In African Forest and Jungle

"Woe to any one who attacks us," I exclaimed to my men.

"Yes," shouted Rogala, his eyes shining with fierceness, "woe to them, for the Oguizi will show them how he fights."

It was good for me that these wild men thought I was endowed with extraordinary power. I never told them I was an Oguizi, or spirit, but I never told them I was not. My safety depended entirely on their superstitious regard for me. If it had not been so, and if they had thought I was a man like themselves, I should not have lived to tell the tale of my wanderings.

After five days of hard work our encampment was finished. By that time almost all our plantains had been eaten up, but we had all the cassava, and the cakes of it would last us a goodly number of days.

The women and the children now thought of returning home. We followed them as far as the river. They were soon in their canoes, taking only two with them. The other was left for us to use on our return. We bade them good-bye, and soon they were out of sight. Then we hid our canoe in the forest.

CHAPTER X

I TAKE A SWIM IN A CRYSTAL POOL – DRIVEN OUT BY A HUGE SNAKE – I KILL THE SNAKE – CAMP-FIRE TALK – HOW TO HUNT – IMPORTANCE OF SILENCE AND NOISELESS MOVEMENTS

After the departure of the women and children my hunters busied themselves in making traps to catch animals. I discovered not far from our camp a beautiful rivulet of clear water, which had a little waterfall, below which was a deep pool and a very good place for a swim. On my return to the camp I told Rogala of my discovery. He replied: "Oguizi, look out for snakes when you bathe, for there are several kinds of snakes that are very fond of being in the water. Some of these are very poisonous."

"I will look out sharply for them, Rogala. They can be easily seen, as the water is so clear," I replied.

Then I took a shot-gun with me, with a few bullets for emergency, in case of a large animal making its appearance suddenly, and left the camp for a swim, Rogala recommending me once more to look out for snakes.

When I came to the stream, I hung my clothes on the branch of a tree, put my gun near the water so that I could seize it in an instant if necessary, and two bullets by its side.

I went first under the waterfall. It was very refreshing, for not a breath of air could be felt. Then I looked in the pool. No snake was there, but just as I was ready to take a plunge I saw a big one creeping along the ground. I had hardly time to look at the reptile before it was in the water. The ugly creature was black, and yellow under the stomach – his head was triangular, thus showing that he was venomous – and about ten feet in length. The water did not appear to me nice any more. I rushed after my gun, then looked at the snake, which was swimming very fast and had the same motion as an eel. I dressed myself quickly, then, gun in hand, I watched for him to swim to the surface of the water. I had not to wait long before he appeared, when I fired the load of small shot, broke his back, and the reptile sank to the bottom.

Soon after I saw Rogala through the jungle coming towards me. He had heard the report of the gun, and came to see if I had killed anything. I pointed to the bottom of the pool. When he saw the snake, a broad grin of delight came over his face and he said: "The snake is big and fat, and we shall have plenty to eat." He cut a long, slender, cane-like tree, and succeeded with it in dragging the snake ashore. Then we returned to the camp.

Soon after a large piece of the snake was boiling, and Rogala was to have snake broth. I gave him a little salt to mix with it, to his great delight. When very hungry and having nothing else to eat, I often had to be contented with a meal of snake, but that day I had something else to eat.

In the evening, as we were seated by a bright fire that illumined our camp, my men filled their pipes with tobacco, lighted them, and after a few puffs Rogala broke the silence, and said: "Oguizi, while we are hunting in the forest we must not talk, but call each other's attention by a 'click, click,' which means with us poor black men to be on the lookout, to listen, as we must be very sly, like wild beasts, and walk as noiselessly as a leopard in search of prey. As we walk along, our eyes must be everywhere, our ears must listen. Unfortunately men have only two eyes; it is a pity they have not two other eyes at the back of their heads. Often men hide themselves behind a tree, and when you have passed they throw a spear at you. Hungry leopards often watch at the dusk of the day by the springs where women get their water and then leap upon them. But above all, let us try to be as noiseless when we go through the jungle as a fish swimming through the water. No man can hear a fish swim."

"It is so," shouted Shinshooko and Alapai, in approval of what Rogala had said.

Then we thought it was time to go to sleep. As I looked round, I saw that Ndova was asleep with his head hanging down, and that Andekko was stretched at full length by one of the fires that were burning round our shelters.

CHAPTER XI

ANOTHER EXCURSION – FOOTPRINTS OF GORILLAS (NGINAS) – LISTENING TO THE MONSTERS' ROARING – TWO OF THEM CALLING TO EACH OTHER – THEY GRADUALLY DRAW NEAR TO EACH OTHER AND TO US – THEY MEET AND WE SLEEP IN THE FOREST – SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF THE MALE NGINA – KILLING OF THE NGINA AND HIS MATE

We were up early, and had all slept well. After our breakfast we started, but before doing so we hid our ladder and also an axe as a precaution in case our abode should be discovered and our ladder stolen.

Shinshooko and Alapai were to visit the traps to see if any game had been caught. Rogala and I were to reconnoitre and see where the game was to be found. Ndova and Andekko remained in the camp.

We had been gone about two hours, and had seen several footprints of gorillas; so we knew that they were in the neighborhood. Suddenly Rogala stopped, and said in a whisper: "Oguizi, listen."

His quick ear had heard a noise far, far away. I listened, and soon heard what I thought was the reverberation of thunder among the hills. The noise seemed to be on our right. Rogala listened attentively, and then whispered "Ngina" (gorilla). The noise was made by a gorilla and was renewed from time to time.

While listening, Rogala's quick sense of hearing caught another noise in the far distance, this time on the left, somewhat similar to the one on the right. He listened attentively and then said, "Ngina." It was another ngina, who was answering the talk of her mate.

Then he whispered to me: "Oguizi, there are two nginas talking to each other, the one on our right is the man ngina, the one on our left is the woman ngina, and she answers him."

They were a few miles from each other, and we were about midway between the two. We followed the path which seemed to be half-way between them, looking at our guns carefully in order to be ready for any emergency.

As we walked, we could hear them talk to each other, one answering after the other stopped. It was a real ngina conversation. I could detect the different intonations.

We walked several miles, all the time hearing the two gorillas continuously talking to each other. Rogala said to me: "There is not food enough for the two together, so they have separated in order that each may have enough to eat."

After a while their voices came nearer and nearer, and our position became, I thought, dangerous.

Rogala said in a very low tone: "The nginas are going to meet before night; for they will sleep very near together."

Louder and louder their guttural roar-like sounds came. At last they seemed to be abreast of us, one on either side. I asked Rogala in a very low tone: "Have the nginas scented us?"

"No," he replied in a whisper; "they are talking to each other, and will gradually meet as they come along picking berries and fruits. The nginas can see wonderfully well through the jungle. So let us stand perfectly still.

"The female ngina always runs away," continued Rogala. "It is the male ngina that fights, but both are afraid of noise, and when they hear it they go in an opposite direction. It is only when the male is suddenly surprised by the appearance of a man that he attacks him, or when he is tired of being followed or tracked. Then he makes a stand. Then it is a fight for life."

There was no mistake. The nginas were abreast of us, and we were not more than half a mile from each. But soon the voices or sounds gradually seemed to be ahead of us and became more and more distant. They had passed us.

"After they meet," said Rogala, "the female ngina, as it is getting late, will go up a tree to sleep with her baby if she has one, and the big fellow will sleep at the foot of the tree, his back resting against its trunk, and there keep watch. We will sleep in the forest to-night. We have koola nuts in our bags, and we will eat these for our evening and morning meals, and we will go after the nginas to-morrow at daybreak."

The nginas' tremendous voices gradually died away, till one might have thought it was the dying reverberation in the far distance of claps of thunder.

We slept at the foot of a large tree, and made a very small fire, for we did not dare to sleep without one. We had collected the firewood very quietly.

At daylight we were up, and followed the path leading towards the place where we thought the gorillas had slept. We had walked several miles, and I was ahead of Rogala, when suddenly I thought I heard the breaking of branches ahead of me. Could it be possible that a camp of natives was on our way. I thought perhaps I had made a mistake, and that the noise had been made by elephants either breaking branches with their trunks or trampling in the jungle and breaking the saplings in their path. I lay flat, putting my ear to the ground, but did not hear the heavy footsteps of elephants. I got up and said to myself: "It is a heavy dead limb of a tree that fell and was the cause of the noise I heard." Nevertheless I walked more slowly to give time to Rogala to overtake me. I had gone but a little way when I heard the breaking of another sapling or tree-branch; then I stopped and waited for Rogala.

Soon after I saw him coming, and I gave the "click" warning, made with my tongue striking my palate.

At this sign Rogala stood still. I beckoned him to come to me. I could not hear his footsteps as he walked towards me. No leopard or night prowler in search of prey could have made less noise.

As he came near me, I put one of the fingers of my right hand upon my lips. This meant, "Be silent, do not say a word." Then I put my left hand to my ear; that meant, "Listen."

We remained silent looking anxiously at each other. Suddenly another breaking of a limb of a tree was heard. Rogala knew the cause of the noise, and whispered, "Ngina."

We looked at each other without saying a word, then looked at our guns. They were all right. Then Rogala took the lead, and followed the path, for the noise we heard came from that direction.

After a short walk we saw the branches of a tree moving and being swayed to and fro by the ngina. The tree was loaded with large fruits of the size of oranges. The monster was breaking the branches, and when they had fallen on the ground plucked the fruit.

The jungle was so thick around the tree that we could not see the huge creature. So we lay flat on the ground, and advanced towards the tree, separating the jungle on the right or on the left as we made our way towards the monster.

I was so excited that I could hear my heart beat; then I stopped.

The rustling ceased. We looked round and listened. There was no more noise. All was silent; not even the note of a bird or the pecking of a woodpecker was heard.

I was just concluding that the huge creature had departed, when suddenly we heard on our left three most terrific yells following each other In succession. These yells were followed by roars that filled the forest with their din. I looked in the direction with my rifle ready to fire. Then I saw peeping through the leaves a black fierce face looking at us. It was a horrid sight. The brute's eyes were sunken, while a heavy overhanging ridge was over each. He gave vent to yell after yell, resembling somewhat the barking of an angry dog, but seeming to me a thousand times louder. These were followed by terrific roars, somewhat similar to those of lions, but louder. They reverberated through the forest, from hill to hill, and died away in the distance. The forest was filled with the echo of his horrid voice.

Then his whole body came in sight; he was advancing towards us, walking erect, to kill us. His short legs were scarcely strong enough to support his huge body. All at once he stopped and looked at us. How vindictive his eyes looked! They seemed to say to us: "You will soon be dead."

Then he beat his chest with his huge fist. How long and muscular were his powerful arms! How broad was his chest! His hair stood almost erect on his body, and the hair on his head moved up and down.

But our guns had been pointed at him from the moment we saw him, and just as he was ready to advance we fired in the direction of his heart, and the great monster fell like a human being, face forward, uttering a fearful groan, his limbs stretched out. Then all became silent. He was dead.

His arms extended measured nearly nine feet; around his chest measured nearly seven feet. He was nearly five feet ten inches in height. We skinned him on the spot, and hung his skin and skeleton on a branch of a tree.

The following morning we went after the skin and skeleton of the big beast Rogala and I had killed. I put arsenic on the skin and stuffed it with dry leaves.

CHAPTER XII

NDOVA AS A TEST OF POISONOUS FRUITS AND BERRIES – HE DISCOVERS A BEEHIVE – A FEAST OF HONEY – ANDEKKO'S USEFULNESS IN HUNTING – KOOLA NUTS – WE KILL TWO WILD BOARS – CAPTURE OF A BABY "MAN OF THE WOODS"

One day while out shooting birds, I came to a part of the forest where I saw several kinds of fruits and berries I had never seen before. Some were beautiful to look at and very tempting, but I did not dare to eat them for fear that they might be poisonous.

Remembering what Rotembo had told me about Ndova and other monkeys, – that they never made a mistake in regard to fruits, berries, or nuts, and never ate those that were poisonous, and threw them away if given to them, – I determined to go back to our camp and bring Ndova with me, and show him the fruits.

The following morning I took Ndova with me, leading him by a cord, for I was afraid of his running away. When I came to that part of the forest where I had seen so many berries, I tied Ndova to a tree, and went to collect them. On my return I gave the most tempting one to Ndova. He smelt of it and threw it away, giving at the same time that peculiar grunt of dissatisfaction which he always uttered when things did not please him. I gave him one of another kind with the same result. I began to think that all the berries I had collected were poisonous. I gave him a third one. He smelt of it and gave it a bite to taste it, then ate the rest with sounds of pleasure very unlike the grunts he had uttered before. Then I took him to the place where there were many of these berries. He ate a lot, and filled his pouches.

I myself ate many of these berries. They tasted very good. I was no longer afraid to eat them, for what was good for the monkey was good for me.

After a while I gave Ndova a berry of another kind, which he also ate. Seeing this, I put one in my mouth, but took it out quickly it tasted so bitter. So I found that Ndova and I had sometimes not the same taste, and that some of the fruits, berries, or nuts he ate, though they were not poisonous, were very unpalatable to me. But afterwards in other expeditions I had to eat them in order not to die of starvation.

The next morning Rogala and I took Ndova with us into the forest, and let him stay by himself. But in a short time he returned. He was in a very angry mood, expressed by peculiar sounds; his hair stood up straight, a sign that he was afraid and angry. Not knowing what the cause could be, we made ready for any emergency, and then went towards the place from which he had come. Soon we were rewarded by the sight of a number of bees round a big hole in a tree. Ndova had discovered a beehive, and, having been stung by bees before, he had come back to us. We were delighted and made preparations to smoke the bees out and get the honey. We did so, and there was a large quantity of it. We were so hungry that we ate the wax and dead bees and the honey all together. Ndova ate heartily with us.

After we had had our feast I petted Ndova and said to him: "Ndova, you have found honey for us, now help us to find some berries."

We continued our walk, and soon came upon fruit-bearing trees. I gave one of the fruits to Ndova, but he threw it away, giving a grunt of anger or dissatisfaction at the same time. These fruits were red and looked very tempting. I petted Ndova again, and said: "Thank you, Ndova, for showing me that this beautiful fruit is poisonous."

Further on I saw some nuts at the foot of a tree. I broke one and gave it to Ndova. He ate it; so the nuts were good. We took a quantity of these with us. Nuts are far more nutritious than berries, and more wholesome.

We returned to the camp and were received with great demonstrations of joy by Andekko. Ndova made at once for Andekko and got on his back. Andekko lay down, and Ndova began to play with his hair. They had a grand time together, for Andekko loved to be scratched.

After this I constantly took Ndova with me, and found him very useful in finding berries, and sometimes he walked by my side or rested on my shoulders without being tied. One day he ascended a tree full of small ripe fruits, uttered grunts of contentment at his discovery, and began to eat while I was looking at him. As I stood under the tree to get some of the fruits that fell on the ground, I wondered whether Ndova threw them at me intentionally or not. I picked them up and tasted them. I found that they had a pleasant acid taste. After a while Ndova came down the tree with the pouch on each side of his cheeks stretched to the utmost and filled with a stock of the fruits to be eaten when hungry.

I had noticed that Ndova was apparently always hungry, for monkeys can eat all the time.

We continued our way, and it was not long before Ndova began to take food from his pouches, and he soon emptied them. He seemed contented and happy; he evidently liked very much the fruits he had eaten.

While we were taking our breakfast, one morning, I said to Rogala: "To-day we will leave Ndova in the camp and take Andekko with us. We must try to kill some game and smoke the meat."

After our meal we made preparations to leave the camp. Andekko was delighted when he saw us handling our guns, for he knew from this that we were going hunting and would take him with us. We put Ndova into the house we had made for him; we did not wish to leave him attached to his pole, for we did not know what might happen. A big eagle might pounce upon him, and being tied up to his pole he would have no chance to flee. Perhaps a huge python or some other big snake might come within the enclosure and charm him, encircle him within its powerful coils, squeeze him to death, and swallow him. Ndova did not enjoy being shut up in his house, and made us understand it by his shrill cries of dissatisfaction as we went out.

Andekko was in high glee; he followed us for a little while, then wandered off into the forest by himself, and from time to time came back to us to make sure, probably, of our presence. He had left us for the fifth or sixth time, when suddenly we heard his barking; he was evidently after some gazelle or antelope. We knew that he was coming in our direction as his barking became louder and louder. We expected at every moment to see an antelope or gazelle pass before us. We were not mistaken. Erelong a beautiful antelope with large spiral horns appeared, followed by Andekko, barking at the beast in the fiercest manner. A well-directed shot brought the antelope down.

Then we cut the game to pieces, and made two "otaitais" (baskets to carry on the back), and we put a lot of the meat in them. On our return to the camp we built a big platform, upon which we put the meat and lighted fires to smoke it.

One day, not long after, Rogala said to me: "Oguizi, the boars are very fat just now, for they feed on koola nuts, and these are plentiful. I feel like having boar's meat to eat."

As he said this, his mouth seemed twice as large as usual. He evidently fancied he was eating fat boar's-meat. I agreed with him, and we decided on a boar-hunt. We put a lot of berries and nuts in the cage of Ndova, and left plenty of bones for Andekko, and departed for the hunting-ground where the boars might be found. Quite a distance from our camp we could still hear Andekko barking and the cries of Ndova.

We soon came to a koola tree and saw many nuts on the ground. We thought we would get a meal before the boars did, so we broke open many nuts and ate them. Afterwards we hid near the trees. We waited for a long time before any boars made their appearance. At last we heard their grunts, and soon after they were busy eating the koola nuts before us. We picked out two of them, fired, and killed them both. They were fat, as Rogala had said they would be. We could not carry all the meat with us, so it was agreed that Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai should return the next day to fetch what we could not take. On returning to camp, we built another platform for smoking the boar's-meat.

"Now," said I to Rogala, "we have plenty of meat, so we can go and hunt the 'men of the woods.'"

It was a curious coincidence that my hunters on their return from fetching the boar's-meat next day brought news of the "men of the woods." They said: "Oguizi, to-day we saw a place where the nshiego-mbouvés have been. They have come to feed on a peculiar fruit that is just getting ripe, and I am sure they will remain in the neighborhood where we saw their tracks for a time. Let us go there."

It was agreed that we would not fire at any other animals, even if we saw an elephant with the biggest of tusks. The men advised me to take "Bulldog" with me, for we might meet nginas, who also were fond of the fruit.

After a good night's rest we started, Rogala taking a net with him to throw over a baby nshiego-mbouvé or a baby ngina, if we should encounter any. We left Ndova and Andekko in the camp this time also.

After a long walk we approached the ground where the men expected to find nshiego-mbouvés. We were startled by the voices of two of them. They were talking to each other, – the male was calling for his mate, – and as it was getting toward sunset Rogala said: "He is calling his wife, for he thinks that it is time to go to bed."

"What do you mean, Rogala?" said I.

"These nshiego-mbouvés," he replied, "make resting-places upon the trees to sleep in at night. The 'man' has one place, the 'woman' another. Let us go carefully into the jungle and see if we can see their 'beds.'"

We did so, but found nothing, and decided to camp for the night, Rogala's net making a nice soft pillow for me. At dawn next day, when it was just light enough to see our way, we ate a light breakfast and started forward. We soon came to a part of the forest where there were many trees laden with the fruit Rogala had mentioned. Soon we saw places where two nshiego-mbouvés had been eating the day before, and where after their meal they had rested on their backs, side by side.

"See here," whispered Rogala; "there they rested, for they had eaten too much. They will remain in this region for a few days, for they find plenty to eat."

The others said: "We are sure to meet them if we are patient, but the nshiego-mbouvés are so shy that we must be extremely careful not to raise their suspicions, otherwise they will escape from us."

At last Rogala gave a "cluck," stopped, and looked at me. He put his finger upon his lips, a sign to keep perfectly still; then put his hands to his ears, which meant "Listen." We heard the voices of two nshiego-mbouvés close to us. They were talking in a sort of low tone or grunt. I looked at "Bulldog;" it was all right. Rogala looked at the pan of his gun; it was closed. He raised it; the powder was there. Then he closed it again.