To Sánga-Tánga and Back.
My objects in visiting Mbátá, the reader will have understood,
were to shoot a specimen or specimens of the gorilla, and, if
possible, to buy or catch a youngster. Even before landing, the
pilot had assured me that a "baby" was on sale at the Comptoir,
but on inquiry it proved to have died. I was by no means sanguine
of success--when the fight is against Time, the Old Man usually
wins the day. The short limits of my trip would not allow me to
wander beyond the coast and the nearer riverine regions, where
frequent villages and the constant firing of muskets have taught
all wild animals that flight is their only defence; thus, besides
being rare, they must be shy and timid, wary and knowing, "like
an old hedgehog hunted for his grease." The first glance at the
bush suggested, "Surely it is impossible to find big game in such
a land of farms and plantations."
Those who have shot under such circumstances will readily
understand that everything depends upon "luck;" one man may beat
the forest assiduously and vainly for five or six weeks; another
will be successful on the first day. Thus whilst I, without any
fault of my own, utterly failed in shooting a gorilla, although I
saw him and heard him, and came upon his trail, and found his
mortal spoils, another traveller had hardly landed in the Gaboon
before he was so fortunate as to bring down a fine anthropoid.
However, as man cannot command success, I was obliged to content
myself with doing all in my power to deserve it. I offered five
dollars, equalling the same number of sovereigns in England, to
every huntsman for every fair shot, and ten dollars for each live
ape. I implicitly obeyed all words of command, and my factotum
Selim Agha was indefatigable in his zeal. Indeed "luck" was dead
against us during the whole of my stay in Gorilla-land. We ran a
fair risk of drowning in the first day's voyage; on the next
march we were knocked down by lightning, and on the last trip I
had a narrow escape from the fall of a giant branch that grazed
my hammock.
My first "bush" evening was spent in palm-wine, rum, and wassail;
one must begin by humouring Africans, under pain of being
considered a churl; but the inevitable result is, that next day
they will by some pretext or other shirk work to enjoy the
headache. That old villain, "Young Prince," becoming very fou,
hospitably offered me his daughter-in-law Azizeh, Forteune's
second wife; and he was vigorously supported by the Nimrod
himself, who had drawn a horizontal line of white chalk above the
eyebrows, a defence against the Ibambo, those bad ghosts that
cause fevers and sickness. Forteune then hinted that perhaps I
might prefer his daughter--"he be piccanniny; he be all same
woman." Marchandise offerte a le pied coupé, both offers were
declined with, Merci, non! Sporting parties are often made up by
the Messieurs du Plateau, I had been told at the Comptoir; but
such are the fascinations of les petites, that few ever progress
beyond the first village. There was, consequently, wonder in the
land as to what manner of utangáni this one might be.
It is only fair to own that the ladies endured with great
philosophy the spretæ injuria formæ, and made no difference in
their behaviour on account of their charms being unappreciated.
Azízeh was a stout and sturdy personage of twenty-five, with
thick wrists and ankles, a very dark skin, and a face rendered
pleasing by good humour. And Azízeh was childless, a sad reproach
in these lands, where progeny forms a man's wealth and a woman's
honour.
The next day was perforce a halt, as had been expected; moreover,
rains and tornadoes were a reasonable pretext for nursing the
headache. The 21st was also wet and stormy, so Nimrod hid himself
and was not to be found. Then the balivernes began. One Asini, a
Mpongwe from the Plateau, offered to show me a huge gorilla near
his village; in the afternoon he was confronted with "Young
Prince," and he would have blushed scarlet if he could. But he
assured me plaintively that he must lie to live, and, after all,
la prudence des souris n'est pas celle des chats. Before dark,
Forteune appeared, and swore that he had spent the day in the
forest, he had shot at a gorilla, but the gun missed fire--of
course he had slept in a snug hut.
This last determined me to leave Mbátá; the three Kru-men had
returned; one of them was stationed in charge of the boat, and
next morning we set out at 6 A.M. for Nche Mpolo, the
headquarters of "Young Prince." The well-wooded land was devoid
of fetor, even at that early hour; we passed Ndagola, a fresh
clearing and newly built huts, and then we skirted a deep and
forested depression, upon whose further side lay our bourne. It
promised sand-flies, the prime pest of this region; a tall
amphitheatre of trees on a dune to the west excluded the sea-
breeze, and northwards a swampy hollow was a fine breeding place
for M. Maringouin.
Nche Mpolo lies some three miles nearly due south of Mbátá; the
single street contains fourteen cottages and two palaver houses.
We were received with distinction by "Young Prince's" daughter, a
huge young woman, whose still huger mamma was from Cape Lopez.
She placed mats upon the bamboo couch under the verandah, brought
water to wash our feet, and put the kettle on that we might have
tea. The sun was fiery and the day sultry; my companions
complained of fatigue after a two hours' walk, and then busied
themselves ostentatiously in cleaning their muskets, in
collecting provisions, and in appointing certain bushmen to meet
us on the morrow. Before dark Hotaloya returned to his village,
declaring that he could find no bed at his papa's. Probably the
uxorious youth had been ordered home by his pet wife, who had
once lived with a European trader, who spoke a few words of
English, and who cooked with peculiar skill,--the solid merits of
a "superior person."
At dawn on the 23rd we set out for the southern bush, Selim,
Forteune, and a carrier Kru-man--to carry nothing. We passed
through a fresh clearing, we traversed another village (three
within five miles!), we crossed a bad bridge and a clear stream
flowing to the south-east, and presently we found ourselves deep
in the dew-dripping forest. The leaves no longer crackled crisp
under foot, and the late rains had made the swamps somewhat
odorous. After an hour of cautious walking, listening as we went,
we saw evident signs of Mister Gorilla. Boughs three inches in
diameter strewed the ground; the husks of Ntondo or Ibere (wild
cardamom) had been scattered about, and a huge hare's form of
leaves lay some five yards from the tree where Forteune declared
that Mistress and Master Gorilla had passed the night,
Paterfamilias keeping watch below. A little beyond we were shown
a spot where two males had been fighting a duel, or where a
couple had been indulging in dalliance sweet; the prints were 8
inches long and 6 across the huge round toes; whilst the hinder
hand appeared almost bifurcate, the thumb forming nearly a half.
This is explained in the "Gorilla Book" (chap, xx.): "Only the
ball of the foot, and that thumb which answers to our great toe,
seem to touch the ground."
Presently we came upon the five bushmen who had been appointed to
meet us. They were a queer-looking lot, with wild, unsteady eyes,
receding brows, horizontal noses, and projecting muzzles; the
cranium and the features seemed disposed nearly at a right angle,
giving them a peculiar baboon-like semblance. Each had his water-
gourd and his flint-gun, the lock protected by a cover of
monkey's skin or wild cow's hide, whilst gibècieres and
ammunition-bags of grass-cloth hung from their shoulders. There
were also two boys with native axes, small iron triangles, whose
points passed through knob-sticks; these were to fell the trees
in which our game might take refuge, and possibly they might have
done so in a week. A few minutes with this party convinced me
that I was wilfully wasting time; they would not separate, and
they talked so loud that game would be startled a mile off. I
proposed that they should station me in a likely place, form a
circle, and drive up what was in it--they were far above acting
beaters after that fashion. So we dismissed them and dispersed
about the bush. My factotum shot a fine Mboko (Siurus
eborivorus), 2 ft. 2 in. total length: the people declare that
this squirrel gnaws ivory, whence its name. I had heard of it in
East and Central Africa, but the tale appeared fabulous: here it
is very common, half a dozen will be seen during the day; it has
great vitality, and it will escape after severe wounds. The
bushmen also brought a Shoke (Colubus Satanas), a small black
monkey, remarkably large limbed: the little unfortunate was
timid, but not vicious; it worried itself to death on the next
day. They also showed me the head of the Njíwo antelope, which M.
du Chaillu (chap, xii.) describes as "a singular animal of the
size of a donkey, with shorter legs, no horns, and black, with a
yellow spot on the back."[FN#17]
In the afternoon Selim went to fetch my arsenical soap from
Mbátá, where I had left it en Fitiché: as long as that "bad
medicine" was within Hotaloya's "ben," no one would dare to
meddle with my goods. Forteune walked in very tired about sunset.
He had now added streaks of red to the white chalk upon his face,
arms, and breast, for he suspected, we were assured, witchcraft.
I told him to get ready for a march on the morrow to the Shekyáni
country, lying south-east, but he begged so hard, and he seemed
so assured of showing sport, that the design was deferred, and
again "perdidi diem."
Monday the 24th was a Black Monday, sultry and thundery. We went
to the bush, and once more we returned, disgusted by the
chattering of the wild men. As we discussed our plans for moving,
Forteune threw cold water upon every proposal. This puzzled me,
and the difficulty was to draw his secret. At last Kángá, a black
youth, who, being one of the family, had attached himself
uninvited to the party, blurted out in bad French that the
Shekyáni chief, to whose settlement we were bound, had left for
the interior, and that the village women would not, or rather
could not, give us "chop." This was a settler to my Mpongwe
friends. Nimrod, however, declared that some bushmen had lately
seen several gorillas in the direction of Sánga-Tánga, two
marches down coast from Mbátá, and about half-way to Cape Lopez.
I did not believe a word of his intelligence; the direction is
south-west instead of south-east, towards the sea instead of into
the forest. But it was evidently hopeless to seek for the "ole
man" in these parts, and I had long been anxious to see Sánga-
Tánga; we therefore agreed nem. con. to set out before dawn on
the next day.
But the next day dawned, and the sun rose high, and the world was
well heated and aired before the bushmen condescended to appear.
After a two hours' battle with the sand-flies we set off at 7.35
A.M., Forteune, Hotaloya, and Kángá at the head of the
musketeers, one of them also carrying an axe; sixteen guns form a
strong party for these regions. The viol (nchámbí) was not
allowed to hang mute in Mbata's halls, this instrument or the
drum must never be neglected in African travel; its melody at the
halt and the camp-fire are to the negro what private theatricals
are to the European sailor half fossilized in the frozen seas.
Our specimen was strung with thin cords made from the fibre of a
lliana; I was shown this growth, which looked much like a
convolvulus. The people have a long list of instruments, and
their music, though monotonous, is soft and plaintive: Bowdich
gives a specimen of it ("Sketch of Gaboon," p. 449), and of a
bard who seems to have been somewhat more frenzied than most
poets. Captain Allen (iii. 398) speaks of a harp at Bimbia
(Camarones) tightly strung with the hard fibre of some creeping
plant. The Bákele harp (M. du Chaillu, chap, xvi.) is called
Ngombi; the handle opposite the bow often has a carved face, and
it might be a beginning of the article used by civilized Europe--
Wales for instance.
The path plunged westward into the bush, spanned a dirty and
grass-grown plantation of bananas, dived under thorn tunnels and
arches of bush, and crossed six nullahs, Neropotamoi, then dry,
but full of water on our return. The ant-nests were those of
Yoruba and the Mendi country; not the tall, steepled edifices
built by the termites with yellow clay, as in Eastern Africa, but
an eruption of blue-black, hard-dried mud and mucus, resembling
the miniature pagodas, policeman's lanterns, mushrooms, or
umbrellas one or two feet high, here single, there double, common
in Ashanti and Congo-land. Like most of their congeners, the
animals die when exposed to the sun. The "Bashikouay" and
Nchounou (Nchu'u) of M. du Chaillu are the common "driver-ant" of
West Africa (Termes bellicosa). It is little feared in the
Gaboon; when its armies attack the mission-houses, they are
easily stopped by lighting spirits of turpentine, or by a strew
of quicklime, which combines with the formic acid. The different
species are described in "Palm Land" and "Western Africa" (pp.
369-373), from which even the account of the "tubular bridge" is
taken--Mr. Wilson less sensationally calls it what it is, a "live
raft." The most common are the Nkázeze, a large reddish and fetid
ant, which is harmless to man; the Njenge, a smaller red species,
and the Ibimbízí, whose bite is painful.
We passed the mortal remains of a gorilla lashed to a pole; the
most interesting parts had been sold to Mr. R. B. N. Walker, and
were on their way to England. I was shown for the first time the
Ndámbo, or Ndambié (Bowdich, "Olamboo"), which gives the india
rubber of commerce; it is not a fat-leaved fig-tree (Ficus
elastica of Asia) nor aeuphorbia (Siphonia elastica), as in South
America, but a large climbing ficus, a cable thick as a man's leg
crossing the path, and "swarming up" to the top of the tallest
boles; the yellow fruit is tart and pleasant to the taste. In
1817 the style of collecting the gum (olamboo) was to spread with
a knife the glutinous milk as it oozed from the tree over the
shaved breast and arms like a plaister; it was then taken off,
rolled up in balls to play with or stretched over drums, no other
use being known. The Rev. Mr. Wilson declares (chap. ii.) that he
"first discovered the gum elastic, which has been procured, as
yet, only at Corisco, Gabun, and Kama." In 1854, Mr. Thompson (p.
112) found it in the Mendi country, near Sherbro; he describes it
as a vine with dense bark, which yields the gum when hacked, and
which becomes soft and porous when old. The juice is milk-white,
thick, and glutinous, soon stiffening, darkening, and hardening
without aid of art. I should like to see the raw material tried
for making waterproofs in the tropics, where the best vulcanized
articles never last. The Ndámbo tree has been traced a hundred
miles inland from the Liberian Coast; that of the Gallinas and
Sherbro is the best; at St. Paul's River it is not bad; but on
the Junk River it is sticky and little prized. The difficulty
everywhere is to make the negro collect it, and, when he does, to
sell it un-adulterated: in East Africa he uses the small branches
of the ficus for flogging canes, but will not take the trouble
even to hack the "Mpira" tree.
At a brook of the sweetest water, purling over the cleanest and
brightest of golden sands, we filled the canteens, this being the
last opportunity for some time. Forest walks are thirsty work
during the hot season; the air is close, fetid, and damp with
mire; the sea-breeze has no power to enter, and perspiration
streams from every pore. After heavy rains it is still worse, the
surface of the land is changed, and paths become lines of dark
puddles; the nullahs, before dry, roll muddy, dark-brown streams,
and their mouths streak the sea with froth and scum. Hardly a
living object meets the eye, and only the loud, whirring flight
of some large bird breaks the dreary silence. The music of the
surf now sounded like the song of the sea-shell as we crossed
another rough prism of stone and bush, whose counter-slope fell
gently into a sand-flat overgrown with Ipomaa and other bright
flowering plants. After walking about an hour (equal to 2.50
miles) between south and south-west, we saluted the pleasant
aspect of <Greek> with a general cheer. Northwards lay
Point Ipizarala, southways Nyonye, both looking like tree-clumps
rising from the waves. I could not sufficiently admire, and I
shall never forget the exquisite loveliness of land and sea; the
graceful curve of the beach, a hundred feet broad, fining
imperceptibly away till lost in the convexity of waters. The
morning sun, half way to the zenith, burned bright in a cloudless
sky, whilst in the east and west distant banks of purple mist
coloured the liquid plain with a cool green-blue, a celadon tint
that reposed the eye and the brain. The porpoise raised in sport
his dark, glistening back to the light of day, and plunged into
the cool depths as if playing off the "amate sponde" of the
Mediterranean; and sandpipers and curlews, the latter wild as
ever, paced the smooth, pure floor. The shoreline was backed by a
dark vegetable wall, here and there broken and fronted by single
trees, white mangroves tightly corded down, and raised on stilted
roots high above the tide. Between wood and wave lay powdered
sandstone of lively yellow, mixed with bright white quartz and
débris of pink shells. Upon the classic shores of Greece I should
have thought of Poseidon and the Nereids; but the lovely scene
was in unromantic Africa, which breeds no such visions of
"The fair humanities of old religion."
Resuming our road, we passed the ruins of an "Olako," the khámbí
of East Africa, a temporary encampment, whose few poles were
still standing under a shady tree. We then came upon a blockaded
lagoon; the sea-water had been imprisoned by a high bank which
the waves had washed up, and it will presently be released by
storms from the south-west. Near the water, even at half-ebb, we
find the floor firm and pleasant; it becomes loose walking at
high tide, and the ribbed banks are fatiguing to ascend and
descend under a hot sun and in reeking air. A seine would have
supplied a man-of-war in a few hours; large turtle is often
turned; in places young ones about the size of a dollar scuttled
towards the sea, and Hotaloya brought a nest of eggs, which,
however, were too high in flavour for the European palate. The
host of crabs lining the water stood alert, watching our
approach, and when we came within a hundred yards they hurried
sideways into the safer sea--the scene reminded me of the days
when, after "tiffin," we used to "már kankrás" on the Clifton
Sands in the Unhappy Valley.
Presently we came to a remarkable feature of this coast, the
first specimen of which was seen at Point Ovindo in the Gaboon
River. The Iberian explorers called them "Sernas," fields or
downs, opposed to Corôas, sand-dunes or hills. They are clearings
in the jungle made by Nature's hand, fenced round everywhere,
save on the sea side, by tall walls of dark vegetation.;
averaging perhaps a mile long by 200 yards broad, and broken by
mounds and terraces regular as if worked by art. These prairies
bear a green sward, seldom taller than three feet, and now ready
for the fire,--here and there the verdure is dotted by a tree or
two. It is universally asserted that they cannot be cultivated;
and, if this be true, the cause would be worth investigating. In
some places they are perfectly level, and almost flush with the
sea; in others they swell gently to perhaps 100 feet; in other
parts, again, they look like scarps and earth-works, remarkably
resembling the lower parasitic craters of a huge volcano; and
here and there they are pitted with sinks like the sea-board of
Loango. These savannahs (savánas) add an indescribable charm to
the Gaboon Coast, especially when the morning and evening suns
strike them with slanting rays, and compel them to stand out
distinct from the setting of eternal emerald. The aspect of the
downs is civilized as the banks of the Solent; and the coast
wants nothing to complete the "fine, quiet old-country picture in
the wilds of Africa" but herds of kine grazing upon leas shining
with a golden glory, or a country seat, backed by the noble
virgin forest, such a bosquet as Europe never knew.
After another hour's walk, which carried us about three miles, we
sighted in one of these prairillons a clump of seventeen huts. A
negro in European clothes, after prospecting the party through a
ship's glass, probably the gift of some slaver, came down to meet
us, and led the way to his "town." Finding his guest an
Englishman, the host, who spoke a few words of French and
Portuguese, at once began to talk of his "summer gîte" where
pirogues were cut out, and boats were built; there were indeed
some signs of this industrie, but all things wore the true
Barracoon aspect. Two very fine girls were hid behind the huts,
but did not escape my factotum's sharp eyes; and several of the
doors were carefully padlocked: the pretty faces had been removed
when he returned. This coast does an active retail business with
São Thomé and the Ilha do Principe,--about Cape Lopez the "ebony
trade" still, I hear, flourishes on a small scale.
During our halt for breakfast at the barracoon, we were visited
by Petit Denis, a son of the old king. His village is marked upon
the charts some four miles south-south-east of his father's; but
at this season all the royalties, we are assured, affect the sea-
shore. He was dressed in the usual loin-wrap, under a broadcloth
coat, with the French official buttons. Leading me mysteriously
aside, he showed certificates from the officials at Le Plateau,
dating from 1859, recommending him strongly as a shipbroker for
collecting émigrants libres, and significantly adding, les nègres
ne manquent pas. Petit Denis's face was a study when I told him
that, being an Englishman, a dozen negroes were not worth to me a
single "Njína." Slave cargoes of some eight to ten head are
easily canoed down the rivers, and embarked in schooners for the
islands: the latter sadly want hands, and should be assisted in
setting on foot a system of temporary immigration.
At 10.45 A.M. we resumed our march. The fiery sun had sublimated
black clouds, the northeast quarter looked ugly, and I wished to
be housed before the storm burst. The coast appeared populous; we
met many bushmen, who were perfectly civil, and showed no fear,
although some of them had probably never seen a white face. All
were armed with muskets, and carried the usual hunting talismans,
horns and iron or brass bells, hanging from the neck before and
behind. We crossed four sweet-water brooks, which, draining the
high banks, flowed fast and clear down cuts of loose, stratified
sand, sometimes five feet deep: the mouths opened to the north-
west, owing to the set of the current from the south-west, part
of the great Atlantic circulation running from the Antarctic to
the equator. Those which are not bridged with fallen trees must
be swum during the rains, as the water is often waist-deep. Many
streamlets, shown by their feathery fringes of bright green palm,
run along the shore before finding an outlet; they are excellent
bathing places, where the salt water can be washed off the skin.
The sea is delightfully tepid, but it is not without risk,--it
becomes deep within biscuit-toss, there is a strong under-tow,
and occasionally an ugly triangular fin may be seen cruizing
about in unpleasant proximity. As our naked feet began to
blister, we suddenly turned to the left, away from the sea; and,
after crossing about 100 yards of prairillon, one of the
prettiest of its kind, we found ourselves at Bwámánge, the
village of King Lángobúmo. It was then noon, and we had walked
about three hours and a half in a general south-south-west
direction.
His majesty's hut was at the entrance of the village, which
numbered five scattered and unwalled sheds. He at once led us to
his house, a large bamboo hall, with several inner sleeping rooms
for the "Harím;" placed couch, chair, and table, the civilization
of the slave-trade; brought wife No. 1 to shake hands, directed a
fowl to be killed, and, sitting down, asked us the news in
French. As a return for our information, he told us that the
Gorilla was everywhere to be found, even in the bush behind his
town. The rain coming down heavily, I was persuaded to pass the
night there, the king offering to beat the bush with us, to
engage hunters, and to find a canoe which would carry the party
to Sánga-Tánga, landing us at all the likely places. I agreed the
more willingly to the suggestion of a cruize, as my Mpongwe
fashionables, like the Congoese, and unlike the Yorubans, proved
to be bad and untrained walkers; they complained of sore feet,
and they were always anticipating attacks of fever.
When the delicious sea-breeze had tempered the heat, we set out
for the forest, and passed the afternoon in acquiring a certainty
that we had again been "done." However, we saw the new guides,
and supplied them with ammunition for the next day. The evening
was still and close; the Ifúrú (sandflies) and the Nchúná (a red
gad-fly) were troublesome as usual, and at night the mosquitoes
phlebotomized us till we hailed the dawn.[FN#18] A delightful
bath of salt followed by fresh water, effectually quenched the
fiery irritation of these immundicities.
Wednesday, as we might have expected, was wasted, although the
cool and cloudy weather was perfection for a cruize. As we sat
waiting for a boat, a youth rushed in breathless, reporting that
he had just seen an "ole man gorilla" sitting in a tree hard by.
I followed him incredulously at first, but presently the crashing
of boughs and distant grunts, somewhat like huhh! huhh! huhh!
caused immense excitement. After half a day's hard work, which
resulted in nothing, I returned to Bwámánge, and met the "boat-
king," whose capital was an adjacent settlement of three huts. He
was in rags, and my diary might have recorded, Reçu un roi dans
un très fichu état. He was accompanied by a young wife, with a
huge toupel, and a gang of slaves, who sat down and stared till
their eyes blinked and watered. For the loan of his old canoe he
asked the moderate sum of fifteen dollars per diem, which finally
fell to two dollars; but there was a suspicious reservation anent
oars, paddles and rudder, mast and sail.
Meanwhile the sanguine Selim compelled his guide to keep moving
in the direction of the gorilla's grunt, and explaining his
reluctance to advance by the fear of meeting the brute in the
dark. Savage Africa, however, had as usual the better of the
game, and showed his 'cuteness by planting my factotum in mud
thigh-deep. After dark Forteune returned. He had fired at a huge
njína, but this time the cap had snapped. As the monster was
close, and had shown signs of wrath, we were expected to
congratulate Nimrod on his escape. Kindly observe the neat
gradations, the artistic sorites of Mpongwe lies.
At 7.30 A.M. on the next day the loads were placed upon the
crew's heads, and we made for the village, where the boat was
still drawn up. The "monoxyle" was full of green-brown rain
water, the oar-pins were represented by bits of stick, and all
the furniture was wanting. After a time, the owner, duly
summoned, stalked down from his hut, and began remarking that
there was still a "palaver" on the stocks. I replied by paying
him his money, and ordering the craft to be baled and launched.
It was a spectacle to see the bushmen lying upon their bellies,
kicking their heels in the air, and yep-yep-yeping uproariously
when Forteune, their master, begged of them to bear a hand. Dean
Presto might have borrowed from them a hint for his Yahoos. The
threat to empty the Alugu (rum) upon the sand was efficacious.
One by one they rose to work, and in the slowest possible way
were produced five oars, of which one was sprung, a ricketty
rudder, a huge mast, and a sail composed half of matting and half
of holes. At the last moment, the men found that they had no
"chop;" a franc produced two bundles of sweet manioc, good
travelling food, as it can be eaten raw, but about as nutritious
as Norwegian bark. At the last, last moment, Lángobúmo, who was
to accompany us, remembered that he had neither fine coat nor
umbrella,--indispensable for dignity, and highly necessary for
the delicacy of his complexion, which was that of an elderly
buffalo. A lad was started to fetch these articles; and he set
off at a hand-gallop, making me certain that behind the first
corner he would subside into a saunter, and lie down to rest on
reaching the huts.
Briefly, it was 9 A.M. before we doubled Point Nyonye, which had
now been so long in sight. With wind, tide, and current dead
against us, we hugged the shore where the water is deep. The surf
was breaking in heavy sheets upon a reef or shoal outside, and
giving ample occupation to a hovering flock of fish-eating birds.
Whilst returning over water smooth as glass I observed the
curious effect of the current. Suddenly a huge billow would rear
like a horse, assume the shape of a giant cobra's head, fall
forward in a mass of foam, and subside gently rippling into the
calm surface beyond; the shadowy hollow of the breakers made them
appear to impinge upon a black rock, but when they disappeared
the sea was placid and unbroken as before. This is, in fact, the
typical "roller" of the Gaboon coast--a happy hunting ground for
slavers and a dangerous place for cruizers to attempt. As the
sea-breeze came up strong, the swell would have swamped a
European boat; but our conveyance, shaped like a ship's gig, but
Dalmatian or Dutchman-like in the bows, topped the waves with the
buoyancy of a cork, and answered her helm as the Arab obeys the
bit. To compact grain she added small specific gravity, and,
though stout and thick, she advanced at a speed of which I could
hardly believe her capable.
Past Nyonye the coast forms another shallow bay, with about ten
miles of chord, in every way a copy of its northern neighbour--
the same scene of placid beauty, the sea rimmed with opalline
air, pink by contrast with the ultramarine blue; the limpid ether
overhead; the golden sands, and the emerald verdure--a Circe,
however, whose caress is the kiss of death. The curve is bounded
south by Point Dyánye, which appeared to retreat as we advanced.
At 2 P.M., when the marvellous clearness of the sky was troubled
by a tornado forming in the north-east, we turned towards a
little inlet, and, despite the heavy surf, we disembarked without
a ducking. A creek supplied us with pure cold water, a spreading
tree with a roof, and the soft clean shore with the most
luxurious of couches--at 3 P.M. I could hardly persuade myself
that an hour had flown.
As we approached Dyánye, at last, a village hoisted the usual big
flag on the normal tall pole, and with loud cries ordered us to
land. Lángobúmo, who was at the helm, began obeying, when I
relieved him of his charge. Seeing that our course was unaltered,
a large and well-manned canoe put off, and the rest of the
population walked down shore. I made signs for the stranger not
to approach, when the head man, Angílah, asked me in English what
he had done to offend me, and peremptorily insisted upon my
sleeping at his village. All these places are looking forward to
the blessed day when a trader, especially a white trader, shall
come to dwell amongst the "sons of the soil," and shall fill
their pockets with "trust" money. On every baylet and roadstead
stands the Casa Grande, a large empty bungalow, a factory in
embryo awaiting the Avatar; but, instead of attracting their
"merchant" by collecting wax and honey, rubber and ivory, the
people will not work till he appears. Consequently, here, as in
Angola and in the lowlands of the Brazil, it is a slight to pass
by without a visit; and jealousy, a ruling passion amongst
Africans, suggests that the stranger is bound for another and
rival village. They wish, at any rate, to hear the news, to
gossip half the night, to drink the Utangáni's rum, and to claim
a cloth for escorting him, will he, nill he, to the next
settlement. But what could I do? To indulge native prejudice
would have stretched my cruize to a fortnight; and I had neither
time, supplies, nor stomach for the task. So Lángobúmo was
directed to declare that they had a "wicked white man" on board
who e'en would gang his ane gait, who had no goods but weapons,
and who wanted only to shoot a njína, and to visit Sánga-Tánga,
where his brother "Mpolo" had been. All this was said in a
sneaking, deprecating tone, and the crew, though compelled to ply
their oars, looked their regrets at the exceedingly rude and
unseemly conduct of their Utangáni. Angílah followed chattering
till he had learned all the novelties; at last he dropped aft,
growling much, and promising to receive me at Sánga-Tánga next
morning--not as a friend. On our return, however, he prospected
us from afar with the greatest indifference; we were empty-
handed. There has been change since the days when Lieutenant
Boteler, passing along this shore, was addressed by the canoe-
men, "I say, you mate, you no big rogue? ship no big rogue?"
At 5 P. M. we weathered Point Dyánye, garnished, like Nyonye,
with a threatening line of breakers; the boat-passage along shore
was about 400 yards wide. Darkness came on shortly after six
o'clock, and the sultry weather began to look ominous, with a
huge, angry, black nimbus discharging itself into the glassy
livid sea northwards. I suggested landing, but Lángobúmo was
positive that the storm had passed westwards, and he objected,
with some reason, that in the outer gloom the boat might be
dashed to pieces. As we had not even a stone for an anchor, the
plea proved, valid. We guided ourselves, by the fitful flashes of
forked and sheet lightning combined, towards a ghostly point,
whose deeper blackness silhouetted it against the shades.
Suddenly the boat's head was turned inland; a huge breaker,
foaming along our gunwales, drove us forwards like the downwards
motion of a "swing-swong," and, before we knew where we were, an
ugly little bar had been crossed on the top of the curling scud.
We could see the forest on both sides, but there was not light
enough to trace the river line; I told Hotaloya to tumble out;
"Plenty shark here, mas'r," was the only answer. We lost nearly
half an hour of most valuable time in pottering and groping
before all had landed.
At that moment the rain-clouds burst, and in five minutes after
the first spatter all were wet to the skin. Selim and I stood
close together, trying to light a match, when a sheet of white
fire seemed to be let down from the black sky, passing between us
with a simultaneous thundering crash and rattle, and a sulphurous
smell, as if a battery had been discharged. I saw my factotum
struck down whilst in the act of staggering and falling myself;
we lay still for a few moments, when a mutual inquiry showed that
both were alive, only a little shaken and stunned; the sensation
was simply the shock of an electrical machine and the discharge
of a Woolwich infant --greatly exaggerated.
We then gave up the partie; it was useless to contend against
Jupiter Tonans as well as Pluvialis. I opened my bedding, drank a
"stiffener" of raw cognac, wrapped myself well, and at once fell
asleep in the heavy rain, whilst the crew gathered under the
sail. The gentlemen who stay at home at ease may think damp
sheets dangerous, but Malvern had long ago taught me the perfect
safety of the wettest bivouac, provided that the body remains
warm. At Fernando Po, as at Zanzibar, a drunken sailor after a
night in the gutter will catch fever, and will probably die. But
he has exposed himself to the inevitable chill after midnight, he
is unacclimatized, and both places are exceptionally deadly--to
say nothing of the liquor. The experienced African traveller
awaking with a chilly skin, swallows a tumbler of cold water, and
rolls himself in a blanket till he perspires; there is only one
alternative.
Next day I arose at 4 A.M., somewhat cramped and stiff, but with
nothing that would not yield to half a handful of quinine, a cup
of coffee well "laced," a pipe, and a roaring fire. Some country
people presently came up, and rated us for sleeping in the bush;
we retorted in kind, telling them that they should have been more
wide-awake. Whilst the boat was being baled, I walked to the
shore, and prospected our day's work. The forest showed a novel
feature: flocks of cottony mist-clouds curling amongst the trees,
like opals scattered upon a bed of emeralds; a purple haze banked
up the western horizon, whilst milk-white foam drew a delicate
line between the deep yellow sand and the still deeper blue. Far
to the south lay the Serna or prairillon of Sánga-Tánga, a
rolling patch, "or, on a field vert," backed by the usual dark
belt of the same, and fronted by straggling dots that emerged
from the wave--they proved to be a thin line of trees along
shore. We were lying inside the mouth of the "Habanyaá" alias the
Shark River, which flows along the south of a high grassy dome,
streaked here and there with rows of palms, and broken into the
semblance of a verdure-clad crater. According to the people the
Nkonje (Squalus) here is not a dangerous "sea-tiger" unless a man
wear red or carry copper bracelets; it is caught with hooks and
eaten as by the Chinese and the Suri Arabs. The streamlet is a
favourite haunt of the hippopotamus; a small one dived when it
sighted us, and did not reappear. It was the only specimen that I
saw during my three years upon the West African Coast,--a great
contrast to that of Zanzibar, where half a dozen may be shot in a
single day. The musket has made all the difference.
At 6 A.M. on Friday, March 28, the boat was safely carried over
the bar of Shark River, and we found ourselves once more hugging
the shore southwards. The day was exceptional for West Africa,
and much like damp weather at the end of an English May; the grey
air at times indulged us with a slow drizzle. After two hours we
passed another maritime village, where the farce of yesterday
evening was re-acted, but this time with more vigour. Ignorant of
my morning's private work, Hotaloya swore that it was Sánga-
Tánga. I complimented him upon his proficiency in lying, and poor
Lángobúmo, almost in tears, confessed that he had pointed out to
me the real place. Whereupon Hotaloya began pathetically to
reproach him for being thus prodigal of the truth. Núrya, the
"head trader," coming down to the beach, with dignity and in
force told me in English that I must land, and was chaffed
accordingly. He then blustered and threatened instant death, at
which it was easy to laugh. About 10 A.M. we lay off our
destination, some ten miles south of Dyánye Point. It was a
beautiful site, the end of a grassy dune, declining gradually
toward the tree-fringed sea; the yellow slopes, cut by avenues
and broken by dwarf table-lands, were long afterwards recalled to
my memory, when sighting the fair but desolate scenery south of
Paraguayan Asuncion. These downs appear to be a sea-coast raised
by secular upheaval, and much older than the flat tracts which
encroach upon the Atlantic. We could now understand the position
of the town which figures so largely in the squadron-annals of
the equatorial shore; it was set upon a hillock, whence the eye
could catch the approaching sail of the slaver, and where the
flag could be raised conspicuously in token of no cruiser being
near.
But the glory had departed from Sánga-Tánga (Peel-White? Strip-
White?); not a trace of the town remained, the barracoons had
disappeared, and all was innocent as upon the day of its
creation. A deep silence reigned where the song of joy and the
shrieks of torture had so often been answered by the voice of the
forest, and Eternal Nature had ceased to be disturbed by the
follies and crimes of man.
Sánga-Tánga was burned down, after the fashion of these people,
when Mbango, whom Europeans called "Pass-all," King of the
Urungu, who extend up the right bank of the Ogobe, passed away
from the sublunary world. King Pass-all had completed his
education in Portugal: a negro never attains his highest
potential point of villany without a tour through Europe; and
thus he rose to be the greatest slave-dealer in this slave-
dealing scrap of the coast. In early life he protected the
Spanish pirates who fled to Cape Lopez, after plundering the
American brig "Mexico:" they were at last forcibly captured by
Captain (the late Admiral) Trotter, R.N.; passed over to the
United States, and finally hanged at Boston, during the
Presidency of General Jackson. Towards the end of his life he
became paralytic, like King Pepple of Bonny, and dangerous to the
whites as well as to the blacks under his rule. The people,
however, still speak highly of him, generosity being a gift which
everywhere covers a multitude of sins. He was succeeded by one of
his sons, who is favourably mentioned, but who soon followed him
to the grave. I saw another, a boy, apparently a slave to a
Mpongwe on the coast, and the rest of the family is scattered far
and wide. Since Pass-all's death the "peddlers in human flesh and
blood" have gone farther south: men spoke of a great depot at the
Mpembe village on the banks of the Nazareth River, where a
certain Ndábúliya is aided and abetted by two Utangáni. Now that
"'long-sea" exportation has been completely suppressed, their
only markets must be the two opposite islands.
South of Sánga-Tánga, lay a thin line of deeper blue, Fetish
Point, the eastern projection of Cape Lopez Bay. From Mbango's
Town it is easy to see the western headland, Cape Lopez, whose
low outliers of sand and trees gain slowly but surely upon the
waters of the Atlantic. I deferred a visit until a more
favourable time, and--that time never came.
Cape Lopez is said to have considerable advantages for developing
trade, but the climate appears adverse. A large Catholic mission,
described by Barbot, was established here by the Portuguese: as
in the Congo, nothing physical of it remains. But Mr. Wilson is
rather hard when he asserts that all traces have disappeared--
they survive in superior 'cuteness of the native.
Little need be said about our return, which was merrier than the
outward bound trip. Wind, tide, and current were now in our
favour, and we followed the chords, not the arcs, of the several
bays. At 9.30 P.M. we gave a wide berth to the rollers off Point
Nyonye and two hours afterwards we groped through the outer
darkness into Bwámánge, where the good Azízeh and Asúnye, who
came to receive us, shouted with joy. On the next day another
"gorilla palaver," when a large male was reported to have been
shot without a shadow of truth, detained me: it was the last
straw which broke the patient camel's back. After "dashing" to
old King Lángobómo one cloth, one bottle of absinthe, two heads
of tobacco, and a clay pipe, we set out betimes for the fifteen
miles' walk to Mbátá. Various obstacles delayed us on the way,
and the shades of evening began to close in rapidly; night
already reigned over the forest. Progress under such
circumstances requires the greatest care; as in the streets of
Damascus, one must ever look fixedly at the ground, under penalty
of a shaking stumble over cross-bars of roots, or fallen branches
hidden by grass and mud. And the worst of these wet walks is
that, sooner or later, they bring on swollen feet, which the
least scratch causes to ulcerate, and which may lame the
traveller for weeks. They are often caused by walking and sitting
in wet shoes and stockings; it is so troublesome to pull off and
pull on again after wading and fording, repeated during every few
hundred yards, that most men tramp through the brooks and suffer
in consequence. Constant care of the feet is necessary in African
travel, and the ease with which they are hurt--sluggish
circulation, poor food and insufficient stimulants being the
causes--is one of its deplaisirs. The people wash and anoint
these wounds with palm oil: a hot bath, with pepper-water, if
there be no rum, gives more relief, and caustic must sometimes be
used.
We reached Mbátá at 6.15 P.M., and all agreed that two hours of
such forest-walking do more damage than five days along the
sands.
Since my departure from the coast, French naval officers,
travellers and traders, have not been idle. The Marquis de
Compiègne, who returned to France in 1874, suffering from
ulcerated legs, had travelled up the Fernão Vaz, and its
tributary the highly irregular Ogobai, Ogowaï, or Ogowé (Ogobe);
yet, curious to remark, all his discoveries arc omitted by Herr
Kiepert. His furthest point was 213 kilometres east of "San
Quita" (Sankwita), a village sixty-one kilometres north (??) of
Pointe Fétiche, near Cape Lopez; but wars and receding waters
prevented his reaching the confluence where the Ivindo fork
enters the north bank of the Ogobe. He made observations amongst
the "Kamma" tribe, which differs from the Bakele and other
neighbours. M. Guirold, commanding a cruiser, was also sent to
the estuary of the Rembo or Fernão Vaz, into which the Mpungule
(N'poulounay of M. du Chaillu?), ascended only by M. Aymès,
discharges. The explorers found many shoals and shifting sands
before entering the estuary; in the evening they stopped at the
Ogobe confluence, where a French seaman was employed in custom-
house duties. M. de Compiègne, after attending many palavers, was
duly upset when returning to the ship.
On the Fernão Vaz there are now (1873) five factories, each named
after some French town: Paris Factory, however, had fallen to
ruins, the traders having migrated 150 miles higher up the Kamma
River. Here a certain drunken kinglet, "Rampano," breaks
everything he finds in the house, and pays damages when he
returns to his senses. On March 31st there was a violent quarrel
between the women of two settlements, and the "reguli" embarked
with all their host, to fight it out; Rampano was the victor, and
after the usual palaver the vanquished was compelled to pay a
heavy fine. M. du Chaillu's descriptions of the country, a park
land dotted with tree-mottes, are confirmed; but the sport,
excepting hippopotamus, was poor, and the negroes were found
eating a white-faced monkey--mere cannibalism amongst the coast
tribes. The fauna and flora of the Ogobe are those of the Gaboon,
and the variety of beautiful parrots is especially remarked.
On January 9, 1874, M. de Compiègne passed from the Fernão Vaz
through the Obango Canal into the Ogobe, which, bordered by
Fetish rocks, flows through vast forests; his object was to study
the manners and customs of the Kammas, a more important tribe
than is generally supposed, far outnumbering the Urungus of the
coast. Their country is large and contains many factories, the
traders securing allies by marrying native women. The principal
items of import are dry goods, guns, common spirits, and American
tobacco; profits must be large, as what costs in France one franc
eighty cents, here sells for ten francs' worth of goods. The
exports are almost entirely comprised in gum mastic and ivory. At
the factory of Mr. Watkins the traveller secured certain figures
which he calls "idols"--they are by no means fitted for the
drawing-room table. He also noticed the "peace of the household,"
a strip of manatus nerve, at times used by paterfamilias.
Mr. R. B. N. Walker, who made sundry excursions between 1866 and
1873, also wrote from Elobe that he had left the French
explorers, MM. de Compiègne and Marche, on the Okanda River which
M. du Chaillu believes to be the northern fork of the Ogobe.
Their letters (Feb. 12, 1874) were dated from Osse in the Okanda
country, where they had made arrangements with the kinglet for a
journey to the "Otjebos," probably the Moshebo or Moshobo
cannibals of the "Gorilla Book." The rocks, shoals, and stony
bottom of the Ogobe reduced their rate of progress to three miles
a day, and, after four wearisome stages, they reached a village
of Bákele. Here they saw the slave-driving tribe "Okota," whose
appearance did not prepossess them and whose chief attempted
unsuccessfully to stop the expedition. They did not leave before
collecting specimens of the language.
Further eastward, going towards the country of the Yalimbongo
tribe, they found the Okanda River, which they make the southern
fork, the Okono being the northern, descending from the
mountains; here food was plentiful compared with Okota-land. The
active volcano reported by Mr. R. B. N. Walker, 1873, was found
to bear a lake upon the summit--which, in plutonic formations,
would suggest an extinct crater. East of the Yalimbongo they came
upon the Apingis, whom M. du Chaillu, after two visits, also
placed upon the southern fork of the Ogobe. The tribe is
described as small in stature, of mild habits, and fond of
commerce; hence their plantations on the north or right bank of
the river are plundered with impunity by the truculent "Oshieba"
(Moshebo or Moshobo?). Further east the river, after being
obstructed by rapids, broadens to a mile and becomes navigable--
they were probably above the "Ghats." It is supposed to arise
south in a lakelet called Tem or N'dua. A Bákele village was seen
near Ochunga, a large riverine island; and thence they passed
into the country of the mountaineer Okandas. They are described
as fine men, but terrible sorcerers; their plantations of banana
and maize are often plundered by the "Oshieba," the latter being
now recognized as a kindred tribe of the Pahouin (Fán).