WE DISCOVER A PAIR OF NSHIEGO-NKENGOS--DESCRIPTION OF THEM--CAPTURE OF
A YOUNG ONE--HE MAKES FRIENDS WITH NDOVA AND ANDEKKO--HIS SPEEDY DEATH
ONE day at daylight Rogala and I left our camp, I taking my light
rifle, and Rogala his gun and a net. After we had climbed over our
fence we could hear Andekko barking and Ndova's voice of discontent.
They wanted to go with us and disliked being left behind.
After about four hours' tramp we came to the region of the pineapple,
and we stopped there. At the end of about two hours more, we were
startled by the voice of a "man of the woods." Rogala whispered to me:
"Nshiego-nkengo! He is not very far from us." In the distance we heard
the voice of his mate answering his call. They kept answering each
other; but neither Rogala nor I could understand them, for they were
speaking the language of the nshiego-nkengos. Rogala whispered to me:
"The 'man' is telling his mate to come, for he has found pineapples.
Let us go towards him and hide ourselves."
We went forward as noiselessly as a fish or a leopard. We advanced
slowly, looking upon the ground each time we put down our feet, for
fear of stepping upon some little dead branches of trees. We put aside
most carefully with one of our hands the jungle that was in our way,
for we knew that the least noise would make the animals suspicious.
On account of the great care we took to make no noise our advance was
very slow, but forward we went, and nearer and nearer we came to the
"men of the woods." At last we heard the rustling they made as they
moved about in the jungle. We advanced with still greater care, when,
lo! I saw the two creatures. I did not even dare to give a click of
warning, for fear that their quick ears would hear it. Fortunately
Rogala had seen them also. We looked at each other, and I made a sign
to him that we must not fire at them, and to remain where we stood.
The two nshiego-nkengos had their backs turned towards us, so we could
not see their faces. They were seated close together. Now and then
they stretched out their arms to reach the pineapples before them. I
could hear them biting them, uttering now and then a peculiar sound of
contentment, showing how pleased they were with their food.
The hair covering their bodies was thin and black, and I could see that
it grew over a yellow skin. I could also see the backs of the large
yellow ears. That was all. There were many pineapples all round them.
I was much excited. Then the nshiegos turned partly round and I could
see their profiles. I saw their pale yellowish faces, which reminded
me of the color of the sunburnt Moor of the desert, but no sun had
given them that complexion, for the sun does not penetrate the forest.
I noticed that their ears were somewhat the shape of those of man,
but much larger, and that the lobes were flattened. Their lips were
so thin that the mouth seemed to have been made by the skin being cut
transversely, but it was very large. They had long slender hands, with
palms whiter than their faces; their feet were also very long and
slender. Their legs had no calves, and were very short. Their arms were
very long. They gradually turned right towards us. Their faces were
wrinkled like those of very old people, some of whom have that peculiar
colorless skin. Their eyes looked strange and had something human in
them, and seemed to be all the time on the lookout.
The male got hold of a large yellow pineapple that was quite ripe, and
the female took it away from him. He uttered a sort of guttural
sound, as if to say, "All right, you are welcome to it," and he picked
another. Then they began to pick them one after another, and four
mouthfuls disposed of a large pineapple.
[Illustration: "_The two nshiego-nkengos had their backs turned towards
us and were eating pineapples_."]
After a while they moved away. Rogala raised his gun, looking at me. I
made a sign to him not to fire. I did not want to kill them. "Perhaps
we shall meet them in the forest," I said to myself, "and I may have a
chance to study their ways." I did not even shout to scare them. They
moved off gradually, and we went back to our camp.
The following day we took Andekko with us. Towards noon we were
startled by the fierce barking of the dog, and heard the shrill cry of
a nshiego-nkengo. Soon we came to the place, and saw Andekko looking
up a tree at a young nshiego which I thought to be about a year old,
and barking fiercely. He was glaring at the dog, the hair of his body
erect, and was uttering sounds of defiance, not of fear. He seemed to
know that he was safe where he was, and that the dog could not climb
the tree.
"Let us try to capture the baby nshiego-nkengo if we can," said I to
Rogala.
In the meantime Andekko kept barking at the little fellow, who kept
looking at him, uttering now and then a sort of "whoe, whoe." He
seemed to say to the dog, "You cannot catch me." Here we were, Rogala,
Andekko, and I, at the foot of the tree, and the young nshiego-nkengo
looking at us from one of its branches.
We found that from a young tree with slender branches he had succeeded
in reaching the tree where he was. The only thing to be done was to
watch for the time when, driven by hunger, he would come down.
In the meantime we heard far away in the distance the calls of his
mother. We kept a sharp lookout for her, for though nshiegos are very
shy, we were not sure that she would not attack us. She evidently
thought her young one was somewhere in the forest looking for her. We
spoke loud to scare her.
At last I said to Rogala: "Watch here while I go to the camp to feed
Ndova, for the probability is that we shall have to sleep at the foot
of the tree to-night."
I went to the camp and fed Ndova, and returned with some food and two
axes. Andekko was almost exhausted from his constant barking, which had
become quite hoarse and indistinct. The yellow pale face of the little
nshiego-nkengo with his big eyes looked at us from his tree. The
evening came, and there was no prospect of his coming down.
We slept in the forest, the little nshiego-nkengo still on the tree.
"The only thing for us to do, Rogala," said I in the morning, "is to
cut the tree down. Then we will watch and throw the net over him."
"That is so, Oguizi," replied Rogala; "only we must see that Andekko
does not get hold of him, for he will surely strangle him."
We set to work, and soon the young tree fell with the little nshiego,
and before Andekko had time to nab him, Rogala had thrown the net over
him. We had quite a job to keep Andekko away, and not before Rogala had
shown him a stick he had great respect for, was he quieted.
We returned to the camp with our prize, and by daylight we heard the
mother's loud calls. The little fellow responded with shrieks. Andekko
barked furiously, and in an instant we were outside our palisades,
leaving Andekko within. Shortly after we succeeded in approaching the
old nshiego-nkengo unseen, and killed her.
Ndova did not seem to take to the addition to our family. The two
looked at each other in a strange way. But the next day they were
more friendly, and the third day they had become friends, and were
trying to discover insects upon each other's bodies. It took a few
days more to make Andekko and Nshiego friends. Finally, however, the
great pleasure of Andekko was to lie down by Nshiego and let himself
be scratched. In three days Nshiego had become quite tame, but in less
than a week he died.