WE COME TO THE END OF OUR PROVISIONS--ANTELOPE SKIN BOILED FURNISHES
US A REPAST--NDOVA DECOYS MONKEYS AND WE SOON GET FOOD ENOUGH--ALAPAI
FINDS FRUITS AND NUTS ALSO
ONE day when Andekko had been hunting by himself, he returned with such
a forlorn appearance that we knew he had found nothing. He had been
absent about three hours.
"Poor Andekko!" I said to Rogala; "look at his ribs, and how they
stick out, and the numerous scars left from the wounds he has received
fighting wild animals are more conspicuous than ever."
He was indeed a sight. The dear old fellow seemed to know that I was
talking of him, as he had heard his name, and was looking at me and
wagging his tail all the time I was speaking. I fancied he was saying
to me: "Let us leave this place. It is no good. There is no game here.
Can't you see how thin I am?"
Looking at Ndova, I said to Rogala: "Ndova is much better off than
Andekko. He is not so thin. Would you take a knife and kill our friend
Ndova, who has been so often the cause of our getting food, thus
preventing us from starving?"
Then I recounted one by one all the different times Ndova and Andekko
had saved us from hunger or starvation and said: "Rogala, Ndova and
Andekko have been faithful to us. We shall be faithful to them, and if
we get food we will divide it amongst all of us."
All the time I was thinking what to do to relieve our hunger. We were
in desperate straits. Suddenly I said: "Rogala, I have found food."
At my words Rogala brightened up. "Where is the food?" he inquired.
"There," I said, pointing to my bed. He glanced there, but there was no
food to be seen, and he looked disappointed.
"Yes, Rogala," I persisted, "there is food on my bed."
Two antelope skins which we had stretched and dried lay on my bed. I
had intended to make shoes, leggings, and trousers with them. But,
pointing to the two skins, I said: "We will boil these skins and eat
them. That will keep us all from starving until we find game."
Rogala's eyes were now full of life and hope. I wondered why I had not
thought of this before. So we made preparations at once for a meal. We
cut off a part of one of the antelope skins, and poured hot water upon
the hair and scraped and washed it afterwards. Then we cut the skin
into very small pieces, and boiled these until they became quite soft,
after which, as a relish, we added some salt and some red pepper--I
could hardly eat anything without pepper. When ready, we poured the
contents into a wooden dish. This done, we sat around it, Andekko
standing by us and waiting with eager eyes for his share of the boiled
skin. We thought the food was not bad, for we were famished.
After the meal I said: "Men, these two antelope skins will furnish us
food for three or four days, and that will give us time to find game
and nuts." We felt much stronger after our meal.
The following day Shinshooko and Alapai went to look after the traps to
see if any animals had been caught. Rogala and I went into the forest
with Ndova and Andekko.
After a long walk Ndova uttered the sounds made by his species--the
white-nosed monkeys or ndovas. They answered his call; we could hear
them coming towards us. Rogala immediately tied Ndova with a rope and
held him fast. Then we hid under a short tree with thick foliage. Soon
the monkeys were above our heads talking to Ndova, who answered them.
We stood still, then moved carefully out of our hiding-place, having
in the meantime made Ndova fast to a branch of the tree. We took aim,
fired, and two big monkeys fell dead almost upon our heads.
Rogala gave a grim look of satisfaction. Then looking at the two
monkeys, I said to Rogala: "Look at what Ndova has done for us. Without
him we should be without food and starving."
We could not wait until we returned to the camp. We lighted a big fire,
cut one of the monkeys in two, and roasted it. So we had a good meal,
and gave a lot to Andekko.
There was great rejoicing that evening in the camp round the roast half
of one of the monkeys. Alapai, who had discovered a cluster of trees
with nuts, brought a number of tondas, berries and fruits; so Ndova had
also a feast.