CHAPTER XIII
CAPE LOPEZ AND AN OPEN PRAIRIE ONCE MORE – KING BANGO AND HIS THREE HUNDRED WIVES – HIS FIVE IDOLS – SLAVE BARRACOONS – THE CORPSE AND THE VULTURES
Cape Lopez is a long sandy arm of land reaching out into the sea. As you approach it from the ocean it has the appearance of overflowed land. It is so low that the bushes and the trees growing on it seem, from a distance seaward, to be set in the water.
The bay formed by Cape Lopez is about fourteen miles long. Among several small streams which empty their water into it is the Nazareth river, one of whose branches is the Fetich river. The bay has numerous shallows and small islands, and abounds in all sorts of delicious fish. On the cape itself many large turtles from the ocean come to lay their eggs. I will tell you by-and-by what a nice time I had fishing at Cape Lopez; but I have many other things to talk about before I come to that.
I arrived at Cape Lopez one evening when it was almost dark. The next morning I prepared myself for a visit to King Bango, the king of the country. The royal palace is set up on a tolerably high hill, and fronts the seashore. Between the foot of this hill and the sea there is a beautiful prairie, over which are scattered the numerous little villages called Sangatanga. I never tired of looking at this prairie. I had lived so long in the gloomy forest that it gave me great delight to see once more the green and sunlit verdure of an open meadow. I found the royal palace surrounded by a little village of huts. As I entered the village I was met by the mafouga, or officer of the king, who conducted me to the palace. It was an ugly-looking house of two stories, resting on pillars. The lower story consisted of a dark hall, flanked on each side by rows of small dark rooms, which looked like little cells. At the end of the hall was a staircase, steep and dirty, up which the mafouga piloted me. When I had ascended the stairs I found myself in a large room, at one end of which was seated the great King Bango, who claims to be the greatest chief of this part of Africa. He was surrounded by about one hundred of his wives.
King Bango was fat, and seemed not over clean. He wore a shirt and an old pair of pantaloons. On his head was a crown, which had been presented to him by some of his friends, the Portuguese slavers. Over his shoulders he wore a flaming yellow coat, with gilt embroidery, the cast-off garment of some rich man's lacquey in Portugal or Brazil. When I speak of a crown you must not think it was a wonderful thing, made of gold and mounted with diamonds. It was shaped like those commonly worn by actors on the stage, and was probably worth, when new, about ten dollars. His majesty had put round it a circlet of pure gold, made with the doubloons he got in exchange for slaves. He sat on a sofa, for he was paralyzed; and in his hand he held a cane, which also answered the purpose of a sceptre.
This King Bango, whom I have described so minutely, was the greatest slave king of that part of the coast. At that time there were large slave depôts on his territory. He is a perfect despot, and is much feared by his people. He is also very superstitious.
Though very proud, he received me kindly, for I had come recommended by his great friend, Rompochombo, a king of the Mpongwe tribe. He asked me how I liked his wives. I said, very well. He then said there were a hundred present, and that he had twice as many more, three hundred in all. Fancy three hundred wives! He also claimed to have more than six hundred children. I wonder if all these brothers and sisters could know and recognise each other!
The next night a great ball was given in my honour by the king. The room where I had been received was the ball-room. I arrived there shortly after dark, and I found about one hundred and fifty of the king's wives, and I was told that the best dancers of the country were there.
I wish you could have seen the room. It was ugly enough; there were several torches to light it; but, notwithstanding these, the room was by no means brilliantly illuminated. The king wanted only his wives to dance before me. During the whole of the evening not a single man took part in the performance; but two of his daughters were ordered to dance, and he wanted me to marry one of them.
Not far from the royal palace were three curious and very small houses, wherein were deposited five idols, which were reputed to have far greater power and knowledge than the idols or gods of the surrounding countries. They were thought to be the great protectors of the Oroungou tribe, and particularly of Sangatanga and of the king. So I got a peep inside the first house. There I saw the idol called Pangeo; he was made of wood, and looked very ugly; by his side was his wife Aleka, another wooden idol. Pangeo takes care of the king, and of his people, and watches over them at night.
I peeped also into the second little house. There I saw a large idol, called Makambi, shaped like a man, and by his side stood a female figure, Abiala his wife. Poor Makambi is a powerless god, his wife having usurped the power. She holds a pistol in her hand, with which, it is supposed, she can kill anyone she pleases; hence the natives are much afraid of her; and she receives from them a constant supply of food, and many presents (I wonder who takes the presents away). When they fall sick, they dance around her, and implore her to make them well; for these poor heathen never pray to the true God. They put their trust in wooden images, the work of their own hands.
I looked into the third house, and there I saw an idol called Numba. He had no wife with him, being a bachelor deity. He is the Oroungou Neptune and Mercury in one – Neptune in ruling the waves, and Mercury in keeping off the evils which threaten from beyond the sea.
As I came away after seeing the king, I shot at a bird sitting upon a tree, but missed it, for I had been taking quinine and was nervous. But the negroes standing around at once proclaimed that this was a "fetich bird," – a sacred bird – and therefore I could not shoot it, even if I fired at it a hundred times.
I fired again, but with no better success. Hereupon they grew triumphant in their declarations; while I, loth to let the devil have so good a witness, loaded again, took careful aim, and, to my own satisfaction and their utter dismay, brought my bird down.
During my stay in the village, as I was one day out shooting birds in a grove, not far from my house, I saw a procession of slaves coming from one of the barracoons toward the farther end of my grove. As they came nearer, I saw that two gangs of six slaves each, all chained about the neck, were carrying a burden between them, which I knew presently to be the corpse of another slave. They bore it to the edge of the grove, about three hundred yards from my house; and, throwing it down there on the bare ground, they returned to their prison, accompanied by the overseer, who, with his whip, had marched behind them.
"Here, then, is the burying-ground of the barracoons," I said to myself sadly, thinking, I confess, of the poor fellow who had been dragged away from his home and friends; who, perhaps, had been sold by his father or relatives to die here and be thrown out as food for the vultures. Even as I stood wrapped in thought, these carrion birds were assembling, and began to darken the air above my head; ere long they were heard fighting over the corpse.
The grove, which was, in fact, but an African Aceldama, was beautiful to view from my house; and I had often resolved to explore it, or to rest in the shade of its dark-leaved trees. It seemed a ghastly place enough now as I approached it more closely. The vultures fled when they saw me, but flew only a little way, and then perched upon the lower branches of the surrounding trees, and watched me with eyes askance, as though fearful I should rob them of their prey. As I walked towards the corpse, I felt something crack under my feet. Looking down, I saw that I was already in the midst of a field of skulls and bones. I had inadvertently stepped upon the skeleton of some poor creature who had been lying here long enough for the birds and ants to pick his bones clean, and for the rains to bleach them. I think there must have been the relics of a thousand skeletons within sight. The place had been used for many years; and the mortality in the barracoons is sometimes frightful, in spite of the care they seem to take of their slaves. Here their bodies were thrown, and here the vultures found their daily carrion. The grass had just been burnt, and the white bones scattered everywhere, gave the ground a singular, and, when the cause was known, a frightful appearance. Penetrating farther into the bush, I found several great piles of bones. This was the place, years ago – when Cape Lopez was one of the great slave markets on the West Coast, and barracoons were more numerous than they are now – where the poor dead were thrown, one upon another, till even the mouldering bones remained in high piles, as monuments of the nefarious traffic. Such was the burial-ground of the poor slaves from the interior of Africa.
CHAPTER XIV
SLAVE BARRACOONS – A BIG SNAKE UNDER MY BED – A SLAVE SHIP OFF THE COAST
One day I passed by an immense enclosure, protected by a fence of palisades about twelve feet high, and sharp-pointed at the top. Passing through the gate, which was standing open, I found myself in the midst of a large collection of shanties, surrounded by shady trees, under which were lying, in various positions, a great many negroes. As I walked round, I saw that the men were fastened, six together, by a little stout chain, which passed through a collar secured about the neck of each. Here and there were buckets of water for the men to drink; and they being chained together, when one of the six wanted to drink, the others had to go with him.
Then I came to a yard full of women and children. These could roam at pleasure through their yard. No men were admitted there. These people could not all understand each other's language; and you may probably wish to know who they were. They were Africans belonging to various tribes, who had been sold, some by their parents or by their families; others by the people of their villages. Some had been sold on account of witchcraft; but there were many other excuses for the traffic. They would find suddenly that a boy or girl was "dull," and so forth, and must be sold. Many of them came from countries far distant.
Some were quite merry; others appeared to be very sad, thinking that they were bought to be eaten up. They believed that the white men beyond the seas were great cannibals, and that they were to be fattened first and then eaten. In the interior, one day, a chief ordered a slave to be killed for my dinner, and I barely succeeded in preventing the poor wretch from being put to death. I could hardly make the chief believe that I did not, in my own country, live on human flesh.
Under some of the trees were huge caldrons, in which beans and rice were cooking for the slaves; and others had dried fish to eat. In the evening they were put into large sheds for the night. One of the sheds was used as a hospital.
In the midst of all this stood the white man's house – yes, the white man's house! – and in it were white men whose only business was to buy these poor creatures from the Oroungou people!
After I had seen everything, I left the barracoon – for that is the name given to such a place as I have just described. I wandered about, and it was dark before I returned to the little bamboo house which the king had given me. I got in, and then, striking a match carefully, I lighted a torch, so that I might not go to bed in darkness. You may smile when I say bed, for my couch was far from bearing any resemblance to our beds at home, with mattresses and pillows, and sheets and blankets. Travellers in equatorial Africa are utter strangers to such luxuries.
After I had lighted the torch, I cast my eyes round to see if anything had been disturbed; for a thief, so disposed, could easily break into these houses. I noticed something glittering and shining under my akoko, or bedstead. The object was so still that I did not pay any attention to it; in fact, I could not see it well by the dim light of the torch. But when I approached the bed to arrange it, I saw that the glitter was produced by the shining scales of an enormous serpent, which lay quietly coiled up there within two feet of me. What was I to do? I had fastened my door with ropes. If the snake were to uncoil itself and move about, it might, perhaps, take a spring and wind itself about me, quietly squeeze me to death, and then swallow me as he would a gazelle. These were not comforting thoughts. I was afraid to cry out for fear of disturbing the snake, which appeared to be asleep. Besides, no one could get in, as I had barricaded the only entrance, so I went quietly and unfastened the door. When everything was ready for a safe retreat, I said to myself, "I had better try to kill it." Then, looking for my guns, I saw, to my utter horror, that they were set against the wall at the back of the bed, so that the snake was between me and them. After watching the snake intently, and thinking what to do, I resolved to get my gun; so, keeping the door in my rear open, in readiness for a speedy retreat at the first sign of life in the snake, I approached on tip-toe, and, in a twinkling of an eye, grasped the gun which was loaded heavily with large shot. How relieved I felt at that moment! I was no longer the same man. Fortunately, the snake did not move. With my gun in one hand I went again towards the reptile, and, fairly placing the muzzle of the gun against it, I fired, and then ran out of the house as fast as I could.
At the noise of the gun there was a rush of negroes from all sides to know what was the matter. They thought some one had shot a man, and run into my house to hide himself; so they all rushed into it, helter-skelter; but I need not tell you they rushed out just as fast, on finding a great snake writhing about on the floor. Some had trodden upon it and been frightened out of their wits. You have no idea how they roared and shouted; but no one appeared disposed to enter the house again, so I went in cautiously myself to see how matters stood, for I did not intend to give undisputed possession of my hut so easily to Mr. Snake. I entered and looked cautiously around. The dim light of the torch helped me a little, and there I saw the snake on the ground. Its body had been cut in two by the discharge, and both ends were now flapping about the floor. At first I thought these ends were two snakes, and I did not know what to make of it; but as soon as I perceived my mistake, I gave a heavy blow with a stick on the head of the horrible creature, and finished it. Then I saw it disgorge a duck – a whole duck – and such a long duck! It looked like an enormous long-feathered sausage. After eating the duck, the snake thought my bedroom was just the place for him to go to sleep in and digest his meal; for snakes, after a hearty meal, always fall into a state of torpor. It was a large python, and it measured – would you believe it? – eighteen feet. Fancy my situation if this fellow had sprung upon me and coiled round me! It would soon have been all over with me. I wonder how long it would have taken to digest me, had I been swallowed by the monster!
One fine day, while walking on the beach of this inhospitable shore, I spied a vessel. It approached nearer and nearer, and at last ran in and hove-to a few miles from the shore. Immediately I observed a gang of slaves rapidly driven down from one of the barracoons. I stood and watched. The men were still in gangs of six, but they had been washed, and each had a clean cloth on. The canoes were immense boats, with twenty-six paddles, and about sixty slaves each. The poor slaves seemed much terrified. They had never been on the rough water before, and they did not know what that dancing motion of the sea was. Then they were being taken away, they knew not whither. As they skimmed over the waves and rolled, now one way, now another, they must have thought their last day had come, and that they were to be consigned to a watery grave.
I was glad that these poor creatures could not see me, for I was hidden from their view by trees and bushes. I felt ashamed of myself – I actually felt ashamed of being a white man! Happily, such scenes are rarely if ever witnessed nowadays, and the slave trade will soon belong to the past.
Two hours afterwards, the vessel, with a cargo of six hundred slaves, was on her way to Cuba.
CHAPTER XV
GOING INTO THE INTERIOR – SLEEPING WITH THE KING'S RATS – THE CHIMPANZEE – KILL A GAZELLE – TOO COLD TO SLEEP – THE GREY PARTRIDGE
After this I went again to visit King Bango, and was announced to his Majesty by his great mafouga. I had an important object in paying this visit. I wished to ask the king to permit me to go into the interior and to spare me some people to show me the way.
Bango liked me, though I had declined to marry one of his beautiful daughters. So he granted my request, and gave me twenty-five men, some of whom were reputed great hunters in that country. They had killed many elephants and brought all the ivory to their king. They were the providers of the royal table, and passed their lives in the hunt and in the forest.
We made great preparations for the chase, for game was said to be plentiful. We were to encamp many days in the forest, and to have a jolly time, and a hard time, too, for the hunter's life is not an easy one. I was invited by the king to sleep in his palace, so that the next day I might start early; so I was led to my bedroom by the great mafouga. It was so dirty and gloomy that I wished myself fast asleep under a tree in the forest. I looked around, thinking that perhaps the king wanted to get rid of me, and had invited me there to have me murdered; but finding nothing suspicious, I concluded that old King Bango had never entertained such ideas, and I felt vexed at myself for having such thoughts on my mind. Then I extinguished the light and lay down on the royal couch. I had scarcely lain down when I began to hear a strange noise. At first I did not know what it meant. The noise in the room increased. What could it be? I tried to see through the darkness, but could distinguish nothing. Just then I felt something getting under my blanket. Confounded, I jumped up, not knowing what it might be. It was an enormous rat. As soon as I got up, I heard a perfect scrambling of rats going back where they came from, and then all became silent. I lay down on the bed again and tried to sleep, but in vain, on account of the assaults and gambols of the rats, of which there was a prodigious number. They seemed inclined to dispute possession of my room with me. They were continually on my bed, and running over my face. I soon got quite enough of the royal palace. I wished I had never come into it. But it was an excellent place for getting up early. No sooner had the morning twilight made its appearance than I rose and called my men together; and, though we could hardly see, we set out at once on the march.
I went in advance with Aboko, my head man, and Niamkala, the next best man, at my side. Both these men were great hunters, and had spent the principal part of their lives in the woods. They seemed really like men of the woods, so very wild were their looks. Aboko was a short, somewhat stout man; very black, and extremely muscular, very flat-nosed, and with big thick lips. His eyes were large and cunning, and seemed to wander about; his body bore marks of many scratches from thorny trees and briars; his legs displayed great strength. Niamkala, on the contrary, was tall and slender, not very dark; he had sharp piercing eyes, and seemed to be continually looking after something. Both were first-rate elephant hunters.
Aboko, Niamkala, and I became great friends, for we were all three hunters, and loved the woods.
Our way led through some beautiful prairies, each surrounded by dark forests, and seeming like natural gardens planted in this great woody wilderness. The country was really lovely. The surface was mostly rolling prairie, with a light sandy soil. The highest hills often broke into abrupt precipices, on which we would come suddenly; and if any of us had tumbled down to the bottom, he would never have been heard of again. The woods are the safe retreat of the elephant. Great herds of buffaloes are found there, also antelopes, which go out into the great grass fields by night to play and feed. Leopards are also abundant.
I was much pleased to be able to travel in an open space, and not always through the dark forest The breeze fanned our faces as we went onward. Presently we saw the footprints of huge elephants and of wild buffaloes. Friend Aboko now warned us to look sharp, for we were sure to see game. Sure enough, he had hardly spoken when we saw a bull standing, deer-like, upon the edge of the wood, watching us, I suppose, and no doubt greatly puzzled to make out what kind of animals we were. He stood for some minutes, safe out of range, and then turned into the woods, evidently not liking our appearance. We ran around to intercept him; and I waited at one pass in the woods, for Aboko to go clear around and drive the bull towards me.
I was waiting, when suddenly I saw something approaching me out of the deep gloom of the forest. I thought it was Aboko coming towards me, and I waited anxiously for news. I did not say a word for fear of frightening the game that might be near us. The object came nearer and nearer to me, till I thought I could recognise Aboko's dark face distinctly through the foliage. I stood with my gun resting on the ground, when suddenly I heard a shrill scream, and then what I thought to be Aboko turned and ran back into the woods, showing a broad, big hairy body. It was one of the wild men of the woods – the chimpanzee – and a big one it was, I assure you.
How glad I was to have seen this wild man of the woods! For a few minutes I felt so astonished that I did not move. His black face certainly did look very much like that of an African, so much so that, as I have already said, I took the chimpanzee to be Aboko.
By-and-by the real Aboko made his appearance. This time there was no illusion, and we had a good laugh over my mistake. I felt quite vexed that I had not shot the chimpanzee. I should have liked so much to look at the animal closely. But I felt it was almost like shooting a man.
We left the woods, and started once more for the interior. We had not been long on our way when I spied a gazelle right in the middle of the prairie. How could one approach it without being seen? for the grass was short. We wanted very much to kill it, for we had not killed anything yet; and what were we to have for our dinner and supper? No one likes to go without dinner, especially when working hard. Aboko, Niamkala, and I held a council. We lay down flat on the ground for fear of being seen; and finally it was agreed that I should go towards the gazelle with my long range gun and shoot it if I could. So I started. I almost crawled, now and then raising my head just to the level of the grass, to see if the animal was still there. When I thought I was near enough, I quietly lay down flat on the ground and rested my gun on an ant-hill that looked like a mushroom. Taking careful aim at the unsuspicious animal I fired, and down it tumbled, to my great delight. Aboko and Niamkala, who had been watching afar off, came rushing and shouting, their faces beaming with joy. The prospect of a good dinner cheered them up.
Others of the party soon joined us. The gazelle was cut upon the spot, and we continued our journey till we came to a beautiful little stream, which was too deep to be forded. A huge tree had been felled, and we crossed to the other side on it, though it was hard work. I assure you I thought once or twice I should have tumbled into the water.
At sunset we stopped, quite tired out. We made our camp in the midst of the prairie in order to have the nice grass to lie upon. It was the dry season, and we were not afraid of getting wet. The people went into the nearest forest and collected an immense quantity of firewood, not a difficult task, as so many dead limbs were lying on the ground.
We lighted a great many large fires, which blazed up fiercely, for the wind blew hard. The country around was illuminated, and the glare of our fires must have been seen a long way off. We took our dinner and supper at the same time. I roasted my own share of the gazelle myself; I put a piece of stick through the flesh and laid the skewer across two forked sticks, which I fixed in the ground on each side of the fire. I longed for some lard to baste the roasting meat, but I was thankful for the good dinner I had, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a little bit of salt to eat with it, and also some nice cayenne pepper.
My men also seemed to enjoy their meal very much, for they had meat to their heart's content; and these negroes are very gluttonous generally. It was laughable to see how lazily we lay around on the grass by our fires; some were smoking, others tried to sleep, while others told stories; but we all tried to warm ourselves, and kept continually adding fuel to the already bright fires.
The night was clear and almost frosty. The stars shone brilliantly above our heads, and it was bright moonlight. It became so windy and cold that we regretted we had not encamped by the forest, where we should have been sheltered from the wind. It was too cold to sleep, even with my blanket; and my poor men, who had no blankets, were shivering around the fires.
So at two o'clock in the morning I ordered the men to get up. A couple of hours' sharp walking brought us to a thick wood, and there we were sheltered. We quickly made up one very large fire, big enough for all of us, and stretched ourselves pell-mell around it for a short nap. We were so tired that we soon fell asleep, not caring for leopards or anything else. We were awakened by the cry of the grey partridge (Francolinus squamatus), called quani by the natives.
I will now say a word about these partridges. Unlike our partridges, they perch on trees. When evening comes, the old cock perches himself first, and calls the flock together. They all settle near each other. In the morning, before daylight, they begin to cluck; and it was this noise that we heard. They do not sleep on the ground, like our partridges, because there are too many snakes crawling about, and too many carnivorous animals.