CHAPTER XXVI
ANOTHER EXPEDITION TO LAKE ANENGUE – DIFFICULT PASSAGE UP THE RIVER – THE CROCODILES – KING DAMAGONDAI AND HIS TROUBLES – I BUY AN MBUITI, OR IDOL
One fine morning there was a great bustle on the banks of the river at Washington, where two canoes were loading. I was about to start on another expedition. I called King Ranpano and his people together and gave them charge of my property; I declared that if anything was stolen during my absence I should surely punish the thief.
They all protested that I need not even lock the doors of my house; and I believed them. The Biagano people loved me, and did not steal from me.
Then I counted my ten goats in their presence, and said that I wanted no leopard stories told me when I came back. At this they shouted and laughed. They declared that neither they nor the leopards should touch my goats.
I counted the fowls, and told them I wanted no snake stories about them. Another hearty laugh, and they all shouted that no snakes should gobble up my fowls. These matters having been satisfactorily arranged, I started with my canoes and a well-armed crew.
I was bound again for Lake Anengue, where I had been a few months before. It was now the dry season. We had armed ourselves well, for fear we might be interrupted, as some people came up this way to make plantations during the dry season and might dispute our advance; I determined to let no man bar the road to me.
The dry season was at its height, and I found the Npoulounay shallower than before. There was about fifteen feet less depth of water in the Ogobai during the dry season than there was in the rainy season. At this time the river was covered with muddy or sandy islands, many of which were left dry. The muddy islands were covered with reeds, among which sported the flamingo, a bird not seen here in the rainy season.
We pulled hard all day, and we slept the first night on a sandy island of the Ogobai river, under our mosquito-nets, of which I had laid in a store. These nets, which the natives also use, are made of grass cloth, which comes from the far interior, and does very well out doors, where it keeps out the dew as well as the mosquitoes, and protects the sleeper against the cold winds which prevail.
The next morning, when I awoke, I saw, for the first time, a fog in this part of Africa; it was very thick, but the sun drove it off. I sent out my fishing-net, and in a few minutes the men caught fish enough for supper and breakfast.
After our breakfast of fish and plantain, we paddled on up the stream. Though we had seen a few villages, we had not met a single canoe on the water, and nothing human, except a corpse that came down the river and ran against our canoe. It was probably the body of some poor wretch who had been drowned on account of witchcraft. The hands and feet were tied, so that when they threw him into the water he could not swim.
Finally we entered the Anengue; but this river we found was entirely changed since May. Then it was a deep, swift stream. Now its surface was dotted with numberless black mud islands, on which swarmed incredible numbers of crocodiles. We actually saw many hundreds of these disgusting monsters, sunning themselves on the black mud, and slipping off into the water to feed. I never saw such a horrible sight. Many were at least twenty feet long; and when they opened their frightful mouths they seemed capable of swallowing our little canoes without trouble. I wondered what would become of us all if, perchance, our canoe should capsize.
I determined to have a shot at these crocodiles, which seemed no wise frightened at our approach. Making my men paddle the boat quite near to them, I singled out the biggest and lodged a ball in his body, aiming at the joints of his fore legs, where the thick armour is defective. He tumbled over, and, after struggling in the water for a moment, sank into the mud. His companions turned their hideous snaky eyes down at him, in momentary surprise, but did not know what to make of it, and dropped back to their sluggish comfort. I shot another, but he sank also, and as my men did not like to venture into the black mud after them, we got neither.
As we ascended the stream, it branched off in several places, and became gradually narrower. Crocodiles were seen everywhere. At length we found ourselves pushing laboriously along through a deep crooked ditch, not more than two yards wide, and overhung with tall reeds, on which a great number of birds balanced themselves, as though enjoying our dilemma. We found this time, to my surprise, a tremendous current running. In May, the water of the lake had overflowed its shores, and its regular outlets had therefore no great pressure upon them. Now, this outlet was choked with water, which rushed through at such a rate that at some of the turns in the crooked channel we were actually swept back several times before we could make our way ahead. At one point, where the true outlets joined, we could not pass till I made the men smoke their condouquai, a long reed pipe, which seems to give them new vigour; I also gave them a sup of my brandy. This done, they gave a great shout and pushed through, and in an hour after we emerged into the lake, but not without tremendous exertions.
We now lay on our paddles and gazed about us. On one side the lake is bounded by hills which come close down to the shore; on the other side the hills recede, and between them and the water lies a dreary extent of low marsh, covered with reeds. Several towns were in sight, all located on the summits of hills.
The lake, alas! had changed with the season too. It was still a beautiful sheet of water; but all over its placid face the dry season had brought out an eruption of those black mud islands which we had noticed before, and on these reposed, I fear to say what number of crocodiles. Wherever the eye was turned these disgusting creatures, with their dull leering eyes and huge savage jaws, appeared in prodigious numbers. The water was alive with fish, on which I suppose the crocodiles had fat living; but pelicans and herons, ducks and other water-birds, also abounded, drawn hither by the abundance of their prey.
Paddling carefully past great numbers of crocodiles, into whose ready jaws I was by no means anxious to fall, and past several villages, whose people looked at us with mute amazement, we reached at last the town of Damagondai. A great crowd was assembled to receive us, headed by the king himself, who stood on the shore. Quarters were provided for me by his majesty, who, a short time after my arrival, presented me with a goat. He was dressed in the usual middle-cloth of the natives, and a tarnished scarlet soldier's coat, but was innocent of trousers. His welcome, however, was not the less hearty because the pantaloons were absent.
His town, which contains about fifty huts, lies on some high ground, at a little distance from the water. I distributed presents among the grey-beards, and beads among the women, and thus put them all in good humour.
Damagondai, the king, then insisted that I must get married to at least two or three women. He was amazed when I declined this flattering proposal, and insisted upon it that my bachelor life must be very lonely and disagreeable.
The king was a tall, rather slim negro, over six feet high, and well-shaped. In war, or in the chase, he had the usual amount of courage, but at home he was exceedingly superstitious. As night came on he seemed to get a dread of death; and at last began to groan that some of the people wanted to bewitch him, in order to get his property and his authority. Finally he would get excited, and begin to curse all witches and sorcerers. He would say that no one should have his wives and slaves; and that the people who wanted to kill him had better beware; the mboundou was ready.
Certainly poor Damagondai must have slept on the wrong side, as I told him afterwards, for the old fellow began to lecture his wives, telling them to love him and feed him well, for he had given a great deal of goods and slaves to their parents for them, and they were a constant expense to him. To all this the poor women listened with respect.
Damagondai and I were very good friends. I really don't know why, but, wherever I went, these negroes seem to take a liking to me.
In the village of Damagondai there was an mbuiti, "an idol," representing a female figure, with copper eyes, and a tongue made of a sharp sword-shaped piece of iron. This explained her chief attribute; she cuts to pieces those with whom she is displeased. She was dressed in the Shekiani cloth, covering her from the neck down. She is said to speak, to walk, to foretell events, and to take vengeance on her enemies. Her house is the most prominent one in the whole village.
She comes to people by night and tells them in their sleep what is going to happen. In this way, they asserted, my coming had been foretold. They worship her by dancing around her and singing her praises, and their requests. Sometimes a single woman or man comes alone to prefer a request; and one evening I saw the whole village engaged in this rite, all dancing and singing around her. They offer her sugar-cane and other food, which they believe she eats. I tried to buy this goddess, but, ugly as she was, Damagondai said that no amount of money would purchase her. He insinuated, however, in a very slight way, that for a proper price I might obtain the mbuiti of the slaves. Then a great council took place with the grey-beards of the village. The slaves were on the plantations. They agreed to tell them on their return that they had seen their mbuiti walk off in the woods, and that she had not returned. I could hear them laugh over what they thought to be their clever plot.
I paid them a good price for it. I packed the mbuiti up, and took her off with me, and her portrait, an exact likeness, taken in New York from the idol itself, is found in my book called "Equatorial Africa."
I have often thought since how much I should have enjoyed seeing the return of the slaves to the village. I should like to know if they really believed that their mbuiti had left them; if so, there must have been great wailing and mourning for fear that the wrath of the mbuiti would come upon them.
CHAPTER XXVII
A VISIT TO KING SHIMBOUVENEGANI – HIS ROYAL COSTUME – HUNTING CROCODILES – HOW THEY SEIZE THEIR PREY – THE NKAGO – THE OGATA
I resolved to embark again on the waters of the Anengue Lake and make a little journey of exploration. Damagondai went in the canoe with me. He was to take me to another king, a friend of his.
We reached the residence of King Shimbouvenegani, a king with a long name and a small village. We had to paddle through very shallow water before reaching this place.
When we arrived, the king with the long name was not at his village. We were told he was at his olako– a place temporarily erected in the woods when villagers go out to hunt, or fish, or pursue agriculture.
They had chosen a charming spot in the woods, just upon the shores of the lake, which here had abrupt banks. Their mosquito-nets were hung up under the trees; every family had a fire built, and from the pots came a fragrant smell of plantain and fish cooking. The savour was very pleasant to me, for I was hungry.
Presently, Shimbouvenegani came up. He was rejoiced to see me, and thanked his friend Damagondai for bringing his white man to visit him.
The appearance of Shimbouvenegani was comical. He was between sixty and seventy years of age, and was quite lean. His only garment was a very dirty swallow-tailed coat, which certainly must have belonged to the time of my grandfather. The buttons were all gone. On his head he wore a broad beaver hat, which dated nearly as far back as the coat itself. The fur was entirely worn off, and the hat had a very seedy appearance. But the king seemed very proud when he made his appearance. He thought his costume was just the thing, and he looked loftily around, as if to say, "Am I not a fine-looking fellow?" And truly, though his dress did not amount to much according to our notions, I doubt not it had cost him several slaves.
He asked me how I liked his costume, at the same time taking one of the smaller tails in his hand and shaking it.
Presently, some large pots of palm-wine were brought, with which all hands proceeded to celebrate my arrival. Damagondai and Shimbouvenegani soon got drunk, and swore to each other eternal friendship, and Shimbouvenegani promised to give one of his daughters in marriage to Damagondai.
Meantime, Damagondai had presented me to his eldest son, Okabi, who resided in the village of Shimbouvenegani. Okabi arranged a nice little place for me, with branches of trees, and made a kind of bed for me. He then gave me his two wives to take care of me, and to cook for me.
I had a very agreeable time in hunting while I was with Shimbouvenegani. It was during my stay there that I discovered the nshiego mbouvé, of which I will speak by-and-by.
We also had a great crocodile hunt, which pleased the people very much, as they are extravagantly fond of the meat. Now and then during my travels, for lack of something better, I have been obliged to eat crocodiles. I have tried it in all sorts of ways – steaks, stews, boiled, and broth; but I must say I was never fond of it.
They killed more or fewer crocodiles every day at this village; but the negroes were so lazy that they were glad to have me go and save them the trouble. Moreover, the crocodile has not much meat on him; so that, though some were killed every day, the village was never sufficiently supplied.
We went in canoes. These canoes on the Anengue are of very singular construction. They are quite flat-bottomed, and of very light draught; many of them are about fifty feet long, with a breadth of not more than two feet, and a depth of ten to twelve inches. They are made of a single tree. They are ticklish craft. The oarsmen stand up and use paddles seven feet long, with which they can propel one of these canoes at a very good rate. They are, of course, easily capsized, the gunwale being but a very few inches above the water; but they do not often tip over. What surprised me most was the way in which the negro paddlers stood up at their work all day without tiring.
The negroes on the Anengue hunt the crocodile both with guns and with a kind of harpoon. The vulnerable part of the animal is near the joints of his forelegs; and there they endeavour to wound it. Though so many are killed they do not decrease in numbers, nor, strange to say, do they seem to grow more wary. They were to be seen everywhere during the dry season; when the rainy season comes they disappear.
As we started out, we saw them swimming in all directions, and lying on the mud banks sunning themselves. They took no notice of our canoe at all. As we were to shoot them we were obliged to look for our prizes on the shore, for if killed in the water they sink and are lost. Presently we saw one immense fellow extended on the bank among some reeds. We approached cautiously. I took good aim and knocked him over. He struggled hard to get to the water, but his strength gave out ere he could reach it, and to our great joy he expired. We could not think of taking his body into our canoe, for he was nearly twenty feet long.
We killed another which measured eighteen feet. I never saw more savage-looking jaws; they were armed with most formidable rows of teeth and looked as though a man would scarcely be a mouthful for them.
We had brought another canoe along, and capsizing this upon the shore, we rolled the dead monsters into it and paddled off for the village. Then we returned to the olako.
During the heat of the day these animals retire to the reeds, where they lie sheltered. In the morning, and late in the afternoon, they come forth to seek their prey. They swim very silently, and scarcely make even a ripple on the water, though they move along quite rapidly. The motion of their paws in swimming is like those of a dog, over and over. They can remain quite still on the top of the water, where they may be seen watching for prey with their dull wicked-looking eyes. When they are swimming the head is the only part of the body visible; and when they are still, it looks exactly like an old piece of wood which has remained long in the water, and is tossing to and fro. They sleep among the reeds. Their eggs they lay in the sand on the island, and cover them over with a layer of sand. It is the great abundance of fish in the lake which makes them multiply so fast as they do. The negroes seemed rather indifferent to their presence.
On my journey back to Damagondai's I saw an example of the manner in which the crocodile seizes upon his prey. As we were paddling along I perceived in the distance ahead a beautiful gazelle, looking meditatively into the waters of the lagoon, of which from time to time it took a drink. I stood up to get a shot, and we approached with the utmost silence; but just as I raised my gun to fire a crocodile leaped out of the water, and, like a flash, dived back again, with the struggling animal in its powerful jaws. So quickly did the beast take its prey that, though I fired at him, I was too late. I did not think my bullet hit him.
After hunting on the water, I thought I would have a few rambles in the forest near the olako. I killed a beautiful monkey, which the natives call nkago, whose head is crowned with a cap of bright red, or rather brown, hair. The nkagos are very numerous in these woods.
While walking in the forest I found, near the water, the hole or burrow of an ogata. This is a species of cayman, which lives near the pools, and makes a long hole in the ground, with two entrances. In this hole it sleeps and watches for its prey. The ogata is very unlike the crocodile in its habits. It is a night-roving animal, and solitary in its ways. It scrapes out its hole with its paws with considerable labour. It lives near a pool, for the double reason, I imagine, that it may bathe, and because thither come gazelles and other animals, for whom it lies in wait. The negroes told me that they rush out with great speed upon any wandering animal, and drag it into the hole to eat it. When the negroes discover one of these holes they come with their guns, which are generally loaded with iron spikes, and watch at one end, while a fire is built at the other entrance. When it becomes too hot the ogata rushes out, and is shot. I killed one which proved to be seven feet in length. It had great strength in its jaws, and its teeth were very formidable. Like the crocodile, its upper jaw is articulated, and is raised when the mouth is opened.
Sometimes fire is put at both ends of the hole, and the animal is smoked to death. At other times a trap is made at the end where there is no fire, and when the ogata rushes out it is ensnared.
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE NSHIEGO MBOUVÉ – BALD-HEADED APES – THEIR HOUSES IN THE TREES – LYING IN WAIT FOR THEM – WE KILL A MALE – THE SHRIEKS OF HIS MATE – DESCRIPTION OF THE ANIMAL – FAREWELL TO SHIMBOUVENEGANI
AS I was trudging along one day in the woods, rather tired of the sport, and on the point of going back to the camp, I happened to look up at a high tree which we were passing and saw a most singular shelter or home built in its branches. I immediately stopped and asked Okabi why the hunters slept in that way in the woods. Okabi laughed, after looking at me quizzically, and then he told me that no man had ever built that shelter. He said that it was made by a kind of man of the woods, called nshiego mbouvé, an animal which had no hair on the top of its head. I really thought Okabi was joking. An animal – a man-monkey – with no hair on the top of his head? a bald-headed ape? It was now my turn to laugh, for I did not believe Okabi's story about the bald-headed animal, though I believed what he said about the shelter in the tree.
I saw at once that I was on the trail of an animal which no civilized man had ever seen before. I no longer felt tired, but pushed on through the woods with renewed ardour, and with increased caution, so as not to alarm our prey. The shelter we had seen was an old one, which had been abandoned, but we had a hope of finding another which should be still occupied.
We were not disappointed. We soon found two more shelters. They were about twenty feet from the ground, and were on two trees, which stood a little apart from the others, and which had no limbs below the one on which the nests were placed. This location for its house is probably chosen by the animals to secure them at night from beasts and serpents, and from the falling limbs of surrounding trees. They build only in the loneliest part of the forest. They are very shy, and are seldom seen, even by the negroes.
Okabi, who was an old and intelligent hunter, told me that the male and female together select the material for their nest or shelter. It is constructed in part of the branches of the tree itself, which they twist in with the boughs of other trees collected by them for the purpose. The shelters I saw had the shape of an umbrella.
We concealed ourselves by lying flat on the ground amidst the bushes near by, and keeping perfectly still. My patience was sorely tried. Mosquitoes and flies were continually biting me. Ants now and then were creeping upon me, and some of them managed to get under my clothes. Besides, I had some fear of the bashikonay, or of the white ants, coming to disturb me, or of snakes creeping upon me. So, as you may imagine, I was not comfortable, neither had I pleasant thoughts.
At length, just at dusk, we heard the loud peculiar "hew, hew, hew," which is the call of the male to his mate. I was glad to know I had not waited in vain; and looking up I saw a nshiego mbouvé sitting under his nest. His feet rested on the lower branch; his head reached quite into the little dome of a roof; and his arm was clasped firmly about the tree trunk. This, I suppose, is the position in which they sleep. Soon after his mate came and ascended the tree.
After gazing till I was tired, I saw that one of the animals showed signs of being alarmed. Had they smelt us? had we made a noise that excited their suspicions? Anyhow, we raised our guns and fired through the gloom at the one that seemed asleep. I almost felt sorry for the unfortunate beast, which fell with a tremendous crash, and died without a struggle. The other uttered an awful shriek and came down the tree with the utmost rapidity. I fired but missed the animal, and in less time than I take to write it the poor creature had disappeared in the woods.
I was very hungry, for I had eaten nothing since breakfast. We built a fire at once, and made our camp. Then we built several more fires, to prevent an attack of the bashikonay ants, in case they should come that way. The poor ape was hung up to a limb out of reach. During the night, I could hear now and then, in the distance, the piercing shriek of its mate, which no doubt was calling for the absent one. At last I fell asleep on my bed of leaves and grass, as pleased a man perhaps as any in the world.
The next morning I examined the nshiego mbouvé. Okabi, pointing to the head triumphantly, exclaimed, "See, Chaillie, is not the animal bald-headed? Did I not tell you the truth?" So it was. The nshiego mbouvé was quite bald; not a hair could be seen on the top of his head. He was a full-grown specimen, and measured three feet and eleven inches in height. His colour was intensely black, and the body was covered with short, rather blackish hair. On the legs the hair was of a dirty grey, mixed with black. On the shoulders and back the hair grew two or three inches long. This animal was old, and his hair was a little mixed with grey. The arms also, down to the wrists, were covered with long black hair. The hair is much thinner than on the gorilla, and is blacker, longer, and glossier. The nose, also, is not so prominent. Though only three feet and eleven inches in height, the animal had an extremely broad chest, though not so powerful as that of the gorilla. The fingers, also, were much longer, and not large; and the hand was longer than the foot; while the gorilla, like man, has the foot longer than the hand.
Some of the teeth were decayed. So the poor fellow must have had the toothache badly; and I suppose there were no dentists among the nshiego mbouvés. I have killed several of these animals. One of them was a very old one; he had silvery hair; nearly all his teeth were decayed, and some were missing which had dropped out with age. He was getting so infirm that he had not strength enough to pick berries or break nuts; and, when killed, he had only leaves in his stomach.
After enjoying myself thoroughly at the olako of Shimbouvenegani, we returned to the village of Damagondai. Shimbouvenegani dressed himself again in state, that is to say, he put on his swallow-tailed coat and his beaver hat. In this regal costume he accompanied us to our canoes, and there bid us good-bye.