MY HUNTERS AND I BECOME GREAT FRIENDS--ANDEKKO AND NDOVA GROW
FOND OF ME--WE TAKE NDOVA INTO THE FOREST--HE CALLS MONKEYS TO US
AGAIN--ANDEKKO'S PROWESS AS A HUNTER--A FEMALE GORILLA AND HER BABY--WE
KILL THE MAMMA AND ANDEKKO KILLS THE BABY
AFTER a few days of constant companionship with Rogala, Shinshooko,
and Alapai, their fears of me had been allayed and we had become great
friends.
The women had also become accustomed to me and had grown to like me,
for I had given them beads, looking-glasses, and some other trinkets.
They also showed much pleasure when they brought to my feet bunches of
plantain, peanuts, or other food. They would fish in the river, and all
the fish they caught they would bring to me, so that I might choose
what I wanted. The children would snare birds and bring them to me.
They were always delighted to follow me when I went out to shoot birds.
Andekko and Ndova, who were always fed by me, had also become
accustomed to the color of my face and my long hair; they knew I was
their friend, for when they were hungry I gave them food.
Ndova from his perch always watched for my return, and when he saw me
he uttered peculiar sounds of joy, which were always the same, so that
when he uttered them I always knew that he was glad. He knew that I
generally brought to him nuts, berries, or fruits which he liked. When
I was eating with Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai, Andekko was always by
me, for he had learned that he fared much better by my side, as I had
directed them not to feed him.
One day I said to Rogala: "Meat is getting scarce. Let us take Ndova
with us into the forest to-morrow morning; perhaps he will succeed, if
we meet monkeys belonging to his species, in making them come to him.
Then, if we kill two or three, we shall have monkey meat to eat."
The following morning Rogala, with Ndova tied by a rope, and I set out
for the forest. Once in a while Ndova would call for his friends, the
monkeys of his species; but there came no answer to his call,--there
were no ndovas in that part of the forest.
We kept on further and further; but though Ndova called for those of
his species, there came no answer back, and finally we deemed it time
to return home, as otherwise we should have to sleep in the forest.
On our way back Ndova began to chatter in his own language. What he
meant we of course could not tell at first, but soon we found out that
through some peculiar gifts only belonging to monkeys, perhaps with his
keen sense of smell, he knew that there were monkeys of his own tribe
near. His voice or utterances were answered by other sounds made by a
troop of monkeys which Rogala and I knew to be ndovas, and before we
realized their presence, they were all upon a tree above our heads.
Ndova became dreadfully excited. I took aim at the biggest monkey,
fired, and he fell on the ground with a great crash. The others gave a
cry of alarm, and in less than twenty seconds were out of sight.
The next day I said to Rogala: "Let us go into the forest with Andekko.
I want to see how he hunts, and if he drives the game within gunshot of
the place where we are waiting for it."
"He will surely do that," replied Rogala.
The next morning, at dawn of day, we started for the forest, Andekko
ahead of us. Suddenly he disappeared. Once in a while Rogala shouted to
let the dog know where we stood. Then we waited and waited, Rogala now
and then calling Andekko at the top of his voice. After a few hours we
heard the barking of Andekko. The barking became louder, and Rogala
said: "Oguizi, let us make ready, for Andekko is probably driving an
antelope towards us."
In another instant a large antelope with long spiral horns passed near
us, but not near enough for us to fire. Then the barking of Andekko
died away in the distance, and Rogala said: "We must not go away.
I think Andekko will bring back the antelope towards us." He was
not mistaken. A short time afterwards we heard Andekko again in the
distance; the barking became louder and louder, and at last seemed very
near. An antelope came bounding by us. We fired and brought him down.
We returned home with our spoil, and the following afternoon I said to
Rogala: "Where is Andekko? I have not seen him to-day. Has he perhaps
been devoured by a prowling leopard?"
Rogala smiled at my question, and replied: "Andekko is a wide-awake
dog, and seeing that we did not go into the forest with him, he has
gone to hunt by himself, and I should not wonder if we heard his
barking soon, telling us that he is pursuing game towards our little
settlement and warning us to be ready for it."
Rogala was right; a short time afterwards we heard the barking of
Andekko. He was running after some animal and giving us warning. But
the barking soon became fainter, then could not be heard at all.
[Illustration: "_We fired and brought him down_."]
I said to Rogala, "The animal has escaped from Andekko."
"It is perhaps so," he replied; "but the dog will not give up the chase
so easily."
A little while after we heard Andekko again far away; then the
barking gradually became louder. We got ready with our guns. I had my
smooth-bore loaded with buckshot. Soon after a gazelle passed by us,
closely pursued by Andekko. We fired and killed the beautiful creature.
We had great trouble in preventing Andekko from tearing the animal in
pieces until I cut off the foreleg and threw it to him, exclaiming:
"Great indeed is the gift of Chief Rotembo to me. We shall not starve
while Andekko is with us."
The following day we went again with Andekko into the forest. This
time Shinshooko, Alapai, and Rogala were all with me. They had seen
footmarks of a gorilla and of her baby. So we took a net with us to
throw over the little one and capture him in case we succeeded in
killing the mother.
After a tramp of three hours we heard the fierce barking of Andekko on
the right of the path, not very far from us. There followed loud, short
yells of an ngina. We immediately left the path and entered the forest,
being guided by the barking of Andekko and the yells of the ngina. We
soon found ourselves in the presence of a mamma ngina on a tree, with
a tiny baby holding to her and uttering sounds of fright. Andekko was
in a perfect rage; his hair stood up, bristling like the quills of a
porcupine.
Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai were by my side. The ngina was looking
fiercely at us. Her big black face, wrinkled all over, was savagely
wicked. The little fellow was hiding his face against her breast. She
uttered sharp, piercing yells of anger, then a shout of "Whoa, whoa."
I aimed at her, and fired. She dropped, but held on for an instant to
the branch upon which she was seated with a firm hand, while the little
one clung fast to her shoulders. Then she let go and fell down some
twenty feet to the ground with a great crash. She was dead, and before
we had time to rescue the little ngina, Andekko had strangled him, to
my infinite sorrow.
Rogala and Shinshooko said: "We must look out for her mate; the big
'man ngina' may come upon us in a moment. Perhaps he is already coming
silently to her rescue."
We were glad we had Andekko with us, for we were sure to be warned by
him of the approach of the big beast. We cut off the heads of the ngina
and of the little one as trophies, and then retraced our steps towards
Rogala's and Shinshooko's home.
On our way back we heard, several miles away, the mighty voice of the
male ngina calling upon his mate to let her know where he was; but no
answer came back to him, and I found myself wondering what his feelings
would be when he came to where she had been killed. We would have gone
after him, but it was too late in the day.
There was great excitement on our return. The following day Rogala
warned me to take no other gun but "Bulldog" if I went into the forest,
saying: "The 'man ngina' is probably around looking for the slayer of
his wife." How I wished I could have been present when the big beast
came before the dead body of his mate and saw her and her baby ngina
headless! How he must have yelled and roared! How fiercely he would
have come to the attack if some one had been near! How I wished I
could face him with "Bulldog" in my hand! We expected to hear his roar
that day, then go after him; but the forest was silent. He had gone
wandering in search of another mate.
The next day we heard Andekko barking in the forest not very far off.
He seemed to bark at the same spot all the time, and Rogala said: "Let
us go where he is and find out what is the matter."
So we went towards the spot where he was barking, and at last came
to it. No wonder he remained in the same place. He was barking at a
porcupine, that had rolled himself into a ball and had all his quills
standing erect.
Andekko was in a perfect rage, his hair was erect on his back, but
I knew that it was impossible for him to bite the porcupine, and he
feared his terrible quills. He would not leave the porcupine until we
called him away, and the porcupine as long as Andekko was near him kept
his quills erect.
Andekko disappeared again the following morning. In the evening he
returned with a scar on his back and with a bloody muzzle. He had had
an encounter with some wild animal. Evidently some sharp teeth had
bitten him. But in the end he had had the best of the conflict, as his
muzzle testified; it was clear he had fed on his victim.
Rogala put some balsam on his wounds. The dog was manifestly very
tired, for in a short time he was stretched full length near the
fire, and after a while he was dreaming. His legs moved as if he were
running, and he barked softly. The following morning Andekko was
nowhere to be seen. The punishment he had received the day before had
not scared him in the least. He had gone hunting again.