OUR PROVISIONS FAIL--ATTACKED AGAIN BY BASHIKOUAYS--RELEASE OF
AKENDA-MBANI FROM HIS FETTERS--HE PROVES A GOOD TRAPPER--"GOUAMBA"--MY
WAKING VISIONS--ANOTHER HUNTING EXPEDITION--WE KILL TWO MONKEYS, THEN
STARVE AGAIN
BERRIES and nuts had become very scarce and we had to go a long way to
gather them, for those that were near our camp had been eaten. Game had
also become very scarce. One day we all set out for the depths of the
forest together. Before leaving the camp we made signs to Akenda-Mbani
that we were going after food, by opening our mouths and drawing our
stomachs in, to show that they were empty. He evidently understood us,
for he smiled.
"If we fail to find food," said Rogala, "it will be on account of
witchcraft; yes," he shouted, "it will be on account of witchcraft. I
have always suspected Okambi of being a sorcerer, and it will be his
witchcraft that will cause our starving."
"Sh-sh-sh, Rogala," said I, "if you speak so loud you will scare the
game." The very thought of witchcraft had made Rogala forget himself.
Though we walked all day, we found no nuts or berries of any
consequence. The season of the koola nuts was nearly over, and the wild
boars had been under the trees we knew. We saved some of such nuts and
berries as we found, however, for Akenda-Mbani.
Suddenly we were attacked by the dreaded bashikouay ants and had to
flee for camp. "Let us hurry as fast as we can, Rogala," said I, "for
Akenda-Mbani is in nchogo, and if the bashikouays pass that way he is
sure to be devoured by them, and we may only see his skeleton on our
arrival."
We hurried back as fast as our legs could carry us, and it was a good
thing that we returned. Otherwise we should surely have found only the
skeleton of Akenda-Mbani, as I had said, for we had not been at home an
hour before the bashikouays made their appearance.
Fortunately we were ready to receive them. In a number of places within
our enclosure firewood had been piled up and was all ready to be
lighted. Water was boiling in all the pots we had, and we had plenty
of hot ashes. The smoke prevented the bashikouays from ascending the
trees, and we spread hot ashes wherever they appeared.
After this I said to Rogala: "We must take Akenda-Mbani out of the
nchogo. I do not care whether he runs away or not. I do not want his
death on my head or on yours. The Oguizi wishes nobody to die. Just
think what a narrow escape he had! If he had been eaten up by the
bashikouays, it would have been our fault. It will never do to keep a
man in nchogo unless some one is near to watch him."
"You are right, Oguizi. It is so; it is so," he repeated half a
dozen times. Then he added thoughtfully: "Yes, when people have been
discovered to be wizards, they are tied to a tree when the bashikouays
are in the neighborhood, and in a short time nothing is left of them
but their bones."
So Rogala and I took Akenda-Mbani out of his nchogos, first freeing his
hands, and then his feet.
I felt now quite happy, for Akenda-Mbani was free, and if we had been
sure of him at first he would not have been placed in nchogo at all.
He was now one of us. The next day we all went again into the forest
in search of firewood, and without being told to do so, Akenda took a
heavy load on his back, and carried it to the camp. The day following,
he went into the forest by himself, and set traps for game, coming
back with a porcupine and a pangolin or ant-eater. So plenty was in the
camp once more for the moment. The porcupine meat is very good, the
pangolin's was very strong.
But when these were eaten, no more game was trapped, and we again
boiled some of the antelope skin.
I had such a "gouamba"--that is, such a longing for meat--that the nuts
and the boiled antelope skin became loathsome to me. I ate them just as
a man would eat, day after day, bread soaked in water.
What a fearful meaning there is, I said to myself, "in that native word
'gouamba'!" I spent hours in a sort of waking dream in which I fancied
that I had returned home, and had met many friends, one after another,
as I walked about the streets. The first one would say: "Hello, is
that you, Paul? Welcome home. Won't you dine with me to-day? My wife
and children will be so glad to see you back again. We have roast beef
to-night."
Then, in a moment, I found myself at the family table. A big, juicy
piece of roast beef was before my eyes on the table. I saw my friend
cut the roast beef. A big piece was served to me. I was then asked if
I would have sweet potatoes, corn, and other vegetables. I could see
the smoke rise from these hot dishes. How I enjoyed the pudding and the
ice-cream at the end of the dinner!
I went out and met another friend who also asked me to dinner. This one
had turkey instead of roast beef. How I looked at the turkey! It had
been roasted to a nicety, and was a rich brown all over. Then my friend
asked: "Paul, which piece do you like best?" To which I answered: "I
have no choice." Then a large piece was put on a plate for me with
the stuffing. The waitress would pass the cranberry sauce, then the
potatoes and the green peas. How good all these tasted! Then came the
strawberries and the ice-cream. Then more dinners, with other friends.
How I enjoyed these in my imagination! Then hunger would stop, and then
come back with ten times greater force. We drank as much water as we
could, for there is nourishment in water.
Akenda-Mbani went to look after his traps one day, and Rogala and
I went hunting. We were in desperate straits. We had gone quite a
distance from the camp, and had seen nothing, when suddenly I thought
I heard something in the distance. I gave a "click." As soon as Rogala
heard it he stopped and then came to my side. I had heard, as I
thought, monkeys leaping from tree to tree. We stood still, and the
noise became gradually louder. The monkeys were evidently coming in our
direction. Hope of food loomed before our eyes. Then all became silent;
the monkeys had manifestly stopped upon some fruit-bearing trees, and
were feeding. At such times they are always still, for they do not want
to attract the attention of other monkeys.
We went in the direction where we thought they were, looking at the
tops of the trees as we went along. After a while we heard nuts falling
on the ground. Soon we came under the tree, and pulp and seeds fell
upon our heads and all around us. Looking up, we saw the monkeys. I
counted seventeen of them; they were nkagos, and were so busy eating
that they did not notice us.
We picked out two of the biggest, aimed at them carefully, and fired.
They fell on the ground with a great crash. In the meantime the troop
gave a shrill cry of fear and decamped with the utmost speed, and for
a long time afterwards we could hear the noise of the branches as they
rose again after the monkeys had leaped to others. When they thought
they were far from danger, they stopped and uttered the peculiar nkago
cry, calling upon their missing companions; but no answer came back to
them, for our two monkeys were stone dead.
They kept calling again and again, however, for a time; then at last
we heard nothing more. We swung the monkeys over our backs, and had
regained the hunting path leading towards our camp, when I thought I
heard a slight noise on a tree. I looked up, thinking a bird had made
it, when to my surprise I saw a monkey looking down upon us. He was
a nkago, and was following his dead mate, and looking down upon her
in deep silence. I could see his human-like eyes watching us. He had
wondered why his call had not been answered by her, had left the troop
to seek her, and then seen her lifeless form on the back of Rogala. He
seemed to know that something was wrong. I would have given a good deal
to know his thoughts.
We continued on our way. The monkey kept following us, watching,
peeping down upon us and upon his dead mate. When we stopped, he
stopped, his eyes always looking down upon us. I see them still to this
day. I was so sorry I had killed his mate. I noticed that he never
jumped from one limb of a tree to another, but crept along their trunks
and branches, evidently wishing to make no noise to attract attention.
He followed us to our camp. I could not tell why, but I did not feel
like eating monkey that evening, for I thought I had never in an
animal seen eyes with such a human expression. The next morning I saw
him for an instant; he was still looking for his mate. But that was my
last glimpse of him. He probably went back to his troop.