VISIT OF KING QUENGUEZA--I PROMISE TO VISIT HIM--THE KINDNESS OF
THE COMMI--THE DRY SEASON ON THE FERNAND-VAZ--PLENTY OF BIRDS AND
FISHES--THE MARABOUTS--THE EAGLES--A BAD WOUND.
One fine day I was quietly seated in my bamboo house, and reading
over, for the fiftieth time, the letters of the dear friends who had
not forgotten me, and were so kind as to remember me in my wandering
life in Africa. My attention was suddenly drawn away by the singing
of numerous voices coming down the river. Soon afterwards there stood
before me, accompanied by Ranpano, a tall venerable-looking and slender
negro of noble but savage bearing; he was evidently, I thought, a
chief; there was something commanding about his countenance. He was
not very dark. The people who came with him showed him great respect.
This tall negro was Quengueza, the great king of the Rembo, and the
sovereign of the whole up-river country of the Rembo and Ovenga, the
head waters of the Fernand-Vaz.
He came down in considerable state in three canoes, with three of his
favourite wives, and about one hundred and thirty men.
My little black boy, Macondai, brought him a chair; and after he had
seated himself I saluted him, according to the usual custom, by saying
"Mbolo." After a few seconds he said "Ai." Then he paused a little
while, and said "Mbolo," to which I replied "Ai." This is the usual
mode of salutation in the Commi country, the host beginning first.
He looked at me and seemed very much astonished. He said he expected to
see a tall and stout man. He had heard of me as a great hunter. He was
now convinced, he said, that I must have a brave heart to hunt as I did.
Fortunately, Quengueza and I could talk together, the Commi being his
native language.
He told me there were plenty of gorillas and _nshiegos_ in his country;
and that, if I would come, I should have liberty and protection to hunt
and to do what I pleased. No one would hurt my people, or Ranpano's
people, or myself, or anybody, added he, with emphasis, that should
come with me.
I liked the old king at first sight; but I little guessed then that he
would afterwards become so fond of me, and that I should love him so
much. Yes, I shall remember my good friend Quengueza as long as I live.
Though he is a poor heathen, his heart was full of love for me, and he
possessed many manly and noble qualities.
I was so much pleased with King Quengueza's visit that I sent the
kind-hearted old fellow off with his canoes full of presents of iron
bars, brass rods, chests, etc.; and I gave him goods on trust with
which to buy me ebony. He promised me great sport, and an introduction
to some tribes of whom these Commi men of the seashore knew nothing.
To do him greater honour my people fired a salute as he started off,
with which he was highly delighted, as an African is sure to be with
noise. He did not go before making me promise to come and see him as
soon as the rainy season arrived.
The dry season was now setting in. It was the first I had spent in the
Commi country; and I devoted the whole month of July to exploring the
country along the seashore, between the Fernand-Vaz and the sea.
There was quite a change. The birds, which were so abundant during
the rainy season, had taken their leave; and other birds, in immense
numbers, flocked in to feed on the fish, which now leave the seashore
and the bars of the river's mouth and ascend the river to spawn. Fish,
particularly mullet, were so abundant in the river that two or three
times, when I took my evening airing on the water in a flat upper-river
canoe, enough mullet would leap into the boat to furnish me a breakfast
the next day. The quantity of fish in the shallow water was prodigious.
The breakers on the shore, never very light, were now frightful to
see. The coast was rendered inaccessible by them even to the natives,
and the surf increased to such a degree, even at the mouth of the
river, that it was difficult, and often impossible, to enter with a
canoe. Strong winds from the south prevailed, and, though the sky was
constantly overcast, not a drop of rain fell. The thermometer fell
sometimes early in the morning to 64° of Fahrenheit, and I suffered
from cold, as did also the poor natives. The grass on the prairie was
dried up or burnt over; the ponds were dried up; only the woods kept
their resplendent green.
I was often left alone in that great prairie with my cook and my little
boy Macondai, and a dear little boy he was. I felt perfectly safe
among the good Commi. I always had tried to do right with them, and I
had reaped my reward. They loved me, and anyone who should have tried
to injure me would have no doubt been put to death or exiled from the
country. I shall always remember my little village of Washington and
the good Commi people. When perchance I got a chill the whole village
was in distress. No one was allowed to talk loud, and everyone would
call during the day and sit by me with a sad face for hours without
saying a word, and, when they went away, they all expressed their
sorrow to see me ill. The kind women would bring me wild fruits, or
cold water from the spring, in which to bathe my burning and aching
head; and sometimes tears would drop from their eyes and run down their
kind black faces.
At this season the negroes leave their villages and work on their
plantations. The women gathered the crop of ground-nuts which had been
planted the preceding rainy season, while the men cut down the trees
for the plantations of the coming year, or built canoes, or idled about
or went fishing. Some of their farms are necessarily at some distance
off. The sandy prairie is not fit to cultivate, being, in fact, only
a deposit of the sea, which must have taken an incalculable period of
time to form.
The birds flocked in immense numbers on the prairies, whither they come
to hatch their young; especially later in the season, when the ugly
marabouts, from whose tails our ladies get the splendid feathers for
their bonnets, were there in thousands; and I can assure you they were
not very easy to approach. I believe the marabout is the ugliest bird
I ever saw, and one would never dream that their beautiful feathers
are found only under the tail, and can hardly be seen when the bird is
alive.
Pelicans waded on the river banks all day in prodigious swarms, and
gulped down the luckless fish which came in their way. I loved to see
them swimming about in grave silence, and every now and then grabbing
up a poor fish with their enormous, long, and powerful bills. If not
hungry, they left the fish in their huge pouches, till sometimes three
or four pounds of reserved food awaited the coming of their appetite.
This pouch, you see, performed the office of a pocket, where boys, when
not hungry, keep their apples in reserve.
On the sandy islands were seen now and then flocks of the _Ibis
religiosa_, the sacred Ibis of the Egyptians. They looked exactly like
those that are found mummified, and which have been preserved several
thousand years. They are very curious-looking birds; the head and neck
have no feathers. I have tried to find their nests, but never succeeded.
Ducks of various kinds built their nests in every creek and on every
new islet that appeared with the receding waters. Some of them were of
beautiful plumage.
Cranes, too, and numerous other water-fowls, flocked in, and every day
brought with it new birds. They came by some strange instinct, from
far-distant lands, to feed upon the vast shoals of fish which literally
filled the river. I wondered if many of these birds had come from the
Nile, the Niger, the Zambesi--from the interior of Africa, where no one
had ever penetrated, and from the vast plains of South Africa. What
great travellers some of these birds must be! I envied them, and often
wished I could fly away, supported by their wings. What countries I
should have seen!--what curious people I should have looked at!--and
how many novel things I should have found to recount to you!
Along the trees bordering the river, sometimes perched on their highest
branches, sometimes hidden in the midst of them, I could see that most
beautiful eagle, the _Gypohierax angolensis_, called _coungou_ by the
natives. This eagle is of a white and black colour. He often watches
over the water. How quickly his keen eyes can see through it! and with
what rapidity he darts at his prey! Then, seizing it in his powerful
talons, which sink deep into it, he rises into the air and goes where
he can devour it undisturbed. These eagles attack large fish. They
generally make them blind, and then gradually succeed in getting them
ashore, though it is hard work for them. They have a luxurious time on
the Fernand-Vaz river during the dry season, and are very numerous.
They build their nests on the tops of the highest trees, and come back
to them every year. These nests are exactly like those you have seen,
only larger. They keep very busy when their young begin to eat. The
male and female are then continually fishing. Strange to say, they are
very fond of the palm-oil nuts. In the season, when these are ripe,
they are continually seen among the palm trees.
No wonder these eagles grab fish so easily, they have such claws! One
day, as one passed over my head, I shot him, and, thinking that he was
quite dead, I took him up, when suddenly, in the last struggle for
life, his talons got into my hands. I could have dropped down from
pain. Nothing could have taken the claws away; one of them went clear
through my hand, and I shall probably keep the mark of it all my life.
On the seashore I sometimes caught a bird called the _Sula capensis_,
which had been driven ashore by the treacherous waves to which it had
trusted itself, and could not, for some mysterious reason, get away
again.
Finally, every sand-bar was covered with gulls, whose shrill screams
were heard from morning till night, as they flew about greedily after
their finny prey.
It was a splendid opportunity for sportsmen, and I thought of some of
my friends. As for myself, I took more delight in studying the habits
of the birds than in killing them, and I assure you I had a very
delightful time. I love dearly the dry season in Africa. I am sure you
would have enjoyed it quite as much as I did, if you had been there
with me.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE KING RECEIVES ME.]