chiefs, had come in to see me. His country lies between Tavara's and
Kavalli's, and stretches from the top of the Congo Semliki watershed to
the Semliju. The following morning I went down to see how they were
cutting out the tusks, and found that hordes of Balegga had swarmed down
from the hills for the meat. A weird sight it was: stark naked savages
with long greased hair (in some cases hanging down on their shoulders)
were perched on every available inch of the carcase, hacking away with
knives and spears, yelling, snarling, whooping, wrestling, cursing, and
munching, covered with blood and entrails; the new arrivals tearing off
lumps of meat and swallowing them raw, the earlier birds defending their
worms in the form of great lumps of fat paunch and other delicacies;
while others were crawling in and out of the intestines lake so many
prairie marmots. Old men, young men, prehistoric hags, babies, one and
all gorging or gorged; pools of blood, strips of hide, vast bones,
blocks of meat, individuals who had not dined wisely but too well, lay
around in bewildering profusion; and in two short hours all was
finished. Nothing remained but the gaunt ribs like the skeleton of a
shipwreck, and a few disconsolate-looking vultures perched thereon.
The Balegga live in the hills to the north of Mboga proper, though many
of them are now under Changera, having fled south from the Belgians.
They are good specimens of the real Central African savage, rather
short, but well-set-up, innocent of clothing as a babe unborn, and
blessed with an inordinate and insatiable craving for meat, which at
that time was, if possible, intensified by the failure of their crops,
owing to the drought. They wear their hair in long thin plaits,
liberally smeared with grease, which gives them a very wild appearance,
especially when, as I noticed in some cases, it hangs down over their
face. In the intervals of gorging and hacking, they amused themselves
by smearing the caked blood over their hair and bodies--a proceeding
that gave general satisfaction. I gathered from them that many had
lately come south to Mboga (which is at present administered from Fort
Gerry) to avoid the persecution of the Belgians, who had killed, as they
said, great numbers both of them and their neighbouring tribes to the
north. They indignantly denied my soft impeachment of cannibalism, but
from extraneous sources I gathered that any lightly grilled portion of
my anatomy that might happen to wander round their way would be, so to
speak, a "gone coon."
The neighbouring chief, Tabara by name, apparently suffering from that
troublesome complaint known to the faculty as "swelled head," amused
himself for the next two days by sending in an intermittent fusillade of
insolence; "it was not his business to come and see every white man who
came into the country," etc., etc., _ad nauseam_. As I had never sent
for him, being unaware even of the gentleman's existence, and as I found
on inquiry that he was a chief independent of Kasagama, and owing
allegiance to the official at Fort Gerry only, I concluded that my
mubaka[#] provided by Kasagama was the cause of the trouble, or that he
imagined I was Belgian. I therefore sent a message to him to the effect
that I had no doubt he was a most admirable individual, but, strange to
relate, till the arrival of his message I had been unaware of his
existence; that my object in coming to the country was to shoot
elephant, and not to interview obscure natives. The effect was
remarkable: the following morning he turned up with a numerous
following, carrying an umbrella and a very dangerous camp-stool, and
presented me with sundry goats, fowls, and other edibles.
[#] A sort of courier.
The prevailing type of elephant in these parts differs so essentially
from that of Toro, that I have been forced to the conclusion that there
are two distinct varieties; a theory in which the natives universally
concur.
When in Toro I saw more than a thousand elephant, and without exception
they carried a thick, heavy type of tusk, the elephant themselves being
unusually large and solid.
In Mboga, on the other hand, the prevailing type was a much smaller
elephant, with very long thin tusks. Two cows shot by Mr. Bagge carried
tusks about 4 ft., and no thicker than the butt-end of a billiard-cue.
The average height of old bulls in Mboga is about 9 ft., while the only
two that I shot in Toro were 11 ft. and upwards, and several others that
I had a chance of observing closely must have been about the same size.
The Indian notion of twice the circumference of the foot equalling the
height does not hold with the African species; I generally found that it
fell short of the height by about 8 or 10 in. In a subsequent chapter I
have dealt fully with this question.
A few days later, answering to the call of elephant, I came on a herd of
cows, one of which I shot, hoping to be able to send the calf into Fort
Gerry. The little fellow stood about 3 ft. high, and stalked towards us
in the most majestic manner, rumbling and grunting on a 12 ft. scale at
least. So confident was his advance that my boys, guns and all, fled
without more ado, and it was only when I had caught him by the tail that
they ventured back. His strength was amazing, and it needed the united
efforts of myself and four boys to throw him. However, we eventually
managed to tie his legs together, and laid him under a tree squealing
and shrieking like a steam-engine. Whether in his vocal efforts he
broke a blood-vessel, or whether owing to the heat of the sun, the sad
fact remains that after I had made all arrangements for his transport to
Fort Gerry he left the earthly trials of pitfalls and 4-bores at sunset.
I was very much disappointed, as I had hoped that if he had survived he
might have been of service in the future, should a progressive
Government, departing from the usual practice of thinking of the matter
when it is too late, endeavour to make use of the vast transport
treasure that is now roaming the papyrus swamps of Toro. In the greater
part of Africa the elephant is now a thing of the past; and the rate at
which they have disappeared is appalling. Ten years ago elephant
swarmed in places like B.C.A., where now you will not find one. Still,
there is yet an accessible stronghold of the pachyderm in Toro, where at
the lowest possible estimate there must be fifteen thousand elephant.
Why is not an effort made, and that at once (for in a few years' time it
will be too late), to secure this vast means of transport to posterity?
What an inestimable boon to the country, and what an easy solution of
half the labour problem that is already such a thorn in the side of the
southern administrations! I suppose it is on the same principle on
which a paternal Government sends its servants out to a pestilential
spot where the sole recreation is shooting, and then forbids them that
recreation, while allowing every native who can command a gas-pipe and a
handful of powder to sally forth and slay a tithe of what he wounds,
regardless of sex and age; or on which the same paternal Government
allows the aforesaid servants to take out and pay for a licence
permitting them to shoot two elephant, and then confidentially informs
them that all ivory shot by servants of the Protectorate, either within
or without the Protectorate's dominions, is the property of the
Government; however (note the wild, unreasoning generosity), servants
returning home may, with the permission of the Commissioner, be allowed
to take a pair of tusks as a trophy. Upon what possible theory this
preposterous claim is based I fail to conceive, unless the Government
assumes that the leisure of their servants is included in their salary,
in which case they may claim the pictures of an amateur artist who may
be in their service, or his letters home, or anything else equally
reasonable. It is the spirit of the thing that is so pitiable, and it
seems so unnecessary, for nobody doubts but that the Exchequer can
manage to stagger along somehow, even though deprived of the support
that the miserable dozen tusks or so would afford; and, after all, the
right to shoot and keep a couple of elephant is not an extravagant
recompense for two years' isolation in a wilderness devoid of
recreation.
I then moved my camp some miles to the west, on a hill overlooking a
large patch of very dense elephant-grass.
The next morning I went south to a deep gorge filled with dense forest,
where some elephant were reported. We descended a steep grass slope into
the gorge itself, which was cut up in all directions by elephant and
buffalo spoor. Suddenly, with much puffing, pawing, and snorting, some
buffalo rushed past at about forty yards, at the same time starting some
elephant, which we heard crashing up the slope. Leaving the buffalo to
puff and snort, we struck the elephant spoor and cautiously approached
to where we could hear them grunting and rumbling. By stooping low it
was possible to follow the path with comparative ease, but the bush was
so thick that we could not see two yards ahead. Having approached
within ten yards, I stood, hoping that some movement would show me their
exact whereabouts; but though they quickly recovered from their fright
and started feeding, I could see nothing but the occasional waving of
the leaves above where they were standing. After a quarter of an hour
of this amusement, during which I was balancing myself on a slippery
bank of clay, I descended again, and coming dead up-wind succeeded in
getting within two yards of one. A thick tangle of lianas alone
separated us, and although I could hear him breathing, and felt sure he
must hear my heart thumping, I could see nothing. I know nothing in the
world more exciting than hunting elephant in this description of
country. One approaches so close, and yet can see nothing; the only
thing to do is to wait, in hopes of some movement bringing them into
view. Then they make such extraordinary noises, and at every crash of a
branch torn down one thinks they are stampeding or coming towards one.
Again, the wind is so shifty in cover, and one puff will set them all
off, very possibly in the least desirable direction. A dropping shot is
almost out of the question, and when wounded they have a nasty knack of
looking to see who did it; a whole regiment of lions cannot produce the
same moral effect as one elephant when he cocks his ears, draws himself
up to his full height, and looks at you, letting off at the same time a
blood-curdling scream, while in all probability others invisible are
stampeding on all sides with the din of an earthquake. They are so vast
(one I measured was actually 15 ft. from edge of ear to edge of ear)
that they seem to block out the whole horizon; one seems to shrivel, and
the very gun to dwindle into a pea-shooter; try as I will, I can never
quite stomach it, and always feel inclined to throw down my rifle and
run till I drop.
At last the elephant, having an idea that something was amiss, moved,
and showing his head, received a mate to that idea in the shape of a
.303 bullet. Down the bank he rushed, taking the bark off one side of a
tree, while I stepped round the other. I got another shot home as he
passed, and head over heels he went like a bolting rabbit. Trees, bush,
blocks of earth, vanished like chaff, till a mighty old veteran trunk
pulled him up short about fifty yards below. There he lay, his legs in
the air, screaming and vainly struggling to regain his feet, a path like
the sea-wall at Brighton leading down to him. A few more shots finished
him.
The next day I was again in this gorge, and after vainly floundering
about on the spoor of a small elephant, and complimenting in suitable
terms a swarm of biting ants which eventually left me indistinguishable
from a splash of pickled cabbage, I saw a fine old tusker grazing in the
short grass on the top of the further bank. To cross was a matter of
minutes, as I knew that at any moment he might descend into the gorge,
and on emerging I saw him still in the same place. Walking up quite
close, I dropped the poor old brute with one shot. He had very long
teeth for their weight, 8 ft. 4 in. (tip slightly broken), and 7 ft. 4
in. (tip broken), and weighing 76 and 73 lbs. respectively. Standing on
his ribs--that is, about 6 ft. from the ground--I saw some more grazing
on the other side of a branch gully, so I set off in pursuit; but some
of the half-starved natives, who would follow me about the country, and
had been lurking behind some bushes, spoilt my chance of a shot by
darting out up-wind of the herd, presumably to catch any elephant that
might drop.
For several days matters were very quiet, and though I ranged far and
wide, one day following buffalo spoor for several hours, I saw nothing;
till again I was wakened by the welcome cry of "njojo," and snatching a
hasty breakfast, set off, this time backed by the double 10-bore paradox
which had been sent out after me, and had arrived the previous day; and
very thankful I felt for its support. My double 4-bore had gone home
with Sharp, who had left his paradox in its stead as the more useful
all-round gun. And though I had my double .500 magnum, the firm that
provided my cartridges had sent out all expanding bullets, despite the
fact of my having ordered half with solids; just to humour me, however,
they labelled the packets "solid bullets," so that I never found out
till north of Tanganyika. Two other firms distinguished themselves in a
similar manner, one by shipping my double .303 in a case, without so
much as a cleaning-rod, much less a screwdriver or spare pin, and the
other by providing me at the trifling cost of 2s. 6d. each with damaged
cartridge-cases for my 4-bore; the majority of them were badly split at
the rim, sufficiently split to fill rapidly when held in water, and
though they had been carefully repolished, on close inspection the old
firing marks were quite obvious. The consequent result was that the
first shot I fired I was knocked over a fallen tree two yards behind me.
Our native took us across the marsh lying below the camp by a path that
in its various intricacies led into a pit of water 20 ft. deep, into
which they fondly hoped some elephant would walk; then through numerous
villages where the banana-groves, owing to the depredations of elephant,
looked more like street barricades, till we eventually emerged from the
odoriferous fog of drying elephant meat on to the ridge where I had last
camped. He then told us that two elephant had come into the bananas
during the night and had retired up the gorge. Skirting along the edge
of the plateau, we soon saw them in the elephant-grass below, and
descending with difficulty through the tangled mat of grass, I took up
my position behind a tree and waited, hoping that when they moved I
might have a favourable chance. One was standing under a small tree
about four hundred yards away; and the other, at a distance of two
hundred yards, was up to his belly in mud, his stern alone showing round
a tuft of grass. Previous experience had taught me that it was useless
to go down into the grass, so I had perforce to stay where I was and
possess my soul in patience. After some time the one under the tree
moved, and in a leisurely manner strolled up to his companion. As he
emerged from the long grass round the mud-hole I had one glimpse of his
tusks, and, quite satisfied, I took the only chance I was likely to
obtain, and fired a half-side head shot. He drew himself up into a bunch
of indignant protest, as much as to say, "Who the devil did that?" But
a second shot failing to elucidate the matter, he swung round and
crashed away across the gully, while number two bolted straight ahead.
I rained shot into him while he swerved round and followed in the wake
of his companion. Then I dashed along the side of the slope, stumbling,
tripping, rolling, and diving over grass that I could not force my way
through, till a sudden drop of 10 ft. landed me face first on the bed of
a stream, invisible above through the grass, but painfully tangible
below. Fortunately my rifle did not suffer proportionately, and
scrambling out I reached a small ridge from which I could see my
elephant standing about three hundred yards off. Again I fusilladed him
till out of range, and then followed, falling twice to the elephant's
once. He was nearly spent, but managed to reach some extra long grass,
where I lost sight of him for some time, till at length he crawled out
into the shade of a tree under the opposite bank. The gorge was narrow
at this point, so that he was not more than one hundred yards off when I
reopened the bombardment. For a long time he took the phut-phut of the
bullets without showing the slightest emotion. Then suddenly over he
went like a tree under the axe. He struggled to his feet once more,
only to fall for the last time under the continued hail. Cutting across
the dip, I climbed on to the bank about twenty yards above him; but the
grass was so dense that I could not see him, although considerably above
the level of the tangle where he was lying. His great sobs told me that
all was over, and anxious to put him out of his misery, I went down,
having to approach within two yards before I could see him, and finished
him off with the 10-bore, his head being invisible. To my amazement he
had only one tusk, 7 ft. 9 in., and 98 lbs.; and as I was sure that I
had seen two tusks, I came to the conclusion that this must be number
two, and that number one had dropped at the same time that I did. So
following back on the spoor, I came on the other elephant, lying four
hundred yards from where I had first hit him, but, lo and behold! he
also had only one tusk, 7 ft. 7 in., and 86 lbs. So certain was I of
having seen two tusks that I followed his spoor back, thinking that
possibly there might have been a third hidden by the grass, but it was
not so, and to this day I believe he took the other tusk off and threw
it away, as a sort of Jonah! On arriving at camp I found that letters
and tomatoes had arrived from Toro. Our pagasi had attempted their old
games about three days' journey south of the Albert Edward and had been
attacked with the loss of twenty men, amongst them Sulimani, the root of
all the disturbances. His successor in office, who, like other gentlemen
of his kidney, combined loudness of talk in times of peace with
extraordinary fleetness of foot in times of danger, was the first to
bring the news to Toro.
*CHAPTER XVI.*
*SEMLIKI VALLEY AND KAVALLI'S COUNTRY.*
Leaving this country with regret, I descended into the valley once more
and marched north, crossing the Semliki to avoid the swamps mentioned by
Colonel Lugard at the westerly bend of the river, and recrossed about
six miles from where the river enters the lake. For some distance the
mournful monotony of aloe and euphorbia is broken by groves of the
stately borassus palm. The few miserable Wanyoro, who are sparsely
scattered over the plain, were absolutely destitute. The prolonged
drought had dried up the maize and millet, and the beans, which form
their main food supply, were finished, so that three hippo that I killed
for them raised me to a giddy pinnacle of fame; my tent became, for the
time being, a second Lourdes, droves of pilgrims pouring in to pay
homage to my .303. Their astonishment, when I showed them the size of
the bullet and how the magazine worked, was most ludicrous. They had
heard how it would drop a huge elephant without a wriggle of his trunk,
and they had heard the three shots and could see the three hippo tied to
the bank, and had imagined, I suppose, that it was a sort of 7-pounder;
so that when they held a cartridge with its pencil-like bullet in their
hand, and the truth gradually dawned on them, they would drop it like a
hot potato. Some, when I started the mechanism, fairly took to their
heels. A native's estimate of a gun varies proportionately with the
size of the bore, and his idea of killing range is ten yards, or, if the
sportsman is something of a marksman, perhaps twenty. I was fortunate
in bringing off several shots at about four hundred to five hundred
yards at nsunu,[#] and natives, having no unit of distance, consider
everything from two hundred yards to about five miles as the same thing.
I have several times heard my gun-bearer, Makanjira, who is a great
admirer of the gun, solemnly explaining to an open-mouthed audience how
he had seen me kill beasts at such a distance, pointing to a hill some
three or four miles away. Consequently, its powers were magnified to
the most prodigious proportions, and on the march excited natives would
point to mere specks on the horizon, inform me they were buck, and
expect me to kill them on the instant; they never gave me any of the
credit--it was the gun, the wonderful gun, and I only obtained a
reflected glory as its possessor. After crossing the river, I found the
natives very nervous and suspicious, and though I visited the village
near which I camped, and induced the chief to come to the river-bank to
see one of the hippo, which I told him he might have, the following
morning, on sending for a guide, I found that they had "shot the moon,"
carrying off their half-dozen miserable goats, and fled into the bush.
[#] Nsunu: _Cobus Thomasi_.
As the guide promised me by the chief on the other side was not
forthcoming, and not wishing to delay any longer, as the sun was
terrible on these arid plains, I started without one, and, after two
hours' walking, found that I had penetrated well into the marshes at the
south end of the lake. In trying to skirt round the arm of water and
sudd that stretches to the south, we soon found ourselves in an
apparently boundless sea of one of Nature's truly African inventions, a
tall grass, 8 to 10 ft. high, the roots forming a hopeless tangle of
matted whipcord reaching 2 ft. from the ground, and effectually hiding
the honeycomb of old hippo and elephant-holes 2 ft. deep below, while
the stems and leaves are covered with myriads of invisible spines, which
detach themselves in one's skin and clothes, and set up the most intense
irritation.
After floundering through this sea of misery for a couple of hours, we
were extricated by the promised guide, who had followed on our tracks,
and eventually arrived at a miserable patch of huts; we came so
unexpectedly on the people that they had not time to fly, and a few
explanations soon put them at their ease. I found that they were
Wanyabuga, the same people who were so friendly to Lugard and belonged
to Katonzi, a nominal vassal of Kasagama's, and who is now the sole
survivor of Lugard's three blood brothers, Katonzi, Kavalli, and
Mugenzi. They do not cultivate, but depend on the Balegga and Wakoba
for grain, which they barter for fish and salt. They are quite distinct
in appearance from the surrounding tribes. The type is a tall (5 ft. 8
in.), large-limbed, square-shouldered negro, bull-necked, bullet-headed,
with a very low forehead and coarse features; colour very dark; but they
have a jolly expression, and were some of the pleasantest natives I ever
dealt with. It was curious to see even amongst these people, who live a
life apart from their surroundings, the occasional delicate features,
gazelle-like eyes, light colour, lithe limbs, and genteel nonchalance of
the Galla influence.
At the south end of the Albert Edward, where the Rutchuru flows into the
lake, forming similar marshes to those of the Semliki, there is a people
living exactly the same life. Unfortunately, owing to their extreme
shyness, I could find out very little about them, but from their mode of
life, methods of fishing, and general appearance, I have no doubt that
they are closely allied; probably survivors of former inhabitants who
have found a last refuge in these intricate waterways and impenetrable
marshes. The similarity in the names of these two peoples is
significant.