A CAMERA ACTRESS IN THE WILDS OF TOGOLAND
[Illustration:
_By permission of_ _Maj. H. Schomburgk, F.R.G.S._
KONKOMBWA WARRIOR IN FULL GALA DRESS
The helmet is a calabash, elaborately ornamented with cowrie shells,
and surmounted by a fine pair of roan antelope horns. Other less lucky
warriors, or less clever hunters, content themselves with the smaller
horns of the commoner puku antelope. Note the beautifully ornamented
quiver filled with poisoned arrows.]
A CAMERA ACTRESS
IN THE WILDS OF
TOGOLAND
THE ADVENTURES, OBSERVATIONS & EXPERIENCES OF A
CINEMATOGRAPH ACTRESS IN WEST AFRICAN FORESTS
WHILST COLLECTING FILMS DEPICTING NATIVE
LIFE AND WHEN POSING AS THE WHITE
WOMAN IN ANGLO-AFRICAN
CINEMATOGRAPH DRAMAS
BY
MISS M. GEHRTS
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MAJOR H. SCHOMBURGK
WITH 65 ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
LONDON: SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LTD.
1915
INTRODUCTION
BY MAJOR H. SCHOMBURGK, F.R.G.S.
It was after my return from my first West African cinema expedition,
in June 1913, that I made up my mind to try and film native dramas in
their true and proper settings.
My aim was to visualise, as it were, for the European public, scenes
from African native life as it once was all over the continent, and
as it is even now in the more remote and seldom-visited parts; and it
was further my object to so present the various incidents as to ensure
their being pleasing and interesting to all classes and conditions of
people.
To this end, then, it became necessary for me to find a white woman
capable of acting the principal parts, supported by native supers.
My thoughts at once reverted to Miss Gehrts, a lady with whom I have
been acquainted for some little while, and whom I knew to be a keen
sportswoman, a good rider, and possessed of histrionic ability of no
mean order.
It did not take me long to persuade her to accept the offer I made
her; but her parents raised many objections, based principally on the
supposed dangers and privations which they assumed--not altogether
wrongly--to be inseparable from the trip. These objections, however,
were eventually overcome, the enterprise was undertaken and brought to
a successful conclusion, and this book is one result of it.
Personally, I must confess to not being altogether favourably impressed
with the ordinary African "travel book" of the typical globe-trotting
woman writer: the kind of one, I mean, who either conscientiously and
carefully hugs the coast, or else ventures but a little way into the
hinterland along the ordinary caravan routes, and then puts upon record
a long string of facts and fancies which only serve to raise a smile on
the faces of those who really know their Africa, exemplifying, as they
almost invariably do, that, with regard to this vast and most wonderful
continent, more than perhaps anywhere else, a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing.
Miss Gehrts' book--and I say so frankly and freely without fear or
favour--is not of this sort. She quitted the beaten track altogether;
so much so that north of Sokode she was absolutely the first and only
white woman the natives had ever beheld. She had, therefore, the
satisfaction of seeing these interesting peoples--the Tschaudjo, the
Konkombwa, the Tschokossi, and many others--in their original unspoilt
state of free and proud savagedom.
I am pleased to say that she appreciated the opportunities afforded
her, using her powers of observation to very good purpose indeed, and
with results that were not a little surprising even to old dwellers
in the country. For instance, it was she who discovered the curious
industry of making beads from palm nuts, described in Chapter VII, as
also the unique fortified native village of which a plan and drawing,
as well as a full and most interesting description, will be found in
Chapter XII.
For these reasons I am inclined to dissent from the view, expressed by
her in her foreword, that the book possesses no scientific value. I
also disagree with most of what she has written in the opening chapter
concerning myself: it is far too flattering.
On the other hand I cannot praise too highly the work done by her
in connection with the expedition. I am only afraid that no reader
will either appreciate or understand, from her very self-restrained
narrative, what she really underwent while acting in the dramatic
pieces.
Miss Gehrts also took charge of the commissariat, and I am sure that
every member of the expedition will be only too pleased to certify
that a better could not have been evolved than the one that was run so
easily and beautifully by "our little mother," as the "boys" used to
call her.
Finally, I should like to say that this book possesses the distinction
of being the first published record of a journey through Togoland ever
written by anybody, man or woman, black or white. It is, therefore,
in a sense unique, and I wish it all the success that, in my humble
opinion, it deserves. I cannot say more: nor can I say less.
HANS SCHOMBURGK.
LONDON, _July 9, 1914_.
FOREWORD
In the beginning, when I first went out to West Africa, it had never
entered into my head for a single instant that my experiences there
might form the subject of a book. But I fell into the habit of keeping
a diary of my journeyings, and afterwards many of my friends, as also
other people in a position to judge, seemed to think it almost a pity
that the adventures and impressions of the first white woman to travel
through Togoland from the sea to the northern border and back again,
should go unrecorded. It was pointed out to me, too, that the fact of
my being the first cinema actress to perform in savage Africa, and with
savages as "supers," would most certainly add to the interest, even if
it did not enhance the value, of such a record.
In this way the present volume came into being: a creation born--to
be perfectly and absolutely frank--of egoism and flattered vanity.
I should like to say at the outset, however, that it does not make
any pretence to add to the sum of human knowledge in a scientific
sense; it is merely a plain and simple narrative of a girl's seeings
and doings amongst strange and primitive folk living in a remote and
little known land. Still, should there be found in it anything new
of anthropological or ethnological value, it will be to me an added
pleasure; for I particularly tried, to the best of my ability, to keep
my eyes and ears open for the reception of such. Likewise, I shall be
glad if this, my first attempt at authorship, helps to win friends for
the colonial cause, and tends to dispel the altogether erroneous idea
anent West Africa being, in the sense in which the phrase is usually
interpreted and understood, the "white man's grave."
Speaking for myself and on the whole, I was both healthy and happy out
there. I received nothing but kindness from white and black people
alike; so much so, indeed, that I have come to love and admire the
country into which I first adventured myself with feelings akin to fear
and repulsion. Africa, in short, has cast her spell over me, as she
does, I am told, over most others. Even as I write these few last lines
I can feel "the call of the wild" stirring my blood.
In concluding this brief foreword, I should wish to be permitted to
thank His Highness the Duke of Mecklenburg, Governor of Togoland, whose
personal interest in the welfare of the expedition, shown in many ways
and at divers times, made it possible for us to carry it out in its
entirety on the lines originally laid down.
My thanks are also due to Commander Triebe, of the S.S. _Henny
Woermamm_, for many kindnesses and courtesies received on the outward
voyage, as well as to his colleague, Captain Pankow, of the _Eleonore
Woermamm_, for other similar evidences of good-will on the voyage home;
to Lieutenant von Rentzel, who so kindly placed his house at our
disposal on our first arrival in Lome, the capital and port of Togo;
and to Mr. Kuepers, the head-master of the Government school in Sokode,
for welcome hospitality freely extended to us.
Especially, too, am I grateful to Captain von Hirschfeld, District
Commissioner of Mangu, who not only showed us personally every
hospitality and kindness during visits extending altogether to over
a month, but who also went out of his way, at considerable trouble
and inconvenience, to help us in filming many subjects, scenes, and
incidents of native life, which we should otherwise hardly have been
able to secure; his efforts in this latter direction being ably
seconded by his two European assistants, Messrs Sonntag and Gardin.
Mr. Muckè, of Bassari, also showed us many kindnesses for which I
am sincerely grateful; and my best thanks are likewise due to Herr
von Parpart, District Commissioner of Sokode, whose hospitality on
our return journey to the coast made our last evening in the African
bush an outstandingly pleasant recollection. Mr. James S. Hodgson,
our camera man, besides proving himself a first-rate and exceedingly
careful operator, kept us lively of an evening by his clever playing on
the mandoline, while his imperturbable good-humour, even in the most
trying circumstances, helped to make our trip a pleasant and agreeable
one.
Finally, I should wish to thank my friend, Mr. C. L. McCluer Stevens,
of "Ivydene," New Malden, Surrey, author and journalist, for the
skilful and painstaking manner in which he has edited my rough
manuscript and put it in trim for the publishers, as well as for
valuable advice and help regarding the treatment and scope of the
various chapters and the work as a whole.
M. GEHRTS.
LONDON, _July 1, 1914_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
LONDON TO LOME
PAGES
I am "up against" a queer business proposition--Doubts and
difficulties--Assent--Major Schomburgk, F.R.G.S., the
leader of the expedition--His African experiences--
Filming cinema pictures in the tropics--The start from
England--Dover to Madeira--Life on board ship--Madeira
--Teneriffe--Las Palmas--Motoring under difficulties--
Arrival in Togo--"Yellow Jack"--Kindness of H.H. the Duke
of Mecklenburg, the Governor of Togoland--A jolly dinner
party--Rickshaw riding in Lome--Off to Atakpame 17-28
CHAPTER II
HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"
A tiresome railway journey--My hut in the forest--A trying
toilet--Native inquisitiveness--_Haute cuisine_ in the
heart of Africa--Mosquitoes--My first night in the bush
--A very primitive shower-bath--Rehearsing our first
cinema drama--Savages as "supers"--Irritating delays--
A false alarm--Filming the principal scene in the _White
Goddess_--I am knocked up--And laid up--Malarial fever
--"If you cough you'll die"--Convalescence--I try
cookery--A disconcerting experience--Eating 9863 chickens
--A little about lizards--Also about ants and beetles 29-39
CHAPTER III
LIFE AT KAMINA
Troubles of cinema playing in Central Africa--Enforced leisure
--Native girls and a gramophone--Women and work--Native
children--A negro philosopher--Native servants--
Learning to cycle--Improvising a studio--Wild monkeys--
Native dances--A perilous climb 40-48
CHAPTER IV
STARTING "ON TREK"
On the march into "the back of beyond"--Packing our "chop
boxes"--Quinine--"I didn't want to do it"--The starting
of the caravan--Good-bye to Kamina--Kindly forethought
of the Duke of Mecklenburg--Our first day's march--
Sleeping out in the bush--Rest-houses--Our operator goes
astray--Dish-washing extraordinary--Our cook disappears
--To return with a wife--I try my hand at bush cooking--
"Feed the brute"--A native belle 49-56
CHAPTER V
ATAKPAME TO SOKODE
Our friend the doctor--A new way with natives--Laughable
results--And to Njamassila--Travelling by hammock
--A rash resolve--Njamassila to Agbandi--Sleeping
on the march--A native giant--Agbandi to Djabotaure
--Depressing effects of the West African climate--An
adventure at Djabotaure--Native festivities on the eve of
Ramadam--Djabotaure to Audasi--Incompetent hammock boys
--"Sea-sickness" on land--A moonlight night in the bush
--Nearing Sokode--Our horses waiting for us in charge of
a European--A bush toilet--Arrival in Sokode--Kindly
hospitality 57-68
CHAPTER VI
IN THE CAPITAL OF TSCHAUDJOLAND
In camp at Paratau--Uro Djabo, paramount chief of the
Tschaudjo--A courtly savage--The Tschaudjo a conquering
tribe who came riding on horses from the north--Djabo's
palace--His wives--A much-married monarch--His prime
minister and attendants--He comes to afternoon tea--A
democratic king--Tschaudjo horsemen--An accident--
I nearly lose my life--A nervous breakdown--We leave
Paratau in a hurry--Kindness of the German Government
officials at Sokode--They lend us one hundred carriers
--On the road to Aledjo-Kadara, "the Switzerland of
Togo" 69-79
CHAPTER VII
ALEDJO-KADARA--THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO
On the march from Paratau to Aledjo-Kadara--A terrible stage
--Doubt and depression--An uphill journey--I feel my
health improving--An accident--Native sympathy--Our
cook annexes our dining-table--A lovely camp--A thousand
yards up and surrounded by mountains--The Switzerland of
Togo--Beautiful rest-houses--The harmattan--Grass
fires--Filming a drama--Another accident--Nebel and I
nearly fall over a precipice--Nebel homesick--He leaves
for Europe--Filming the final scene of _Odd Man Out_--We
visit Bafilo, near Aledjo--Great reception by natives for
the first white woman--The Uro (king) of Bafilo meets us
in state--Torch play to celebrate the finish of Ramadam--
More filming--An astonished native--Industrial films--
The cotton industry--Trade guilds--Primitive looms and
spindles--Making beads from palm nuts--Baboons like dogs
and rabbits with feet like elephants 80-96
CHAPTER VIII
AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK
The native market at Bafilo--Native sweetmeats--Cowries as
currency--A native barber shaving a baby's head--Togo
boys playing at the West African equivalent of pitch and
toss--A woman's dance that out-tangos the tango--Native
baskets at a farthing apiece--Hyenas--I am nearly bitten
by a puff-adder--A leopard--Early stables--Filming
again--A glut of supers--A "woman palaver"--One of our
people abducts a native girl--His punishment--I read the
girl a lecture--But make little impression--"He gave me
these"--A drunken native--I intercede for him with his
chief--Wild tribes from the Kabre Mountains--Nude but
modest--The shy girl and her bag of salt--A native falls
in love with me--Beautiful native work--I buy a cloak of
native manufacture--Good-bye to Bafilo 97-107
CHAPTER IX
ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE
On trek once more--A disquieting discovery--I am very angry
--A long day's journey--I narrowly escape sunstroke--
"Wholesome anger a good tonic"--I taste native beer for
the first time--And find it both refreshing and sustaining
--Antelope spoor--Exchange carriers--First meeting
with the Konkombwa--The finest race of savages in Togo--
Native dandies--Trouble with our horse boys--They are
punished--In the heart of the wilds--European and native
rest-houses--Paying our carriers with salt--Schomburgk
gets "bushed"--Resents my anxiety--We quarrel--Elephant
spoor--I am given my first lesson in wood-craft--
Mosquitoes--The yellow-fever breeding anophele--We cross
the Kara River--First sight of hippopotami--We strike the
Oti, the principal river of Northern Togo 108-124
CHAPTER X
CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU
At Mangu--Captain von Hirschfeld--I make an "impression"--
Though not the kind I should have liked to have made--"The
Place where Warriors Meet"--A brush with the Tschokossi
--Captain von Hirschfeld's splendid hospitality--Tamberma
Fort--The head tax---The Mangu plantations--Mangu in
the rainy season--Great heat--Terrific thunderstorms--
Our Christmas dinner at Mangu--New Year's Eve festivities
--We burn three thousand feet of film--Game birds round
Mangu--A fishing carnival--Queer native methods--
Canoeing on the Oti River--A marvellous shot--Filming in
the tropics--More difficulties--The new station at Mangu,
and the old one--A striking contrast--The big Mangu
"songu"--A gathering of the clans--Trapping a hyena--
A plague of bats--Fresh milk and native butter--Ancient
records at Mangu 125-140
CHAPTER XI
OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"
Northward from Mangu--Wild savages and poisoned arrows--A
treacherous attack and a lucky escape--Different arrow
poisons--Grass fires and their drawbacks--Mosquitoes and
some yarns about them--Wild natives--The wild Tschokossi
women--A new dress every day--Our boys go swimming in
a crocodile-infested pool--Our pet monkey gets loose--
Searching for hippos--An unreliable guide--Sullen natives
--A too-early call--A wonderful game country--In God's
big "zoo"--Gorgeous plumaged birds--I want Schomburgk
to shoot some for me--He objects--Sun birds and blue
jays--Across a yam-field country--A bird sanctuary--
Discovery of a flock of marabou--I regret having no gun--
The costliest feathers on earth--Our guide loses his way
again--Fulani herdsmen--They supply us with fresh milk--
Arrival at Sumbu 141-158
CHAPTER XII
AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES
At Sumbu--Wild savages--Our boys afraid--Tschokossi
refuse to sell us provisions--I enter a village and buy a
chicken--Astonishment of the people at their first sight
of coined money--I make friends with the children--Lumps
of sugar--A new delicacy--The "white honey rock"--I
become "chummy" with the chief--He invites me to go over
his village with him--I accept the invitation--A unique
village--Elaborate precautions against attack--Where did
the Tschokossi learn to build these remarkable villages?--
"Every village a fortress and every house a fort"--Messa
gets scared--And Alfred follows suit--Cleanliness and
the "classes"--I try my hand at cheese-making--Our too
energetic "washerwoman"--A novel theory of wages--The
ugliest chief in Togo--Marriage among the wild Tschokossi
--Men's view--A primitive form of eugenics--"Can white
women laugh?"--Our boys are boycotted--Native women
refuse to cook for them--Salt the only currency--Sleeping
"rough"--My boys' anxiety for the safety of their "little
white mother"--Messa makes himself putties--His anxiety
about his wife--A case of filaria--Dangerous symptoms 159-182
CHAPTER XIII
BACK TO MANGU
An adventure with a puff-adder--Welcome news--"Chief's
mail"--Out after hippo--Inexperienced hammock boys--
My first sight of hippopotami--I am not impressed--
Crocodile island--An extraordinary sight--Birds that
pick crocodiles' teeth--Panscheli--Hodgson shoots two
hippos--Our boys fetch them from the pool--Cutting up the
carcases--A loathsome sight--We break camp--Homeward
bound--Huge oyster "middens"--Stalked by savages--A
_nuit blanche_--A leopard--and other things--Bad news
--Back in Mangu 183-197
CHAPTER XIV
THROUGH THE KONKOMBWA COUNTRY
At Mangu--The harmattan--A meteorological mystery--Filming
ethnological pictures--Building the new Mangu station--
Drilling native soldiers--Marriage in the native army--
Buying wives--Their market value--Polygamy _v._ monogamy
--Filming Togo history--We reconstruct a big battle--
Celebrating the Kaiser's Birthday--We buy a wild ostrich--
It escapes--An ostrich hunt on the veldt--Packing up for
the downward journey--Horrible discovery--No cigarettes
--"Battle-axe" brand _v._ best Egyptians--Quitting
Mangu--On the march to Unyogo--No water--Hodgson has
an extraordinary "adventure"--A woman palaver--On to
Djereponi--Chameleons--Nambiri--Nothing to eat--A
glorious feed--An egg-laying story--In the heart of the
Konkombwa country 198-212
CHAPTER XV
NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA
The chief of Nambiri--One of Nature's gentlemen--Killing the
fatted calf--Pretty Konkombwa villages--The Konkombwa
and the Dagomba--Elaborate head-dresses of the Konkombwa
men--Konkombwa women--A domestic row--Wonderful
recuperative powers of savages--Konkombwa dances--A
wonderful performance--Studies in facial expression--
Distributing kola-nuts to the dancers--A native delicacy--
On to Tschopowa--Voluntary carriers--A "royal" progress
--Marabou feathers--A welcome surprise--I secure a
wonderful bargain--The rest-house at Tschopowa--A huge
baobab tree--Bow and arrow competitions--We secure
pictures of hippo--Remarkable corn bins--Roast bats as
native luxuries--I decline a share in the "banquet"--A
live alarum clock 213-226
CHAPTER XVI
THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI
Tschopowa to Kugnau--No roads--A careless guide--Schomburgk
loses his way--Crossing the Oti River--Mosquitoes at
Kugnau--Asmani and his "mosquito slaps"--A disconcerting
mistake--Messa and Asmani fall out--The Konkombwa and
their helmets--A too officious soldier--Anecdote about
the Duke of Mecklenburg--Crossing the Oti for the last
time--Arrival at Ibubu--A "Roman Fort"--In the Sokode
district--Small food rations--Truculent natives--We buy
a second ostrich--Lack of carriers--A serious dilemma--
The chief of Ibubu is impertinent--"I can't make carriers
out of mealie cobs"--I go on ahead with the few carriers
available, leaving Schomburgk to follow--The disappearing
women--On the road to Banjeli--Beautiful scenery--
Schomburgk orders the chief of Ibubu to be arrested and
brought a prisoner to Bassari--Women carriers--A glut
of green and gold beetles--Our mail arrives at Banjeli
from Bassari--News from home--I buy a pig--And am
disappointed--A native "cooler"--Our personal boys imbibe
not wisely but too well--A model punishment--Filming the
native iron industry at Banjeli--Slave women miners--A
pitiful sight--We obtain some most interesting pictures 227-248
CHAPTER XVII
IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY
Banjeli to Bassari--In a mountain country--Crossing the
Katscha River--Bush riding--Arrival at Beapabe--An
avenue of mango trees--We reach Bassari--Hospitality of
Mr. Muckè, the Sub-District Commissioner--He places the
"Massow House" at our disposal--Sleeping in a dwelling with
windows--Scarcity of water--The "King of Bassari"--
An Arab stallion--Native smiths at Bassari--The Mallam
Mohammed, a local Pooh-Bah--An open-air school--The
Mallam's eight wives--Their house and its treasures--They
pay me a return visit--A Jack-in-the-box baby--Native
jewellery--The District Commissioner from Sokode passes
through Bassari 249-262
CHAPTER XVIII
A WOMAN "PALAVER"
Native marriages--A matter of sale and exchange--Infant
betrothals--Native weddings--A Tschaudjo ceremony--
A trying ordeal--Polygamy--Childbirth--Infant diet
and infant mortality--Baby girls--A bush ordeal--The
"Women's Queen"--Fetish women--Secret rites--Status of
native wives--Widows--African death customs--Caravan
cookery--Native cooks--Monkey-nut soup--Potatoes a
coveted luxury--Bush delicacies 263-279
CHAPTER XIX
BACK IN SOKODE
Bassari to Malfakasa--Crossing the Kamaa River--A fearful
climb--Mountain scenery--Uro-Ganede-Bo--A royal
sanctuary--The last of our provisions--The outlaw of
the "Long Gun" mountain--On the road from Malfakasa to
Sokode--The Tim plains--Arrival in Sokode--In touch
with civilisation once more--A telegraphic orgie--We
say good-bye to our horses--Sending them down through
the tsetse-fly belt--Precautions--Sleeping sickness--
The Mallam of Dedaure--A splendid native--The native
Government school at Sokode--Mr. Kuepers, the schoolmaster
--Native scholars--Good manners of the children--Native
children apter to learn than white up to a certain age--
Herr von Parpart gives a farewell dinner--We meet Mr. and
Mrs. Dehn--The choir invisible--By motor car to Atakpame
--A breakdown on the road--Arrival at Atakpame--Kamina 280-295
CHAPTER XX
KAMINA--LOME--HOME
Warm welcome to Kamina--I am introduced to the Baroness Codelli
von Fahnenfeld--Good news--A faithful black "boy"--
The great wireless station at Kamina--Feminine vanity
--Camping out _v._ living in--A tornado--Good-bye to
Kamina--By rail to the coast--At Lome--Filming the
first scene of our principal drama--We want a white baby
--Difficulties of the quest--Shall we paint a black
baby white?--A compromise--Social life in Lome--Herr
Vollbehr paints my portrait in the gardens of the Duke of
Mecklenburg's palace--The great pier at Lome--Coast
natives--We part with our "boys"--Good-bye to Africa--
Vain regrets--Las Palmas--I try a mild gamble--And win
£7--We are nearly sunk when nearing Southampton 296-311
INDEX 313-316
ILLUSTRATIONS
KONKOMBWA WARRIOR IN FULL GALA DRESS _Frontispiece_
_To face page_
PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR 32
REHEARSING FOR THE CINEMA 36
PLAYING AN "INTERIOR" SCENE IN A NATIVE DRAMA 36
CINEMA ACTING IN THE WILDS 42
AUTHORESS AND BODYGUARD OF TSCHAUDJO HORSEMEN 46
MAJOR HANS SCHOMBURGK 50
EUROPEAN REST-HOUSE AT TSCHOPOWA 52
CINEMA FILMS:--(1) A KONKOMBWA GIANT;
(2) PAYING CARRIERS IN SALT;
(3) THE OLD URO DJABO OF PARATAU;
(4) A LIVE ALARUM CLOCK;
(5) BOY SCOUTS 62
MARKET SCENE IN PARATAU 72
NATIVE BOYS AT PARATAU 74
CINEMA FILMS:--(1) WOMEN HAIRDRESSING;
(2), (3) BABY'S BATH;
(4) BETTER THAN THE TANGO;
(5), (6) SCENES FROM "THE WHITE GODDESS" 88
CINEMA FILMS: BEAD-MAKING 94
A HAUSA WOMAN 104
TSCHAUDJO GIRL FROM BAFILO 104
KONKOMBWA WARRIOR 112
CAMPING OUT IN THE BUSH 112
KONKOMBWA DANDY 116
YOUNG KONKOMBWA WARRIOR 116
CINEMA FILMS: A WOMAN'S WORK 120
TAMBERMA FORT 128
CANOEING ON THE OTI RIVER 134
CHIEFS' COMPOUND 138
NATIVE PIG IRON 138
UNFORTIFIED TSCHOKOSSI VILLAGE 144
NATIVES GAMBLING 154
SKETCH OF A FORTIFIED TSCHOKOSSI VILLAGE 166
PLAN OF THE SAME VILLAGE 167
BASKET-MAKING 170
AUTHORESS AND DEAD "HIPPO" 188
A FINE HEAD OF HAIR 208
NATIVE HAIRDRESSING 208
YOUNG KONKOMBWA WARRIOR 214
A HUGE COMMUNAL CORN-BIN 224
"ROMAN" FORT AT IBUBU 232
BANJELI THE CENTRE OF THE NATIVE IRON INDUSTRY 240
SECTION OF OLD NATIVE IRON FURNACE 244
A COUPLE OF YOUNG SUPERS 260
A STUDY IN WHITE AND BLACK 260
NATIVE VILLAGE IN NORTHERN TOGO 280
CINEMA FILMS: KONKOMBWA AT ARCHERY PRACTICE 290
A CAMERA ACTRESS IN THE WILDS OF TOGOLAND
CHAPTER I
LONDON TO LOME
Actresses who, like myself, specialise in cinema productions,
frequently find themselves "up against" all sorts of queer propositions
of a business character; and we are not, therefore, easily surprised
out of that orthodox professional calm, which we all try, more or less
successfully, to cultivate.
When, however, it was suggested to me, early last summer, that I should
take a trip into the far interior of Africa, in a district where no
white woman had ever been before, in order to play "leading lady" in
a series of dramas of native life, I confess to having been for once
completely taken aback.
Nor did even the fact that the proposed expedition was being financed
and personally conducted by Major Hans Schomburgk, F.R.G.S., the
well-known African explorer and hunter, completely reassure me. I
hesitated long. But eventually the prospect of shaking the dust of
cities from my feet for awhile, and living the (very much) simple life
amongst unspoilt children of nature in altogether novel surroundings,
tempted me into acquiescence; and--greatly against the advice of my
relatives and friends--I "took on" the job.
Largely I was influenced in my decision by the fact of my having known
Major Schomburgk for some time previously, for we are both natives of
Hamburg.
Although not perhaps so well known in England--outside of scientific
circles--as he is in Germany, he can nevertheless, if he wishes to,
truthfully lay claim to be one of the most successful African explorers
and big-game hunters now living; and as his name will figure pretty
prominently in the pages of this book, a brief description of him and
his work may not be out of place.
Thirty-three years of age, of medium stature and somewhat slim build,
he is nevertheless endowed with great physical strength. The last
sixteen years of his life--since he was a lad of seventeen, that is to
say--have been spent almost entirely in Africa, hunting, fighting, and
exploring.
Speaking English like a native, he served in the Natal Mounted Police,
and in the last Boer War, for which he has the medal, with four clasps.
As a hunter, it is no exaggeration to say that his prowess is famed
throughout Africa. No fewer than sixty-three full-grown elephants
have fallen to his rifle, and he once bagged four big tuskers in four
shots--two rights and two lefts.
Twice he has crossed Africa. His most adventurous trip--one of five
years' duration--was from the Victoria Falls to Angola, Portuguese West
Africa, thence back through the Congo Free State, Northern Rhodesia,
and German East Africa, coming out eventually at Dar es Salam, near
Zanzibar. During the whole of that time he never saw a railway, or
slept in a stone house. For an entire year he was exploring the source
of the Zambesi, in the Walunde country, which had not been previously
visited by white people; and it was during this expedition that he
trapped, and brought to Europe alive, a specimen of the East African
elephant, a feat that had been frequently attempted before, but never
successfully performed.
He was, too, the first white man to secure alive specimens of the
rare pygmy hippopotamus, an animal that in its native state is so
exceedingly scarce and shy that its very existence even was denied up
till comparatively recently by most African hunters and explorers.
Major Schomburgk knew better, however, for he had actually seen one
of the miniature creatures during an early trip into the West African
hinterland; and in 1911, after infinite difficulty, and some danger, he
succeeded in trapping no fewer than five living specimens, and, what
is more to the point, conveying them from the interior down to the
sea-coast, whence they were safely shipped to Europe.
Two of these are now in the London "Zoo"--one specimen having been
presented by the Duke of Bedford, who bought it from Mr. Carl
Hagenbeck, for whom Major Schomburgk was acting; the other three are in
the New York Zoological Gardens. All five "pygmys," I may mention, were
shown to the Kaiser, who was greatly interested in the curious little
beasts, and warmly congratulated their captor on his success.
In addition to those mentioned above, Major Schomburgk has also
discovered and named many hitherto unknown species of African fauna,
including a rare new buffalo, the _Bubalus Schomburgki_.
Nor was this the first cinema expedition that he had organised and led
into the West African hinterland. Scarcely three weeks prior to the
date when he first approached me with an offer to go out to Togo as
leading (and only) lady, he had returned home from conducting a similar
enterprise into the hinterlands of Liberia and Togo. But that one was
not a success; one reason being, he informed me, that the negative
stock he took out was not the right kind for the tropics. Then, too,
his camera man proved a failure.
The net result was that the money invested in financing the expedition
was practically all lost. This time he hoped, profiting by experience,
to attain to far better results, and, after I had signed my contract,
he infected me with his enthusiasm, so that I grew quite learned--in
theory--about celluloid ribbon, reels, and so forth.
I may say at once that we succeeded even beyond our expectations. In
fact, it has been admitted since by experts, that the collection of
films we brought back, dramatic, ethnographic, and anthropologic, were
the finest that ever came out of the tropics. I can say this without
egotism, and even without appearing unduly to flatter Major Schomburgk,
since the pictures were not taken by either of us, but by his camera
man, Mr. James Hodgson. Of course, we both of us acted in the dramatic
films, but that is another matter.
It was on August 26th, following the necessary preliminary preparations
in London, that we sailed from Dover in the "good ship"--I believe that
is the accepted nautical term--_Henny Woermamm_, bound for Lome, which
is the capital and port of Togo, a tiny German protectorate wedged in
between the Gold Coast Colony on the west and Dahomey on the east.
The coast-line is only thirty-two miles long, but inland the country
widens out a lot, and it was for this "hinterland"--largely unknown and
uncharted--that we were bound.
I must confess to a certain feeling of pleasurable excitement--what
girl would not experience such?--on the occasion of this first start on
what will in all probability always stand out in memory's record as the
longest and most adventurous journey of my life.
Our prime business was, of course, to film pictures, and we set to
work promptly. Directly we got on board the tender, we commenced
photographing the first scene in a drama entitled _Odd Man Out_,
the scenario of which had already been put together in London, and
concerning the plot of which I shall have more to say presently.
Naturally our business excited the curiosity of the other passengers,
and as the tug drew near to the great liner, I could see that the rails
of the decks nearest to us were lined with row on row of the passengers
who had joined the vessel at Hamburg, all eagerly intent on watching us
and our doings; and as we stepped on board, all eyes were directed at
us, and many smiled a kindly greeting. As for me, however, during those
first few hours my one wish was to be alone, to arrange my cabin,
unpack my belongings, and generally make my surroundings as comfortable
and homelike as possible.
It is the fashion of old West African travellers to protest that the
pleasures and amenities of the voyage do not really begin until Madeira
is passed, but as far as I was concerned I had quite settled down to
life on board after our first day at sea. We played the usual ship's
games, sang, talked, and I am afraid that most of us, old as well as
young, married and single, flirted a little bit. I soon gathered round
me quite a small circle of friends. They were mostly men friends,
but this was not exactly my fault. An actress is an actress. _Que
voulez-vous?_
And here I feel that I must say how greatly I appreciated the kindness
and attention I received during the voyage from the ship's officers.
The captain, a most fatherly old gentleman, the oldest officer and the
commodore of the fleet of mail steamers to which the _Henny Woermamm_
belongs, was unceasing in his efforts to do all he could for my
comfort and convenience. The food, too, was excellent, and the whole
surroundings most comfortable, not to say luxurious; equal, in fact, to
those of any first-class hotel.
Curious how one gets used to the throbbing of the engines on board
ship, and the vibration of the propeller. When they suddenly ceased,
very early one morning, I was wide awake immediately. For a few
moments I lay quite still, wondering lazily what was the matter. Then
it suddenly flashed upon my mind that we must be at Madeira, and all
desire for further sleep promptly vanished. I jumped up, peeped out of
my port-hole, saw at once that it was even as I had surmised, and at
once I proceeded to dress and hurry on deck.
It was Sunday morning. Before my eyes lay Madeira. Never in all my life
had I seen anything one-half so beautiful. I was quite taken aback by
the ethereal loveliness of the picture, and could only stand still and
gaze at it in speechless admiration.
I was almost the first on deck, and so I had it all to myself for
a while, and I could drink in the beauty of it, and enjoy it at my
leisure. But soon the other passengers came pouring up from below in
ever increasing numbers, and all became bustle, noise, and animation.
Native boys swam out and round the ship in shoals, shouting, jabbering,
and gesticulating, and diving for pennies which were thrown to them by
the passengers.
After breakfast we went ashore, hired a motor-car, and drove up the
mountain side to a spot whence a magnificent view is obtained of the
whole of the bay, harbour, and town. The road up is exceedingly steep,
and it was, take it altogether, the most exciting motor ride I ever
experienced. I was, in fact, afraid at times that the car would slip
backwards.
But if the ride up was exciting, it was nothing by comparison with the
ride down. This return journey is made by means of queer-looking native
sleighs over a smooth cobble-paved, but exceedingly steep road. Each of
these sleighs will accommodate two passengers, and is manipulated by
a couple of natives, who stand bolt upright on the elongated runners
that project behind, and guide its course with their feet.
It is very like tobogganing, minus the snow and ice, and most of the
passengers made light of it, but to my mind it was a rather terrifying
and not altogether pleasant experience; for the road is inclined in
places at an angle of something like ninety degrees, there are many
sharp curves, and the crazy little vehicles fly downwards with the
rapidity of lightning. Nevertheless, so skilful are the natives that I
was assured that accidents are practically unknown.
After our ride our party went together into the town, and I found it
very interesting to watch the passengers busily engaged in buying
curios, and specimens of native work, to take home to their friends.
Everybody haggled to get the price as low as possible; and yet
afterwards, when they got back on board ship, everybody came to the
conclusion that they had been "had."
We utilised, too, our short stay on shore to film yet another scene
in the _Odd Man Out_ drama, this being taken in the gardens amidst
beautiful tropical vegetation; and one of the curious island sledges,
drawn by oxen, was also introduced. In fact, I may say here that we
hardly ever missed a suitable opportunity throughout the voyage to
get local colour for this our first cinema play, the early scenes in
which are concerned with a young white woman going out to join her
husband in the wilds of Central Africa. When later on, for instance,
we passed a mail steamer in mid-ocean, the camera was got ready, and I
was set to pose and act on deck, with the big ship flitting past in the
background as a setting. We had some gorgeous sunsets, too, and these
also we pressed into our service, so to speak.
The "Blue Peter" flying from the masthead is the signal for everybody
to hurry on board, and soon the anchor is up, the screw starts to
revolve, and we resume our journey. Between Madeira and Las Palmas we
enjoyed two of the lovely sunsets mentioned above. I never saw anything
to equal them, and certainly I could never have imagined anything
half so beautiful. If a painter could have painted them exactly true
to nature, I am quite sure that he would have been laughed at as a
futurist, or something artistically as dreadful; because no one, who
had not seen the original, would have believed in the reality of his
vivid colour effects.
On the morning of September 1st we passed Teneriffe, but only stopped
there for quite a short while to put off a few passengers. At noon we
anchored at Las Palmas, where we had a long wait. A party of us went
ashore, and visited the cathedral and the few other "sights" that the
place boasts of.
Then we hired a motor-car for a drive up to the Hotel Monte. At least,
the chauffeur who drove us called his conveyance a motor-car, but it
was the awfullest type of its kind I ever came across. The bumping was
terrific, but looking over and under to try to ascertain the reason
I discovered to my amazement that one of the wheels was practically
destitute of any vestige of a tyre. About every ten minutes, too, we
had to stop dead, because the motor got hot, and there was no water
available to cool it.
At last, after a thorough shaking-up, the worst I think I ever had
in my life, we arrived at the hotel, and had our tea. The view from
the summit made amends in part for the disagreeableness of the drive.
It was superb. It struck me as being very strange, however, that the
one side of the mountain is quite bleak and bare, whilst the other is
beautifully green and wooded.
In Las Palmas I saw for the first time women washing the family linen
at the sides of the roads in the streams that flow downwards through
pebble and shingle. The Las Palmas roads, by the way, are atrocious;
but the strongly built mail-coaches, each drawn by six mules, make
light of their unevennesses.
At five o'clock we paid a visit to S.M.S. _Bremen_, which lay in the
harbour near the _Henny Woermamm_. Three officers belonging to her had
accompanied us as far as Las Palmas, and we had been great friends
with them, and now they invited us to come on board their vessel for a
farewell visit. Champagne was produced, and I took a couple of glasses
and found they did me good, the heat being very great, and the ride up
to the Hotel Monte and back dreadfully dry and dusty.
Our captain had fixed six o'clock as the hour of departure, but we did
not actually start until eleven. The ship seemed almost unnaturally
quiet now that the naval officers had left her, for they were always
bright and jolly, and I must confess that I had got to like "my little
boys in blue," as I had christened them, very much indeed. However, I
am naturally light-hearted, so I quickly banished sadness, consoling
myself with the reflection that there are, after all, heaps of nice
men in the world.
At length Lome hove in sight, and while I was being lowered, together
with three other passengers, into the boat that was to take us
ashore, the band struck up a song that was pretty popular amongst the
passengers on board, "Do you think that I love you because I have
danced with you?" and on deck stood an army lieutenant who was going to
join his regiment in Kamerun, and with whom I had often danced. I was
convulsed with laughter, because I knew that it was all his work. After
this ditty came "The Girl I Left Behind Me," and looking back from the
boat I saw my dear old captain, and an elderly civilian gentleman who
had paid me a good deal of attention, standing on deck with a huge bath
towel between them, on which they were pretending to dry their tears.
It was exceedingly comical.
Landing at Lome is not at all a simple matter. First one has to be
lowered into the boat from the deck of the steamer in what is called
a "mammy chair"--mammy being a coast term for woman. It is a sort of
wooden skip, something like one of the old-fashioned swing-boats one
sees at village fairs.
The passage from ship to shore is exciting, and in bad weather it
is even considered dangerous, and there is considerable surf; but
the sea happened fortunately to be calm when we got there. Otherwise
our arrival was inopportune. On the day before a member of the tiny
European colony there had died of yellow fever, and all the flags were
at half-mast.
This rather cast a damper over our spirits, although nothing could
exceed the kindness and courtesy shown us by the Togo officials, from
the highest to the lowest. The custom-house officers hurried over
the necessary formalities as quickly as possible; and although the
governor, H.H. the Duke of Mecklenburg, was unable to receive us, being
engaged with Sir Hugh Clifford, Governor of the Gold Coast Colony, who
had come to pay him an official visit, he had kindly arranged quarters
for us, and done everything in his power to welcome us and make us
comfortable.
His adjutant, Lieutenant von Rentzel, who was in hospital at the time,
put his house and servants at the disposal of our party, and we had
a jolly dinner party there that night, at which I played the part of
hostess. He also lent me personally a rickshaw, and a boy to draw it,
so that I might be able to see what there was to see in and about the
town with the minimum of fatigue and inconvenience.
However, I had not much time to devote to sight-seeing, for very early
on the morning after our arrival we set out to journey up country to
a place called Atakpame, distant about 110 miles from Lome. A railway
runs so far; and at the rail-head civilisation may be said to come
abruptly to an end.