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CHAPTER XVI
THE HIPPOPOTAMUS – A SPECK OF WAR – REACH NGOLA – A SUNDAY TALK – THE BLACK MAN'S GOD AND THE WHITE MAN'S GOD – HOW KING NJAMBAI PUNISHED HIS WIFE – WE BUILD AN OLAKO IN THE WOODS
Sunrise found us under way again; and before us lay a fine stretch of prairie, on the farther borders of which were quietly grazing several herds of buffaloes, which, as we approached them, quickly ran into the woods. While they remained in sight they gave the country a civilized appearance; it looked like a large grazing farm in June, with cattle, and hay almost ready for harvest; a fine, quiet, old-country picture here in the wilds of Africa, that reminded me so much of home scenes that I felt happy and elated.
We pushed on rapidly in order to travel as far as possible before the heat of the day should set in. We came to a large pool or lakelet; and, while looking at the water, I suddenly saw something strange coming out from under its surface. It was a hippopotamus – the first I had seen. I thought it was a log of wood; then I fancied it was the head of a horse; for certainly, from a distance, the head of a hippopotamus looks like that of a horse. Then I heard a great grunt, and down went the head under the water. Suddenly a number of the animals made their appearance; there were at least a dozen of them. They began sporting in the water, now popping their huge heads out and snorting, and then diving to the bottom and remaining there for some time.
I watched them for a while, and then I took my gun, intending to send a bullet into the head of one and haul him ashore; but Aboko said they would sink to the bottom. Not wishing to kill one of these creatures for nothing, I took Aboko's advice, and we went away.
We had not met a single human being since we left Sangatanga till now. As we journeyed, I saw in the distance what I at first took to be a herd of buffaloes, but soon perceived it was a caravan of natives coming in our direction. Immediately we looked at our guns; for in this country there is no law, and every man's hand is against his brother. We saw that they, too, prepared for an encounter; that most of them hid in the grass, watching. Four fellows came towards us to reconnoitre, and to ask if it was peace or war, when suddenly they got a glimpse of me, and I do not know how, but they at once saw, from the fact of my being there, that there would be no war. They shouted to their companions to come and see the Otangani.
They were Shekianis, who, as I have said, are a very warlike people, and this part of the country, I was told, was thickly inhabited by them. We left them in the midst of their wonders, and travelled as fast as we could, for we wanted to reach a village of their tribe, named Ngola, whose chief was a friend of King Bango, and was his vassal, having married one of his daughters.
At last, after much travelling, we reached the village of Ngola. As we approached, and as soon as the women caught sight of me, they ran screaming into the houses. Njambai, the chief, received us very kindly, and gave me a house to live in.
Ngola was a very pretty village, and the house I lived in belonged to Shinshooko, the brother of the chief. You will agree with me that Shinshooko had a funny name. He was a worthy fellow, and tolerably honest, too, for he gave me the key of one of his doors – (I wonder where he got the old padlock that was on it) – and he recommended me to shut my door every time I went away, as the people might steal something.
Sunday came; I remained in the village. They all understood the Oroungou language so I could speak to them. I told them there was no such thing as witchcraft, and that it was very wrong to accuse people of it and kill them; that there was only one God, who made both the whites and the blacks, and we should all love Him. This elicited only grunts of surprise and incredulity. They all shouted that there were two gods, – the God of the Ntangani (white men) and the God of the Alombai (black men). The God of the black men had never given them anything, while the God of the white men had sent them guns, powder, and many other fine things. Then Shinshooko remarked, "You have rivers of alongon (rum) flowing through your land. When I go to Sangatanga I taste it at King Bango's; how much I should like to live on the banks of such rivers!" They would not believe that we had only rivers of water like theirs; and that we ourselves made our powder, and guns, and rum also.
I stayed for a few days in the village of Ngola, where the people were very kind to me. One day I heard a woman crying out, as if she were in great pain. Asking what was the matter, a man told me the king was punishing one of his wives; and others said that, if I did not go to her help, she might be killed. I hurried to the king's house, and there, in front of the verandah, a spectacle met my eyes, which froze my blood with horror. A woman was tied by the middle to a stout stake driven into the ground. Her legs were stretched out and fastened to other smaller stakes, and stout cords were bound round her neck, waist, ankles, and wrists. These cords were being twisted with sticks; and when I arrived the skin was bursting from the terrible compression. The poor woman looked at me. The king was in a perfect rage; he himself was the chief executioner. His eyes were blood-shot, and his lips were white with foam. I had to be careful in expostulating with the king, for fear that he might kill her at once, in a fit of rage. I walked up, and, taking him by the arm, I asked him for my sake to release the poor woman, and not to kill her. He seemed to hesitate; he did not answer, and went into his house. I threatened to leave if he did not release her. Finally he consented, and said: "Let her loose yourself; I give her to you."
How glad I was! I rushed out immediately and began to untie the savage cords, and to cut them away with my knife. The poor creature was covered with blood. I sent her to my house and took care of her. I learned that she had stolen some of her husband's beads.
After this, I left the Shekiani village of Ngola and went on my journey with my friends, Aboko and Niamkala. We travelled on, till, on reaching a place in the midst of a forest, not far from a little lake, we determined to build an olako; for I liked the country so much that I did not want to leave it. There were a great many wild animals in the neighbourhood, and we thought the place was likely to afford us good sport, especially as the lake would draw beasts down to its banks to drink. We were not only near water, but we had a wide stretch of forest and prairie-land about us. We worked very hard that day, building and arranging our encampment, in such a way as to make everything comfortable and secure. Of course we selected the prettiest part of the forest, and where there were many tall and shady trees. We first cut the underbrush from under the trees, and also many of the vines or creepers, which looked very singular as they hung down over our heads. Then we collected a great number of large leaves, which are called by some tribes shayshayray and guaygayrai, to roof our sheds with. After this we proceeded to cut a number of small sticks, seven or eight feet long, and began to construct our habitations. Then we cut branches of trees to shield us from the wind, and collected a great quantity of firewood, for we had made up our minds to keep ourselves warm. After we had arranged and lighted the fires, our camp looked quite like a little village. It was very romantic and beautiful. I had arranged my own shelter very nicely; and it was first in the row. To be sure, my bed was rather hard, being composed of sticks and leafy branches; while for a pillow I had merely a piece of wood.
In the midst of our work, ten slaves of Njambai came, laden with provisions, which the good fellow had sent after me. After doing a hard day's work, I think we deserved to rest comfortably in the evening. We began cooking our dinner; and a right good dinner it was. My men had monkey and buffalo-meat; but I had a nice fat fowl, which my friend Njambai had sent me.
Before dinner I warned my men to be honest, and keep their fingers at home. They were good fellows, but I found that all savages will steal. So I threatened to kill the first man I caught meddling with my property, and told them I would shoot without mercy; "and then," said I, with great sternness, "when I have blown your brains out, I will settle the matter with your king." To which Aboko coolly replied that the settlement was not likely to do them any particular good.
Of course they all protested that they were honest; but I knew them better than they knew themselves; I knew the effect of temptation on them, poor fellows! and had more confidence in their faith that I would kill the thief than I had in their good resolutions.
When this little matter was settled, they drew around the blazing fire. By this time, the buffalo-meat suspended in a huge kettle over the fire was cooked and ready to be eaten; the monkeys had been roasted on charcoal; my fowl had been cooked; and before us was a great pile of roasted plantain. We enjoyed a hearty meal together; I eating off a plate, and using a fork, while the black fellows took fresh leaves for plates, and used the "black man's fork," as they call their five fingers. After dinner, they drank a large calabash-full of palm wine that had been brought from Ngola; and then, to crown their feast, with the greatest delight of all, I went to one of my boxes, and, lifting the lid, while the shining black faces peered at me with saucer-eyes of expectation, I took out a huge plug of Kentucky tobacco. There was a wild hurrah of joy from them all. They shouted that I was their friend; they loved only me; they would go with nobody else; I was their good spirit; I was like one of themselves. I distributed the tobacco among them; and in a few minutes all were lying about the fire, or seated round it, with their pipes in their mouths.
After making the fire burn brightly I, being tired, went and lay down, as you see me in the picture. My blanket was the only article of bedding I had; I wrapped this around me, and rested my head on my wooden pillow, which I assure you was not of the softest kind. I felt pleased to see my men so contented. Their wild stories of hunting adventures, of witchcraft, and evil spirits well fitted the rude, picturesque surroundings; and they lay there talking away, till, at last, I was obliged to remind them that it was one o'clock, and time to go to sleep, especially as some of us were to get up very early and go hunting. Then all became silent, and soon we all fell asleep, except the men appointed to keep the fires bright, on account of the leopards, and also to watch that we might not be surprised by some enemy.
CHAPTER XVII
AN UNSUCCESSFUL HUNT FOR ELEPHANTS – I TAKE AIM AT A BUFFALO – A LEOPARD IN THE GRASS NEAR US – WE SHOOT THE LEOPARD AND HER KITTEN – GREAT REJOICING IN CAMP – WHO SHALL HAVE THE TAIL? – A QUARREL OVER THE BRAINS – THE GUINEA HENS – THE MONKEYS
Early the next morning, Aboko and I got up. Aboko covered himself with his war fetiches, and also with the fetiches that were to bring good luck, and give him a steady hand. On the middle of his forehead was a yellow spot made with clay. When he had finished these preparations we started.
Our desire was to kill elephants. We saw plenty of tracks, and we hunted all day long. In many places, to judge by the tracks, the elephants had been only an hour or two before ourselves. But we did not see a single elephant, and I killed only a few monkeys for my men's dinner, as well as a few birds.
We were returning to the camp, rather down-hearted, when I heard the cry of the grey male partridge, of which I have already spoken, calling for his mates to come and perch on the tree he had chosen. We turned back to get a shot, if possible, for they are fine eating. We were just on the edge of the forest; and, as I pushed out into the prairie, suddenly I saw several buffaloes, one of which I made sure of as he stood a little in advance of the rest, where the grass was high enough for a stealthy approach. I immediately put a ball into the barrel that had only shot, so that I might have my two barrels loaded with bullets. Then Aboko and I advanced slowly towards the unconscious bull, which stood a fair mark, and I was about to raise my gun when Aboko made a quick sign to hold still and listen. Aboko, at the same time, breathed as if he were smelling something.
I did not know why it was that Aboko had stopped me, but I knew there must be better game at hand, or some other good reason for his doing so. Perhaps he had heard the footstep of an elephant. I looked at his face, and saw that it appeared anxious.
As we stood perfectly motionless, I heard, at apparently a little distance before us, a low purring sound, which might have been taken, by a careless ear, for the sound of the wind passing through the grass. But to Aboko's quick ear it betokened something else. His face grew very earnest, and he whispered to me "Njego" (leopard).
What were we to do? The noise continued. We cocked our guns, and moved, slowly and cautiously, a few steps ahead, to get a position where we thought we might see over the grass. The leopard might pounce upon us at any moment. What would prevent him from doing so if he chose? Certainly not our guns, for we did not know exactly where the beast was. To tell you the truth, I did not feel comfortable at all; I had a slight objection to being carried away in the jaws of a leopard and devoured in the woods.
Our situation was far from being a pleasant one. The leopard comes out generally by night only, and nothing but extreme hunger will bring him out of his lair in open day. When he is hungry, he is also unusually savage, and very quick in his motions.
We knew the animal was near, but we could not succeed in getting a sight of him. As the wind blew from him towards us, I perceived plainly a strong peculiar odour which this animal gives out; and this fact proved, still more decidedly, that the leopard could not be far off. The thought passed through my mind: Is he watching us? Is he coming towards us – crouching like a cat on the ground, and ready to spring upon us when near enough? Do his eyes penetrate the grass which we cannot see through? If so, is he ready to spring?
Meantime our buffalo-bull stood stupidly before his herd, not twenty yards from us, utterly innocent of the presence of so many of his formidable enemies – the leopard, Aboko, and myself.
Just then we moved a little to one side, and, peering through an opening in the grass, I beheld an immense leopard, a female, with a tiny young leopard by her side. The beast saw us at the same moment, having turned her head quickly at some slight noise we made. She had been watching the buffalo so intently as not to notice our approach. It seemed to me as if a curious look of indecision passed over her face. She, too, had more game than she had looked for, and was puzzled which to attack first. Her long tail swished from side to side, and her eyes glared, as she hesitated for a moment to decide which of the three – the bull, Aboko, or me – to pounce upon and make her victim.
But I saved her the trouble of making up her mind; for, in far less time than it takes me to tell you what took place, I had put a ball into her head, which, luckily for us, relieved her of further care for prey. She dropped down dead. At the same moment Aboko fired into the little leopard and killed it. At the noise of the guns, the buffalo-bull and the herd decamped in the opposite direction, at a tremendous pace, the bull little knowing the circumstances to which he owed his life.
I felt much relieved, for I had never before been in quite so ticklish a situation, and I felt no particular desire ever to be in a similar plight again.
When we returned to the camp there was a great excitement as soon as they heard the news that two leopards had been killed. Aboko carried in the young leopard on his back; but mine was too heavy, and had to be left in the field. Guns were fired in rejoicing; and the big leopard was fetched in. When the people returned with it to the camp, all shouted, "What an enormous beast! what an enormous beast! We heard gun firing," etc., etc.
In the midst of this noise Niamkala made his appearance with some of our party, bringing in some wild boars and a pretty little gazelle which the natives called ncheri. Of course the wild boars had been cut up into several pieces, for they were too heavy to carry whole.
Niamkala and his party were received with great cheers. The prospect of a good supper brightened all their faces, and mine also; and I shouted, "Well done, Niamkala and boys!"
Everything was brought to my feet. There was so much to eat that there was no use in dividing the meat into equal shares; so I let everyone take as much as he liked.
After supper the leopards were hung on a pole resting on two forked sticks; and then the negroes danced round them. They sang songs of victory, and exulted over and abused the deceased leopard (the mother). They addressed to her comical compliments upon her beauty (and the leopard is really a most beautiful animal). They said, "What a fine coat you have!" (meaning her skin). "We will take that coat off from you." They shouted, "Now you will kill no more people! Now you will eat no more hunters! Now you cannot leap upon your prey! What has become of the wild bull you were looking after so keenly? Would you not have liked to make a meal of Aboko or of Chaillie?" (for they called me Chaillie).
Thus they sang and danced round till towards morning, when I made them go to sleep.
Next morning there was great quarrelling among my men. What could be the matter? I found that Niamkala was declaring his determination to have the end of my leopard's tail, while the rest of the hunters asserted their equal right to it. Aboko said he did not care, as he would have the tail of the one he had killed.
I skinned the two leopards in the most careful manner, and gave the end of the tail to Niamkala, and I promised Fasiko to give him the tail of the next one I should kill. They all shouted, "I hope you will kill leopards enough to give to each of us a tail!"
Poor Fasiko looked very down-hearted. When I inquired why, he said, "Don't you know that when a man has the end of a leopard's tail in his possession he is sure to be fortunate in winning the heart of the girl he wants to marry?"
I said, "Fasiko, you have one wife, what do you care for a leopard's tail?"
He replied, "I want a good many wives."
The palaver about the tail was hardly over when another quarrel broke out. This time it was about the brains. Aboko, Niamkala, and Fasiko each wanted the whole brain of the animal. The others said they must have some too; that there was only one end to each tail, but that the brains could be divided among them all. For a few minutes a fight seemed imminent over the head of the leopard.
I said, "You may quarrel, but no fighting. If you do you will see me in the fight; and I will hit everybody, and hit hard too." At the same time I pointed out to them a large stick lying by my bedside. This immediately stopped them.
They all wanted the brain, they said, because, when mixed with some other charms, it makes a powerful monda (fetiche), which gives its possessors dauntless courage and great fortune in the hunt. Happily, I was able to persuade my three best hunters that they wanted no such means to bolster up their courage.
The dispute over the brains being settled, Aboko, in the presence of all the men, laid the liver before me. As this had no value or interest for me, since I was certainly not going to eat the liver of the leopard for my dinner, I was about to kick it aside, when they stopped me, and entreated me to take off the gall and destroy it, in order to save the party from future trouble. These negroes believe the gall of the leopard to be deadly poison, and my men feared to be suspected by their friends or enemies at Sangatanga of having concealed some of this poison. So I took off the gall, put it under my feet and destroyed it, and then, taking the earth in which it had been spilled, I threw it in every direction, for I did not want any of these poor fellows to be accused of a crime, and lose their lives by it. I intended to inform the king, on my return, that we had destroyed the liver. But I told my men that their belief was all nonsense, and a mere superstition. They said it was not. As I could not prove their notion to be false, I stopped the discussion by saying I did not believe it.
Having plenty of game, we carried the leopard-meat a long way off, and threw it away.
We did not go hunting for two days, but spent our time in smoking the meat we had on hand. It was just the sort of weather for hunting, and for living in the woods. The air was cool and refreshing, for it was June, and the dry season; but the sky was often clouded, which prevented the sun from being oppressive. To add to our pleasure, the forest trees were in bloom, and many of them were fragrant. The nights were very cold indeed for this country, the thermometer going down to sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. The wind blew hard, but against that we managed to protect ourselves. The dews were not nearly so heavy as they are in the rainy season. The grass was in great part burned off the prairies.
Every day we succeeded in shooting more or less game, among which were antelopes, gazelles, wild boars, monkeys without number, and guinea fowls. These guinea fowls were of a beautiful species. In this country you have never seen any like them.
My joy was great when I killed this hitherto unknown species of guinea-fowl (Numida plumifera). It is one of the handsomest of all the guinea-fowls yet discovered. Its head is naked, the skin being of a deep bluish-black tinge, and is crowned with a beautiful crest of straight, erect, narrow, downy feathers, standing in a bunch close together. The plumage of the body is of a fine bluish-black ground, variegated with numerous eyes of white, slightly tinged with blue. The bill and legs are coloured a blue-black, similar to the skin of the head.
This bird is not found near the seashore. It is very shy, but marches in large flocks through the woods. At night they perch on trees, where they are protected from the numerous animals which prowl about.
I killed several beautiful monkeys called by the natives mondi. What curious-looking monkeys they were! Only the stuffed specimen of a young one had been received in England before this time. The mondi is entirely black, and is covered with long shaggy hair. It has a very large body, and a funny little head, quite out of proportion to the size of the animal. It is a very beautiful monkey; the hair is of a glossy jet black; and it has a very long tail. In Africa no monkeys have prehensile tails; I mean by that, tails which they can twist round the branch of a tree, and so hang themselves with the head downwards. That kind of monkey is only found in South America.
The mondi has a dismal cry, which sounds very strangely in the silent woods, and always enabled me to tell where these monkeys were.
