After the comforts of a fine steamer the accommodation on board the
little trader was poor indeed. The vessel smelt horribly of palm oil
and was alive with cockroaches. These, however, Mr. Goodenough and Frank
cared little for, as they brought up their mattresses and slept on deck.
Upon their voyage out from England Frank, as well as several of the
other passengers, had amused himself by practicing with his rifle at
empty bottles thrown overboard, and other objects, and having nothing
else to do now, he resumed the practice, accustoming himself also to the
use of his revolver, the mark being a small log of wood swung from the
end of a yard.
“I told you,” Mr. Goodenough said, “that your skill with the blowgun
would prove useful to you in shooting. You are as good a shot as I
am, and I am considered a fair one. I have no doubt that with a little
practice you will succeed as well with your double barrel. The shooting
of birds on the wing is a knack which seems to come naturally to some
people, while others, practice as they will, never become good shots.”
The ship touched twice upon its way down to the Gaboon. Once at
the Malimba river, the second time at Botauga, the latter being the
principal ivory port in equatorial Africa.
“Shall we meet with any elephants, do you think?” Frank asked his
friend.
“In all probability,” Mr. Goodenough said. “Elephant shooting, of
course, does not come within our line of action, and I should not go at
all out of my way for them. Still, if we meet them we will shoot them.
The ivory is valuable and will help to pay our expenses, while the
meat is much prized by the natives, who will gladly assist us in
consideration of the flesh.”
On the sixteenth day after leaving Fernando Po they entered the Gaboon.
On the right hand bank were the fort and dwellings of the French. A
little farther up stood the English factories; and upon a green hill
behind, the church, school, and houses of an American mission. On the
left bank was the wattle town of King William, the sable monarch of the
Gaboon. Mr. Goodenough at once landed and made inquiries for a house. He
succeeded in finding one, consisting of three rooms, built on piles, an
important point in a country in which disease rises from the soil. At
Bonny Mr. Goodenough had, with the assistance of the agent, enlisted six
Houssas. These people live much higher up on the coast, but they wander
a good deal and may be met with in most of the ports. The men had formed
a guard in one of the hulks, but trade having been bad the agent had
gone home, and they were glad to take service with Mr. Goodenough. They
spoke a few words of English, and, like the Kroomen, rejoiced in names
which had been given them by sailors. They were called Moses, Firewater,
Ugly Tom, Bacon, Tatters, and King John. They were now for the first
time set to work, and the goods were soon transported from the brig to
the house.
“Is anything the matter with you, Frank?” Mr. Goodenough asked that
evening.
“I don't know, sir. My head feels heavy, somehow, and I am giddy.”
Mr. Goodenough felt his pulse.
“You have got your first touch of fever,” he said. “I wonder you've been
so long without it. You had better lie down at once.”
A quarter of an hour afterwards Frank was seized with an overpowering
heat, every vein appearing to be filled with liquid fire; but his skin,
instead of being, as usual, in a state of perspiration, was dry and
hard.
“Now, Frank, sit up and drink this. It's only some mustard and salt and
water. I have immense faith in an emetic.”
The draught soon took its effect. Frank was violently sick, and the
perspiration broke in streams from him.
“Here is a cup of tea,” Mr. Goodenough said; “drink that and you will
find that there will be little the matter with you in the morning.”
Frank awoke feeling weak, but otherwise perfectly well. Mr. Goodenough
administered a strong dose of quinine, and after he had had his
breakfast he felt quite himself again.
“Now,” Mr. Goodenough said, “we will go up to the factories and mission
and try and find a really good servant. Everything depends upon that.”
In a short time an engagement was made with a negro of the name of
Ostik. He was a Mpongwe man, that being the name of the tribe on the
coast. He spoke English fairly, as well as two or three of the native
languages. He had before made a journey some distance into the interior
with a white traveler. He was a tall and powerfully built negro, very
ugly, but with a pleasant and honest face. Frank felt at once that he
should like him.
“You quite understand,” Mr. Goodenough explained, “we are going through
the Fan country, far into the interior. We may be away from the coast
for many months.”
“Me ready, sar,” the man answered with a grin. “Mak no odds to Ostik. He
got no wife, no piccanniny. Ostik very good cook. Master find good grub;
he catch plenty of beasts.”
“You're not afraid, Ostik, because it is possible we may have trouble on
the way?”
“Me not very much afraid, massa. You good massa to Ostik he no run away
if fightee come; but no good fight whole tribe.”
“I hope not to have any fighting at all, Ostik; but as I have got six
Houssas with me who will all carry breech loading guns, I think we
should be a match for a good sized tribe, if necessary.”
Ostik looked thoughtful. “More easy, massa, go without Houssas,” he
said. “Black man not often touch white traveler.”
“No, Ostik, that is true; but I must take with me trade goods for paying
my way and hiring carriers, and if alone I should be at the mercy of
every petty chief who chose to plunder and delay me. I am going as a
peaceful traveler, ready to pay my way, and to make presents to the
different kings through whose territories I may pass. But I do not
choose to put myself at the mercy of any of them. I do not say that
eight men armed with breech loaders could defeat a whole tribe; but they
would be so formidable, that any of these negro kings would probably
prefer taking presents and letting us pass peacefully to trying to rob
us. The first thing to do, will be to hire one large canoe, or two if
necessary. The men must agree to take us up into the Fan country, as far
as the rapids on the Gaboon. Then we shall take carriers there, and the
boat can return by itself. These are the things which will have to go.”
The baggage consisted of ten large tin cases, each weighing about eighty
pounds. These contained cotton cloths, powder, beads, tea, chocolate,
sugar, and biscuits. There were in addition three bundles of stair rods,
each about the same weight as the boxes. These were done up in canvas.
There was also a tent made of double canvas weighing fifty pounds, and
two light folding tressel beds weighing fifteen pounds apiece. Thus
fourteen men would be required as carriers, besides some for plantains
and other provisions, together with the portmanteaus, rugs, and
waterproof sheets of the travelers. There were besides six great chests
made of light iron. Four of these were fitted with trays with cork
bottoms, for insects. The other two were for the skins of birds. All the
boxes and cases had strips of India rubber where the lids fitted down,
in order to keep out both damp and the tiny ants which are the plague of
naturalists in Africa.
Four or five days were occupied in getting together a crew, for the
natives had an abject fear of entering the country of the cannibal
Fans. Mr. Goodenough promised that they should not be obliged to proceed
unless a safe conduct for their return was obtained from the King of the
Fans. A large canoe was procured, sufficient to convey the whole party.
Twelve paddlers were hired, and the goods taken down and arranged in the
boat. The Houssas had been, on landing, furnished with their guns,
which were Snider rifles, had been instructed in the breech loading
arrangement, and had been set to work to practice at a mark at a hundred
and fifty yards distance--the stump of an old tree, some five feet
in height, serving for the purpose. The men were delighted with the
accuracy of their pieces and the rapidity at which they could be
fired. Mr. Goodenough impressed upon them that unless attacked at close
quarters, and specially ordered to fire fast, they must aim just as
slowly and deliberately as if using their old guns, for that in so
long a journey ammunition would be precious, and must, therefore, on no
account whatever, be wasted. In the boxes were six thousand rounds of
ammunition, a thousand for each gun, besides the ammunition for the
rifles and fowling pieces of Mr. Goodenough and Frank.
In order to render the appearance of his followers as imposing as
possible, Mr. Goodenough furnished each of the Houssas with a pair of
trousers made of New Zealand flax, reaching to their knees. These he had
brought from England with him. They were all found to be too large, but
the men soon set to work with rough needles and thread and took them in.
In addition to these, each man was furnished with a red sash, which went
several times round the waist, and served to keep the trousers up and to
give a gay aspect to the dress. The Houssas were much pleased with their
appearance. All of them carried swords in addition to the guns, as in
their own country they are accustomed to fight with these weapons.
They started early in the morning, and after four hours' paddling passed
Konig Island, an abandoned Dutch settlement. Here they stopped for an
hour or two, and then the sea breeze sprang up, a sail was hoisted, and
late at night they passed a French guardship placed to mark the boundary
of that settlement at a point where a large tributary called the Boqui
runs into it. Here is a little island called Nenge Nenge, formerly a
missionary station, where the natives are still Christians. At this
place the canoe was hauled ashore. The Houssas had already been
instructed in the method of pitching the tent, and in a very few minutes
this was erected. It was a double poled tent, some ten feet square,
and there was a waterproof sheet large enough to cover the whole of the
interior, thus preventing the miasma from arising from the ground within
it. The beds were soon opened and fixed, two of the large cases formed
a table and two smaller ones did service as chairs. A lamp was lit, and
Frank was charmed with the comfort and snugness of the abode.
The men's weapons were fastened round one of the poles to keep them from
the damp night air. Ostik had at once set to work on landing, leaving
the Houssas to pitch the tent. A fire was soon blazing and a kettle and
saucepans suspended over it. Rice was served out to the men, with the
addition of some salt meat, of which sufficient had been purchased from
the captain of the brig to last throughout the journey in the canoe. The
men were all in high spirits at this addition to their fare, which was
more than had been bargained for, and their songs rose merrily round the
fire in the night air.
In the morning, after breakfast, they again took their places in the
canoe. For twelve miles they paddled, the tide at first assisting
them, but after this the water from the mountains ahead overpowered it.
Presently they arrived at the first Fan village, called Olenga, which
they reached six hours after starting. The natives crowded round as the
canoe approached, full of curiosity and excitement, for never but once
had a white man passed up the river. These Fans differed widely from
the coast negroes. Their hair was longer and thicker, their figures were
slight, their complexion coffee colored, and their projecting upper jaws
gave them a rabbit mouthed appearance. They wore coronets on their heads
adorned with the red tail feathers of the common gray parrot. Most of
the men had beards, which were divided in the middle, red and white
beads being strung up the tips. Some wore only a strip of goatskin
hanging from the waist, or the skin of a tigercat, while others had
short petticoats made of cloth woven from the inner bark of a tree. The
travelers were led to the hut of the chief, where they were surrounded
by a mob of the cannibals. The Houssas had been strictly enjoined to
leave their guns in the bottom of the canoe, as Mr. Goodenough desired
to avoid all appearance of armed force. The chief demanded of Ostik what
these two white men wanted here, and whether they had come to trade.
Ostik replied that the white men were going up the river into the
country beyond to shoot elephants and buy ivory, that they did not want
to trade for logwood or oil, but that they would give presents to the
chiefs of the Fan villages. A score of cheap Birmingham muskets had been
brought from England by Mr. Goodenough for this purpose. One of these
was now bestowed upon the chief, together with some powder and ball,
three bright cotton handkerchiefs, some gaudy glass beads, and
two looking glasses for his wives. This was considered perfectly
satisfactory.
The crowd was very great, and at Mr. Goodenough's dictation Ostik
informed the chief that if the white men were left quiet until the
evening they would show his people many strange things. On the receipt
of this information the crowd dispersed. But when at sunset the two
travelers took a turn through the village, the excitement was again very
great. The men stood their ground and stared at them, but the women and
children ran screaming away to hide themselves. The idea of the people
of Central Africa of the whites is that they are few in number, that
they live at the bottom of the sea, and are possessed of great wealth,
but that they have no palm oil or logwood, and are, therefore, compelled
to come to land to trade for these articles. They believe that the
strange clothes they wear are manufactured from the skins of sea beasts.
When night fell Mr. Goodenough fastened a sheet against the outside of
the chief's hut, and then placed a magic lantern in position ten paces
from it. The Fans were then invited to gather round and take their seats
upon the ground. A cry of astonishment greeted the appearance of the
bright disk. This was followed by a wilder yell when this was darkened,
and an elephant bearing some men sitting on his back was seen to cross
the house. The men leaped to their feet and seized their spears. The
women screamed, and Ostik, who was himself somewhat alarmed, had great
difficulty in calming their fears and persuading them to sit down
again, assuring them that they would see many wonderful things, but that
nothing would hurt them.
The next view was at first incomprehensible to many of them. It was a
ship tossing in a stormy sea; but some of those present had been down to
the mouth of the river, and these explained to the others the nature
of the phenomenon. In all there were twenty slides, all of which were
provided with movable figures; the last two being chromatropes, whose
dancing colors elicited screams of delight from the astonished natives.
This concluded the performance, but for hours after it was over the
village rang with a perfect Babel of shouts, screams, and chatter.
The whole thing was to the Fans absolutely incomprehensible, and their
astonishment was equalled by their awe at the powers of the white men.
The next two days they remained at Olenga, as word was sent up to
Itchongue, the next town, asking the chief there for leave to come
forward. The people had now begun to get over their first timidity,
and when Frank went out for a walk after breakfast he was somewhat
embarrassed by the women and girls crowding round him, feeling his
clothes and touching his hands and face to assure themselves that these
felt like those of human beings. He afforded them huge delight by taking
off his Norfolk jacket and pulling up the sleeves of his shirt to show
them that his arms were the same color as his hands, and so elated were
they with this exhibition that it was with great difficulty that he
withstood their entreaties that he would disrobe entirely. Indeed, Ostik
had at last to come to his rescue and carry him off from the laughing
crowd by which he was surrounded.
After dinner Mr. Goodenough invited the people to sit down in a vast
circle holding each other's hands. He then told them that he should at
a word make them all jump to their feet. Then taking out a small but
powerful galvanic battery, he arranged it and placed wires into the
hands of the two men nearest to him in the great circle.
“Now,” he said, “when I clap my hands you will find that you are all
obliged to jump up.”
He gave the signal. Frank turned on the battery, and in an instant the
two hundred men and women, with a wild shriek, either leapt to their
feet or rolled backward on the ground. In another minute not a native
was to be seen, with the exception of the chief, who had not been
included in the circle. The latter, at Mr. Goodenough's request, shouted
loudly to his subjects to return, for that the white men would do them
no harm; but it was a long time before, slowly and cautiously, they
crept back again. When they had reassembled Mr. Goodenough showed them
several simple but astonishing chemical experiments, which stupefied
them with wonder; and concluded with three or four conjuring tricks,
which completed their amazement. A long day's paddling took them to
Itchongue, where they were as well received as at Olenga. Here they
stopped for two days, and the magic lantern was again brought out, and
the other tricks repeated with a success equal to that which they had
before obtained. As another day's paddling would take them to the rapids
Mr. Goodenough now set up a negotiation for obtaining a sufficient
number of carriers. After great palaver, and the presentation of three
guns to the chief to obtain his assistance, thirty men were engaged.
These were each to receive a yard of calico or one brass stair rod a
day, and were to proceed with the party until such time as they could
procure carriers from another tribe.
The new recruits were taken up in another canoe. Several villages were
passed on the way. The river became a mere rapid, against which
the canoes with difficulty made their way. They had now entered the
mountains which rose steeply above them, embowered in wood. Two days
of severe work took them to the foot of the falls. Here the canoes were
unloaded. The men hired on the coast received their pay, and turned
the boat's head down stream. The other canoe accompanied it, and the
travelers remained with their bodyguard of Houssas and their carriers.
“Now,” Mr. Goodenough said, “we are fairly embarked on our journey, and
we will commence operations at once. I have heard the cries of a great
many birds which are strange to me today, and I expect that we shall
have a good harvest. We may remain here for some time. The first thing
to do is to find food for our followers. We have got six sacks of rice,
but it will never do to let our men depend solely upon these. They would
soon come to an end.”
“But how are we to feed forty people?” Frank asked in astonishment.
“I pointed out to you today,” Mr. Goodenough said, “the tracks of
hippopotami in various places. One of these beasts will feed the men
for nearly a week. There were, too, numbers of alligators' eggs on the
banks, and these creatures make by no means bad eating. Your rifle will
be of no use against such animals as these. You had better take one of
the Sniders. I have some explosive shells which will fit them. My own
double barrelled rifle is of the same bore.”
After dinner Mr. Goodenough told two of the Houssas to accompany them
with their rifles, together with three or four of the Fans. He made his
way down the stream to a point where the hills receded, and where he had
observed a great many marks of the river horses. As they approached
the spot they heard several loud snorts, and making their way along as
quietly as possible they saw two of the great beasts standing in the
stream. At this point it widened a good deal and was shallow and quite
near the bank. The Fans had been told to stay behind directly the
snorting was heard, and Mr. Goodenough and Frank, rifle in hand, crept
forward, with the Houssas as still and noiseless as cats close behind
them.