or three sons-
in-lztw and the same number of fathers-in-law. .

These people seemed to be in dread of something.
They seemed to be in retreat, as though they had fled
from their former placeof abode.

I learned that, a few days before, one of their men
while bathing in the river had been killed by some un-
known enemy. Hereupon they were seized with a pan-

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60 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

is, believed their Village attacked by witches, that the An-
iemba witchcraft was among them, and they must aban-
don it and settle elsewhere or they would all die one after
the other.

Just a little before sunset I saw every one of them re-
tire within doors; the children ceased to play, and all
became very quiet in the camp, where just before there
was so much noise and bustle. Then suddenly arose on
the air one of those mournful, heart-piercing chants
which you hear‘among all the tribes of this land. It
was a chant for one of their departed friends. As they
sang, tears rolled down the cheeks of the women7 fright
distorted their faces and cowed their spirits.

I listened and tried to gather the words of their
chants. There was a very monotonous repetition of one
idea—that of sorrow at the departure from among them
of one of their friends and fellow-Villagers.

Thus they sang: '

W'e chi noli lubella pe na bes/ze
“ Oh, you will never speak to us any more,
We can not see your face any more ;
You will never walk with us again,
You will never settle our palavers for us.”

And so on. '

They sang until the sun had disappeared below the
horizon, till the orb that gives gladness to the heart and
life to the world had gone from sight, and they chose the
time of its disappearance to pour out their mourning-
songs. I thought there was something very poetical in
the relationship of the time to the subject. For what
should we do without the sun? It is the very heart of
life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VII.

AN AFRICAN FIRESIDE.—A CAMP BY THE SEA-SHORE.—THE
FIRST GORILLA HUNTER.—-NEGRO BLARNEY.

AS I and my men lay by the fire, I said to them—
“Now to-night I am going to tell you a story; an old
story from the white man’s country concerning yours.”
There was a very great silence at once, for they knew it
was not often I came out with a story, and they all shout-
ed with one aooord—“ Tell us a story I” at the same time
forming a circle round me.

So I begun : “Ever so long ago, and a long way off
from here, but still in your own land, there was a power-
ful country called Carthage. The people of that country
were brave and not afraid of war. They had many ships, ,
and their ships went into different countries. At that
time the Commi nation must have been a long way in
the interior and your people had never seen the sea.

“ Would you believe,”said I7 “ that these Carthaginians
came with their ships round here? And I really think
they saw the very country in which we now are! They
not only saw this country, but saw the gorilla, yes, saw the
gorilla! If you were in the white man’s country I would
show you the old manuscript (the book), where we have
an account of what I am going to say. You know,” said
I, “ that words coming from the mouth are soon forgot

 

 

62 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

ten, but these words that are written are not.” Then tak-
ing from my chest my journal, I read it to them, and then .
said—“ When I am dead, and you and your children are
dead, and for ever so long afterward, that journal, if it is
not lost, will be read in the same manner as I read it to you
to-day, and the people will understand the meaning of it
then as you do to—day, and will know what I did, though
thousands of rainy and dry seasons may pass away.

“ So Ha’nno the Carthaginian,” I continued, “ was the
head-man of all these ships, and left Carthage with sixty
vessels. In that time the ships were unlike those you
see now, and thirty thousand men and women are said
to have sailed with him. Each ship was rowed by
fifty oarsmen. When we read that book called the
‘Periplus; or, The Voyage of Hanno,’ we find the fol-
lowing words in which we now suppose he alludes to the
gorilla:

v i“ ‘ On the third day, having sailed from thence, pass-
ing the streams of fire, we 'came to a bay called the
Horn of the South.”

[“ That ‘IIorn of the South,” I added, “might be
Cape Lopez.”]

“ ‘ In the recess was an island like the first, having a
lake, and in this there was another island full of wild
men.’ ”

[At this point of my story they looked in each other’s
faces with amazement]

“‘But the greater part of them were women with
hairy bodies, whom the interpreters called Gorillas.’ ”

[Here there rose a wild shout of astonishment]

“ ‘But pursuing them, we were not able to take the
men, who all escaped from us by their great agility, being

 

 

 

THE FIRb” ’ GURILLA H LHVTJL’R. 6 $3

crenwnobates (that is to say, climbing precipitous rocks
and trees, and defending themselves by throwing stones
at us). We took three women, who hit and tore those
who caught them, and were unwilling to follow them.
We were obliged to kill them, and took their skins off,
which skins were brought to Carthage, for we did not
navigate further, provisions becoming scarce.’ ”

1M7 ///

/’

Ill ‘1 .mi

Iggy?

EVENING AMUSEMENTB IN AFRICA.

During this latter part of my story there was a dead
silence, and as soon as I had finished they said—“ Chail-
lu, is this a real story or not ‘3” And when I assured
them it was, they said—“ Yes, it must he the gorilla that
that man called Hanno saw.”

I was quite astonished at their remembering the name

 

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U4 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

. of the admiral; it showed me what an impression my
story had c'reated on their minds.

Then said I : “ Boys, there are two or three points in
the story I have told you. which inclines me to believe
that the country Hanno speaks of is not this one, and
still there are several facts which make me think that
the country where we are now is the same.

“ The very land on which we stand is sandy; not far
01? is the River Fernand Vaz, and on one side another
river, the Commi River, is found. It may be that the
land on which we stand was then an island, and that
Cape Lopez is the Horn of the South of which that
great man IIanno speaks. Time changes countries; in
one part the sea will take away, in another part the sea
Will give. Such is the country in which we are.” V

They shouted with one accord that it could not be;
how could land rise? how could the land go down? As
to the sea eating away the land, they believed it, for
they had seen it; and as to the land gaining in some
places, they believed that also, for theyhad seen it.

They all wondered how near the word Gorilla was to
that of Ngina and N guyla, the latter name being given
by the Bakalai to the beast. ,

After my story, we all went to bed. I wrapped my-
self carefully in my blanket and soon fell asleep, think-
ing unconsciously of the gorillas, and hoping soon to
meet some.

It was the dry season; we were in the month of
August, and I was near Cape St. Catherine. The wind
was blowing hard, the atmosphere was chilly, the sky
was clouded as though it was going to rain, but no rain
was coming, for no rain falls at this time of the year.

 

 

 

 

 

0N TH E SEA—SHORE . 65

The thermometer stood at 70°, but I felt quite cold, and
I wore a sailor’s woolen shirt.

' The sea was rolling up the shore in heavy rollers
which would upset a canoe in the twinkling of an eye;
we had just arrived, and had come to hunt, fish, and be
merry. '

My Commi men had all gone to the woods to cut
branches of palm-trees, and collect poles to build shelters.

I wish you could have seen the place where I had
my encampment. On that part of the coast from Cape
Lopez, and further south than Cape St. Catherine, the
whole coast is low and covered with prairies which lift
but a few feet above the sea level. They are wooded
here and there, and shrubs are often mixed with the
grass growing on the sandy soil; the grass is good, not
growing to a great height, but at this time of the year
it has been burned down. The landscape has a great
sameness, and from the sea it is most difficult to know
any special spot of the land. Altogether it is a dreary
country, a very dreary country to look at, but after all
I was thankful not to be shut up in the forest; for to
see nothing but trees and trees is very tiresome; be-
sides, the Atlantic was before me, and as I gazed upon its
broad waters I wished I could see the shores of America.

The spot where I stood was about two degrees south
‘ of the equator.

Our camp was to be built near one of those numerous
islands of trees which dot the prairie, and we were to
have it built in such a manner as to protect us from the
high winds which blew almost directly from the south
that time of the year.

One by one the men came back—some with a load of

 

 

 

66 W'ILJ) LIFE L/VJJEIL’ J 1113’ EQ UA TOR.

lOng stem-branehes of the palm; others with the leaves ;
others with firewood, and others with sticks to make our
beds with.

Then we went to work in earnest, and as they work-
ed the men sang songs. These men, my own people7
had always been with me wherever I went except when
I went too far into the interior. They were all splendid
canoe-men.

There was Kombé whom we had called the quarrel-
ler; Ratenou his brother, who was a splendid fellow to
.go with his canoe through the breakers; Oshimbo, who
could paddle better than any man I ever knew; Ritim-
ho, a jolly good fellow, always ready to beat the tam-
tarn when asked for; Makomhé, a splendid one to tell
us marvellous stories in the eVening; Rakenga, a great
fisherman; Bandja, a man who knew how to climb
the palm-trees and get palm wine; Adouma, who could
trap game and was said to possess. a wonderful fetieh to
make the game come to him; Risani, a‘good carpenter,
who said he was willing to work, but who was contin-
ually talking of the amount of food he could eat; then
came Yombi, who constantly bragged of how much palm
wine he could swallow, but was always promising never
to get tipsy—for I had promised him as good a drubbing
as ever he would wish to get ifI caught him in a state
of intoxication. The last man of the party was a slave;
a harp player.

There was no hunter but myself.

So you see we were a nice set altogether, and all were
devoted to me and obeyed me cheerfully. They all
loved me dearly. Indeed, all the people of that country
loved me.

 

NEGR 0 BLARIVE Y. 6 7

We had also quite an outfit of things with us. The
cooking utensils were numerous: we had three brass
kettles, three iron pots, one frying-pan, and three water-
jars. We had also three axes, half a dozen machetes, and
several fishing-nets, and I had three of my guns, fifty
pounds of shot, a couple of hundred bullets, and there
were flint-lock guns for the men. We did not care to
be armed; we were in our own country—in the Commi
Country, where my settlement of Washington is situated.

I had three chests, one containing my clothes and one
filled with splendid heads of Kentucky tobacco for my
men, for they were all inveterate smokers, myself being
the only one that did not smoke. I had also several
dozens of pipes.

All rejoiced at the unbounded supply of tobacco and
pipes: they were to have such a glorious time; they
were to take such great care of their friend Chaillee, their
king; there was no other Ntangani (white man) like
him ; he was their good Mbuiti (spirit); all this talk was
to soften my heart about the tobacco.

At last the camp was done, and we were not sorry7
for we had worked hard the whole day. We had a hinge
pile of plantains with us, which the wives and slaves of
King Olenga Yombi had brought to us; we had a large
quantity of sugar-cane and some baskets of ground-nuts;
the river and the sea were not far off7 and having our
nets with us there was a prospect of getting plenty of
fish.

In the evening, when my men were smoking their
pipes, we quietly talked about our hunting and fishing
prospects. V

I had discovered that this Cape St. Catherine was a

 

 

68 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOB.

very great gorilla country. These huge beasts roam in
the forests Which grow down to the very edge of the sea,
and now and then get a peep at the ocean. Iwonder
What they think of it. I would have given the world to
see them looking at it ; to see their deep gray eyes gazing
on the broad expanse of the waters. I have seen their
very footsteps Within a few yards of the beach.

   

 

 

CHAPTER VIII.

HIPPOPOTAMUS HUNTING.—VVE KILL ONE.—THE MEN EAT
IT.—POOR BEEF.—-VVHAT THE TUSKS ARE FOR.

IT was night; the moon had just risen, and threw a
strange glare on every thing round ; I was in the prairie,
and had been there since ten o’clock in the morning,
looking for wild beasts.

At last I saw five hippopotami grazing. I approached
with cautious steps, or rather I crawled 0n the ground
toward the huge beasts, till I came near enough to see the
shadows their immense bodies threw around them.

The question was how to get within gunshot without
being seen. There was nothing to protect me from their
View, for the grass had been burned; there was nothing
either to protect me against their assault. Supposing that
I killed the one I should shoot at, the others might take
it into their heads to charge upon me. Not a tree was
within reach. Now I had been so accustomed to hunt
‘ wild beasts that I was not afraid of any of them, but I
knew that I could not kill five hippopotami at once.

Suddenly the animals turned round and gradually
approached a grove of trees; but what was to be done?
the wind almost blew from that grove toward them!
“ At any rate I will try,” said Ito myself, “ to go there,

 

 

70 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOIE.

but I must take a roundabout way.” How carefulI had
. to be in order not to be seen !

I felt very much excited, and when I reached the lit-
tle island, or grove, of trees without being discovered I
was mightily pleased with myself. It was, I thought, a
splendid piece of wooderaft on my part. I fancied I was
almost the equal of Aboko, who had killed the rogue
elephant at Cape Lopez. I had reached the grove from
the opposite side to that where I supposed the hippopot-
ami to he. The only sure way for me to come close
to them was to go through the grove and wait until they
should come within gunshot from the other side.

The trees were not very thick, and I could pass
through the underhrush without making much noise. I
thought that perhaps there was a leopard there, and if so
he would leap upon me before I was aware. It was just
the time of the night when they were out, and they
ahounded in that region. I therefore entered the woods,
looking to the left and to the right and ahead of me7 in
order not to be surprised, and met several hippopota-
mi tracks.

J ust as I was in the midst of the grove I suddenly
heard a great crash in the direction I was going. Then
followed several other crashes coming from other parts.
I listened: they were the hippopotami: they had enter-
ed the grove by several paths converging toward me.

I kept still. I do believe my hair must have stood
up on my head, for I was awfully excited. The hippo~
potami were coming just where I was.

I cooked my gun, hid myself behind a big tree, and
waited. I heard the crash of branches in all directions
except one, and finally saw the branches of the trees

 

 

 

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A DINNER 0F HIPPOPOTAMUS. 73

moving not far from me, and by the dim moonlight
piercing through the not very thick foliage, I perceived
a monster hippopotamus, the male of the herd, coming
sideways so as to pass within a few yards of me. Sud-
denly he stopped; gave one of his sonorous grunts; and
then advanced. What a monster he was! What a huge
body! What short legs! At last just as he had passed

. me, so that he could not face me without turning his
unwieldy body, I fired into his ear, and the monster
dropped on the spot with scarcely a struggle. But I
wish you had been with me to hear the rush of the
others. I thought all the trees were coming down! One
in his fright came down in my direction. I thought he
was charging me, so I fired, and I heard the bullet strike
some part 'of his body, probably one of his tasks, for it
made a great noise; but that was all; he passed on with
a rapidity of which I thought these beasts perfectly in-
capable. I was glad when they were all out of the way.

It had been an exciting hunt and I was satisfied. So
I returned to the camp, and the next day we all went
to cut up the beast. Some of the married men out long
strips of the hide to make whips, which they use pretty
freely on the backs of their wives; but I made them
promise not to use these whips except in self—defense.

There wasjoy in the camp in the evening. We had
music, and I enjoyed the broth amazingly; it was really
good, and I wish I could say the same of the flesh; but
he was an old fellow and the meat was exceedingly
tough. I soon gave up the job of trying to eat it.

It did me good to see how my men enjoyed it. They
had a dance in the evening.

In the book called “ Stories of the Gorilla Country ” I

D

.7 1‘” menvvsw- wvvwwwm ,‘ "2‘ " ‘ 5t; , ‘ 7 “E3511; ,

 

 

74 WILD LIFE UNDER TJEIE’ EQ UATOR.

have not told how curious is the head of this great, un-
wieldy creature.

 

HE AD OF HIPPOPOTAM U9.

Look at the huge, crooked tasks! What are they
for?

After watching a great many times the movements
of the hippopotamus, I became assured that these huge,
crooked tusks, Which give its mouth such a savage ap—
pearance, are designed chiefly to hook up the long river-
grasses on which these animals feed in great part. I .
have often seen one descend to the bottom, remain a few
minutes, and reappear with its tusks strung With grass,
Which was then leisurely chewed up.

There are no large herds of hippopotami in the parts
of Africa I have explored, like those found in South
Africa, thirty being about the greatest number I have
ever seen together.

 

 

 

CHAPTER IX.

A GREAT GORILLA.

A FEW days after killing the hippopotamus I took a
solitary path in the woods, leading to one of the la-
goons 0r creeks so common along this coast. Many of
the trees growing in the woods belonged to a species of
African teak. The soil being sandy7 the forest was not
dense. Here and there a cluster of palms, bearing the
nut that furnishes the palm-Oil, was seen. Liannes and
creepers twined round some of the trees and hung grace-
fully down. The limbs and trunks of many trees were
literally covered with orchidae, commonly called air
plant. These when in bloom bear very beautiful flow-
ers which shed a delicious fragrance.

In many places the pine-apple plants were very abun-
dant and grew by thousands close together.

Now and then a little stream, meandering through the
woods, found its way to the creek or to the sea.

Birds were scarce, very scarce, and the silence of the
woods was only broken by the booming sound of the
heavy surf, as each wave broke in foaming white hi1-
lows before it reached the shore. The wind blew hard,
6 as usual at that time of the year, and whispered strange-
ly as it passed through the trees to the country behind.

 

 

 

75 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

NOW and then I could see the footprints of gorillas
that had wandered like myself through the woods, but
these foot-prints were several days old. I came to a
place Where the pineapple plants were abundant, and
Where the gorillas had evidently feasted on the leaves,
for thousands of them had been plucked out and only
the White part eaten. Here and there a young pineap-

 

FOOT-PRINTS OF THE GORILLA.

p1e had been partly eaten away by these hairy men of
Hanno, one or two bites taken and the fruit then thrown
aside.

I had to be very careful in walking for fear of mak-
ing a noise, for the forest not being dense, gorillas could
have seen me at a long distance. The tondo fruit was -
also abundant throughout the wood.

 

 

A GREAT GIORJLLA. 77 *

After I had followed the woods along the sea-shore
for a While I suddenly came to a place Where a large
male gorilla had been: the footprints were of enor-
mous size and he must have been a monstrous fellow.

This plaee—Was not further than three feet from the
beach, and I could distinctly see by the footprints of
the monster that it had been on aH-fours and suddenly
had raised itself to an erect posture; While the bending
of a branch about eight or nine feet high, just above the
marks, showed that the animal had supported himself by
it. By the position of the heels I knew that the mon-
ster had been looking at the sea.

Yes, he had been looking, probably in great wonder,
at the broad expanse of water before him: he had seen
the waves as they came in white billows breaking them~
selves on the beach; as far as his deep-sunken gray
eyes could reach they had seen nothing but the ocean :
perhaps he had also been looking at the sun as it disap-
peared below the horizon.

I could but wonder What the thoughts of that great
ape might have been!

“Yes,” said I to myself, “ this mpst be the country
Where Hanno the Carthaginian came.” And for a While I
thought of those men of old Whose history we learn at
school or college.

They have gone, but they have left their mark behind
them, and will continue to be remembered for a long
time. Then I put my feet inside of the footprints of the
gorilla how small they did look When compared with
those of' the huge creature l—and for a While I stood eX-
actly On the same spot Where he had stood. I do not
know Why, but I felt a kind of satisfaction in doing so;

 

 

 

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78 W'ILI) LIFE UACDER THE EQUATOR.

and like him I gazed at the sea, but, unlike him, I thought
of the dear friends who lived on the other side, and I
blessed them !

Then, looking carefully at my gun, I left the place and
continued my ramble, when lo! in the far distance I spied
a gorilla! The beast did not see me: it was a female,
and must have been half a mile from the sea. I hid my-
self behind a tree in order to watch all her movements
unseen. She was seated on the ground before a cluster
of pineapples, quietly eating one : she soon threw it away
and plucked some of the leaves. How black the face
was! She grinned now and then, probably from the joy
the food gave'her, when suddenly, to my utter astonish-
ment, at little gorilla, about two feet and a half in height,
came running to its mother, who gave a kind of chuckle
that resembled very much the click of the Bushmen of
Southern Africa.

I began to be terribly excited. I must kill the moth-
er and try to capture the young one. How sorry I was
to be alone. I wished my men had been with me.

Unfortunately there were many intervening trees, and
she was about three hundred yards off. How could the
bullet from my rille reach her? I had just left my
place of concealment When she perceived me. She utter-
ed a piercing cry and disappeared, with her young one
following her.

When I returned to the camp every body had gone
except Kombé, who had been left in charge. On my way
back I took the sea-shore, and saw on the beach for the
first time the footprints made by the hippopotami, and
I wondered what they came to do so near the sea. So I
followed one and was surprised to see their heavy foot

 

A Y0 UNG GORILLA. 79

 

 

 

 

FEMALE GORILLA AND HER YOUNG.

steps along the beach: they must certainly have come
there to bathe, and this I had never seen before. ‘

One fine morning, just at sunrise, Ispied a sail coming
from the south. How glad I was as I saw that sail com-
ing nearer and nearer!

I knew that white men were on board I

The canoe which my men had fetched from Amimbri
lay on the beach ready to be launched: the men were
there with their paddles ready. Ratenou was in com-
mand and waiting for my orders.

What was to be done? I had left the flag at Wash-
ington ! How sorry I felt!

A long pole which Komhé had cut was brought, and

u“

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- ‘ 11w .4

 

 

 

80 WILD LIFE UNDER Tifls' EQ UATOR.

instead of the flag one of my white shirts was tied to its
top by the sleeves, and then the pole was elevated, and
soon the shirt floated in the shape of a flag.

The vessel came nearer and nearer the shore, and I
could soon make out that it was a whaler: there was no
mistake about it, for I could see the whale- boats.

Wlth my spy-g Glass I looked and saw the white faces
of the men.

The ship hoisted its flag, and the stars and stripes of
the great Republic displayed themselves. A wild hur-
rah from me greeted their appearance, and my men gave
three cheers.

The breakers were heavy, very heavy, but we must
go on board; I must bear the news; I must see the face
of a white man—I who had been so long away from ciV~
i1ization,fr0m my kindred, and from the world.

“ BOys, let us try I” I shouted with excitement; “ let us
go on board 1”

All the voices of my men shouted, “ Let us try !” and
immediately the canoe came down the beach, five men
on each‘side paddle in hand, Ratenou and I standing by
the stern.

We were watching an opportunity when the angry
billows should calm down and there should be a lull.
The 11111 came, and almost as quick as lightning the
canoe was in the sea and we were off. My men paddled
as hard as they could 1n order to pass the surf before the
heavy rollers should break again.

But 10! when we were about michay, the face of
Ratenou changed color, for from far away came one of
those heavy swells that, as he knew, would gradually
change itself into a heavy roller as it neared the shore,

 

 

 

A GREA T G ORILLA. ‘ 8 I

and in breaking dash to pieces all that came in contact
with it. If that roller broke before it reached us, how-
ever, all would be right. >

It came on, rising and rising, when suddenly Ratenou
said—“Comnii, you are men! Let us take care of our
white man 1” '

Then the paddles stood still; the roller crested and
broke right upon our canoe, upsetting it with fearful
' force, and whirling us round and round. I was stunned
by the force of the waves; breaker after breaker came
dashing upon us, one after the other, but the faithful
Commi men were there, shouting one to another—“Let
us take care of our white man 1” Ratenou, Kombé, and
Oshimbo were swimming under me; I was surrounded
by them all; good,nob1e fellows they were. At last
we reached the shore. I looked round. Every man
was there; no one had been drowned; no one had had
his head smashed by the upsetting of the canoe. With
a grateful heart I thanked God for his goodness to us
all. The tide was coming up, and our canoe and pad-
dles were soon thrown on the beach by the force of the
waves and the current.

I looked at that vessel, and how sorry when I was
gradually its white sails became dimmer and dimmer in
the distance. At last it disappeared, and with a heavy
sigh I made for the camp.

If you had been in a strange land amid savages,I

am sure you would have felt as I did then.
D ‘2

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CHAPTER X.

DEATH IN AN AFRICAN VILLAGE.—LAMENTATIONS.—-THE
FUNERAL CEREMONIES—AN AFRICAN CEMETERY.

WHAT a strange thing is an African funeral! In a
town on the banks of the Rembo,ca11ed Conaco, Where I -
had just arrived in my canoe, a man was very ill. These
poor savages seemed to be very sorry for him, but did
not know What to do. If I remember aright, the name
of that man was Irende. He had been a great warrior
and a great hunter, but disease had laid him prostrate7
though he was still a young man.

The next day a great many people came into the vil-
lage With their tam-tams, 0r drums, and. different sorts of
musicaIinstruments. They were to try if they could -
not drive the devil away. With a great deal of trouble
a few guns had been Obtained, and also some powder, in
oraer to make more noise.

In the evening the people entered the hut of Irende
and began to sing. The drummers had already gone in-
side and were beating their drums most furiously; a few
broken brass kettles added their noise to that of the
drums; some heat sticks on pieces of wood. In fact,
every body tried to make all the noise he could. At
last those who. had the guns came and fired them close
to the ears of the poor fellow, and also near his stom-

 

DEATH IN A VILLAGE. ’ 83

ach, where the abambo (the devil) was supposed to be. '
I could not stay more than five minutes in the hut, for
the din was tOo great for me. They wanted to drive
the abambo out of the poor sick man so that he might get
well. But all the drumming they did, all the mbuz’ti
(idol) had said concerning his recovery, all the care his
Wives, sisters and his mother bestowed upon him, were
of no avail.

The poor fellow died the second day after my arrival,
right in the midst of the drumming, just a few min-
utes after the guns had been fired near his ears and stom-
ach. It was midnight when he died. I was in my hut,
which was not far off, when suddenly there burst from
.one end of the village to the other a wail that told me '
the sad story. Irende was dead 1

What a wail it was! It went right to my heart, it was
so piercing, so heart-rending; I could not help but feel
sorry for these poor people. The wailing and the mourn-
ing-songs lasted all night; there was no sleep for me.

In the morning I was led once more to the house
where the body was laid. The room was crowded:
women from all the Villages round had come, and they
were all seated on the floor. There must have been
about three hundred Of them, and they were singing
mournful songs to doleful and monotonous airs. The
tears were running down their cheeks. The wives of
the poor fellow, ten in number, had shaven their hair,
had taken off their garments and were almost naked,
and they had rubbed their bodies with ashes. Their
anklets and bracelets had been removed, and round their
necks they wore a piece of native cord indicating that
they were widows and in mourning.

 

 

 

 

84 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

At length through the thick crowd I discovered the
body of Irende. It was-seated on a stool, the back lean-
ing against the wall. It was dressed in an old coat, and
by its side was a harp—for Irende had the reputation
of being a great musician; there also lay his spear and
his gun, which were to be buried With him.

His Wives were round him, talking, begging him to

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MOURNING THE DEAD.

speak to them, and then silence followed. No answer
came. Then there burst forth a heart-piercing wail.
“He is dead! he is dead!” they shouted. “His lips
Will speak to us no more; he Will not hunt for us any
more; he will play no more on the wombz' for us I” Then
2111 ended in a long plaintivesong.

The mother came, and kneeling before him took hold

 

 

 

AN Afi’j‘iICAN FUNERAL. 85

, of his feet, which is the most supplioating manner of ad-
dress in Africa; she lookedin his face and said in a very
plaintive voice—“ My sofi, you have not spoken to your
wives, but I know you will speak to your mother,
You will say to her that you are not dead.”

The same silence ensued.

They all waited in vain for an answer for a few
minutes; then the poor mother rolled herself on the
ground at her son’s feet, shrieked and cried, and said—
_ “ Irende, why do you not speak to your mother ?” The
poor mother’s shrieks were so long, so piercing, and she
uttered such a wail of grief, that the tears came into my
eyes. The poor African mother had a heart!

As I left the hut, thinking how strangely the mind of
man is constituted, the wailing continued, and was to be
kept up until the burial of the corpse.

The day of the funeral came, and we went to the hu-
rial-ground. As the body left the Village and was put
into a canoe, the wailing was tremendous. The men
that were to paddle were all painted, almost naked, and
covered with fetiches. The drum beat as we descended
the stream.

As we approached the burial~ground (for these Com-
mi have a sort of cemetery) all became silent. Not a
word was said; they prayed Ovengua not to get hold of
them, and the corpse was left on the sand, a certain
amount of which was thrown over it. His wombz' was
laid by his side, his gun and his spear were placed in his
hand, and necklaces and ornaments were left with him.
A cooked dish of plantain and a jar of water were placed
beside him, so that he might drinl< and eat if he chose,
then all was over and we came away.

 

 

 

 

86 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR;

What a strange burial-ground it was! It was situ-
ated on a prairie, with no trees in the neighborhood, and.
poles were the only signs that could show it to be a cem-
etery. Here and there a grim skeleton could be seen, and
the remains of things that had accompanied the deceased
men and women to the grave.

 

 

 

CHAPTER XI.

A TORNADO.--BEFORE THE STORM.—-THUNDER AND LIGHT-
NING.——AFTER THE STORM.

WE had just returned to our camp in the forest.
The day was intensely warm; the rays of the sun pour-
ed down upon mother-earth with fearful force; in the
forest all was silent as death, for Nature herself seemed
prostrated.

We were in the season of the tornadoes—the’ latter
part of the month of March.

The light air that we had, had ceased. The horizon
toward the north-east grew black; at first a black spot
had appeared only a little above the horizon, then grad:
nally rose higher and higher. The sight of this token
inspired awe. The wind was blowing from the opposite
direction. The white and fleecy clouds that were hang-
ing in the atmosphere as they came near the black
spot gradually stopped, and were slowly absorbed into
black cloud.

I looked anxiously on. To a stranger the appearance
of the sky showed that a fearful storm was coming.

The birds began to fly in the air in a frightened man-
ner; my goats began to seek for shelter; the hens hid
in the huts; the dogs also sought shelter; and the peo-
ple were returning in hot haste from the plantations.

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88 WILD LIFE UNDER TIM] EQ UATOIE.

Every living thing seemed to know what was com-
ing: even in the far distance I could hear the roar of the
gorilla. '

The black spot gradually rose and formed a semicir-
cle, while now and then the distant sound of thunder
came upon our ears, warning us of the approaching
storm.

At last not a breath of air could be detected, and in
an instant a white spot rose under the black horizon,
and instantaneously scattered it into a thousand clouds.
How wild and lurid the sky suddenly appeared! In
less than two minutes it was one mass of blackness, the
clouds fleeing with terrible velocity, driven away by the
white spot, which now increased to huge dimensions.
The tops of the trees began to sway rapidly, and before
we knew it the fearful wind was upon us. Our little
houses were unroofed, and the wind came with a Violence
that was quite appalling. The limbs of the trees broke
down first, then the trees themselves, and as they fell
each brought down half a dozen Others with it, which in
falling occasioned a booming sound that resounded from
hill to bill. The monkeys became frightened, and their
wild chattering indicated that they were filled with ter-
ror. It was indeed a wild and terrible spectacle.

Flashes of lightning were followed by terrific claps
of thunder. The first clap brought me upon my feet, for
I thought the lightning must have struck some of us.
I was almost blinded by the flash. What a terrific re-
port followed! It came on sudden and sharp like the '
firing ofa cannon, and made my ears ring and ring till I
thought I should be deafened.

This was followed by other terrific claps of thunder

ANDHMWA‘ .13 2v~08m BNUHZ 4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TH UNDER AN!) L1 (1’11 1 'NING’. 91

and flashes of lightning which seemed to illuminate the
whole sky, accompanied by a pouring rain, a rain so
dense that one might have fancied the skies to have been
rent in two. Finally the wind ceased, and thank God!
had only lasted about ten minutes, though turning all
round the compass. The rain, thunder and lightning
still continued. Such a storm I had seldom witnessed
even in this region of thunder and tornado. Wherever
I turned, the bright light in the skies met my eyes: from
the West to the North, from the North to the East, and
from the East to the South.

The flashes of lightning were horizontal, 0f tre-
mendous glare and length, and zigzag; sometimes they
were perpendicular. For hours and hours the boom of
thunder went on, fearful claps bursting from every
corner of the sky without intermission. There was
scarcely a moment’s interval between the reports. I
took special pains to notice this fact.

The sound of the thunder seemed ta come from all
round the sky; the whole of the heavens seemed to be
a sea of fire. What could be more sublime, in the
whole domain of Nature, than this grand storm in these
equatorial regions of Africa? It was worth coming
from our milder climate to see it, to behold this war
of the elements, to hear such claps of thunder, to see
such torrents of rain pouring down.

Though filled’with awe and a dread of I did not
know what, I looked on till my eyes were almost blind-
ed; I listened and listened until my ears were deafened
by the appalling noise of the thunder; I am certain that
no country can boast of more fearful thunder than these
equatorial and mountainous regions of Western Africa. '

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92 VVJLD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

At last, after a few hours; the claps of thunder became
less terrible, and there were greater intervals between -
the flashes of lightning, which began to diminish in
brightness. Gradually the storm ceased, the clouds dis—
appeared, and the bluest of skies was disclosed overhead.
What a deep blue it was; how beautiful, how lovely,
how pure, and how serene I

O God, how great thou art! I said to myself. What
is man that thou lookest down upon him? He is a creat-
ure of thy hands. '

The stars shone with all their brightness. At that
time of the year the southern heaven was in its full

beauty. All the constellations of the Southern Hemi-r
sphere were in view, and the whole sky seemed to be in
a perfect blaze of light. How beautiful and resplendent
the Milky Way looked! Being not far from the equal
tor, I could see also many of the northern constellations.

The constellation of the Great Bear was in full sight,
and reminded me Of my northern home, of dear friends,
of joys that have gone, 0f friendships which distance
could not kill, of boys and girls I knew, and I wonder—
efl if sometimes ”they thought of me as I thought of
them.

I was wet through; for our fires had been extinguish-
ed and we had the greatest trouble to light them again;
and during the night nothing was heard but the mourn-
Ful cries of the owl and now and then the disagreeable .
howl of the hyena. I

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XII.

A CREEK INFESTED BY SNAKES.—-SNAKE IN THE BOAT.“
AN UGLY VISITOR.

IT is intenser hot. We are at the end of the month
of March, and the rays of the sun are pouring upon us
with a power which is terrific, Every two or three
minutes I dip my umbrella into the water, for after this
lapse of time it is perfectly dry; green leaves and a
wet handkerchief are in my Panama hat, which now and
then I also dip into the water of the stream.

You will ask me in what kind of country I find thy-
self in such a plight. I am in a very cgmplieated net-
work of creeks, swamps, dense forest, and overflowed
lands, forming a delta, which in the work I publish-
ed in 1861 I named the Delta 0f the Ogobai. For several
days I have been here in a canoe exploring the country

by water. What a lonely place! We have not seen a C

single Village, we have met not a single human being;
it is a complete desolation, and on the day in question
it seemed more desolate than usual. The creek we had
got into was narrow, and on both sides there was an in-
terminable forest of palms, that kind which yields bitter
nuts to eat; these grow to the water’s-edge and many
of their graceful branches are bathed in the stream.

The current was strong, and evidently a tremendous

   

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94 IVILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

quantity of fresh water coming from the interior was car-
ried by it into the sea.

The atmosphere was hazy, and, as is generally the
ease in those equatorial regions, I could see, the vapor
arising and quivering as it ascended.

At last we entered a narrow creek, where the current
was not so strong. We had hardly proceeded two
or three miles when snakes became quite abundant in
the water. We were in the Creek of Snakes. I do not
know what else to call it.

What a horrid sight! They were of all colors and
sizes: some were small and slender, others short and
thick. One peculiar kind struck me at once as one that
I had never seen before, It swam not far from our ca-
noe, and appeared to be of a bright orange-yellow color.
I am sure it was a very venomous one, one whose bite
would kill a man in less than five minutes, for the head
was very triangular. Then came a large black one with
a yellow stripeon the belly; it appeared to me to be ten
feet long; the black shone as if it had been oiled. This
‘ fellow I also knew to be very poisonous; so when he
raised his head above the water I sent a load of small
‘ shot into it, literally crushing it to pieces. Then we went
immediately at him, and with a few strokes of the pad-
dles we finished him up. I was going to make off,
when two of the slaves who were of our party said we
must put it in our canoe, and that they should eat the
fellow in the evening. This created a great laugh from
my Commi boys, and after making sure that the loath-
some creature was dead we fished him out of the water.
There was at first a jumping about of the men which I
was afraid would upset the canoe, in which case we

 

IN THE CREEK 0F SERPENTS. 95

would have been in a pretty fix, swimming about in a
stream filled with snakes. At last order was restored;
the snake was cut into several pieces, which continued to
move and almost appeared like several separate snakes.
The pieces were put in a basket, and the eyes of my
Apingis began to shine with delight, and it made their
mouths water, they said, to think of the nice meal they
were going to have in the evening.

wrist

   

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IN THE CREEK OF SNAKES.

Just at this moment I spied one of these black snakes
trying to get into our canoe by the bow. I made a
tremendous leap, as if I had been bitten by a scorpion,
the sight was so sudden. I took my gun, loaded with
small shot—the best load to kill serpents with—and
fired, cutting the saucy fellow in two; then we paddled
on, leaving master snake to take care of himself, know-
ing that his case had been settled.

 

 

 

 

96 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

I really believe all the snakes of the country had
come to bathe in this creek on that day, and I did not
wonder at it, it was so hot and sultry. I had often met
with snakes in the river before, but never in such great
numbers and of so many different species. In little more
than one hour and a half I must have seen two hundred
of them. I had never seen such a sight before and
never have since.

Snakes are nasty things! I do not like them at all.
They will never be my pets. But there is a country in
the Bight of Benin where snakes can not be killed, un-
der penalty of death. a

The sun began to go down, and as we paddled along
we looked for a dry place on the shore where we might
spend the night. The snakes had disappeared, and none
I were to be seen in the water. Of that circumstance I
was very glad‘

To find a dry place was not an easy matter, for the
land was low, swampy, and overflowed. The prospect of
sleeping in the canoe and of being eaten up by mus-
quitoes was not very cheering to my spirits. But the
men knew a place where all the year round there was a
dry spot, and where they often stopped when fishing; but
we must pull very hard in order to reach there before
dark. As none of us wished to sleep in the canoe, the
fellows paddled as hard as they could, and by half—past
live o’clock we reached the place.

It was sunset at six o’clock, so that we had plenty of
time to fix our camp.

The place was dreary enough and not very safe, to
judge from the footprints of wild beasts that had come
prowling about there, among which I could'see distinct-

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OAIIIPING 0 U T. 9 7

ly the tracks of what must have been an enormous leop-i
ard. Happily we had plenty of fire-wood in our canoe._

The spot where we were to spend the night was mis-
. erable: the ground was damp, and it was also dirty, for
there were bones of fishes and wild animals, the skins of
plantains scattered all over, and the remains of extin-
guished fires. The whole country seemed to be nothing
but bog land.

The first thing we did was to attend to our mus
quito- -nets. We cut the large branches of the palm
and stuck four of them into the ground to hang our nets
upon. How to sleep? this was the next great question.
I did not like the idea of sleeping on the bare ground 1n
a country where snakes were abundant. But what was
to be done? It was getting late, so reluctantly I cut
the leaves of the palm, put them thick one upon the
other, and then laid my mat over the whole; my men
did the same; the fires were lighted—about which we
had some trouble, for my matches were wet. During
the day, it being so warm, I had been afraid to carry
them in my pocket or put them in a place where the sun
shone, for fear that they would light of themselves. I
had therefore placed them under the seat, and they had
dropped down to the bottom of the canoe. So we had to
use our flints and tinder.

’ When night came our fires were blazing, and' the
sight of our camp was curious in the extreme. I was
quietly lying between two immense fires, which almost
surrounded me, for I had a lively fear of the snakes and
I did not like the idea of one coming round me at night.
It is strange how it is possible to enjoy a fire in the
woods in this damp and warm Climate.

E

 

 

o

98 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UATOR.

My men killed one of the three fowls I had with me;
others took off the skins from the plantains, while the
rest were preparing to boil the dry fish which we had in
great abundance, for before entering the Delta of the
'Ogobai we had gone on a fishing excursion.

Our cooking implements consisted of a kettle for boil-
ing the plantains, which, by the way, was getting to be
much worn out, and my men were beginning to look
forward to the time when it should be broken so that I
would give it to them to make bracelets of ; and two
eooking-pots, one especially for my use and the other
for the use of the men; I also had afrying-pan, but noth-
ing had been fried in it since I had it, for want of lard or
oil. Ou'r entire cooking operations consisted of boiling
or roasting over a charcoal fire.

The two poor fellows with the snake had no pot to
cook it in, my Commi men objecting strongly to have
any thing of the kind cooked in such a vessel. The
Apingis were much downhearted, for they had antici-
pated much pleasure from their snake-broth, the snake
being, they said, very fat. They had on hand a little
salt and a little Cayenne pepper. It would have tasted
so good! So they had to be satisfied with roasting the
snake over the fire. h

After our meal I opened my chest to get some tobac-
co. This of course “brought down the house,” and
they seemed perfectly happy after their hard day’s work,
for the poor fellows had worked very hard.

They seated themselves round the fires, smoked their
pipes, and gradually one by one fell asleep. It was
a fortunate thing we had musquito-nets, for I could
hear these insects buzzing about in such a manner that

 

SNAKES B Y NIGHT. 9 9

one might have almost thought a band of music was
playing in the neighborhood.
At length I wrapped myself well in my blanket

and went to sleep. But 10! in the middle of the night»

I was awakened by the oaokling of one of the fowls,
which was tied by the leg to a stick we had put on
the ground. I popped my head out of my musqui-
to-net, when I beheld by the glow of the fire an enor-
mous python (or snake), a tremendous big fellow, who
had just come out of the water and was about to gobble
up one of the two fowls, and would have swallowed
both of them if it had had time to do so. No others
were aroused by the noise the fowls made, so I quietly
took my gun that laid alongside of me, and sent two
loads into the python, which settled him.
‘ My men jumped up in alarm, seized their guns, and
looked as warlike as possible. They thought we were
attacked unawares by some Oroungou fellows, and set
up a wild yell of defiance, whiqh was responded to by a
’most hearty. laugh on my part. In the mean time the
defeated boa had moved about in the midst of us and
sent all the fellows off, just as they were asking, “ Who
has been killed by that gun ?” and I shouted in reply,
“ This enormous snake.”

My two Apingi fellows’ eyes brightened as they
thought of the good food they were going to have, and
said—“ Ah! ah? if we had only known we should have
brought a cooking-pot of our own; we would have had
such nice snake-broth all the time l” This snake meas-
ured almost sixteen feet in length, and would have kept
the fellows in broth for a long while.

We went to sleep again, leaving the two Apingis

 

 

 

 

100 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQOATOR.

busily engaged in cutting the boa into small pieces and
in roasting some of it over the fire.

The nextmorning when I awoke the sun was bright;
a kind of vapor was rising from the waters of the Delta,
of the Ogobai, and all Nature was still. I could not hear
the song of a single bird or the chatter of a single mon-
key; now and then a fishing-eagle passed over our
heads, and the whole scene presented was one of desola~
tion.

We cooked our breakfast, and immediately after our
meal we again set out and soon entered a very narrow
ereek—so narrow in some places‘ that the trees on the
two banks were so close together that we had trouble in
passing through with our canoe; in one place I thought
it would be utterly impossible.

At last we emerged into the waters of the Npoulouf

lay and soon after found ourselves on the broad and
placid waters of the Fernand Vaz, coming in sight of my
settlement at Washington.

A th1111 of Joy filled my heart when I saw my little
settlement, for I was tired and worn out, and I needed a
little rest—a little comfort in a plain way. I wanted to
see my plantation, to see how it had grown since we
parted, and if my stock of fowls had increased by new
broods, or I could get a little milk from my goats.
Then I wanted to see good King Ranpano and his
brother Rinkimongani and all the good folks of Biaga-
no. They were there on the shore ready to receive
me. They were honest, straightforward people,

.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XIII.
DRINKING THE MBOUNDOU.——H0w OLANGA—CONDO COULD DO
IT.—HOW THE MBOUNDOU Is MADE.—THE EFFECT OF
THE POISON.

WHAT a wild scene I beheld; one which had never
been seen before by any white man!

OIanga-Condo, a mighty ouganga (doctor), was to
drink the mbomzdou. What an awful poison this mboun~
dou is! Nevertheless, Olanga-Condo could drink it;
yes, he could drink it by bowlfuls, one of which was
more than sufficient to kill any man or woman.

You will ask me, How is it that Olanga-Condo could
drink this mboundou and that other people could not ?
I suppose he accustomed his body to it by drinking it,
little by little from his childhood, but of course he would
not ‘tell any one how he could drink it without being
hurt. .

The strange scene tqok place at Goumbi.

King Quengueza had a dream, and in that dream he
saw that there were people who were am‘emba (wizards),
and who wished to take his life. So he rose in the
morning possessed with the belief that such designs were
entertained against him. ' His already stern countenance
became harsher, and the good old chief began to dread
those around him. It was useless for me to tell him

 

 

 

 

 

l U 2 WILD LIFE UNDER TILE EQ UA TOR

that there were no such people as wizards, and that 110
living being bad power to kill another by witchcraft.

He became suspicious of his dearest friends. His near-
est relatives, he thought, were those who wanted to get rid
of him in order to get his wives,s1aves,ivory, and goods.

What a terrible superstition this belief in witchcraft
is! The father dreads his children, the son his father
and mother, the man his wife, and the wives their hus-
bands. A man fancies himself sick; he imagines the
sickness has been brought upon him by those who
want him out of the way, and at last becomes sick
through his fears. At night he fancies himselfsurround-
ed by the cmz'emba who are prowling round his huts, and
that evil spirits are ready to enter into him as he comes
out; and if this should happen he believes that disease
and death are surely near.

So Quengueza covered himself with fetiehes, and every
day invoked the spirits of his ancestors—Igoumbai, Rica-
ti, Kombi, and Niavi (his mother)—to protect him from
the cmz'emba. How strangely his voice sounded in the
silence of the night! One could not but be awed by it.

Every morning he told the wonderful and frightful
dreams he had——for these people believe in dreams—and}
he wasitso convinced that the Village was full of wicked
sorcerelrgthat at last the whole people became infected
by his feajrs, each one thinking that his life was at stake.
Hence the ouganga, Olanga~Condo, had been ordered by
the King to drink the mboundou, and then tell the names
of the soreerers.

The leading people of Goumbi had met, and protest-
ed that no one wanted to bewiteh their king; they all
wanted him to live to the end of time.

 

 

 

HOW THE MBOUNDOU IS llIADE’. 103

NOW they all sat in a circle on the ground; each man
had a short stick in his hand ; and Olanga-Condo was to
take his position in the centre and drink the mboundou in
their presence.

In the mean time I had assisted in the operation of
making the mbomgdou, an operation which the drinker
does not witness. A few red roots of the plant called by
them the mbmmdou were brought in, and the bark was
s'craped off by several of the natives into a vessel; into
this a pint of water was poured, and in about a minute
fermentation took place, and the beverage effervesced al-
most like champagne. The water soon became quite
red, and was the very color of the bark when the effer-
vescing ceased. Two of Olanga-Condo’s friends were
present during this operation to see that all was fair.

 

DRlNKlNG THE MBOUNDOU.

When the mixture was ready Olanga-Condo came,
went to the centre of the circle, and the bowl containing

 

   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  

 

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104 WILD LIKE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

the poison was handed to him: without faltering for a
single moment,-but full of faith, be emptied the bowl at
one draught.

In about five minutes the poison took effect. He
began to stagger about; his eyes were injected; his
'limbs ’twitohed convulsively; his voice grew thick; his
veins showed themselves prominently, and his muscles
contracted. His whole behavior was that of a drunken
man. He began to babble Wildly, and then it was sup-
posed that the inspiration was upon him. The people
beat regularly upon the ground with the short sticks they
held, and sang in a sort of doleful voice—

“If he is a witch, let the mboundou kill him,
If he is not, let the mbozmdou go out.”

Then at times \Layibirie, Quengueza’s heir, and his
nephews, Quabi, Adouma, and Rapeiro, asked if there
was any man that wanted to bewitch King Quengueza.

Olonga-Condo went on talking wildly, not answering
the questions, which were repeated over and over again.
At last he said—“ Yes; some one is trying to bewitoh
the King.”

Then came the query, “ Who. ‘9”

By this time the poor fellow was fortunately hopeless-
ly tipsy, and 1110apab1e of reasonable speech. He bab-
bled some unintelligible jargon, and presently the in-
quest was declared at an end.

No persons had been accused, hence nobody was to
be killed. But sometimes these doctors do mention
names, and one of these days I may give you an account
of murders committed in the name of witchcraft.

The mbmmdou is a dreadful poison,* one from which

* This mboundou pretty certainly belongs to a natural order that con-

 

 

 

.311 URDERS ON A 000 UNT 01" WITCH 0153A F’ '. 105

very few escape. Sometimes the veins of the Victim will
burst open, at other times blood will flow from his nose
and eyes, and he drops dead a few minutes after drink-
ingit. Hence the great power of the doctor. If a poor
fellow is supposed to be a wizard, or to have bewitched
the King or somebody else, he is forced to drink the
mboundou whether he likes it or not. If the man dies,
he is declared a witch; if he survives, he is declared
innocent, and those who have accused him pay him a
fine.

The ordeal is much dreaded by the negroes, who often
run away from home and Stay away all their lives rather
than submit to it, and will often rather enslave them--
selves to another tribe. , i

When the wizards are said to belong to another Vil-
lage, then wars frequently ensue. The man thought
guilty is demanded to drink the mboundou, while his
friends, who know that he will probably die, refuse to
give him up.

This belief in witchcraft is the great curse of Africa.
According to this doctrine, every man that dies has been
bewitched by some one. Death came into the world by
witchcraft. For almost every man that dies somebody
is killed, and often several persons are killed.

The women being deemed of very little account in

tains many venomous plants, viz., the LOGANIACEE; and, from the pecul-
iar veining of the leaves, it is probably a species of Strgchnos, belonging
to that section of the genus which ineludes S. nux vomica.

The taste of the infusion is extremely bitter. I gave some of the
roots to Professor J ohn Torrey, of New York. In the book published
by the Messrs. Harper, called “Explorations in Equatorial Africa,” I
published the letter this able chemist wrote me on the properties of the
mbozmdou.

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.106 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

this part of the world, it is very seldom that at the
death of one of them any body is killed. These poor
heathen think no torture cruel enough to inflict upon a
wizard. Sometimes the accused will be tied to a tree
and burned,by a slow fire; at other times they will
bind him and put him in the track of an army of bash-
ikouay ants.

I remember the horrid sight I met one day; it made
my blood freeze all over. I shall never forget the scene
as longkas I live. I was hunting in the woods for birds7
when I spied two green pigeons (twemn nudimsm's), which
I wanted for my collection of birds. By dint of great eX-
ertions I penetrated the jungle to the foot of the tree,
When 10! a ghastly sight met my eyes. It was the corpse
of a woman, young evidently, and with features once
mild and amiable. She had been tied up here, on some
infernal accusation of witchcraft, and tortured with a cru-
elty which would have done honor to the Inquisition.

The torture consisted in the laceration of the flesh all
over the body, and fresh Cayenne pepper had been rubbed
in the gashes. A cold perspiration covered my body;
my eyes became dim ; “ Was it a dream ‘3” I asked my-
Self. The devil himself could not have displayed more
ingenuity in torture. I approached the corpse. It was,
cold. The poor girl was dead. What terrible sufferings
she must‘have endured!

Will you think hard of me when I say to you that I
felt I could go into that Village of wild men and shoot
every one of them?

Am'emba! What a terrible meaning that word pos~
sesses in the mind of the poor African of Equatorial Af-
rica! To be bewitehed is almost certain death. What

 

 

 

 

 

A SPECIMEN 0F TORTURE. 107

an awful superstition! It leads to the most inhuman
and abominable acts of cruelty. '

HOW many I have seen of theseacts! What refine-
ment of barbarism I have seen displayed! What numbers
of poor innocent creatures I have seen slaini‘What num»
bers of families have in, this way been made unhappy!

 

> Afl~~dA> , , - - . . , H « ‘ ,, , , 7, ,,' ,L-In-h‘A:j:i;;_g‘ W 4'

 

 

CHAPTER XIV.

A ROYAL FEAST.—ON THE BANKS OF THE OVENGA.—-PRE~
PARATIONS.—THE BILL OF FARE.-—A TASTE OF ELEPHANT
AND A MOUTHFUL OF MONKEY.

A ROYAL feast is to be given to me: a real feast,
Where the King is going to show me What are the splen-
dors of his kitchen department. That feast is to take
place in the equatorial regions of Western Africa, on
the banks of the Ovenga River. .

King Obindji is to give the repast. My friend King
Quengueza and myself Will be the guests at the feast,
and it promises to be a great affair.

For some time past hunters have gone into the forest
to kill and trap game, fishermen have been catching
fish, and the Women have been watching their plantain-
trees and their cassada plantations, While the boys have
been scouring the forest to look after wild fruits.

A good deal of pottery has been manufactured, so that
they may have plenty of cooking-pots. Earthen jars
have also been made in great numbers, so that vessels
for palm Wine may be abundant. The women have also
worked steadily in making mats, so that many'might be
spread on the ground. Severaliboloko have beqi-made.
What a strange kind of arm-ehair those bolol:OS are!
King Obindji delights to rest upon one. A iarge' shade
has been built, so that Quengueza and myself will have

 

 

 

 

 

 

PREPARA TI OMS. 1 0 9

plenty of room. Oralas are abundant, and meat has
been smoked in abundance during these last few days.

At last the day of the feast has come. There is a
great stir in the village. The hunters have all returned,
the men have also come back from their fishing ex-
cursion, and for the last few days a great quantity of
palm Wine has been collected, Bakalai chiefs have
come from all the surrounding country, With a great
number of their wives and of their people; they are all
scattered about over the little olakas round the Village.
After the feast a grand palaver is to come ofi‘, and the
affairs of the country Will be discussed. Friend Quen-
gueza seems to be the King of the Kings for they all
show him great marks of respect

Toward noon the tables are set. Do not think for a
moment that I mean real tables; I mean the mats are
laid on the ground. Under our shade several mats are
put, and many are scattered under the trees round.
Quengueza and I are to eat under the shade, the other
chiefs under the trees. 1‘

The drums begin to beat, Wild songs are sung, and
there is a great stir. The wives of the King; have all
turned cooks, and are all busy; the Village seems to be
in a blaze of smoke, for every thing is cooking, and soon
the repast is to be ready.

All sorts of pleasant odors are coming out of these
pots: What curious dishes some of them Will be!

The drums are beating furiously again and again.
Twenty 0f the King s Wives have come out, each bring-
ing a dish with hei, Which they deposit on the mats.

'Then 'Obindji came to Quengueza and to me, and
bade us come and sit before What was presented to us,‘

 

 

110 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UA TOR.

and tasted of every dish to show us that no food was
poisoned, for such is the custom of the country.

What a curious bill of fare! I must give it to you,
and I will try to remember it all.

First, there was a huge pot containing an enormous
piece of an elephant, which had been boiling since the
day before, so that the meat might be tender. Another
dish was the boiled smoked foot of an elephant, which
had been specially cooked for me, this being considered
by many the best piece.

rIi‘hen came a large piece. of boiled crocodile, the broth
of which was recommended to us, lemon juice and Gay-
enne pepper having been bountifully mixed with it to
give it a flavor. Then came a charming monkey, which
had been roasted entire on a blazing fire of charcoal.
The little fellow seemed to be nothing but a ball of fat,
and looked wonderfully like a roasted baby. It was
cooked to perfection, and really had a fine flavor.

Then a huge leg of a wild boar made its appearance,
the flavor of which was very high, and it must have been
killed days before; but these people like their game
high ; in fact, it is often decomposed when eaten.

Then came the boiled tongue of the 1308 bravchz'cheros,
the wild buffalo. Another dish was boiled buffalo ribs.
This latter had been cooked with the ndika, a kind of.
paste made from the seed of' the wild mango fruit; this
was put Close to me, Quengueza never touching the buf~
falo meat, some of his ancestors having long ago given
birth to a bufialo (at least so he said), and his clan, the
Abouya, never taste buffalo.

Then came a dish of smoked mongon (otter); anoth-
er of antelope, called kambi, and a beautiful little ga-

 

 

 

QUENG UEZA AS A GOURJIIAND. ‘ .. ' 111

zelle, called noheri. These meats had all been smoked a
long time. In the centre there were two huge baskets
of plantains, which were to be used as bread.

Do not think this is the end of the bill of fare. The
fishes are still to come, as well as other Africandainties.

An enormous dish of manatee was next brought in,
which was immediately followed by another dish of
boiled mullet. Then came some land and water turtles.
I wondered why a boiled snake had not made its ap-
pearance, and also some roast gorilla and Chimpanzee,
these to be surrounded by a few mice and rats. But
these are entirely Bakalai dishes, no Commi eating
those animals;

It was a sumptuous feast. Obindji was in his glory,
and the drummers sang, “ Who can give such a feast to
the Ntangani except Obindji? Obindji has a fetioh ”—
they continued singing——“that makes the wild beasts
come to him, the fish come to him, the white man come
to him I” .

Quengueza was seated on one side and I on the
other, and round us stood the twenty wives and Obind-
ji’s slaves, to wait upon us. Quengueza, who is a great
gourmand, took a glance at every dish before him
and concluded that he would go into the manatee first,
then he would follow up with some fish, and then would
pitch into the fat monkey, finishing up with antelope;
and he said to me, in his bland and kind manner, that if
there was room left he would eat some ncheri (gazelle)7
but he intended specially to go into the wild boar and
the manatee to his heart’s content. “Then,” said he,
close to my ear, “you will give me a little glass of'
brandyf’ -

 

 

 

112 . . WILD LIFE UNDER TILE EQ UATOR.

I thought I would taste a little of every thing, and
bring my stomach to its utmost capacity. Though it
was against etiquette, for Obindji could not eat with
Quengueza, I told him we had better invite friend
Obindjh We called the good fellow, and made him sit
With us amid the abundant cheer round us, for all were
as merry as they could be.

His Bakalai Majesty was quite proud to eat with a
fork which I presented him. _

Since Obindji was to eat with us, an addition to the
bill of lare—a dish of beiled gorilla came for his espe-
cial benefit; also a dish made of part of a large snake
. cooked in leaves, the smell of which made Obindji’s
mouth water. ~

The people all round us were eating. The first
mouthful I put into my mouth caused cheer after cheer
to go up. “The ntanga is eating! The ntanga is eat- ~
ing of the elephant!” For I thought I would begin
with King Elephant. .

It was a pretty tough piece of meat, I assure you;
the grain was very coarse, and the meat was somewhat _
tasteless and rather dry. The boiled elephant’s foot
was better7 and I rather liked it. The elephant meat I
did not like; it was really too tough.

Obindji recommended to me'a bit of crocodile, and
the wife who had cooked it said she had been very care-
ful that there was plenty of Cayenne pepper and of
lemon juice, and she was sure the broth was excellent.
I must say I did not like the idea of eating of the croco-
dile, but I wanted to know how it tasted. The flesh
was very white—somewhat fishy, I thought—and the
grain of the meat coarse. I did not like either the broth

 

 

 

 

ELIONKE Y, BOAR, AND BUFFALO iWIEA T. 1 I 3

or meat. The former. was so terribly hot with Cayenne
pepper that it tasted of nothing else. I was glad to get
through with the crocodile.

The monkey was perfectly delicious; I had not en-
joyed any thing so much for a long time, despite his
looking so much like a roasted baby. I am sure no
venison at home could have tasted better.

The wild boar was so terribly high that I backed out,
but friend Quengueza thought it was exquisite; and
when he had finished eating it, he told Obindji’s head-
wife to keep what was left for him, as he intended to
eat the whole of it. At the same time he got up as if he
wanted to stiffen himself for more food, and then sat
down, saying that he was ready to go on again.

J ust for fun I offered to friend Quengueza a piece
of the tongue of the buffalo and part of his boiled rib.
The old chief recoiled, for none of his clan (the Abouya),
as I have said, can eat of this meat, for they have a legend
that once one of their clan gave birth to such an animal;
and if they were to eat of it disease would creep upon
them, they would die, and their women would give birth
again to such a monster. Quengueza told Obindji
that the vessels that cooked the buffalo must be broken,
for fear that his wives might cook his food in them.

Every clan has some kind of animal they do not eat.
Quengueza assured me that when a boy he saw a woman
who had given birth to a crocodile. I scarcely touched
the buffalo meat; the otter I did not like. When I
came to the antelope my appetite had gone, to my great
sorrow, for I am very fond of Ithis dish. I- finished up
my dinner With a slice of pineapple. I doubt very much
if a more curious dinner could be given anywhere.

 

 

 

    
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
   
  

CHAPTER XV.

THE TERRIBLE BASHIKOUAY.—MARCH OF AN ANT ARMY.—
THEY BUILD BRIDGES.—- THEY ENTER HOUSES. —THEIR
HABITS.

ONE day I was plodding along in the vast forest in
search of game, and was suddenly startled by a strange
noise falling upon my ears. I heard the footsteps of wild
beasts running away. I thought even that I saw the
glimpse of a gorilla; I certainly heard distinctly the
footsteps of an elephant soon after. At last I heard at a
great distance a mighty crash as if elephants were run-
ning at great speed through the forest, breaking every
thing before them.

What can all this mean? Iasked myself ; and I knew
not why, but a vague feeling of awe began to creep over
me.' I knew that something strange must have happen-
ed or was coming. Were we going to have an earth-
quake? It could not be a tornado, for we were in the
. beginning of the dry season.

Finally the insects which had begun to fly at the be— '
ginning of this tumult now grew thicker and thicker,
when suddenly I was annoyed by fearful bites, and in
less time than I have taken to write I was covered by a
kind of ants called by the Bakalais Bashikouay. I
leaped and fled with the utmost haste in the same di-
rection the insects and beasts had taken. An army of
bashikouay ants was advancing, and devouring every

 

THE BASHIKOUA Y ANT. 1 15

living thing in its way. I was almost crazy, for they
were in my clothes and on my body, and often when they
gave a bite a little piece of flesh would come out.

When I thought I was out of reach I immediately
took off my clothes. They had, in their fury, literally
buried themselves in these, and their pincers were deep
into them; and like the fierce bull-dog of our own coun-
try, when once they bite they never let go their hold;
and many and many a time their bodies were severed
from their head as I pulled them out ; their pineers clung
still to my flesh.

I defy any living man to stand quiet before an army
of bashikouay ; he would certainly be killed and devour-
ed. This was ineontestably the largest army of bashi-
kouay I have ever seen, and how it swept over the forest,
driving every thing before it. l

These little ants are more powerful when combined
in such an army than any living thing in the forest.
All other animate things are put to flight before their
march. It is only in the interior that one can have an
idea of their number.

I dressed myself again, and began to breathe freely,
when 10! these 'bashikouay were again coming in my
direction. So I fled, striking for a path that led to a
stream, and at last reached the wet and swampy grounds,
which I knew they would not care to approach if they
continued to spread and advance inthe direction I had
taken.

How many and how many times I have been dis-
turbed by these ants in the forests of Africa!

Of all the ants which inhabit the regions I have eX-
plored, the most dreaded of all is the bashikouay; it is

 

 

 

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116 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

very abundant, and is the most voracious creature I have
ever met. It is the dread of all living animals, from the
elephant and the leopard down to the smallest insect.

At the end of this chapter is the drawing of an or-
dinary bashikouay, taken by the artist from one of the
four I had with me.

No wonder that the animal and insect world flies be-
fore them! And now I am going to say a good deal of
what I know about them ; if I should tell you all, the ac-
count would appear. so incredible that'perhaps you would
say it muSt be untrue; but I write this book to instruct
you, and to show you that the ways of Nature are won-
derful. ‘

These bashikouay, so far as I have been able to ob
serve, do not build a nest or house of any kind; they
wander throughout the year, and seem never to have any
rest. They are on the march day and night. I never
saw them carry any thing away; they devour every
thing on the spot.

It is their habit to march through the forests in a
long regular line, just as soldiers would do, and with
quite as much order and regularity. The line is about
two inches broad, and must be often several miles in
length. All along this line are larger ants, who act as
officers, standing outside the ranks, and keeping this
singular army in order. These officers stand generally
with their heads facing their subordinates. They remain
thus until their squads have passed, and then join them,
while others take their place.

The number of a large army is so great that I should
not even dare to enter into a calculation. I have seen
one continual line passing at good speed a particular

 

 

O

UNDERGRO UND T UNNE’LS. 1 1 ‘3

place for twelve hours. It was sunrise when I saw them,
and it was only a little before sunset that their numbers
began to diminish. An hour before the end of the col-
umn came, it was not so compact, and I could see that
these were the stragglers; and many of these stragglers
also seemed to be of a smaller size: they were evidently
tired. When I saw them in the morning I did not know
how long since this vast army of bashikouay had begun
their march. This was the largest column I ever saw.
You may imagine how many millions on millions there
must have been included in this column. I have seen
much smaller columns on the march, but it generally re
quired several hours for them to pass.

Strange as it may seem, these ants can not bear the
heat of the sun, hence they could not be found in a
country where the forests are scarce. If they come to a
place where there are no trees to shelter them from
i the sun, they immediately build underground tunnels,
through which the whole army passes in column to the
forest beyond. These tunnels are four or five feet under~
ground, and are only used during the heat of the day. I
have noticed that these open spaces are often passed by
them during the night to the forest beyond.

.I suppose that these underground tunnels must be
numerous; I do not see'how otherwise the ants could
protect themselves against the heavy rains. I have never
seen them lying drowned on the ground after a storm.
Hence they must know, when a storm is coming, how to
disappear; and generally after a heavy rain these armies
are more numerous in the forest, for they probably come
in quest of food, of which they have been deprived
during their subterranean marches. They always at-

 

 

 

I

11 8 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

tack with a fury which passes description. Where the
soil is sandy, 110 bashikouay can be found.

When they get hungry the long file spreads and
scatters itself through the forest in a front line: how the
order reaches from one extremity of the line to the other
almost at the same time I can not tell. Then they at-
tack and devour all that comes within their reach with a
fury and voracity Which is quite astonishing. As I have
said, the elephant and gorilla fly before this attack; the
leopard disappears from his den; the black men run
away for their lives; for who would dare to stand still be-
fore such‘an army? In a very short time any adversary
would be overpowered, and I am sure that in about two
or three hours nothing would be left of the opposition.
Antelopes which I have killed have been stripped of
every bit of flesh in that time. At times, When they have
spread themselves, they do not advance with rapidity,
but seem to go in a rambling sort of a way.

It is said that now and then a man is put to death in
the following manner. He is tied to a tree which is in
the path of this bashikouay army. What a terrible
death it must he!

Every animal that lives on the line of march where
they have spread is pursued, and, though instinct seems
to indicate the forthcoming danger, many are caught.
In an incredibly short space of time the mouse, the in~
sect, and many small animals are overwhelmed, killed,
eaten, and their bare skeletons only remain. If they ever
get into a fowl-house, it is all over With the fowls. The
insects seem to be the greatest sufferers. The ants seem
to understand and act upon the tactics of Napoleon, and
concentrate with great Speed their heaviest forces upon

 

 

 

 

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THE ATTA 0K. 1 2 1

the point of attack. They must certainly understand
each other; but how, we shall never be able to know.
Surely‘there must be commanders for these vast hordes
of soldier ants, for when in a line on the march not one
will leave the ranks, even though the insects, which they
would devour in an instant when spread for a raid, are
close by. It is but seldom that they are able to capture
antelopes, for these animals run away too fast for them.

As I have said before, they travel night and day.
Many a time some of you who have perused my books
may have read thatI have been roused from sleep and
obliged to rush from the hut, sometimes into the water, or
at other timeshave been obliged to protect myself with
fires, or by spreading hot ashes or boiling water around
'me. Often I have suffered terribly from their advanced
guard, who had got into my clothes, and who would not
get out, and soon managed to get on my body.

When they enter a house they clear it of all living
things. Roaches are devoured in an instant. Rats and
mice spring round the room in vain. An overwhelming
force of ants kills a strong rat in less than a minute or
two, and in an incredibly short time, despite the most
frantic struggles, its bones are stripped. Every living
thing in the house is devoured. ‘Centipedes, scorpions,
small spiders can not escape, and of this I was glad.
They will not touch vegetable matter. Thus they are
in reality very useful; for without -them the insects
would become so numerous that man would not be able
to live. I always rejoiced when they got hold of a ser-
pent, though these are pretty shy, and manage generally
to get out of the way, except when they are in a state of

torpor.
F

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122 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

When on the march the insect world flees before them,
and, as you have seen in the beginning of the chapter, I
had the approach of a bashikouay army heralded to me
by this means. Wherever they go they make a clean
sweep, even ascending to the top of many small trees in
search of birds’-nests, and to devour the young of caterpil-
lars. They pursue their poor prey with an unrelenting
fury, and seem to be animated with the genius of de-
struction. Their manner of attack is by an impetuous
leap. Instantly the strong pincers are fastened, and they
only let go when the piece seized upon gives way. If
they were large they would certainly be the most fear-
ful creature man could ever encounter,'aud they would
destroy all the living creatures of the forest.

When on their line of march they often find little
streams—which of course are not very wide ; they throw
themselves across and form a bridge, a living bridge,
connected by two trees or high bushes on opposite sides
of the stream. This is done with great care, and is ef-
fected by a great number of ants, each of which clings
' with his fore-claws to his next neighbor’s body or hihd-
claws. Thus they form a high, safe bridge, over which
the whole vast regiment marches in regular order. If
disturbed, or if the bridge is broken by the Violence of
some animal, they instantly attack the offender with the
greatest animosity.

To find the place for these bridges must require a
good deal of sagacity. By one way or another they find
a spot where on each side there is a branch of a tree, al-
most always a dead one, that has fallen on the ground,
and which overlaps the stream. Often in falling this tree
has broken in two pieces, and the piece on the other

1

 

 

VARIO US SPECIES. ’ 1 2 3

side almost joins it. The branch on the further side
must be lowe1 on the ground, so that, as they form the
bridge, they begin it from the higher s1de.

These bashikouay do smell things a long way off, and
they are guided by their sense of smell. They are quite
large, often the ordinary-sized ones being half an inch
long, and are armed With very powerful fore-legs and
large strong jaws, or nippers,with Which they bite. The
head is almost if not quite as large as the body; the
large ones are almost one inch in length. The kind of

 

THE BASHIKOUAY ANT, MAGNIFIED T0 TWICE ITS NATURAL SIZE.

which I have spoken is dark brown in color, but I have
found in the mountains of the interior a somewhat
larger species, almost Mack, and intensely voracious.
Besides these two there is still another species of hash-
ikouay, Which I have only met two or three times in
the mountains south of the equator. It is of a great
size, at least double the size of the one I have just
spoken to you about. The body is grayish-White in col-
or, the head of reddish-blaek; its fangs are very power-

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124 . ‘ WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

ful, and it is able to make a clean bite out of one’s legs.
It is thus a very formidable animal, but fortunately its
motions are not as quick as those of its fierce brother; for
if they were, I do not know what would become of a man
in the midst of such an army. It does not march in such
vast armies, nor does it precipitate itself upon its prey
with such an irresistible fury. In its motions it is almost
sluggish. They do not invade Villages, or climb trees in
pursuit of prey, and they are not so voracious as their
fellows before mentioned. If they were, they would
doubtless clear the country of every living. thing, for
they are much more powerful. They are, in fact, to the
other ants what whales are to fish. If as ferocious, they
would depopulate the country, and would themselves
have to starve and then disappear.

Now I have told you about the bashikouay, and feel
that I could tell you more; and you may rely implicitly
on what I have said, for what I have written is from
very close observation. I wish this record of the bash-
ikouay to stand.

Some day civilization may reach Equatorial and Gen-
tral Africa; then the forest will give place to open fields,
and the bashikouay ant will disappear, for it can not
hear an open country. Such is the order of nature which

. God has created, that when a race of men or beasts has
gone it will never come back. The mastodon, and those
gigantic animals and reptiles which once were, have
never reappeared. I

 

 

 

 

 

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CHAPTER XVI.

THE SORRO‘VS OF THE BIRDS.-—CURIOUS AFRICAN BIRDS.—
THE BARBATULA DU CHAILLUI.—THE BARBATULA FULI-
GINOSA.—THE SYCOBIUS NIGERRIMUS.

NOW I must speak to you of little birds!

I do love birds. They are Nature’s beautiful creat-
ures.

They are one of God’s loveliest creations.

They cheer us in our lonely hours, When from their
bowers their songs come upon our ears and gladden our
hearts. Their melodies have often told me how happy
they were, and how much one bird loved the other.
They are the poets of nature .

Oh, little birds, I have often wondered how many sor—
rows you have! Pain I know you have. The shrill
cries and plaintive notes I have often heard from you
have told me that your little breasts felt the pangs of an-
guish. The hurried flights Which I have often watched
have said how anxious you were.

In 0hr Northern elimes, when the leaves have Wither-
ed, When the cold winds blow, When the snow covers the
earth, I know that you suffer from hunger, and I feel
so sorry for you. “Then you come by the Window you
seem to say—“ Do feed me, for"I am so hungry and ‘so
cold I”

I have crossed the seas, and hundreds of miles away

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I 2 b' WTLJ) LIFE UNDER THE Eu UA TOR,

from land I have seen you, in your forlorn flight, look
ing in vain for the way that might lead to a land where
your poor little bodies and tired Wings and tiny little»
feet could find rest. The storm and the Winds had car-
ried you away from the land where you'were accustomed
to rejoice and sing, and taken you‘a-bove that ocean on
Which you looked With such dread, and Which is always
ready to engulf you. You were so tired that you had
not even the strength to utter your cries. How then I
pitied you, for I thought of the days and sleepless nights
you had spent over the Vast seal how weary those little
Wings of yours were! howpaipful must have been each
effort you made to support you in the air. How sad
must have been your thoughts; fer you could see nothing
to guide you to that place you longed to reach!

I have seen you When the good Ship was Close at
hand. How welcome its sight seemed to be to you, Who
had suffered so much from thirst, hunger7 and starvation,
fatigue and exhaustion! and, as I watched your coming,
I could detect joy and fear; for how strange the vessel
appeared to you, how strange its ropes, how strange its
sails.

When I have thought its masts and ropes would af-
ford you rest, and seen you ready to reach them, you have
dropped on the waves to rise no more. How you strug-
gled before you came to this! You almost touched the
water, When another effort would send you flying high
above the sea; then again your flight became weaker;
gradually you came down and made another frantic ef-
fort to escape by flight. At last you seemed not to
know any longer What you were doing, and‘despite all
your valiant struggles for life your doom ”came, and you

 

 

 

DEA TH OF THE BIRDS. I 27

dropped into the waves; and as the vessel sailed away I
left you to your sad fate. At other times you fell on
deck, for you were not strong enough to perch. Then
how your bright little eyes became dim, for the touch of
death was soon to close them, despite the care and the
little water I would give you. How sweetly you looked
as you laid still in the embrace of death! The storms
of your life were over, your sorrows were ended, and
your merry songs were to be heard no more in the
groves you used to love. I know of nothing sweeter to
look at than a dead little bird! and yet there is nothing
which more pathetically touches my heart.

When the eagle, the hawk, and the falcon soar high in
the sky, I know that they are your enemies. When the
snake glides from branch to branch in search of your
nest, to destroy your offspring, I know that'pain will
reach your heart. When you and your mate are flying
above the earth, perehanee a heartless sportsman appears,
and with his gun brings one of you down. How I have
seen you follow the unfortunate one in its downward
flight! How painful to hear were your cries; how you
tried to arrest the fall of the poor wounded one, and
how touching was the scene as you soared and soared
above the body of the little Victim who had fallen on the
ground. So plaintive were your cries that they ought
to have disarmed the ruthless hand that separated you,
so that he would say to himself——“ I will nevermore kill
a harmless little bird, for God has given them to us to
cheer, to enliven the nature that surrounds us.” When
enight comes, and yeur mate does not return, how anxious
and sad you seem to feel! Perhaps a cruel eat, or some
wild animal has destroyed his life. How often I have

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘ 12 8 l/VILD LIFE UNDEIL’ Tle 1913 UA TUE.

heard you call for the missing one, and could detect de-
spair in the tone of your voice! .

When the young fall from the nest I have watched
your anxiety, and when danger threatened them I have
seen you brace up your courage; and how angry then you
did look, with your little feathers all standing out as if you
were ready for a fight! When the storms had tumbled
down the little nest you had built with so much trouble,
how distressed you seemed to be, and how industrious
you were to build another one I So, little birdies, I found
that, like man, you have yourjoys, your cares, your troub-
les, and your sorrows. ’I‘he stormy billows of life are
also for you. I love you the more for this. I wish I
were a poet, so that my lyre could sing songs to you, and
I might tell you a softer tale than that which the night-
ingale tells to us.

Dear little birds, I thank you for all the joys you have
given me during my wanderings. Your songs and mel—
odies have often cheered me when wearied and lonely.
Your plumage I have admired, and often have I exolaim~
ed “ Little birds, how beautiful you are l” I thank you
for the many clays I have passed pleasantly while watch-
ing you; for I love Clearly to look at you, to study
your habits, to see how nice and loving you are. Many
times I have said to myself, when admiring you———“ Little
birdie, do come to me, so that I may kiss thee and feel
thy little beak upon my lips.” O God, how kind to
man thou art! for he is able to understand thy works.
The wonders of thy creation he can admire, so that he may
praise thee for thy goodness.

And now I will speak to you of some little birds of
which we knew nothing, of little birds that had no name,

 

—-—_~-—~,—~~—~_ ,¢_v~,-=m-m_r‘m-rz V ,I.

 

AfiRlUAN BIRDS. ‘ 1 2 9

and wandered unknown to civilized man, till he who has
written this book saw them and brought them here.

In a forest of Equatorial Africa, on the banks of the
Ovenga River not far from Obindji Village, there was a
plantation where birds came every day. There were
many curious kind of birds there, and many I had never
seen before. The time to see them was early in the
morning, before the sun became so hot that they had to
retire in the forest, or in the afternoon after the sun was
hidden by the hills. But the morning was the best time.
The natives had no name for many of these birds.
Among the most curious ones were the fly-catchers, the
stranger bee-eaters, the queer erimpers, and some very
strange woodpeckers; while flying over them all were
some nice little black swallows that were very pret-
ty indeed. I remember how much I loved in the morn-
ing to go over that plantation and watch them all, so that
I might learn their habits and tell you something about
them.

Among the strangest of them all there was one that
especially attracted my attention. As I approached the
plantation I could hear, just on the edge of the forest, a
noise that sounded very much as if some far-away people
were hammering at something, or I should rather say, as
if people were hammering at a tree. I carefully ap-
proached the place. I am sure you could not have heard
my steps on the ground, so carefully I approached. I
was dressed in a dark-blue suit of cotton goods, so that
the birds might not notice me. At last I recognized the
noise as coming from old friends of mine. They were
birds that were hammering at two or three dead trees in

such earnest that none of them observed me.
F 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

130 WILD LIFE UiV’IJEB TIJE EQ UATOE,

It was a very. pretty sight! The country being
nothing else than a gigantic forest, of course, wherever a
Village or plantation is made, the trees have to be cut
down, and nearly all are out from a height of ten or
fifteen feet. These in the course of time become dry, and
after being dead a sufficient time the wood softens, and
becomes the object of the attack of the beautiful little
bird I am writing about. It is really a beautiful bird,
and was unknown before I brought it here. It has been
named the Barbatula du Chaillui. The throat and breast
are of a glossy blue-blaok color; the head is scarlet; a line
of canary yellow from above the eyes surrounds the
neck, and the back, which is black, is covered with
canary yellow spots. Above the bill it has what might
be termed two little brushes.

The trunks of the trees on which they were so busily
engaged were within a few yards of the forest. These
birds were hard at work with their bills, peeking out
circular openings about two inches in diameter. It was
a tedious operation, and now and then a little bird had to
rest, or its mate would come and take its place. Their
little feet are constructed like those of the woodpeckers,
to whom they are somewhat related, but their bill is
much thicker, stronger, and shorter, hence better adapted
to make holes in the trunks of trees.

It was very interesting to see them holding to the
trees, sometimes with their heads upward and sometimes
with their heads downward. Some had just begun to
work at the aperture, others had already made a pret-
ty deep hole, and the end of their tail only could be
seen, while still others were working inside, and their
bodies could not be seen at all, though now and then

 

 

 

HO W THEY BUILD THEIR NESTS. 13 1

out.

What difficult and patient toil! The making of one
of these nests requires many days. It is no easy work
for birds 21 little bigger than a sparrow to peek out a eir-
eular opening of two inches in diameter, and more than

 

THE BARBATULA WORKING

two inches deep. This done, they dig perpendicularly
down for about four inches. The cavity thus made is
their nest. As they are small birds, it takes them a long
time to finish this piece of oarpentering—often two or
three weeks. There the female lays her eggs and hatches

 

they came forth, bringing the wood they had peckefid

 

 

 

 

 

 

132 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

them in security, no snake or Wild animal being able to
disturb them.

Not only do they use these nests While they are
hatching, but also during the rainy season. HOW cosy
they must feel in these places of refuge When a storm is
raging! N othing could be safer, or better shelter them.
from the rain. The aperture being about two inches in
thickness before you come to the perpendicular hollow,
of course the rain can not reach the inside.

I have seen trees entirely perforated by them; that is
to say, having more than a dozen of these holes in them;
and thus forming What we may call a little village of
themselves. I wonder if they had a king! These birds
are very shy, and the least noise Will frighten them.
HOW affectionate the pair seemed to be, how willing they
were to help each other in their work!

There is also another species of Barbazfula Which I
have discovered, of a gray color, called now Barbatula
fulzlqz'nosay, of the same habits, but found in greater num-
bers. I have seen colonies of them7 composed of thirty or
forty nests, on the same tree.

The picture given by the artist represents the birds
working and making their nests.

Now I must speak to you of another bird, a very curi-
ous one, the Sycobius m'gewz'mus, Which is found in almost
if not all the regions I have explored in Equatorial Af-
rica. The habits of this bird are most extraordinary.
They are extremely sociable birds; the woods or the un-
inhabited plantations haVe no charm for them ; they must
be Where people live, and hence they prefer always to live
in the neighborhood of a Village. If there are trees in the
middle of the Village they will live there, or on the trees

 

AFRICAN

HANGIC

G BIRDS’

NESTS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE 5 Y0 0131 US NIGERRIM US. 1 3 5

back of the huts, and not far from where the palm or
plantain trees abound ; but man must be in sight, for they
seem to love his society.

In some Villages they are found in immense numbers,
often there are several hundreds of nests on the same tree,
but it depends on the size of the tree. I have seen sev-
eral thousands of nests on a single tree, of Which they take
entire possession for years. The Sycobz'z' are a little lar-
ger than sparrows, and the habits of these little twitter-
ers are so remarkable that I never wearied of watching
their curious ways, and very skillful and intelligent ma-
noeuvres in nest—building or in gathering food. A native
village would lose a. great charm Without them. In man y
villages of the interior, Where people do not move about,
trees are planted specially for them, and it is considered
an ill omen if they do not come. They make such a noise
from morning till night that sometimes it is almost im-
possible to hear When close to them; the harder at work
they are the more noise they make.

There are two species, but both live in the same trees
and associate indiscriminately With each other, though
not, of course, in the same nests. The male of one species
is entirely black, and’the female a dark gray, While in the
other the male is yellow, with black and yellow throat.
The eggs of the first mentioned are bluish, with black
spots, While those of the other species are light pink, With
dark spots. Both kinds of eggs are very beautiful.

They are singularly industrious birds: they seem Inever _
to weary of work. When they have settled upon a tree
on which to plant a colony, they labor from daylight till
dark, day after day, With‘ seemingly the utmost joy, fun,
and perseverance at their very singular pendent nests.

.
~i:
{f
{E
:E
if ;
Ci?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

136 WILD LIFE UNDER TIIE EQ UATOR.

, The nest is round in shape, or nearly so, With a narrow
passage for entrance and exit leading down one side and
opening beneath. It is securely fastened to an outstretched
twig, and I have sometimes counted in one tree more than
two thousand of such pendent little balls, each inhabited
by a family, male and female, of these birds; and once I
am sure I saw four or five thousand of these nests. This
I saw in the Ishogo country, of Which I may speak to you
one of these days. The birds when building strip the
leaf off the palm, or plantain, 0r banana tree. They split
the leaf into very narrow strips, not more than two or
three lines Wide, but through the Whole length of the leaf
in the palm, and the whole breadth of the leaf in the
plantain, beginning from the rib.

Male and female both work at gathering this material,
and every piece is brought up to the tree. How strange-
ly they look as they fly With them from the place Where
they took them to that Where their colony is situated I It
seems as if they were carrying away a long, narrow rib-
bon. The pendent twig having been chosen, the birds
begin to turn their lea'F-strips over the twig, and to inter-
lace them below in such a way as to enable the finished
nest to shed rain. The birds work With the greatest as-
sidnity with both beak and feet, sometimes with the head
up, sometimes With the head down. Often I would see one
little fellow one minute holding by his feet and working the
strips in With his bill, the next suspended by his bill and
pushing all together with his feet, then adroitly slip~
ping inside, and by pushing and working With his body
giving the nest a round shape. The entrance is the last
made, and they are knowing enough to build its mouth
down, so that the inside may be sheltered from the rains,

 

TIME 01*Y NES’ ’ BUILDING. I3 7

which Ican assure you pour down in good earnest in these
equatorial regions. A few leaves are put inside where the
eggs are to be laid.

Sometimes trees on which these industriohs little fel-
lows build are quite killed by the weight of so many
nests, and by the space they occupy preventing the reg-
ular growth of the branches. The nests are not only used
to breed in, but also to live in, and each pair breeds sev-
eral times a year, raising two young ones in a brood. Of
course, with such a rapid increase, they are always need-
ing new nests, so that the building process is going on
almost all the time.

The nests looked all alike to my eyes, yet each bird
was always able to find its own. But sometimes I
noticed a strong fellow trying With might and main to
oust one of his weaker brethren from. his home, or to
drive him from the work he had begun; then there was
a downright fight for possession.

They have a foreknowledge of the rainy season eVi-
dently7 for just before this sets in they are particularly
active in building and repairing, and at such a time the
Village where they have settled is alive with their merry
twittering and active bustle.

Of course, during the dry or cold season very little
building is going on.

I shall always have a pleasant recollection of these
Sycobz'z', and no one was ever allowed to disturb them
at “Washington, where I had three or four little trees
full of their nests. The natives like to see them round
them, and n0 village is thought to be perfect without
them.

 

 

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13

«wmzsm—M 4.4,agtmwff1M

 

 

CHAPTER XVII.

ON THE OFOUBOU RIVER.—-ELEPHANTS BATHING.¥PURSUIT
THROUGH THE SVVAMP.—ESCAPE OF THE ELEPHANTS.

IF you could have Visited me, you would have found
me on the banks of the Ovenga River, at the Village of
my Bakalai friend Obindjii.

Numbers of canoes, made each from the trunk of a
single tree, are on the river-bzmk. My friend Quengueza
is giving his orders for the comfort of Ntangani: “his
friend Paul ’7 is going away With him.

We are going to leave, for there is nothing more to
eat at friend Obindji’s. Game has become scarce, ele-
phants and gorillas have destroyed their plantations, and
disappeared. We are too kind-hearted, however, to tell
good Obindji that we are obliged to leave his Village be-
cause we are hungry every day. i

We are going to ascend the Ofouhou River, Which is
one of the effluents of the Ovenga, and are bound for
the Village of Njali-Coudié. This is a strange name to
give to a town, but there are many strange names in this
country. I hope you Will be able to pronounce them
according to the African standard, and that you will
remember them. '

Obindji is on the beach, beating his kendo (the royal
sceptre) and invoking the spirits of his ancestors to pro-

 

 

 

 

THE DEPAR T URE. 1 3 9

test his friend Quengueza, and his Ntanga (white man).
He is covered with fetiches, and has rubbed his body
with the chalk of the Alumbi.

The kendo is the badge of royalty in some of these
tribes of Africa. I will give you a description of the
kendo. It is a rude ball of iron, fashioned with a long
handle, also of iron, and of the same piece. The sound
which with us announces the Vicinity of a herd of cows
or sheep, in Africa precedes the advent of the sovereign,
who uses the Icendo only when on Visits of state or on
business of importance.

When they wear the kendo it is on the shoulder, and
there is put over it the skin of a genetta, in which some
of the Alumbi powder is kept. ‘

In this case friend Obindji thought it was very im-
portant that the spirits of his ancestors should follow us;
He wanted good wishes to precede us. Hence he said,
he hoped we would have plenty to eat, and that I would
kill all the game I wanted.

Obindji was really in earnest, and jabbered away in a
manner and with an eagerness that was laughable; he
had certainly plenty of faith in the powers he was in-
voking.

The canoes were ready, and soon friend King Quen-
gueza gave the order for our departure. His Majesty
was in his royal travelling costume. He had on a coat
which I had given him, but no shirt; he had a cravat
round his neck, and instead of pantaloons, which, by the
way, I had never been able to make him wear, he had
a cloth round his waist. His bag hung over his shoul~
der, and in this was his ogcma (idol); there also he had
a good supply of tobacco, his pipes, and several other

 

 

 

 

140 'WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

things, among which were articles for the toilet of his
Majesty, such as a little calabash of palm-oil to rub on
his skin to soften it, and to give to some of his wives
when he wished to be particularly amiable.

In this journey his Majesty thought he would have
ten wives to accompany him, and to provide for his
comfort; and though King Quengueza was7 I should
judge, at least seventy-five, the oldest among these ten
wives could not have been more than fourteen years of
age, and he had left a few behind still younger than
these. '

Quengueza and I, with two of the favorite wives, in-
cluding a Bakalai one, were in the royal canoe, at the
head of which was a drummer. I fired a salute, and
soon a bend of the river hid us from Obindji’s View.
The drums were beating7 and all the men were singing.
All the other canoes paddled in front of us except one,
Which kept in the rear.

The starry flag floated gracefully in the royal canoe.
Quengueza was wonderfully pleased with the flag. We
entered the Ofoubou River and fired another gun, the
echo of which resounded from hill to bill, and started
the roar of a gorilla, which could not have been half a
mile distant from where we were. That fellow was cer-
tainly a large male gorilla.

’I‘he Ofoubou was a narrow river, but deep at that time
of the year: trees and palm lined its banks, which it had
overflowed7 spreading its waters over the strip of lowlands
which bounded it, and which separated it from the hills.

Njali-Coudie’ was situated about ten miles distant from
the banks of the OFoubou. By-and-by the singing ceased,
and we paddled silently along, when suddenly one of the

 

 

 

 

A HERD 0F ELEPHANTS BA THING. I 4 1

canoes ahead made us a sign to be very quiet. “What
is going on ‘3” I whispered to Quengueza. Quengueza in
a low voice replied, “I know not.’7 Every man looked,
carefully at his gun. The canoe ahead had stopped,
neither retreating or advancing. What could it be? We
pulled with the utmost care; our paddles, as they dipped
into the water, made no noise at all, and at last we all met.

Then Adouma, the king’s nephew, came and whisper-
ed low—“ Elephants are here, they are bathing in the riv-
er. I have heard them.’7

“ Are you sure they are elephants ?”

“ Are they not hippopotami ?” I asked.

“ No,” he repliedl, “ they are elephants.”

The countenanees of all the fellows brightened up;
the ivory tusks of the noble beast were7 they thought, ali
ready in their possession—they were selling the skin of
_ the fox before having killed the animal.

We let all our canoes pass down the stream a little
way, in order that we might hold a grand palaver.
Adouma, Quahi, Rapero, all Quengueza’s nephews, were
present. Querlaouen and Malaouen, the two most redoubt-
able warriors of the Balzalai 0f the Ovenga, were also
there; these five, with Quengueza and myself, formed the
Grand Council.

Quengueza, being an old man, was to remain where he
was with all the party, while myself and the five others
were to move in a canoe and make land near where the
elephants were.

Immediately the fellows covered themselves with their
fetiches; Querlaouen and Malaouen bled their hands, and
then we looked carefully at our guns. Though we were
more than one hundred men altogether, the falling of a

 

 

142 W'ILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

l
!.

leaf could have been heard by any one of us, the silence
was so profound. '
The canoe that was to take us came. Adouma and
Quabi paddled, and onward we went until we reached a
bend of the river, and I could distinctly hear the ele-
phants. So we thought best to land inside of the bend,
which we did without uttering a whisper for fear of alarm-
ing the elephants. After landing the great difficulty was
how to gain the other side. The country was overflowed,
it was all bog-land, yet to the elephants we must go. We
could not possibly follow the edges of the forest that
bordered the Ofoubou, for we should have soon found
ourselves in twenty feet of water, and in the middle of a
strong current. ' These bog-lands are always dangerous
things on the banks of the overflowed African rivers.
I hung my powder-flask close to my neck, and also
my watch, in case the water should be deep, for I am not
. tall. My men took the same precaution with their bags,
and then Malaouen took the lead. Where we landed there
was no dry spot, and as we advanced through the woods
we immediately found ourselves entangled in the midst
of the roots of the trees7 with the water above our waists,
sinking knee deep into the mud, ignorant at every step
whether the next might bring us into water up to our necks
or above our heads. That was about as difficult a tramp
as I ever had had in all my travels. Suddenly Quer-
laouen’s foot caught under some roots, and down-he went
into the water, gun and all. He immediately stre in
Bakalai that somebody had bewitohed him, and did not
want him to kill an elephant. Finally we came to a place
where the water reached my neck, I being the shortest
of all ; so I took my watch and powder in one hand and

 

WE ARE TOO LATE. 143

my gun in the other, raising both arms as high as I could,
and at every moment Ifully expected to go down. One
step more and the water just reached my mouth, but hap-
pily the next step took me on higher ground.

At last we succeeded in crossing the bend, and came
in sight of the elephants, who did not observe our ap-
proach.

They were seven altogether. What a huge beast
the male was! The other six were all females, so said
Malaouen. - They were perfectly unconscious of our

 

HUN TING E LEPHANTS.

presence, and swam to and fro in the narrow river. Un-
fortunately they were very far from us, being very nearly
half a mile off, and to come to a good shooting distance
in this awful swamp would take some time.

Their large ears contrasted singularly with the small
ears of their Asiatic brethren; they were also somewhat
smaller. Several of them had huge tusks of ivory;

 

 

144 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

those of the bull were gigantic. They were bathing, and
evidently enjoying themselves.

We now followed with great care the banks of the
river about ten or fifteen yards inside of them, until at
last the water became so deep that we came to a halt.
How sorry we felt! I would have given much ifI could
have come near the elephants; but as we approached
the banks we saw the elephants leaving the river.
What monsters they seemed! I shouldered my long;
range rifle, aimed at the big male, with but little hope of
killing it, as I must have been several hundred yards off.
I fired, heard the bullet strike one of the tusks, when the
animals plunged into the forest, breaking down every
thing before them.

 

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

NJALI-COUDIfi.—AN AFRICAN TOW'Nr—THE CHIEF.—COURT- ,
SHIP AND MARRIAGE IN AFRICA. —-BUYING A WIFE. —
QUARREL OVER THE SPOILS.

NOW, after many wanderings, I find myself in the very
large. Village of Balmlai called NjaIi-Coudié. Often I
wonder that I have not been murdered by these Bake—
]ai, for they are very treacherous, and life seems to them
to be of no value.

The village of Njali-Ooudié is situated in the very
hilly country between the Ofoubou and Ovenga Rivers.
It was one of the largest Bakalai Villages I had ever
seen. The people were wild; their houses were small,
very small indeed, and built with the bark of trees. It
was surrounded by large plantain groves and clusters
of sugar-eane.

The name of the chief of that strange Village was
Mbango, and a fine savage he was. His hair and his
beard were white. Round his waist was a piece of grass-
eloth; by his side hung a tremendous war—knife; and
on each of his ankles he wore two tremendous iron
rings. Round his neck he were some monda fetieh,
which he thought could protect him from evil spirits and
from being bewitehed. Round him hung some charmed
powder, preserved in the skin of a wild animal. Around
his chest he wore a strip offileopard’s skin, which his peo-

« T

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146 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

pie believed could never be pierced by spears or arrows.
So we might say that King Mbango thought himself in-
vulnerable.

The people of the Village were- a hard set of quar-
relsome-Iooking fellows. The women were not beautiful,
indeed they were very ugly; and even King Mbango’s
head-wife was far from being a belle. She was a tall
woman; her teeth were filed to a point; her hair was
anointed profusely with paIm-Oil; her face was all tat-
tooed; and on each side of her cheek, a little below the
eye, there were two round spots of flesh of the size of a
quarter of a dollar. They had succeeded in raising the
flesh, and it must have required a good deal of skill. On
her chest any amount of fantastical tattooing could be
seen; even her back was not free from this ornamenta-
tion. Such is the faithful picture of Mbango’s head-
wife, whose name I have forgotten. She wore several
brass anklets, and also several bracelets. King Mbango
had a score of wives besides her, but she was the first
woman he had married; hence she was the Queen—the
foremost of them all. When Mbango married a new
wife, she gave her advice and told her how she must love
Mbango, how she must obey him, how laboriously she
must cultivate the soil in order to bring food to her
husband, and how she must often fish in order to feed
her 10rd well. If she does all this, the king will say, “ This
wife really loves me.” But if she does not, beware!
If she is lazy, the lash of whips made from the hide 0f
the hippopotamus, or of the manatee,wi11remind her
of her duties, and 0f the love she owes to her husband.

Do not think for a moment that women in that far-ofi'
country of which I speak to you choose their husbands.

 

AN AFRICAN BETROTHAL. 1 47

Nothing of the sort! When a girl is born among
the Bakalai, while she is still a child she is often betroth-
ed, and now and then she goes to the Village Where her
future husband lives. Her mother or her father Will
take her there7 and after a While she comes back to her
home, and this continues until she is finally given away.
As she grows older she Visits her intended husband less
frequently, while he7 on the other hand, comes oftener to
the Village of her parents. '

You Will ask me how they get betrothed or engaged.
No ring is given. The man who comes to ask the girl
comes first to talk the matter over. He brings a few
presents, say a goat or a few fowis, and a few jars of
palm Wine7 and places them at the feet of the girl’s father.
Then he begins a long rigmarole, and if he could he
would go as far back as Adam. At first he speaks at
random, talking to somebody else all the time, for they
never speak directly to the person they address. Thus
he goes on for a couple of hours before he comes to the
point. In the mean time the presents are still lying be-
fore the father. The Whole people of the Village are
there listening, and approving or disapproving by grunts.
The man gets tremendously excited, and begins to hal-
100 until he is covered With perspiration. After he
has finished there is a pause. Somebody else gets up,
and pleads sometimes for the suitor, and sometimes in
behalf of the villagers or relatives to Whom the girl be-
longs.

At last the father gets up,and he tries to play a
shrewd game. He never means What he says; he talks
not to the suitor but to one that has come With him, for it
is the fashion here, as I have said, never to speak directly

E
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3 E
2;

 

 

 

, t-tth-Ick: v . :r‘

 

148 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

to the person whom you wish to address. He seems as-
tonished that a man is bold enough to ask his beautiful
daughter'in marriage. He sings her praises, generally
pockets the presents, and says he will think about it. V

After this palaver the relations on the mother’s and
the father’s side are presented with the amount for which '
the girl is sold ; and when the final agreement has been
made, the spoils are divided among the two families.

This is the way girls are given in marriage in this part
of the world.

Mbango had abeautiful girl, whom he seemed to love
dearly, and she was not betrothed. One day a fellow
came from a neighboring village. He had with him a
slave to give to Mbango, several jars of palm wine, a goat,
some native tobacco coming from a country of the interior,
called Ashira, and he put all these things at the feet of
Mbango, who was seated on a stool and ready to hear him.
After having talked a long time, he presented his slave,
his goat, and all the presents he had brought with him to
the King, and asked his daughter in marriage.

Old'Mbango got up and pretended to be in a furious
rage, but it was all sham; he kicked and broke the jars of
palm wine. How could a man come and presume to offer
.him only one slave for his daughter, she who was sought
after by so many suitors? He could not believe his ears;
and Mbango went roaming about, brandishing his cane. ‘
In the mean time the poor fellow had fled in dismay,
leaving his slave, his goat, and all his presents behind.

Mbango’s pretended anger was a humbug. He want-
ed more presents, and appeared highly indignant. So the
next day the suitor came back, and brought with him an-
other slave he had kept in reserve, guessing that King

 

MBAIV’G O (521 Vflb 1115 DA UGHTER 1N MAJtIt’JA GE. 1 4 9

Mbango would not be satisfied with one. He knew well
that it required more than one in order to marry the
daughter of a chief7 and he wanted to get his bride as
cheap as he could. Mbango looked very stern. How
had he dared to come with one slave only? Did he
think his daughter was good for nothing?

Mbango was far more gentle. He took the other slave,
and then said that one more would settle the bargain“
then he could take his bridewith him.

The next day another slave came; the man swore that
his uncle gave the man to him, though I learned after-
ward that he had that third slave ready, but that he
thought that two slaves would do. The share of Mbango
for his daughter was two slaves, and that of the relatives
of the mother of the girl was one slave; and Mbango,
wishing to appear generous, gave them the goat. The
relatives on the mother’s side of the girl tried to get two

slaves out of the three; it was a hard palaver, and lasted

several days, but Mbango was inexorabIe—he must have
two slaves for his share. ‘

There was no ceremony. The man took his bride with
him, and after a few days she was to return to her father.

 

. . n,_,_n.—_..;, __ -....,v—_n..¢W‘ ~ ' ,

 

 

 

   
   
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
 
   

CHAPTER XIX.

THE FEAST OF NJAMBAI.—THE TALKING IDOL.-—SECRET
PROCEEDINGS.—THE WOMEN AND THEIR MYSTERIES.

THE Village of Njah-Coudié became full of strangers,
so full indeed that many could not find shelter there, hence
little olakos were surrounding the Village everywhere.

When I inquired the cause why so many strangers
were in the Village, I was told that the Njambai feast was
coming.

The first night I could not sleep, as no African feast is
complete without shouting, drumming, singing, dancing,
and a good deal of drinking, when the latter can be got.
The noise was terrific; more than one hundred tam-tams
must have been beating.

At last I got up and went into the street. It was
crowded with men, women, and children. Fires and torch~
es lighted it up, and gave a strange appearance to the sav-
ages, who were painted in different colors.

Seeing a great crowd, I went there, and I saw in the
middle of the street a large wooden idol. It was a female
figure, nearly of life size, and with cloven feet like those
of a stag. Her eyes were of copper; one cheek was paint-
ed red, and the other yellow. About her neck hung a
necklace of leopard’s teeth. This idol is said to have
great power, and the people believe that on certain occa-

 

 

TIIE NJAflIBAI EEAST. 1 5 1

sions she nods her head. She is said to talk quite fre-
quently——as might, indeed, be expected. She is very
highly venerated by the ioeople. Before her stood plan-
tains, sugarcane, and a piece of antelope. The people
were dancing around her, singing most furiously and
drumming with tremendousforee. They were so much
excited and so much in‘earnest that their bodies were
bright and shiny; for the oil their skin naturally pos-
sesses comes out so abundantly that one might have
thought they had dipped themselves in it. The perfume
was not particularly pleasant, but I had become accus=
tomed to it.

How wild the scene, how wild the men as they danced
round! They looked almost like demons. Sometimes a
single man would come forth and dance before the idol,
making the most horrid contortions possible, and, speak-
ing to her7 would vanish again. This idol belonged to
the clan of which Mbango was the Chief, and had been in
their possession as far back as they had any remembrance.
The clan of Mbango includes half a dozen large Villages
within a circuit of thirty miles; hence the idol of the clan
remains with him. But that night there was no nodding
and no talking of the idol. The people began to be
> frightened, and their ignorant doctors were at their wits’
end, and did not know what to do.

On the night of the two following days there was a
dead silence and a great darkness: no fire was allowed
in the Village, no torch could be lighted. The only
. light was mine, and that was closely shut up in my hut.

What a strange scene. 1 Not a voice could be heard;
for he who should have dared to talk would have proba-
bly paid with his life f01 his rashness.

 

 

152 IVILJ) LIII’IL’ UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

Two or three times a strange feeling of awe took hold
of me, for I stood alone in the midst of this wild peo-
ple, and what could be wilder than these superstitious
scenes? It is not wonderful that these poor weak creat-
ures, in sight of such idols as they have, are frightened
even at themselves.

The Mbuiti was set out in the middle of the street,
and the people stood round her in the pitehy darkness.
She is said to have bowed, walked about, and spoken to
some one, expressing her pleasure at two gazelles that had
been offered to her. She ate some of the meat—so I
was assured~and left the rest for the people.

Yes! they all believed the reports which I havejust
related to you. I felt very sorry that, the mind of man
could be so debased. What they asked of the idol I
have never been able to find out; they were unwilling
to tell me. At any rate, they were pleased, for they ‘
thought the idol had spoken, had nodded, and had eaten.

Now let us come to Njambai. Njamhai is a spirit,
a very good spirit, who protects the women. All the
tribes I have visited believe in him or her, though with
all the name is not the same. All the women venerate
Njamhai. This worship of the women is a kind of
mystery, no men being admitted to the ceremonies, which
are carried on in a house very carefully closed. This
house was covered with dry palm and banana leaves,
and had not even a door open to the street. To
make all close, so as to prevent the eyes of man from
penetrating into it, it was set against two other houses,
and the entrance was through one of these, so that com-
plete darkness reigned in the house of Njamhai. Mbanu
go and friend Quengueza warned me not to go to the

 

 

 

 

 

JVIYSTERIO US WORSJYDJ OF THE WOMEN. 1 5 3

place, for the King said—“ N tanga, I myself can not go
and have a look.” i

The feast of Njamhai takes place once a year.

The women had come from all the villages round;
they had come for the Njambai feast. They had all
painted their faces and bodies, were beating drums, and
marching about the town. Now and then they would
all go into the forest, whence I could hear their wild
songs. From time to time they entered the Njambai-
house, where they danced inside and outside; and one
night they made a most outrageous noise, far greater
than even the men had made when I came to the
Village.

I thought it pretty hard not to be able to sleep. Aft-
er a few days I began to feel the need of it, but I did
not wish to go and make my camp in the woods, for I
wanted to see the feast of Njambai. The men were
hunting all the time, and all the game they killed or
caught they brought to the women, who offeredthem all
to Njambai.

On the second day they nearly all went off into the
woods, and their songs were something wonderful.
Now and then I could hear the name of Njambai. I
noticed that in the morning a few had entered the
Njambai-house, where they remained, keeping a myste-
rious silence. Now my curiosity, which had been great-
ly excited to know what took place in that secret wor-
ship, finally overcame me. I resolved to see the inside
of this house if I could. I fancy many of you would
have done the same.

I walked several times up and down the street to

avoid suspicion. Looking round and seeing nobody, I
G 2

 

 

 

 

_ i‘x
f-‘xm ,.

134 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UA TOR.

went quietly by the house7 and at last suddenly pushed
aside some of the leaves that formed the walls and stuck
my head through it. For a. moment I could distinguish
nothing in the darkness. Then I beheld three perfect-
ly naked 01d bags sitting on the Clay floor, with an im-
mense bundle Of greegrees or fetiehes before them, Which
they seemed to be contemplating in silent adoration.

 

INTERIOR OF THE NJAMBAI‘HOUSE.

I was put aback, for I expected to see no one. As
soon as their fear and wonder had somewhat subsided,
they set up a hideous howl of rage, and rushed out to
call their companions in the bush. In a few minutes
these came rushing toward me With gesture of anger,
and threatening me for my offense. I quickly reached

 

 

ARI BESIEGED BY THE WOMEN. 155

my house, and, seizing my gun in one hand and my re-
volver in the other, told them I would shoot the first
one that came inside my door. I never saw such an in~
furiated set. My house was surrounded by above three
hunched angry women, every one shouting out curses at
me; and still they kept coming in, their number every
moment growing greater and greater.

King Mbango came to the rescue. I was glad of it,
for I had never been in such a predicament before. I
had never faced in my life an angry mob of women be-
fore; and here there were hundreds of them before me,
who seemed ready to tear my eyes out of my head, or
commit such other gentle little deeds as I certainly
thought no female could attempt.

Presently they went back to the Njambai-house, and
I felt quite relieved. I had become almost deaf, and
had wondered how I should get out of the scrape.

At last a deputation of the women came to King
Mbango and to Quengueza, who told the women I was
their guest. The women did not wish to yield, but at
last King Mbango and his male subjects came one by
one and put their offerings before .the women. These
consisted of grass—eloth, knives, plates, bracelets, anklets7
etc., etc. With these the angry women were appeased,
and there the quarrel ended. Of course I could not
make any further investigations into their mysteries. II
was watched very closely, and Mbango came and im-
plored me not to go again, saying—“ The wrath of N jam-
bai may come upon us 1”

The Njambai feast lasted about two weeks. I could
learn very little about the spirit which they call by this
name. It protects the women against their male ene-

 

, . wn161w<wxrmnim~nr r...

 

 

156 . W 1L1) LIFE “’NDER THE Ec’g UATUR.

mies, avenges their wrongs, and serves them in various
ways.

What I have told you is all I know about it, but I
thought it might interest you as it did me. I only hope
that, Whenever you travel, it will never happen to you
vto have several hundreds of infuriated women after you,
for I can assure you that I would have rather encounter=
ed a gorilla of the worst kind than to face them.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XX.

SICK IN A STRANGE LAND.—ADVENTURE WITH A SNAKE.—
HOW A SQUIRREL WAS ‘CHARMED.

I WAS in the forest, under a large tree, very ill. I had
been sick with a fever for some weeks, and all the medi‘
cine I had taken seemed to do me no good. Little by
’ little my strength gave way. The days and the nights
seemed so long! I am sure that if you had seen me
you would have pitied me. There I was in that great for-
est, which was full of wild men and still wilder beasts.
How helpless, how sad, how lonely I felt!

The hand of death was close upon me. Looking at my-
self in the looking-glass, the sunken and pallid cheeks
told how much I had suffered. My eyes grew dim, and'
I began to realize that soon my days were to be ended,
and that I was to die in that desert place, far away from
home and friends, and that the wild beasts of the woods I
would come and devour me. .

My bed was made of leaves, my pillow was the branch
of a tree. Instead of blankets I had two fires, but I was
so burning hot the greater part of the time with fever
that I cared not for these. Close to me lay my little
Bible, on my small and now almost empty medicine chest,
but I could only look at it, for I could not read any more;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/

158 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

there were a few books also, and a few old newspapers
from New York.

Over my bed was a covering of leaves to protect me
from the rains.

At last I was too feeble to rise and quench my thirst
in the little stream near where my camp was made, or to
go there and bathe my burning head. So the kind wom-
en got water and bathed my head. I could not eat, for I
had nothing. At times I thought that ifI could only have
a little piece of dry bread, how much I should relish it! I‘ L
could bear the plantains and the wild berries and fruits
no longer. There were days when I felt so lonely, so
wretched, so poor, so helpless, that the tears rolled down,
my cheeks. The days of my boyhood came back before
me, for they had been happy days. Then, instead of a
piece of wood, I had a soft pillow to lay my head upon;
then there were gentle hands that caressed me when I
was sick. Where was that cosy little bed now? What a
contrast! I thought of the friends of my youth—of little
Lucy, of Julia, and Laura, and Jessie. What had become
of beautiful little Lottie, with her fair hair, and of charm-
ing little Maggie, with her dark hair? What friends we
had once been! Lottie had been like a sister to me. I
wondered if they thought sometimes of me, or if some of
them might have gone to heaven. What had become of
them? I knew that, if they were by, they would take
care of “ little Paul,” as they used to call me.

I remembered the ladies that were so kind to me when
I had no mother to care for me; I knew that if I had
any thing good and amiable in my nature they had
taught it to me.

Where were all my playmates? How we would have

 

 

 

 

 

REfl/[EMBRANUES 1 5 9

laughed if any one had said that little Du Chaillu would
one day go into unknown countries, where no white man
had been before, and there spend the best days of his life,
and be, as his fathers of old were, a Chevalier errant.

I remembered my two tiny little black ponies which
my father had given me, and how kind he had been to
me, and I also remembered my good nurse Rosee. My
heart was sore and heavy, and I could not help thinking
of the happy days gone by; for I was but three-and-
twenty, with the world still bright before me, when I was
thus sick and lonely.

The stars peered through the dark foliage of the
forest trees. How beautiful and bright they looked,
reminding me of the heavens whither our spirits go! I
thought of my mother7 and where she might be, and
wondered if she could see me as I lay alone in that dark
forest under the big tree. I remember how I said, Oh,
my mother, my heart is sore and weary, I want to come
to thee !

Such were often my thoughts when lying so ill under
the big tree. I knew not if I shquld see the morrow.
So I prayed God to care for me. _

One day, after feeling so sad, I went to sleep; when I
awoke my Bakalai men had returned from the hunt and
were watching over me, and I felt relieved. God had
taken care of me. Days went by, and I regained slowly
my strength ; my men went out hunting and brought me
game, the women of the country went out fishing and
brought me fish, the people brought me food. None of
them wanted their Ntangani to die. They were all kind
to me in that far country where they might have killed
and plundered me.

 

 

 

 

160 ‘ WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR

I shall always remember Quengueza. I do love old
Quengueza; nor shall I ever forget old Anguilai, the
Bakalai chief who, when I was so ill, gave the only goat
he had for me to eat, to make me strong, he said. It was
the goat that he had laid by for a wife.

Good Obindji was not behindhand in kindness, and I
shall never forget friends Querlaouen and Malaouen, and
I often hope that we may meet again. I wish they
could know that I often think of them, and that I have
a heart full of gratitude for all their kindness to me.

I began now to get stronger and stronger, and was
soon able to go about with my gun. How glad I was to
be again able to shoot gorillas, and make collections of
curious animals and birds to bring with me to New York
and show them to my friends and tell them how hard I
had worked to collect them!

I shall never forget that, one day as I lay ill under
that big tree, I spied an enormous snake folded among
the branches of another tree not far off from me. My
attention had been drawn to that tree by the cries of a
squirrel. I wished some of my men had been with me
to kill it, so that I might have something nice to eat,
though I was not very hungry; but there was no man
with me, only three women who were taking care of me.
I was not strong enough to take my gun. I was so weak
that I did not mind having the snake so close to me.

I will tell you what that squirrel and that snake were
doing. '

The snake was charming the poor little squirrel. How
nice the squirrel was! how beautiful his little tail! how
black and bright seemed his little eyes! His little feet
were moving onward toward the snake ; his little tail was

 

 

 

 

THE SNAKE AND THE SQ UIIflt‘EL. 1 6 1

up, and he ehippered as he advanced toward certain
death.

The snake was still as death, not qne of his folds could
have been seen mm mg. HOW black and shiny the ugly
creature was, and vaat a contrast With the green leaves
of the trees! Part of his body was coiled on a limb of

 

CHARMING THE SQUIRREL.

.

the tree. HOW fixedly he looked at the squirrel! His
head was triangular, and he belonged to that family of
snakes that spend the greatest portion of their time on
trees“ This was of a very venomous kind. I Wished I
had been strong enough to take my gun and kill the ser-
pent, and so save the life of the little squirrel.

 

 

162 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

/

Nearer and nearer the squirrel came ; louder and loud-
er were his ehipperings; he tried to run away, but could
not. At last he came Within a foot of the snake. There
was a pause; then suddenly, like a flash of light11ing,the'
snake sprung : the poor little squirrel was in the folds of
the ugly reptile, and soon I saw his body gradually disap-
pearing into its inflated mouth, and the broken silence, of
the forest resumed its sway.

   

 

 

CHAPTER XXI.

WITCHCRAFT. —ACCUSATION OF PENDE. —RESULT OF HIS
TRIAL.

WAR is looming 0n the banks of the Ovenga. Witch-
craft is at the bottom of the trouble. The Bakalais have
met from every vale and from every hill, and chiefs and
elders and warriors have come to ask for the head of Pen-
dé. I am alone of all my race in this turmoil.

“Pendé was a younger brother ofKing Obindji, and was
himself the chief 9f a Village. Pende’ was disliked by
every body. The fearful accusation which the Bakalais
brought against him was this. Pendé was said to have '
stolen the bones of dead persons in the forest and to have
made a fetich with them, which fetich was to keep trade
away from a particular Village. Pendé was an am’emba
(a wizard) ; for who ever heard of men who wengand stole
human bones and kept them, that were not sorcerers?
Pendé’s ways were strange and mysterious. People could
not understand them, and he must be killed. Obindji
being the eldest brother, they called on him to issue an
order for the killing of Pendé.

Obindji must give up his brother. Quengueza be-
ing in the country, the discussion took place before him.
I and Quengueza stood on two stools in the midst of the
two opposite camps. One camp demanded Pendé’s life,

 

 

 

 

164 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

while the people of the other said Pendé was not guilty
oflwhat he had been accused. Hence these latter were
unwilling to deliver him to be killed.

With the exception of Quengueza, every man there
was armed to the teeth. They were all covered with
fetiehes and war-eharms; they were painted in all sorts
of fantastic colors. How ugly many of them looked!
' how devilish, how blood-thirsty many of them seemed to
be ! O God, how kind thou art! Thou makest the rain
fall on the evil, and on the good; thou makest the dew
of heaven fall on the poisonous plant, and on the plant
that feedeth man. Still, in despite of the bloOd-thirsti-
ness of these people; in despite of their superstitions and
horrid customs, now and then the better nature of man
would get possession of them, and their hearts were sus-
ceptible of better feelings.

So a man of the name of Mashamamai came forward;
he was thin and wiry7 tall and slender; his features were
sharp, his eyes sunken, his cheeks somewhat prominent,
and his filed teeth showed themselves every time he open-
ed his mouth to speak. His body was tattooed all over;
he wore round the waist a leopard’s belt, which he himself
had entrapped and killed, a necklace of leopard’s and go-
rilla’s teeth; on his side hung a huge war-knife. His
eyebrows were painted yellow; on his forehead there
was a broad white mark, while one of his cheeks was '
painted red, and the other yellow. He certainly had suc-
ceeded in his attempt to look horrid.

He began in a hollow, sonorous voice, and said—

“ Bakali, people among us have been dying. Where
is Aqualai? heis gone. Where is Anguilai ? he is gone.
Where are Djali and Ratenou, our great hunters? they

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A OOUSA TION 0F PENDE. . 167

are gone. Where is Olenda? Where are the people of
our once large clan? They have all gone, to come no
more to us. How is this? For they were well before
death got hold of them, and they could not have died un-
less people had bewitehed them. Where are our wom-
en who once danced and sang for us, who went on our
plantations, who gave us food, who went fishing and gave
us fish, and who bore children to us? They, too, have
gone. The forest is full of dead men’s bones. How
could this be, unless we have soreerers among us?”

The whole crowd of the two camps shouted with one ao-
cord, “ How could men die unless they are bewitched ?”
The dread of death was on the face of all ; their eyes be-
came wild, and they sought revenge, for none of them
wanted to die. “ There would be no death without am'em-
Zia,” they all shouted; “without am'emba there would be
no sickness.” A little more, and the frenzied crowd’ of
the two camps would have rushed forward and cut poor
Pendé to pieces. The speaker who was speaking was
considered one of their most powerful orators. He went
on to say that he had had a dream—-many others had the
same dream~it was that Pendé had gone into the woods
and stolen men’s bones. Yes, he was sure of it, for his
dreams could not lie. They all shouted on the accuser’s
side, “ Our dreams can not lie! They must be true. It
must be so. Pendé has gone into the forest, and stolen
men’s bones to make a monda. fetich to kill us, and to
prevent trade from coming to us.” Then a dead silence
followed. Peridé came forward, and in a loud voice said,
“ No, Ihave never done such a thing—I am not a wizard.
I will drink the mboundou if I am accused of being one.”
He was sure he was not one—he would not die, and he

 

 

 

 

 

 

168 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UATOR.

would make them give him plenty of slaves for having
insulted him. He had never taken in his hands any hu-
man bones. There were wizards, but he was not one of
them. He wanted them to live long—he wanted them
to kill plenty of elephants, to marry plenty of wives, to
have plenty of children, and a great number of slaves;
he was not jealous of them. Their dreams were false.
He could never wish such evil things upon them. On
the contrary, somebody was jealous of him, and wanted
the people to kill him, so that they might divide his wives
and slaves, and take his spear and his gun.

Pendé’s speech produced a good effect, especially as
he was backed by a strong force. All the time he ad-
dressed himself to King Quengueza, who was seated, se-
date and stately, and at whose side stood his (organa) idolt
I was listening in wonder, astonished at this strange spee-
tacle. Quengueza got up, and in a short time the palaver
was over, and, in order to have peace, Pendé had to give
away three slaves to the three chief aceusers. But Pendé
was suspected of being a wizard, and when once the sus-
picion of being such an awful evil being takes possession
of the people, it never wears out of their minds. So,a
short time after, poor Pendé was again accused of witch-
craft—of having bewitehed a man who had died. Obindji
himself got afraid of his brother, and Pendé was killed,
and his body was thrown in the river, after having been -
cut into more than a hundred pieces.

 

 

CHAPTER XXII.

GORILLA HUNTING:—PREPARATIONS.—-WE KILL A MALE GO-
RILLA.—BRINGING HIM TO CAMP.

WE are merry. Our camp has been built; we are in
a country where elephants7 gorillas, leopards, and wild
.boars are abundant. There are also antelopes and ga-
zelles, and other wild animals.

We are seated round the fire and talking of to-mor-
row, for we are going hunting.

We are far away from any Village of the Ashankolo
Mountains, and are near the Ovenga River. Our little ea-
noe that took us there we have hidden in the forest. We
are not very far from the land called Kanga Nimé.

There was Malaouen, the Bakalai hunter; there was
Querlaouen, another savage who knew not what fear was.
There was Gambo, the son of an Ashira chief, who was not
behind any one in courage. Elephants, gorillas, and leop-
ards had been killed by him, and he was the nimblest fellow
I ever saw. To each I had given a present of a nice
gun, to each I had given also a keg of powder and sev- .
eral flints. We were all very good friends, every body
said so in the country. They were, they said, the good
friends of the spirit.

Before we had started their wives had loaded our ca-
noe with provisions. They had put sugar—eane in it for
me, saying I must eat it on my return from the chase

H

 

l;

:4- aw ,.

 

 

170 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

when I should feel tired. We had two little Bakalai
boys to take care of our camp, to fetch fire-wood, and to
cook our food. The only fear we had was that the Bak-
alai of the interior might come upon us on the sly and
shoot some of us, but then we were far away from them.
We all swore that if any one of us was killed we would
avenge him. '

The night came, the fires were kept bright, our meal
of plantain was cooked, and I roasted on charcoal a piece
of wild boar which friend Querlaouen had given me. Our
guns were as clean and bright as buttons, the powder was
safe, the bullets were right, and we were to have a jolly,
time. I went to sleep, and dreamed of whole herds of
elephants being slaughtered, of gigantic gorillas "being
killed, of new animals being discovered.

Before daylight we were awake; my men out their
hands and made them bleed, in order, they said, to steady
them. They also covered themselves with fetiehes, to be
protected from the evil spirits and to have luck in the
chase.

I blackened my face and hands with charcoal mixed
with oil, so that I might lool: like them. We looked at
our guns, unloaded them, and then reloaded, and saw eV-
ery thing was right. It was daylight when we started,
and-for the first day it was agreed that we should go go-

. rilla hunting.

We had come to a country where we knew that go-
rillas were sure to be found, for there grew a pulpy pear-
shaped fruit the tonda, of which the animal is very fond.
It grows almost upon a level with the ground, and is of a
splendid red color. Not only were gorillas fond of the
tonda, but I myself liked it very much, as did also the me

 

ON THE TRAIL. 1 7 1

groes. I am very fond of the subdued and grateful acid
of this fruit. The kind that grows on the sandy prairies
of the sea-shore is not fit to eat. Many and'many times
I would have starved in the forest without the tonda.

We were not mistaken, for we found everywhere go-
rilla marks, and now and then we could see the huge
footprints of some old monster, which probably would
have come and offered us battle if he had been near at
hand; at other places we saw where they had seated
themselves and been eating the tonda. At another place
near a little stream we discovered that a female gorilla
and her baby had been drinking, for I could see the tiny
feet of the little one.

“ There must be gorillas not far off,” whispered Ma-
laouen into my ears, and at the same time he looked care-
fully at his gun. Querlaouen and Gambo gave a chuckle,
and looked at Malaouen and at me. We all listened in
silence; we were then in one of the thickest and densest
parts of the forest; all was apparently still,but the quick
ear of Malaouen had detected something, had heard a
noise, and he wanted to know the cause of it.

We were so excited that our breathing was loud and
distinctly audible. We were all close together and did
not move We at once cocked our guns, for we heard
the moving of branches just ahead of us, when lo! the
forest resounded with the terrific roarof the gorilla which
made the very earth fairly shake under our feet. As
soon as the gorilla saw us he stood up, and beat his chest
with his powerful hands until it resounded like an im-
mense bass drum. His intensely black face was some-
thing horrid to behold ; his sunken deep gray eyes look-
ed like the eyes of a demon, and he opened his mouth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

172 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UATOR.

and gave vent to roar after roar, showing his powerful
canine teeth. How big they were! they were frightful
to look upon; the inside of his mouth was so red. V

It was a male gorilla, a real fighting fellow, and Was
not afraid of us. How horrid he looked as the hair on
the top of his head twitched up and down, and as he
made the woods ring with his awful roar until the forest
was full of the din I

We stood in silence, gun in hand, and I was ready to
fire, when Malaouen, who is a cool fellow, said, “ Not yet.”
The monster, according to them, was not near enough.
He stopped for a minute or so, and then seated himself,
for his legs did not seem well adapted to support his
huge body. The gorilla looked at us with his evil gray
eyes, then beat his breast with his long, powerful, and
gigantic arms, giving another howl of defiance. How
awful was that howl! He then advanced upon us.
Now he stopped, and, though not far off, they all said,
.“ Not yet.” I must own to having been somewhat ao-
customed to see gorillas. I was terribly excited, for I al-
ways felt that, if the animal was not killed, some one of
us would he killed.

I now judged he was not more than ten or twelve
yards from us, and I could see plainly the ferocious and
fiendish face of the monstrous ape. It was working with
rage; his huge teeth were ground against each other, so
that we could hear the sound; the skin of the forehead
was moved rapidly back and forth7 bringing a truly deV-
ilish expression upon the hideous face; then once more
he opened his mouth and gave a roar which seemed to
shake the woods like thunder, and, looking us in the
eyes and beating his breast7 advanced again. This time

 

 

A zklALE GORILLA KILLED. 173

he was within eight yards from us before he stopped
again. My breath was growing short With excitement
as I watched the huge beast. Malaouen said “ Steady,”
as he came up. When he stopped, Malaouen said “N0W;”
and before he could utter the roar for Which he was
opening his mouth, three musket balls were in his body,
and he fell dead almost without a struggle. Gambo had

 

.! #7, 73/9;
DEATH OF A BIALE GORILLA.
not fired; he had kept his gun in reserve in case of
accident. “Do not fire too soon. If you do not kill
him he Will kill you,” said friend Malaouen to me a
piece Ofadvice WhiehI found afterward to be literally true.
It was a huge beast, and a very old one indeed. Gorillas
Vary in height like men. This one was over 5 feet 6

 

a i
‘3;
» 33’
,1; 5f

 

   

 
 
  
   
 
 
 
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 

 

  

174 W1Lfl LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

inches. Its arms spread out 7 feet and 2 inches. Its
bare, huge, hrawny chest measured 50 inches round; and
the big toe 0r thumb of its foot measured nearly 6 inches
in Circumference. Its arm seemed only like an immense
bunch of muscle, and its legs and elaw-Iike feet were so
well fitted for grabbing and holding on that I did not
wonder that the negroes believed that this animal conceal-
ed itself in trees7 and pulled up with his foot any living
thing, leopard, OK, or man, that passed beneath. There
is no doubt that the gorilla could do this, but that he
does, I do not believe. They are ferocious and mis-
chievous, but not carnivorous.

Though you see by the deseription-I have given you
that the animal is large, I have killed others much larger,
about one of which I will speak to you.

The face of this gorilla was entirely black. The vast
chest, which proved his great power, was bare, and cov-
eted with a parchment-like skin. Its body was covered
with gray hair, the hair being longer on the arms.

Though there is‘mueh dissimilarity between this ani-
mal and man, I never kill one without having a sickening
realization of the horrid human likeness of the beast.
This was particularly the ease to-day when the animal
approached us in its fierce way, and walking on its hind-
legs and looking us boldly in the'faee, seemed to me like
an incarnate fiend.

I stuffed and preserved its skiu and skeleton, and a
few years ago many of you saw them in New York or
Boston.

I was delighted that we had killed a gorilla. We hat}
the greatest trouble in bringing the beast to the camp,
We had to disembowel him on account of his weight, in

 

  

BRINGING HIM T0 CAMP. 175

order to carry him. We cut a long pole, and then tied its
body on it. Then at one end there was Querlaouen, and
at the other Gambo and Malaouen, while I took the lead,
and so we returned by the way we had come. That
gorilla must have weighed between three and four hun»
dred pounds.

You might ask how we could find our way back in
this immense forest, where the trees are so thick and
close together. I will tell you.

As we advanced, we bent down or broke the boughs
of trees which we passed. If afraid of making a noise,
we quietly took the leaves, and as we went on we spread
them on the ground, but above all we noticed every thing,
especially the trees, and it is wonderful how quick one
acquires this habit of observation. Yet, despite all this,
now and then people get lost, but it is generally because
they have not been careful enough, and have not followed
the rules of which I have told you.

On the hunting grounds the Bakalai seemed to know
every inch of ground, every tree and shrub.

At last we reached the camp. How glad we were!
It was almost dark, and we were very tired; the two boys
welcomed us and cooked our evening meal. Tremen'
' dons fires were lighted, and my three fellows laid flat on
the ground, the soles of their feet almost touching the
fire. It is wonderful how by doing this they rest them,
and cure the soreness which a long march occasions.

I do not know how, but we all fell asleep without
knowing it, leaving the boys to keep watch; and when
I awoke during the night Gambo was snoring in a most
fearful manner, Malaouen had almost his back in the fire
and did not feel it, while the position of Querlaouen was

 

 

 

 

   
  

 

  
 
  
   
 
 

 

17 6 WILD LIFE UNDEJ)? ijE EQ UATOR.

something laughable, his arms being extended their full
length; for he lay on his back,whi1e his big fetieh was

resting on the middle of his Chest; his gun lay by his
side, and one of his knees was up, while the other limb
Was stretched out to its full length. All three carried on
alittle snoring musical concert, but that evening Gambo
certainly carried off the palm for noise. I did not want
to awake the good fellows, for they had worked hard, and
we intended to have another tremendous hunt, for we
designed to kill a leopard if possible. I told the boys to
go to s1eep,and I myself kept watch. It was soon four
O’clock in the morning, and the singing of the gray par-
tridge, a new species which I discovered, soon warned
me that another day was about to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXIII.

IN THE BUFFALO COUNTRY.-—THE PARADISE OF FLIES.—'—
THE VARIOUS SPECIES.

W,though we have not left our hunting grounds

ufiho 395 « 111g Chapter, we have moved toward the

' " ‘ 11 have built our camp not far from its

w really in the heart of Kanga—Niare’,

1engueza people give to the land.

33231115 I have forgotten the meaning
71 .

 
 
  
  
    
 
 

 

L11" camp, for Malaouen was fearful
3 might have been heard by the
’ the Ashankolo; and as their clans
.. . ;e w1th them he was afrald that they
ihash and shoot some of us. This, of

5350 ffeaeherous that they are capable of any thihg;
they kill without warnmg any one that comes in them
way, whatever they may be, even women, children or
old' men.
As we worked hard all day we could not keep watch
all night, so we had concluded to move. I
Our little camp is pleasantly situated on the edge of
the forest in front of a beautiful little prairie. There
are several of these, and rambling about I saw that traces
of wild buffaloes were abundant. I had not tasted buf-
II 2

 

 

 

17 6 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA T018.

something laughable, his arms being extended their full
length; for he lay on his back, while his big fetiohwas
resting on the middle of his chest; his gun lay by his
side, and one of his knees was up, while the other limb
Was stretched out to its full length. All three carried on
alittle snoring musical concert, but that evening Gambo
certainly carried off the palm for noise. I did not want
to awake the good fellows, for they had worked hard, and
we intended to have another tremendous hunt, for we
designed to kill a leopard if possible. I told the boys to
go to sleep, and I myself kept watch. It was soon four
o’clock in the morning, and the singing of the gray par-
tridge, a new species which I discovered, soon warned
me that another day was about to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXIII.

IN THE BUFFALO COUNTRY.-—-THE PARADISE OF FLIES.”
THE VARIOUS SPECIES.

NOW, though we have not left our hunting grounds
of the preceding chapter, we have moved toward the
Ovenga River, and have built our camp not far from its
shore. We are now really in the heart of Kanga-Niaré,
the name which Quengueza people give to the land.
Niaré means buffalo, but I have forgotten the meaning
of Kanga.

We have changed our camp, for Malaouen was fearful
that some of our guns might have been heard by the
warlike Bakalais 0f the Ashankolo; and as their clans
had had some trouble with .them, he was afraid that they
might come in ambush and shoot some of us. This, of
course, was not a very pleasant prospect. These Baka-
lai are so treacherous that they are capable of any thing;
they kill without warning any one that comes in their
way, whatever they may be, even women, children or
old men.

As we worked hard all day we could not keep watch
all night, so we had concluded to move. I

Our little camp is pleasantly situated on the edge of
the forest in front of a beautiful little prairie. There
are several of these, and rambling about I saw that traces
of wild buffaloes were abundant. I had not tasted buf-

H 2

 

 

   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
  
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

 

17 8 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

falo for a long time, and I thought it would be a nice
thing if I could kill one. .

Querlaouen, Grambo, and Malaouen had been feasting
on gorilla meat, though I had not. Not only had they
feasted on it, but they had smoked a good deal of it to
take back with them.

The first day we kept quiet. The soil was sandy,
the grass was very luxuriant, growing at least two feet
high. The sun is very oppressive in these clear spots or

little prairies.

We were tormented terribly by flies;

the country of the Ovenga seems to be the paradise of
flies. During the day they often wear a man’s life out.
They sting you, they suck your blood, and they plague
you beyond expression.

As for musquitoes, they were swarming at this time
of the year, and I would defy any one to sleep at night
without musquito-nets, unless his skin were bullet proof,
or as hard as the skin of an elephant or hippopotamus;
and as mine was not, I always carried with me a net
made of the grass cloth of the interior.

Three of these day-fiies might have almost been call—
ed the three plagues; in fact, in these parts there was al-
ways some kind of insect to annoy one.

Early in the morning, just at sunrise, the z'googuaxi
makes its appearance and only disappears when the sun
becomes too warm, as it does toward nine or ten o’clock.
The igooguai is a small, almost imperceptible gnat, which
appears in incredible numbers in the morning in certain
regions. From ten o’clock it is seen no more till four,
when its operations are recommeneed, and last till sunset.

It is a very, very small fly, which can hardly be
noticed; it might be called a sand-fly, and a dreadful

 

 

THE [GOOGUAI GNAT. 179

little creature it is. In some regions it is found in such
great numbers that it is almost impossible to secure quiet
in the morning, hence the people have to surround them-
selves with smoke to drive them away; and one must re-
main in his hut, which must be filled entirely with
smoke, in order to be free from them; If I stood still
outside for a while, my face and hands were covered
with them. After they have fed themselves their bodies
become almost of a blood color. You have hardly kill-
ed one hundred on your hand or face, when a few min—
utes after the same number is found. Of course you can
‘ not kill them one by one, so the only way is to pass
your hand right over them all on your face. My un«
protected skin was covered then with little red spots as
if I had the measles.

I really can not tell you how these 2'googuaz' troub-
led me; sometimes they almost made me crazy. They
are most determined blood-suekers, leaving a bite which
itches terribly and for a considerable time. They are
only found in open places generally.

The heat of the sun had hardly driven the igooguai
out of the field and obliged them to take shelter in the
forest or somewhere else (for during the heat of the day
they do not trouble arfy one), than the flies—which we
might call the three plaguesmthe £6000, the nchouna, and
the ibolooz', began to make their appearance. These are
quiet in the morning, and remain so until the sun has
warmed the atmosphere, then they begin to buzz around
the people; hence, as you see, there was no peace for
@001" me. I had hardly got rid of one kind of the igoo-
guai when I got into the hands of these three other sucks
ers by way of a change.

 

 

 

i; 4'
i ;
3 ;
i ;

 

‘ Aigmwwrv‘. ,fl . .4

 

180 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

In certain regions, from eleven o’clock till three, I cer=
tainly thought I should lose my senses, especially when
living on the banks of rivers. The most dreaded of a1],
and the most savage of these three species of flies, is the
272000. I shall never forget the iboco as long as I live.
I have been stung too many times by them to forget it.
A hot day, and under a powerful sun, these insects attack—

’ ed us with a terrible persistenoy that left us no peace.

The ihooo is a large fly of the size of ashornet, with
yellow body and a large green head; it flies with a won-
derful rapidity; and when it wants to rest on somebody
it whirls round and round so rapidly that the eyes become
quite bewildered, and in the wink of an eye they rest on
the bare hack of some poor negro, and give a sting which
draws often from him a cry of anguish. There is always
great rejoicing when an iboco is killed. They are very
plentiful in the regions of the Ovenga River; indeed, I
have never seen them in such great numbers anywhere
eise. They like to be by the water and in open places.
I have never seen them except in the clearings.

Many and many times have I started as if stung by
a scorpion or centipede, when it was nothing but an ibo-
00, whose bill had gone through two or three of my gar-
ments. Their bite is quite as painful as that of a scor-
pion, but happily it is not venomous, and the pain does not
last long; but its sharpness makes up for the shortness of
its duration. Often the blood has run down my face or
arm, from their savage attacks, and even the weH-tanned
skin of the negroes is punctured till it bleeds, so that one
would almost think that a leech had been at work on
them. ‘

The nckouna has quite another sort of tactics. It is

 

 

 

 

 

THE NCHOUNA. 181
C .

not so large as the iboco, is far more sly, and is also
found in greater numbers. If the iboeo were as numer-
ous as the nchouna, the people would surely not be able
to live in the regions of the Ovenga. The nehouna is
somewhat of the shape of our common flies, but of at
least twice the size; it is of a yellowish color, and per-
haps more elongated, resembling very much the zfsezfche of
Southern Africa, of Which species it may be a variety.
As one is seated, he sees several nohounas flying in a
quiet way round about him. They are very sly; and the
least movement one makes sends them off. As they fly
around one they do not appear as if intent upon an at-
tack, but before you know it the fly has come, and in such
a gentle way that you do not notice it at all7 for they in-
sert their bill Very gently into your body. They Will
stay until they have sucked your blood and filled them-
selves With it, and generally I never knew of their attack
till I felt the itch Which follows the bite when the fly has
gone. Then this is followed by a little painful swelling.
The itching begins, and lasts often for several hours, espe-
cially if the fly has been disturbed before its full allow—
ance has been taken. In the height of the rainy season
in the country of the Ovenga no day passed Without my
being bitten several times by the nehouna. ’
The negroes usually] have a little broom, made of the
stem of the leaves of certain trees, to keep off this insect;
often the tail of an elephant is used for the same purpose.
The third species, I remember well, is called ibolaz'. It
1s an insect twice as large as our common house-fly. The ‘
Wings cross each other. This fly is black, more elongated
than the nehouna, and quicker on the Wing; its sting is
long, and strong enough to pierce the thickest clothes one,

 

 

 

 

 

 

. ’ i
1 82 T/VILD LIFE UNDER TA’E EQ UA TOR.

can wear in the heat of an African summer. The sting
is so terribly sharp that I have often jumped up With the
sudden pain, Which was as if a pin had been stuck sav—
agely into my person; but the bite of this insect, if paine
ful, does not last like that of the nehouna. You need not
think for a moment that the day is over With the flies,
and that one is going to rest. Toward four o’clock, When
the sun begins to go down and lays hidden back of the
hills, the iboeo, nehouna, and ibolai disappear. The igow
gum), as I have said before,n1akes again its appearance
to plague and annoy; toward sunset they retire for parts
unknown to me, and several varieties of musquitoes make
their appearance to remind man that he is made of flesh
and blood. In some parts of the country they are very
p1entifu1,and absolutely terrible, but I 2am happy to say
that on the banks of the Ovenga, Where the flies I have
described to you are very abundant, the musquitoes are
not so very numerous. The rainy season is the time
When all those flies are most abundant; the dry season is
almost free from them and 111 many places they then be-
come almost unknown.

Such is, I assuie you, a faithful picture of the flies of
that region. The best way to get rid of them is to keep
in motion. If you stand still they are sure to come upon
you.

You Will ask yourselves, How can people live in such
a country? It is wonderful hOW one gets aeeustomed to
snakes, ants, flies, musquitoes, scorpions and centipedes.
To be sure, they are not pleasant companions.

u) a‘XLLMU'A—rl‘hl ya ‘5

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXIV. '

ELEPHANT PITS.--A CAPTIVE.—DIVIDING THE MEAT.-—THE
ALETHE CASTANEA.

QUERLAOUEN, Malaouen, and their wives and children,
and all their families, which amounted to about forty peo-
ple, had worked hard at digging elephant pits, of the same .
shape as those I have described to you in “Stories of
the Gorilla Country,” and which I saw in the cannibal
country. The pits had been covered with branches of
trees, while others were not for elephants to fall into. Oft-
en when they roarn at night, before they know it, down
they are. A great work it must have been to dig them;
they were about fifteen feet deep, perfectly perpendicular,
and about eight or ten feet in length and siX feet broad.

Hanous had also been fixed, such as I have described
to you while among the cannibals, in a preceding‘volume.
These were about ten or fifteen feet long; and at a dis-
tance of about a foot apart there were huge sharp-pointed
1ron spikes about six or eight inches in length. Each of
these hanous naust have weighed several hundred pounds;
and as they fell from a great height, the weight falling on
an elephant’s spine must be very great, and more than
sufficient to break it.

So, passing through these tangled forests, we had to be
very careful, in order not to fall into pits or to have a

 

 

   

      

 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
   
 
    
    

 

184 WILD LIFE UNDER Tle EQUATOR.

-hanous fall upon our heads; for in that case you would
never have heard from me again. Malaouen knew exact-
ly where these pits were.

V] e were going through the forest with the greatest
Gare, thinking that we might meet gorillas, among which
might be one of those lone fierce males.

Syddenly we heard a noise in the distance. We list-
ened. What could it be? Malaouen’s quick ear soon
detected that an elephant had been caught either by a
hanou, Or that he had fallen into the pit. We listened,
to make sure of the direction the noise came from. We
looked most carefully at our guns, to make sure that we
could fully depend upon them, and then set out for the
place where we suspected the huge beast was lying pros-
trate.

As we approached the spot, the moans of the elephant
became louder and louder, and we at last fell into its track,
which we followed, our direction being thus clearly indi-
cated. At length we came to the pit. How careful we
were in approaching it, and what a sight met our eyes!
I came trembling on its brink, for fear that the earth
would give way and precipitate me into the pit where
the poor elephant was. What a sight met my eyes as I
looked down! The bottom of the pit was filled with a
black mass, which I recognized to be an elephant; the
earth around was saturated with its blood. The poor
creature was not dead. In its fall its ponderous weight

had broken its four legs, and one of its magnificent tusks
had been dashed to pieces; its head was all bleeding, and
its trunk now and then moved up and down. The ago-
nies of the poor creature were great. I was glad that we
. had come to end the sufferings of the poor beast.

 

THE G 0 01) NEWS. 1 8 5

So we raised our guns and fired right into its ear.
Malaouen’s gun gave a fearful recoil that almost knocked
him down. I thought it had burst: A11 became silent.
The elephant’s ears and trunk dropped down, there was
, no more moaning; death had done its work.

Like almost all the people of his tribe, he carried an

axe with him; a creeper was out down, and tied to a tree
near by to serve as a ladder, and Malaouen dropped down
into the pit. He had thrown his axefirst and then descend-
ed; and as he stood on the elephant, how small he looked
by the size of the huge beast I Then he cut the end of his
.tail, which is made of very coarse and very dark bristiy
hair ending in a tuft, and came up again. J 0y filled his
heart as we set out for the camp, and next for the Village.
\ V As soon as the news spread, we were received with
wild demonstrations ofjoy. They were going to have a
nice time. They were going to have plenty of elephant
meat to eat. rI‘he children were also glad. I can assure
you that a big elephant forms a large mass of flesh, and
would help to pretty well fill a butcher shop. Then the
news came that in a neighboring Village, not far from
ours, three elephants had been killed. I was quite aston-
ished, for the animals are not plentiful in the region I was
in; but I was obliged to believe the report when I saw
the three new freshiy-eut tails of the elephants. One was
given to me afterward, and a splendid thing it was to kill
the nehouna7 the ibolai, and the ibooo flies.

I just came into the town when the ceremonial dance
was about to be performed which precedes the division
of the elephant meat. This is a thank-offering to two
spirits, Zlfondo and 02077260, who seem to have a presiding
influence over the hunt.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

l

186 'WILI) LIF V’ DWDER THE EQ UATUJZ.

A doctor from a country called Ashira, of which .[
will speak to you hereafter, was leading the ceremonies.
I find it here as we find it often at home, that the proph-
et gains in repute the further he travels from home. In
Goumbi, Quengueza’s Village, a Bakalai doctor was held
in high repute. In Biagano, a Goumbi doctor was chief of
all the prophets. Here among the Bakalai, only an Ashira
doctor was thought worthy of performing the ceremonies.

The Ashira doctor of course was covered with all
sorts of fetiches. He had painted his body in order to
impress his audience with his great power, and every
thing he did was done in a mysterious manner.

They had three pieces, cut from the hind-quarters 0f
the elephants, boiling in large pots. Around these they
danced, While the Ashira doctor chanted praises and pe-
titions t0 Mondo arid Olomho.

    

DANCING AROUND THE ELEPHANT MEAL

A piece was cut of? and sent into the woods to ap-
pease the hunger of these deities (or, more likely, of their

 

 

THE ALETHE OASTANLH: 187

representatives, the leopards, or the bashikouay or hye-
nas), and then the rest was eaten by the people, all in
, the presence of the doctor.

Next came the division of the great heaps of uncook
ed meat. The town, the towns friends, the hunters,
the hunters’ friends and their friends, all came and got
shares. I received about fifty pounds for myself, then
besides I had a piece of the trunk7 and four of the feet
were given to me. These, by the way, must have weigh-
ed more than fifty pounds by themselves.

As soon as I went back to my place I got an omlct
and smoked my meat, which I intended to keep, as we
say, for a rainy day, that is, for a day when I would have
nothing to eat.

I do not know why, but for a few days after the kill-
ing of the elephants the country was full of bashikou—
ays. I could scarcely move anywhere without falling
in With these fellows, and their bites were, as usual, very
severe. They had no doubt smelled the elephant flesh
and claimed their shares. I noticed that there was a
curious little bird with these bashikouays, the Alethe
castanea. This is a beautiful bird, which follows or pre-
cedes these bashikouays, and feeds on the insects that fly
away from the ants; it is a new species. They fly in
small flocks, and follow industriously the bashikouay ants
in their marches about the country. The birds eat in-
sects; and when the bashikouay army routs before it the
frightened grasshoppers and beetles, this bird, like a reg-
ular camp-follower, pounces on the prey and carries it off.

The natives have some superstitions about this bird7
and it is said by them to have a devil in it. For what
reason they say so I could not find out.’

 

 

 

 

 

188 WILD LII/E UNDER THE Egg UA T016.

My old enemies the snakes. were also quite abundant,
and as we pushed through the woods we O'ften saw sev~
eral great anacondas hanging from a projecting bough,
waiting their prey. I shot a little bird, a very curious
one, which, in its fall, lodged among some Vines. I was
anxious to get it, and began to climb up after it. J net
as I was reaching out for my bird, a snake, belonging to
one of the most venomous kinds found in these woods,
stuck out his head at me from the thick Vine foliage. I
was very much startled, and dropped down to the
ground without any loss of time. I could almost feel
the reptile’s breath against my face. It was a great scare.
People do not get over snake bites very easily, and I am
sure you are not astonished that I was frightened.

 

 

 

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CHAPTER XXV.

A DESERTED VILLAGE.-—-FEAR OF DEATH.—~WARS BETWEEN
VILLAGES.—AFRICAN WILD BOAR.'-—THE HUNT.

I HAVE just arrived in a deserted Village; there was
not a soul to be seen. There was nothing, absolutely
,nothing, to remind us of living 'man except the aban-
doned huts. How sad every thing looked all around!
The plantain-trees were growing back of the huts, and‘
young bunches of plantains were gracefully hanging
down from them.

Even the little Sycobii birds had left, and only their
deserted nests on the trees testified that once they had
built their homes there. V

What had become of the people? They had left:
they had abandoned their Village. How often I have
met these abandoned Villages in the forests of Africa,
but especially in the regions inhabited by the Bakalais,
the Mbondemos, the Mbishos, the Shekianis.

This Village was situated on the broad waters of the
River Ovenga, about 90 miles south of the equator. As
I was not afraid of evil spirits, I concluded I should use
the huts to sleep in at night; but there was tremendous
opposition at first, for the men who were with me said
it was a bewitehed Village; two people had died there,
within a few days of each other; the place was not good

 

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190 W'ILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

to live in; some of us would die if we remained. Poor
creatures, though daring and brave in the hunt, how
afraid they are of death! Hence if a Irian dies in a Vil-
lage there is a great commotion, if another dies the vil-
lage must be abandoned.

A Village is scarce built, often the plantations have
not borne fruit for the first time, When they feel impelled
to move. Then every thing is abandoned; they gather
up what‘few stores of provisions they may have7 and
start off, often for great distances, to make, with tedious
labor, a neW settlement, Which Will be abandoned in
tgrn after a few months. Sometimes, however, they re-
main for two or even three months more in the same
place.

Many things contribute to their roving habits, but

‘ first of all I have said is their great fear of death. They

dread to see a dead person. Their sick, unless they have
good and near friends, are often driven out of the Village
to die in loneliness in the forest. Those Bakalai have no
burying-ground. After a man is dead the body is
thrown anywhere in the forest, and no more- attention is
paid to it.

The people of these tribes are very superstitious, and
often after the death of a man several friendless creat-
ures are accused and condemned in a breath, and mur-
dered in cold blood. Afterward the Village is broken
up, the people set up again after their wanderings, and
fiX upon some lonely spot for a neW plantation and a
new home. ’ ' '

What a life this must be, to be all. the While vainly
fleeing from the dread face of death, as if such a thing
were possible. What can stand still in the world?

 

 

 

 

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IVARS BE T WEEN VLLA 0E5. 1 9 1‘

Nothing; absolutely. nothing; constant changes are
taking place. .

These people are of a treacherous disposition, and are
constantly quarrelling among their neighbors. They are
most barbarous in their mode of warfare, in which worn»
en, children, and even babies are killed. Once while
staying in a Bakalai Village there were two women, who
were quietly washing, and were killed and left there, un-
til the people, wondering at their disappearance, looked
for them, and found them dead.

When war has once really broken out in the country
there is no rest or safety. No man or woman in any
Village can take a step in any direction, day or night,
without fear of death. They lie in ambush to surprise
each other’s Villages. If they have guns, they come on .
the sly and shoot through the bark of which their houses
are made, and kill sleeping persons; hence no one could
sleep for two consecutive nights at the same place. In
passing a tree, sometimes the enemy steals in behind, and
will spear the poor luckiess man, woman, or child. They
use every unfair means of warfare; and the meaner the
attack, and the greater the treachery, the more glory they
have won. In such times of war the fires are put out
after dark, because they give light to the enemy, and the
glare of the fire makes blind those near it,whi1e those
who come through the darkness can see well. The peo-
ple keep a. dead silence, lest their voices should betray
their whereabouts ; the hunters are 10th to hunt, for fear
of falling into an ambush of some hidden enemies; the
women and slaves fear to plant, and therefore every body
approaches a condition of semi-starvation. This some-
times lasts for months. At last whole districts are de-

 

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192 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

populated ; those who are not killed desert their villages
to seek safety in some remote and unknown spot of the
forest where they think they may be safer; hence very
often I felt quite astonished to meet little Villages far
off. Many of their Villages are palisaded, and their dogs
keep watch. ’ '

Yes, among such people I have lived for a long time
when there was war in the country, and I never knew if
by mistake they might not kill me.

Now I have given you a slight idea of these warlike
and treacherous Bakalai. I am happy to say that on the
right bank of the Ovenga Quengueza has succeeded in
preventing these wild men frorn making war upon each
other’s Villages.

A We have come to shoot wild boar. It is the season
when they are very fat, for we are in the month of March,
and I tell you these wild boars of Equatorial Africa are
glorious eating, and are magnificent beasts to bag.

Do not think they look like the wild boars they have
in Europe. Nothing of the kind. It is no easy matter
to come near enough to have a shot at these wild beasts,
for they are exceedingly shy.

Night came, and my fellows were so afraid of evil
spirits that they kept tremendous fires and kept talking
all night, and when daylight came they felt so tired that
they all went to sleep. This will never do, I said to
myself, for if a man does not sleep at night he certainly
can not work hard in the day.

After they awoke they came in a body, friend Malaou-
en leading, saying that we had better go and make our
camp far away in the forest, for the place where we were
was not good at all. I thought some of them might get

 

AFRICAN WILD BOAR. 1 93

ill through fear, so I concluded I had better move, for
the people would lay the blame upon me. People have
to be very prudent in such a wild country.

So we moved our traps a few miles off and built
our camp; this was hardly done when a storm burst
upon us, and the rain poured down by bucketsful, and

the thunder and the lightning was something terrific. -

It was a good thing that our shades were right, for we
should have been wet to the skin.

Early the next morning I shouldered my rifle and set
off for the wildest part of the wood with friends Malaouen
and Querlaouen, who now felt quite happy since we had
left the abandoned village. rI‘he woods were pretty hard
to go through, for the hunting-paths had not been used
often, for fear of the Bakalai living in the Ashankolo.

In this gigantic forest there is? most extraordinary
kind of wild boar, its body being of a bright red-yellow
color, somewhat like that of an orange. How strange
they look as they wander through the forest, sometimes
a few together, at other times twenty or thirty, or even
larger numbers!

That morning we got into new and fresh tracks of
the wild boars; the earth was all uprooted by their snouts.
I am sure they had not come to the place a half—hour be-
fore we did, and what a havoc they had made! We'fol-
lowed the tracks in hot haste; soon we could hear their
grunts, and we thought they must be numerous by the
noise they made.

How to approach them was the difi‘leult question; for
if' there is any wild game7 this is certainly one of the
wildest sort I know. If there had been two or three of
them together we might ‘not have had so much difficulty

I

 

 

 

 

194 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

ih approaching them; but how were we to approach so
many without being detected?

So we concluded to go by a roundabout way and try
to get ahead of them, and then lay in ambush, waiting
for them to pass.

The wild boars were in a valley, where the ground was
somewhat soft, and they would, I thought, continue to fol-
low it. In the midst of this valley there was a beautiful
little rivulet of clear water meandering crookedly on in
the same uneven manner as the narrow valley itself,
which was flanked on each side by tremendous high
hills, covered like the valley and all the country round
with gigantic trees, which bore different kinds of fruits
and nuts.

Then we concluded to ascend a hill close by and de-
scend in as swift a manner as we could into the valley
on the other side, which was the same one in which we
were standing: by doing so, we could make a short cut
and get ahead of the wild boars, and then choose our
ground and wait for them.

The plan succeeded perfectly. After crossing, we
found a huge dead tree fallen on the ground, and behind
it we hid ourselves.

Soon we heard the grunts of the wild boars coming;
we were delighted; we looked at our guns, then fixed
the barrels on the trunk of the tree, raised our heads
hardly above it, and only so high that our eyes could
get a glimpse at the wild boars.

Here they come I I can see them through the jungle,
snorting unconsciously and eating what they have up-
rooted. How little do they think there are such formida-
ble enemies close at hand! They came nearer and near-

A PIECE OF STRATEGY. 195

er. Then after looking at each other, as if to say, Is it
time ? we took steady aim, put our fingers on the triggers,
and bang! bang! bang! our three guns went off at the
same time, three wild boars biting the ground, and the
others giving tremendous leaps. Four of them, crazy
With fright, came rushing along, leaping over the trunk
of the trees behind which we were hidden, and right
above our heads. My goodness! if they had come down
upon us they would have completely smashed us. [
turned round, fired my second shot, and bagged another.

“ Four wild boars are killed I” we shouted with frantic

joy I

 

KILLING FOUR WILD BOARS.

What splendid animals two of them were ! How big!
the wild boars 0f the black forest in Germany could not
have compared with them.

This wild boar is a new species, and I have called it P0-
tamochoems albgfrons: that is to say, white-fronted.

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196 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

What strange-looking animals! They had a long
muzzle, and on each side there was a large warty protu-
berance half-way between the nose and the eyes. These,
and a singular sort of bristle, surround the eyes. The
ears, which are long and ended in tufts of coarse hair, give
the animal a strange expression. The bodies of the boars
were of the color I have mentioned.

On my return to the United States, in 1860, I gave a
full description of this curious animal, and of many oth-
ers I discovered7 before the Boston Society of Natural
History. I have always retained a pleasant recollection
of my visit to that society, of its president, Professor Jef-
fries Wyman, of its secretary, my friend Dr. Kneeland,
and of many other members, who were very kind to me.

But how to take away that meat? We could by no
possible means carry the meat of four wild boars. So
myself and Malaouen were to keep watch and sleep in
the forest while Querlaouen would go and fetch the peo-
ple to assist us.

This Potamochcems albz‘frons is a great jumper. I have
seen no antelope that could leap as it does; one day
I saw three of them leap over the Ovenga River, the dis-
tance being thirty or forty yards. It was the dry season,
and one of them fell into the water. The bank from
which they sprung was much higher than the opposite
one.

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXVI.

IN THE WILD FOREST.-——-HOSTILE TRIBES.—AN INTRENCHED
CAMP.-—FORAYS-FOR PROVISIONS.

I AM in the midst of the densest and wildest part of the
forest, situated not far from the Ashankolo Mountains.

Who are these three wild-looking men that are with
me?

They are Querlaouen, Malaouen, and Gamho.

What are we doing seated on the ground, each one of
us seeming so thoughtful? ,

We are holding a grand council.

The country to which we have come is a very dangera
, ous one, for war is raging in the Ashankolo land; and
though the Ovenga River lies between us and the Ashan-
kola people, and though we are at a good distance from
them, we do not feel safe. They might come to hunt in
this very region. The Bakalais 0f the Ovenga were at
war with them, or rather the Ashankolo had declared war
against the people of the Ovenga, and had killed two men
a few weeks before belonging to the Village Of a chief
called Anguilai. '

We ran the chance of being killed at night when
asleep if these fellows discovered where we were; and
during the day they might’he in ambush for us, or they
might go and fetch a great number of people to attack
us.

 

 

 

 

 

198 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

These were some of the many thoughts that suggested
themselves to us as we talked matters over together.

Besides Malaouen, Querlaouen, and Gambo, we had two
boys with us; one was named Njali and the other Nola.

We agreed that the first thing we must do was to
build an intrenched camp.

You will all say at once, “ What a wild and reckless
set of fellows you were to choose such a place for a hunt-
ing-ground 1”

So we were. We seemed to delight in danger for the
sake of the excitement it afi‘orded.

So, having made up our minds whatto do, we rose,
and taking in one hand our gun and in the other an axe,
we went bravely to work and out long poles about fifteen
feet in length, which we brought to the place we had
chosen for our camp. As we out these young trees we
laid our guns Close by; we did not stop cutting these
poles until we had a few hundreds of them, and for three
days we were at work as hard as we could.

After we had collected all the poles we commenced ‘
building. We had Chosen a place where four large trees
made the four corners of a square. They were about
thirty feet apart from each other. We then begun to drive
palisades, making them go down about six inches into
the ground ; these we tied close together with strong lianas
we had collected, until at last the square was finished.
We cut all the underbrush inside, and made a very clean
place for the interior of our fort.

Then the question was how to get inside? So we
made' two ladders, one of creepers, flexible like ropes, for
the outside; the other, for the inside, was a very strong
step-ladder. For the latter we out two poles, and tied

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AN INTRENC’HEI) CAMP. 1 9 9

crossed sticks upon them for steps. This ladder, as we have
said, was for the inside, so that after we should reach the
top of the palisade we could pull inside our ladder made
of creepers, and that would thus .be quite safe, for we
knew that no one could leap over the palisade.

We then, in the inside of the palisade, stuck leaves
upon the walls, so that if perehanoe any one came they
could not get a peep at us.

In the interior of our square there was a somewhat
tall, slender tree, up which we could climb and observe
our enemies, and get a good shot at them in case we
sliould be attacked; besides this, we had made a good
many loop-holes about seven feet above the ground, so
that no one outside could see through them, and before
each we had made a high stand from which we could
fire upon them at our ease. ,

How glad we were when it was over! We had then
to build some huts inside for. ourselves, to shelter us
from the rain. We built roofs for these huts, which we
covered with the bark of trees, and under it we built an
.orala, to smoke the meat we might get from the game
we should kill. These oralas are made in the following
manner. Four sticks about four feet in height, which are
forked, are stuck in the ground, then cross sticks join
these, and across them are laid quite a number of sticks.
This orala was of course one of the most useful and nec-
essary things we required.

Then we built another shelter for myself, and how
careful they were about this; it was a real hut, eight feet
long, six feet broad, with walls five feet high, and the
ridge of the roof about eightfeet in height from the ground.
There I slept; the powder was carefully stored, and

 

 

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200 WILD LIFE UNDER THE 1%) UATOE.

much of it, together With bullets, were buried in the
ground, so that if any one should come when we were
absent they would not know where our ammunition was.
My four men built also another but for themselves.

These huts were in the centre of the yards. By the
time we had finished our camp, our plantains and our
smoked cassada were stored away carefully; fortunately
the coola nut was there abundant, and we would have
plenty to eat.

We had three very nice dogs with us, splendid hunt-
ers; besides, they would keep watch at night and warn
us of danger.

We had also four Ashinga nets; each one of us had
his own gun and a spare gun also.

Malaouen, Gambo, Querlaouen, and I were to hunt,
while the boys were to attend to the fire-wood and to our
cooking, and also were to collect the wild nuts or berries
of the forest.

All this work was finished, and we went into the for-
est and collected a large quantity of fire-wood, and I can
assure you that we had real hard work, and I wish you
could have seen us. I stood on the top and threw in the
inside of the fort the wood that was handed to me by the
others. '

At last a great pile of fire-wood was safely stored in-
side7 and we could withstand a siege. A little brook rose
from under a rock inside of our palisade not far from
one of the big trees, so that we had plenty of water to
drink; it was a beautiful little spring.

We felt very cosy‘ and safe. We had only two cook-
ing-pots with us. I had a good deal of tobacco, for I
knew Querlaouen, Malaouen, and Gambo to be tremen-

 

HUNTING WITH ASHINGA NETS. 201

dous smokers, and they seemed to enjoy their pipes so
much in the evening when the day’s work was over.

The medicines I had taken with me were quinine,
ilaudanum, rhubarb, and a few other articles. I had also a
bottle of brandy, which I intended to preserve most care-
fully for a case of need.

So, after every thing was built, one fine morning we
ascended the inside steps, hung down our outside ladder,
and came out. We had with us the Ashinga nets, with
which we' were going to hunt. We spread them in the
forest in the same manner as I have described to you in
“Stories of the Gorilla Country;” but instead of being
many we were only four people7 and we had only four
Ashingas, yet we were very successful; we trapped two
charming gazelles,called ncheri; anda nchombi,anoth-
er beautiful little gazelle of reddish color, and captured
also a kind of wild-cat, which got entangled, and which
we had to kill on the spot with the butt-end of our guns.

I ordered the men not to kill the nchombi and one of
the ncheri, which we seized and tied with native creep-
ers and carried to our camp, since I wished to keep them
alive if possible.

It was a pretty good day’s hunt, considering that we
had not fired a gun, and that we had not been more
than three miles from our camp.

As we approached our fort we gave the signal agreed
upon, which was three separate whistles, imitating the cry
of a certain bird called pipig/o.

Soon the heads of the boys peeped out; they brought
and fastened the rope-ladder outside, and greeted us
with a smile which showed their nice filed teeth, and cast
sly glances at the game which we had brought.

I 2

 

 

 

 

202 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

We were glad when we were inside, for our live stock
had not been very easy to carry; besides, the Ashingas
were heavy.

We immediately loosened the cords of the ncheri
and nchombi, who for a few minutes could not walk,
but soon afterward found their legs and made most tre-
mendous leaps, cutting up wonderful capers. They were
perfectly wild, but it was of no use, they could not leap
over the palisades.

Part of the neheri that had been killed was cut and
cooked, and we had a most delicious meal. We went to
sleep in safety, but nevertheless we kept our guns by our
sides.

Early the next morning Querlaouen and I went to see
if our little canoe, that had carried us up the river, and
Which we had hidden in a little narrow creek somewhat
remote from the main river, was still there, and also to
see if we would not meet with strange human foot-prints,
which might indicate the near presence of an enemy and
that we had been discovered. We came back perfectly
satisfied that no one had discovered our whereabouts and
that our canoe was quite safe. So we returned to tell
the news, and in the afternoon we went and set traps for
monkeys, which were evidently somewhat abundant, as i
we could hear their chattering all day long. Querlaouen,
besides his gun, had an axe with him, and I carried my
huge hunting-knife.

We came to a little spring and felled a small tree
across for the monkey to use as a bridge; then not far
from the end of the tree or bridge we bent a bough, at
the extremity of which we made a ring. This ring,
touching the bridge, was fixed in such a manner that the

 

 

“NOTHING TO WEAR.” 203

monkey would have to pass through it to go to the other
side, and in doing so would start a spring, when the ring
would fly up before the monkey could get through it,
and thus 'the animal would be hung by the neck and
choked to death.

We made two of these traps.

Then we went and looked for wild honey, but could
not at first see any bee—hive in the hollows of trees. I
had just made up my mind that I should like to have
some honey. Besides, I wanted to get some wax in order
to make some candles. ,

J ust as we were returning to the camp we discover-
ed two bee—hives; we smoked the bees, and then took
the honey-cornbs.

The next morning I went right to work to make wax
‘with the honey-comb we had collected. After having
boiled it and made the wax, there was a new difficulty—
I had no wick. I had never thought of it before; of
course I had not a bit of cotton with me, and I finally
concluded that I would tear off the lower part of one of
the two only shirts I possessed to make wick. Acting
with the thought, I tore the shirt. I had a good deal
of trouble to make these candles. First I dipped the
whole length of the wick in the hot wax, holding each
extremity by my hands; then I let the waX which had
adhered to the wick get cold, and dipped again and again
by the same process until I had obtained the size of a can-
dle. I succfieded in making eight candles.

My clothes were getting very much worn; my panta-
loons had been mended over and over again, and were
getting so old and rotten that I did not know what to do.
I wanted to save a pair for the seashore. So I resolved

 

 

 

 

20-1 WILD LIFE UNDER 31’le EQ UATOR.

that we should go Ashinga, hunting again, and that I
would make clothes from the skins of the wild animals
we should capture.

We all turned out with our Ashingas, leaving, 0f

 

SMOKING OUT THE BEES.

course, N j all and Nola to take charge of the premises. We
left them the three spare guns. We took the dogs with us.

We captured,in the first place, a hyena, Which I dis-
patched as it laid entangled in the net With a bullet
through the head. It uttered a fearful groan. We cap-
tured a porcupine, Which we killed With a club. Then

 

 

MAKING 0L OTHES. 205

we laid unsuccessfully the Ashingas three times, and I
began to think that we would have nothing but hyena
for dinner and supper, ‘and no skins to make clothes
with. We must make another trial.

We went a long distance to haul our nets again, and
then captured two neheris and two nehombis. We killed
them on the spot with clubs, and then returned home.

I insisted on having these four animals skinned, for
I wanted their skins to make a pair of trowsers. We
had taken off the hyena skin and left its body on the
spot, me one fancying the meat, especially as we had
other game to eat. ,

Njali and Nola received us with open arms, but did
not show their heads above the fence until they had
heard our peculiar whistle. I was glad of our success,
for I wanted some clothes very much.

I dried the skins, and then tried to tan them by heat-
ing them, and using the bark of a certain tree. Then
with the fibres of the leaves of the pineapple I made
.some thread; and I had with me strong needles, which
I used in preparing thefikins of animals. I out these
skins in such a shape that I thought I would make from
them a pretty comfortable pair of pantaloons.

I wish you had seen me dressed in those pantaloons.
They were very tough and hard. Then I made a kind
of shirt with the skin of the hyena; that is, I joined two
flat pieces together, left a hole for my head to pass
through, and on each side holes for my arms. I did not
want any sleeves. This hyena shirt was short, and only
reached my waist. How strangely I looked, dressed
in these long shaggy skins!

Afterward we went to work, and closed with sticks

 

 

 

 

 

206 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

and branches of trees a little shallow creek—ahmst a
pond—which communicated With a larger one, in order
to prevent the fish from going out, and thus there was a
prospect of having plenty of fish to eat. Then, when
this work was done, we went again in search of bee-
hives, which are abundant in these forests. We dis-
covered two, which were very high, and, of course, in the
hollow of the trees. We concluded to come and smoke
them out the next day.

These two hives were made by two different kinds of
bees, one very small black kind, looking almost like a
little fly, and the other by a bee 0f the size of our bees
in America; the honey 0f the latter is excellent when
the comb is white and new.

So after all we were, I thought, in a pretty good
country, but unfortunately not very safe, on account of
its warlike inhabitants; hence we were always on the
alert for fear that they might find our whereabouts.

 

TRAPPING TI IE MONK EY.

 

A TRAPPED MONKEY. 207

The next day Querlaouen and I, When visiting menu
key traps, found that a beautiful ndova had been caught.
He was hanging high in the air quite dead, but the body
still warm. It had just been trapped.

These ndovas are most beautiful monkeys, being
among the prettiest I have ever seen. This was very
large, and such a fat one! The face of Querlaouen
grinned with joy at the thought of the splendid feast he
was to have on our return. The fur is splendid.

These ndovas are very abundant in the forests of
Africa, and the hair is of a beautiful dark color.

The great peculiarity of the animal is his perfectly
White nose. How strange they look While peeping at
you in the forest With that strange white spot! They
are called by naturalists White-hosed monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER XXVII.

WE DISCOVER HUMAN FOOT-PRINTS.—WE SPY OUT THE EN—
EMY.——A FEMALE GORILLA.—-MATERNAL FONDNESS.

ONE morning7 just at daylight, Querlaouen and I,
without saying a word to Gambo and Malaouen, scaled
our palisade with the ladder and went to look after the
traps we had made for the monkeys, in order to see if
we had caught some more.

We were going silently into the forest, and as noise-
lessly as we could, in the hope of seeing an antelope or
wild boar, or some other kind of wild animal on our way.
At last we reached the banks of a little stream, situated,
as I judged, about six or seven miles from our camp,
when 10! Malaouen and I saw what threw us into a great
state of excitement.

Human footprints!

Yes, there was no mistake about it; there were eight
foot-prints in the mud on the banks of the creek, and
these were the marks of four men who had been there.
They Were fresh tracks.

Who were they?

Were they warlike Bakalais of the Ashankolo coun-
try? Were they enemies or friends?

Querlaouen and I looked in each other’s face without
saying a word, and by instinct both of us looked most

 

WE DIS 0 O VER FO OT-PRINTISZ 2 0 9

carefully at our guns, and we began to mistrust every
tree around us, for some one might be hiding behind
them, and getting ready to send a bearded spear through
us;

We did not like at an the idea of people being in our

\

%

V ‘x. \x

Z:

 

WE DISCOVER FOOT-PRLNTS. '

hunting-ground, but we liked still less the idea that these
people might be our enemies.

My pair of revolvers were in good order, and I do not
know why, but I always felt very strong and reckless
when I had them with the belt holding them round

 

 

 

 

210 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

I

my waist, and that very morning I felt confident and
secure.

After eonsultation,.we concluded that we would fol-
low the footprints to the point they had come from,
which we did, and at last reached a spot where we saw a
small canoe tied to a tree. This canoe certainly did not
belong to any people we knew, and consequently must
come from some far Village situated on the very head-
waters of the Ovenga Riyer, and belonged no doubt to
those savage and warlike Bakalai inhabiting that wild
mountainous region.

Our great object was to prevent them from following
our tracks, and thus finding our camp. What was to be
done? ,

Our footprints were mixed with theirs, and my shoes
had left unmistakable marks of their heels and soles, and
I wondered what those fellows would think in seeing
' them. My only hope was that they would be seized
with terror7 and that in those marks they might see the
tokens of a mighty spirit.

Close by,‘ entering into that creek, there was a beauti-
ful little rivulet of clear water7 whose pebbly bed Sug-
gested to me that we had better follow its course, and
then make a short cut and find our way the best we
could. ‘

Another idea occurred to me that Querlaouen and I
had better ascend some tree not far off, and wait and see
really who these men were.

So we ascended the pebbly stream, leaving no marks
behind us, and then made for the forest again, and pro-
ceeded almost to the spot where the canoe was. Not far
from there were two short trees, the thick foliage of

 

 

 

 

WHAT WSAW 211

which would shelter us from any ordinary gaze, and whose
heavy limbs would afford us comfortable rest. These
two trees were very close together. Querlaouen ascended
one, and I ascended the other by the help of the lianas
and creepers which hung from their branches to the
ground. Our guns were slung on our backs. We nev-
er uttered a word, but fixed ourselves as comfortably
as we cduld, and in such manner that we could fire
at our enemies if attacked. Malaouen looked at his
gun. I did the same, and then petted my two re-
volvers, as if to say7 You, boys, are the good fellows for
a true fight.

We were as silent as two statues, waiting patiently for
something to turn up.

At last we thought we heard voices in the far dis-
tance, which we had at first taken for the chatter of
monkeys. The noise came nearer and nearer, and we
finally distinguished the sound of human voices.

I got so excited that I could hardly breathe, and every
beat of my heart became very distinct.

At last we saw four stalwart fellows, tattooed all over,
covered with hunting and war fetiches7 armed to the teeth
with spears, and two of them carried Ashinga nets, with
which they had been hunting on a small scale, and had
with them one gazelle (a ncheri).

Suddenly coming to their canoe, they saw Querlaouen’s
foot-prints, which threw them into a great state of excite-
ment, when one Of them pointed to the other, my foot-
prints, saying, “ What are those marks? they must be the
marks of a spirit I” rI‘hey looked at them7 and suddenly
an uncontrollable panic seized the four, and they rushed
for their canoe, seized their paddles, and went down the

New..- iu‘w .. .. i ..

 

 

 

 

212 WILD LIFE UNDEJt THE EQ UATOR.

stream with the utmost precipitation, as if fire and brim-
stone were after them. ‘

In the wink of an eye they were out of sight7 and
Querlaouen and I came down from our trees. We had
not been mistaken. The fellows were Bakalai of the
Ashankola country.

It was late in the day, and there was no hope of our
reaching our fortified camp before dark. We moved to-
ward it, and at sundown we collected fire-wood,1ighted
three tremendous piles of it, and soon had splendid fires,
cooked the three plantains each of us had for our dinner,
and after our meal Malaouen and I had a grand chat.

Querlaouen is a splendid fellow. I love him dearly,
and we are sworn friends. I feel that if any one
should try to injure or kill him I should fight to the
death for him. He is so brave, he is so kind-hearted,
such a noble specimen of a savage as we seldom see!
I wish I could have only been able to root out of him
his behef in witchcraft and fetiehes.

Querlaouen then told me his history.

“ Chaillee,” said he, “ my father belonged to a clan
which lived in the Ashankolo Mountains, and in his
younger days had crossed a large river, called the
Ngouyai. He was the chief of a Village, and a great
warrior. In the country where we lived there was
nothing but fighting and fighting; Village was against Vil-
lage, and often brother against brother; not a day passed
that some one was not killed. You know our mode of
warfare; we kill any one7 old man, woman7 or babe—we
have no mercy. One night my father’s Village was at-
tacked. We fought and fought, and at last repulsed the
enemy, who fled in dismay. My father was killed, two

 

 

 

 

A FEMALE G ORILLA. 2 1 3

sisters of mine were killed, also several other people of
the village. Then we moved toward the banks of the
Ovenga; we soon came down the stream, and now I have
grown a man, and live Where my village is. I only wish
you would live all the time among us. We should take
such care of you.”

After fixing our fires we went to sleep, and early the
next morning we made for our camp. We had hardly
gone two miles into the woods, when 10! I heard a kind
of chuckle which told me that a gorilla was not far ofi“.

The sound came from a densely-wooded and dark ra-
vine, and from the very bottom of it. When we reached
the place we found it to be one of those ugly bogs where
you go knee-deep into the mud, walking on the roots of
trees, and sometimes get stuck fast in this position.

The gorilla was right in the midst of the bog; it was
a female, and at every moment we expected to see a large
male standing before us, roaring like a demon, and asking
us what we came to do in this dark recess of the forest,
where it had made its abode with his wife, and perhaps
his baby gorilla.

How carefully we looked at our guns! how watchful
our eyes were! We were not to be easily surprised.
The bog was like one of the worst kind we have in Amer-
ica in the overflowed and woody land of the Western
country; only here we have creepers, thorny bushes, and
hanging lianas, and grass that cuts like a razor.

We entered the swamp, and went nearer and nearer the
sound we had heard first, and came to a dry spot, when 10!
we spied a female gorilla and her young baby. The
baby was very small, a very dear little baby it was to its
mother, for she appeared with her extremely black face,

i .....L‘..Hr,w._;w,w,_,5_ .__A. . fl .

 

 

 

 

2 1 4 WILD LIFE” UNDER THE EQ UA TOR.

to look at it With great fondness. I was disarmed; 1
could not possibly fire. I seemed speH-bound, and could
not raise my gun to fire. Yes, there was something too
human in that female and her offspring; it hung by her
breast, but,un1ike our babies, Who have to be entirely sup-
ported, its little hands clutched its mother’s shoulders
and helped it to support itself. The little fellow gave a
shrill and plaintive cry, and crawled from its mother’s
arms to her breast to be fed, and the mother lowered her
head and looked at her offspring, and With his little fin-
gers he pressed and pressed her breast, so that the milk
could come more freely.

On a sudden the mother gave a tremendous cry, and
before I knew it she had disappeared through the forest.

I would not have missed this scene for a great deal,
and I Wish that you had all been With me to see it, for I
know that perhaps such scenes may never be seen again
by a civilized man; I knew that it had never been seen
before. The gorilla Will one day disappear. A day Will
come When he Who writes these pages Will have been long
dead and forgotten, but perhaps the record of what he
has seen may, like the record of Hanno, fall into the
hands of some one, and it will be read like a strange
tale.

I have brought away, altogether, thirty-one gorilla
skins and skeletons; I have captured more than a dozen
live gorillas, young ones, of course, and, altogether, I
must have seen at different times during my twelve
years’ explorations more than three hundred of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“ CHAPTER XXVIII.

HOW WE WERE RECEIVED AT CAMP.—THREATENED WITH
STARVATION.—A NIGHT IN CAMP.—MALAOUEN’S STORY.

WE left the gorilla scene I have just described to you
in the preceding chapter, and made for our camp. As
we came in sight of it Querlaouen gave the peculiar whis-
tle agreed upon to announce our arrival, and soon after
we saw the head of Grambo and Malaouen peeping out
above the fence, also the heads of the two boys Njali
and Nola.

The ladder was handed doWn to us; soon we were
inside, and, before I knew it, Malaouen was hugging me
as hard as he could; when he had done, and before I
had time to breathe and free myself from his embrace en-
tirely, I was hugged by friend Gambo. The boys jump-
ed around, and there was tremendous excitement in the
camp. The poor fellows had been very anxious, and did
not know what had become of us. When night came
they became very uneasy; perhaps we had been killed
by the Ashankolo Bakalai, or by some wild beasts.

Grambo, looking with pride into Malaouen’s face, said,
“ Did I not tell you that they would come back all safe ‘3”
They were washed with the chalk of the Alumbi, cover-
ed with their fetiohes, and had gone through all sorts of
heathen ceremonies to find out whether we were safe.
The little wooden idol of Gambo had also been consult-

 

 

 

216 WILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UATOR.

ed. Gambo is a celebrated doctor who can tell future

events; and, as a proof, he pointed us to his friend;

shouting, “ Did I not tell you that they would return
safely ?”

Both Gambo and Malaouen had been looking at [us
with keen eyes upon our arrival, to know if we had
come with a well¥provided larder, and seemed somewhat
disappointed when they saw us empty-handed, for they
had fancied us coming back with a fat monkey or a nice
gazelle. ,

There was nothing in the camp, with the exception
of the nchombi and neheri gazelles which we had kept
alive, and these I did not wish to kill then. So we con-
cluded that Gambo and the two boys should go to a se-
‘cluded plantation belonging to Malaouen and gather
plantains, while Malaouen, Querlaoueu, and myself would
go hunting and try to kill a wild boar. It was the sea-
son when these latter were splendid eating. In the
meantime we would collect nuts and live upon them;
if we could not find these, we would then quietly starve,
waiting for Gambo and the boys with their plantains.

We all bade good-by to friend Gamho7 and to Njali
and Nola, wishing them good luck and plenty of nuts on
the road to fill their empty stomachs ; and as they disap-
peared they reciprocated our wishes about the nuts, and
we had ajolly laugh.

After Gambo’s departure we held a great council, and
agreed that we had better empty the little creek we had
dammed to prevent the fish from going out, and see if we
would meet with good fortune there. So we took our
kettle with us7 and every thing else that could draw
water, and started, leaving our camp entirely unprotect-

 

 

 

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DRAINING 0 UR FISHPOND. 2 I 9

ed. I need not tell you that we had our guns, and plen-
ty of powder, shot, and bullets. ,

It was no small work to empty this creek or little
pond, I can assure you. For hours we went on dipping
our kettles and baskets and throwing the water out, until
at last the water became shallow, and we could see great
quantities of ground fish, called m'ozz', together with
other Parge ones whose names I forget. These niozi are
splendid little fishes, and the natives think a great deal
of them. In the dry season a great many are caught,
and they are smoked and kept for hard times.

We made a bountiful harvest, and had to make bask-
ets with the branches of trees in order to carry our loads
to the camp. Then we lighted fires under our oralas to
smoke the fish, and after cooking we ate some of them.

We had had a grand success with the fish, and now
we determined to try our hands at a wild boar hunt,
which is certainly one of the most difficult, for the wild
boar is very shy in these forests; but when fat, the ani-
mal is the nicest game one can kill, for the flesh is very
savory and delicious.

And successful we were. Two large enormous wild
boars were bagged, one of them by myself—a splendid
fellow, weighing several hundred pounds. We were
very thankful that these two fellows were killed within
about two miles from the camp. We disemboweled
them, cut their hind and fore quarters apart, and the
rest of the body in large pieces, and brought the meat to
the camp. We had to make several journeys, till I be-
gan to feel so tired that I wished the boar meat any-
where else, but we must make hay while the sun shines.

In the evening we had bright fires under the oralas.

 

 

 

 

220 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

This is the way to smoke meat here: we boil the meat
for a short time, and then put it over the fire on the
oralas, and leave it there until it is perfectly smoked.

What a splendid flavor, and how nice the meat would
have been if we could only have some plantains to eat
with it! When is Gambo coming? How near is he
on the road? Have the elephants or gorillas destroyed
the plantation of plantain-trees where they have'gone?
Such were the questions we asked ourselves. People
can not live on fish and meat alone. That evening we
fed on boar’s meat, thankful for having been so success-
ful.

The next morning the voice, or rather the peculiar
whistle agreed upon outside, told us that Gamho had
come. I was the first to peep my head above the fence,
when I saw friend Grambo and Njali and Nola loaded
with plantain and cassada, and we gave them a grand
hurrah of welcome.

I wish you could have seen the face of Gambo as he
looked at the wild-boar meat which was being smoked;
he was tremendously hungry, he said, as soon as he saw
the meat. So we prepared food ourselves for them, as
we wanted them to rest, they looked so tired. They ate
such quantities of wild boar! I was glad they had
brought some Cayenne pepper with them and some lem-
ons. I had some salt, but no one could take any without
my permission. ,

We remained in the camp all day, lying down on our
beds of leaves and taking naps from time to time, my
men meanwhile smoking their pipes and telling stories.
Gambo swore that he saw a ghost, a real evil spirit, and
they all believed it except myself. We had a grand

 

 

 

A NIGHT IN CAMP. ' . 221

time listening to Gambo’s stories. The boys swore that
what Gambo said was all true. They had seen the
ghost too.

If you could have had a peep at us, you would have
seen us inside of our fortress by the side of a bright fire
round our orala, enjoying and warming ourselves. We
J were perfectly happy; how the'men seemed to enjoy
their smoke of tobacco! Malaouen had been collecting
some palm wine, and each of them had had a good.
draught of the beverage—the empty calabash was now
lying by their side.

Our nehombi and ncheri were getting somewhat
tame, and were lying on the ground'not far from us.
They had got accustomed to the fire and to ourselves.
Our dogs were there also; the poor fellows had had a
hard fare of late. .

Each one of us had one hand resting on his gun, which
was supported by a forked stick, stuck in the ground
for that purpose, and our hunting-bag was hung by
the side of the gun. In our bags we had each of us a
flask full of powder, two or three scores of bullets, and
shot of two or three sizes. we could seize all these in
an instant, if danger were to threaten us. In such a wild
country people must never fancy themselves secure, and
must‘be always ready for any emergency, for any fight-
ing against the savages, or against the attacks of the
ferocious leopard; and I got so accustomed to carry
arms that I never left my gun by itself if I went any-
where, however short the distance might be; my re~
volvers, of course, hanging always by my side.

I was dressed with the clothes I had made from the
skins of wild animals. I wish I could have gone into

 

 

 

 

222 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

the woods like my men, that is to say, with almost noth-
ing to cover them.

If you could have had a peep at us, you would have
seen us as I have just been describing ourselves to you ;
and I have no doubt many of you would have been
glad to join our party. I love to look back upon those
days. It was a wild life indeed, one that no civilized
man had led before me, for no one had ever gone into
such a country.

Friend Malaouen then told us the story of a leopard,
and began thus:

“ When I was a boy our clan lived on the banks of
the Rembo Ngouyai, a river which flows the other side
of the Ashankolo Mountains, and which you have not
seen, Chaillee. ,

“ The Village where my parents lived was very large,
and, as the people were always at war, it was fenced
about. While there, one of our men disappeared, and
was changed into a leopard. From that time people
from time to time began to disappear; they were car-
ried away by that leo ard, and we could only see the
clots of blood left behind, but could not trace them into
the woods. We were afraid—for nothing is so terrible
as a leopard that was once a man. No spear can go
through him, no trap can ever catch him, and woe to the
man who ever tries to face the beast ;” and, as Malaouen
said this, his face and that of Querlaouen and Gambo

contracted themselves with fear; their superstitions were «

very strong, and overcame the great courage they pos-
sessed. I could hear distinctly the breathing of each
man, as by instinct each seized his gun near by.

Then Malaouen continued :

 

A WOMAN CHANGED INTO A LEOPARD. 223

“ One day several women had gone to the plantation
with me, and as we returned to the Village, it was just
getting dark, when 10! I heard a tremendous, a fearful
scream from the woman ahead of me, and I had just
tithe to see through the darkness a tremendous leopard
carrying her away into the woods. We all shouted, but
in vain. A11 became silent; the leopard had disappear-
ed with its prey. Fear seized upon us, and we made off
for the Village with the utmost speed.

“ When we brought the news, there was great conster-
nation and wailing, for the woman who had been taken
away was very beautiful.

“ The next day we danced round the mbuiti, and the
mbuiti told us that we should kill the leopard.

“ S0 thirty men prepared themselves for the hunt.
We cooked the war dish, bled our hands, covered our-
selves with our war fetiehes, marked our bodies with the
ochre of the Alumbi, invoked the Spirits of our ancestors
to be with us, and departed.

“ The day before some people came to the place where
they had seen the leopard’s footprints, and not far off was
a tremendous. jungle, very thick, and several trees had
been brought down by a tornado. The leopard’s lair was
there.

“ At last we came round the lair. Some said the leop-
ard was not there, while others said he was. In the mean
time we shouted, and all the time our spears were in read-
iness, and the dogs were barking; we had a hope that it
would spring on one of them, then we would transpierce
it with our spears.

“ When a man who said the leopard was not there
first entered the jungle, he had hardly made a step into

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

224 ' WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQ UATOR.

it, when 10! a terrible cry sprung from among us. The

~ leopard, which was probably watching,'with a tremendous
leap sprung on the intruder, his claws fastened deeply into
his shoulder, and the teeth of his powerful jaws holding.
the neck of the man, who uttered a fearful shriek. ‘In
less time than I can tell you the leopard was covered
with the spears that had gone through him; he dropped
down dead with the man whom he had killed.”

They all shouted7 “Yes, this leopard had been once a
man who was possessed with witchcraft.”

My breath was becoming short with excitement, and
I was glad when the story was over, for the sweat was
fast coming down from my face.

We turned the meat on the other side on the orala,
and left our three native dogs, Kambi, Goa and Andeko,
to take care of the premises (they were now lying by the
fires, enjoying the heat thoroughly), and then we went to
sleep.

During the night I woke, thinking I heard a boom-
ing sound like that of heavy footsteps, when the dogs
began to bark, and soon I heard a crash through the for-
est. It was a herd of elephants which was wandering
not far from us, and then the forest resumed its wonted
stillness.

Now I had remained a long time at the head-waters
of the Ovenga—a long time has gone by since the last
chapter. Months had been spent in that region, and I
thought now of descending the river to Visit my settle-
ment of Washington on the sea-side. It was high time.
I was still suffering from fever attacks, and had not
quinine enough left for a large dose.

Not only was I sick, but also poor and ragged. My

 

DESIRE TO RETURN 225

clothes were torn and patched, and I looked in reality
very little better than my negro friends. My stock of
powder was small, my bullets were nearly exhausted,
and my small shot were almost gone. I was wearing my
last pair of shoes. My goods were all gone, and skins Of
animals made a great part of my garments.

The numerous hardships of this long trip ; the sleeping
night after night in wet clothes; the tramping through
rain, through rivers, and under the hot sun; the sufierings
from the intolerable gouamba, and the still less tolerable
starvation; the attacks ofIfeirer that followed one upon
the other— all these had done their work upon me.
Food had been scarce, very scarce for a long time, and I
7 began to feel as if I wanted a long rest. I wanted to
breathe the salt air; I wanted to see the deep blue sea,
and to look at the waves which came in heavy surfs upon
the beach; I wanted to see that sea on which I expected-
to sail one day for home.

Do you not think that I deserved to go back? I had
worked hard, very hard. I had made beautiful collec-
tions; and I was to carry with me gorillas, hippopotami,
manitee, nshiego-mbouvé, kooloo-kamba, no end of birds
(more than two thousand), a great many monkeys, and ,
the skins of several hundreds of animals. I had work-
ed hard to kill them, and worked still harder to stuff
them, hunting them during the day, and preparing their
skins during the night. So I told friend Quengueza we
must go.

I called the Bakalai together and told friend Obindji
that his Ntangani must leave him. As soon as I said this,
the 01d chief said, “ Neshi (no). What Will Obindji do
without his Ntangani ?” They all shouted, “ What shall

K 2

 

 

 

226 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR.

we do. without our Ntangani?” The women shouted,
“ Chaillee, you must not go l”

Gambo, Malaouen, and Querlaouen made long faces
and were sad, for we had a real affection for each other,
we were such great friends, and how could it be otherwise?
We had braved danger together; we had gone through
hardships and starvation together; many and many a
night had we spent together in the forest. Of any wild
animal they killed I was sure to have a piece; the best
plantains were sure to be mine; the nicest fishes their
women caught they brought to me. How kind they
were to me, how gentle! No children could have been
more docile, and yet how fierce, how brave, when the
day of battle or of danger came!

I was sorry to leave, for I had come to love these wild
men who had never seen a white man before. I had
also a kind of affection for the country, where, in the dis-
covery of new and strange animals, I had enjoyed one of
the greatest pleasures a naturalist can have. The rough
life was forgotten when I looked at my precious collec-
tions7 and the thought of a gorilla even now enabled me
to shake off the fever, and gave strength to my feeble
limbs.

Quengueza, too, was tired of bush life, and had several
times sworn that he had never known a man like me;
that he could not understand what was moving me; that
I had a heart of njego (leopard). His Majesty called
those Bakalais his bushmen, and to whateyer village he
would set his foot he had a right at once to at least a
Wife.

‘Quengueza is the best friend I ever had in Africa, in-
deed one of the best friends I ever had anywhere. This

 

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PARTING DEMONSTRA TIONS: 2 2 9

01d and powerful chief—the dread in his younger days
of all the tribes around—the man whom every body re-
spected, the man whose word was law, was gentle with
me, was kind to me, and never did a single mean thing,
never took any advantage of me; and whatever I said
was sure to be attended to, if possible.

Going to a hunt, his last words were always to those
who went with me, “ Take care of my white man ;” and,
as he often said, if he had been a young man he would
have gone with us. Every fowl or goat he had he gave
to me, every bit of game his slaves or his friends killed
for him was mine, and when we travelled in company we
always ate together, and we always managed to make a
pleasant table. For I wanted to show these people the
difference between civilized and savage life, and Quen-
gueza always ate with a fork and on a plate. I love old
Quengueza, and it makes me happy to think that he
knows I love him. . .

As we were preparing to go, my Bakalai friends came
in with presents of provisions. Baskets of cassava,
smoked-boar hams, smoked fishes, sweet potatoes, were
brought as free-will offerings.

Malaouen, Gambo, and Querlaouen were always near
me, their wives came every day to see me, and their chil-
dren were always around me. All the Bakalai seemed to
me to be kinder than ever.

Good Obindji seemed so sorry! The evening before
my departure I called him into my hut and gave him a
nice coat and a red cap, which I had kept especially for
him, and to his head wife I gave a necklace of large
beads. I did not forget friends Malaouen, Gambo, and
Querlaouen.

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2 30 ?VILD LIFE UNDER THE E’Q UA T 0B.

When' the morning arrived, our canoes were on the
beach. I was on the shore ready to embark; Obindji
stood near me; every woman and man brought to me a
parting gift. I was very much touched by their simple
ways. ’

When all was ready for a start, Macondai, my boy,
fired a gun, and then I swung the American flag to the
breeze, the first time that it or any other flag of a civilized
nation was over these waters. The people shouted, and
we were off; and as we glided down, and before we disap-
peared by the bend of the river, I saw Obindji’s hand
waving farewell to me. '

Presently several miles down the stream we passed
Querlaouen’s plantation. He and his kind wife and their
children stood on the shore and beekoned-me to‘stop.
We paddled in, and the good fellow silently put into my
canoe another smoked-boar ham, while his wife gave me
a great basket of sweet potatoes. As we started away
again, the wife shouted, “When you come back bring
me some beads.” The children cried out, “ When you
come back bring us some clothes.” But old Querlaouen
stood still and silent, like a black statue, until, by a turn
of the river, he was lost to our sight.

Quengueza accompanied me to Washington and Bia-
gano, and all of the Goumbi people that had canoes accom-
panied us, beating tam-tams, singing songs, and firing
guns as we descended the stream.

Quengueza was bringing back safely to Ranpano his
friend Chaillee. At last we reached the place where the
old bamboo house was, and the whole population turned

out to receive me, headed by King Ranpano and old
Rinkimongani, my housekeeper, and brother to the

 

 

A U REVOIR: 2 31

King. I found my house undisturbed, all my valuables
and goods safe, and my live stock on hand and in good
condition, and made old Rinkimongaui very proud by
expressing my satisfaction. He said, “ Now you tell me

what I stole ?” And King Ranpano exclaimed, “ Ah! we ,

don’t steal from our white man. We are people, we have
a heart that feels, we love our white man, for he is the
first that ever came to live among us.”

And nowI must say good-by again to you; and I
wish that, in reading this book, you may think that you
have been travelling with me for a while in the great
forests of the Equatorial regions of Africa. I have many
more things to say to you, but will wait far another year
before I do so. ,

I hope that I have been able to instruct as well as to
amuse you, and that, as the years go by, and you become
men and women, you may remember some of the stories
'I have told you. Some of you, no doubt, have seen me,
while others do not know me. My great wish is that
you may think kindly of me, and remember him who
will always be happy to call himself the boys7 and girls’
friend.

 

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