FETICHMEN.
When I awoke I found Tom had a meal ready for me of a sort of soup, with
a pudding in it which was very sticky and satisfying, but by no means
bad, which he called foofoo, and which I afterwards found was made by
boiling unripe plantains and pounding them. To wash this down he
produced a bottle of “square face,” or trade gin, which he said was
“bery good;” and when I would not drink any he expressed much
astonishment, and shared it with the fetichmen, who evidently had no
scruples about spirit-drinking. I was now refreshed, and felt inclined
to walk about, and seeing a gun in the hut, I asked Tom if I could take
it out and try to shoot something.
He and the fetichmen had an eager discussion, and at last Tom said,
“Bery good--can go;” and leading me to a door in the stockade opposite
to that by which we had entered, we went out down a path towards an open
marshy plain through which a stream ran, where we found great quantities
of ducks and other water-fowl. I was lucky enough, though the gun was
but an old flint-lock single barrel, to knock over several, and Tom ran
hither and thither to pick them up like a delighted school-boy. At last
he pointed out to me a cluster of a dozen ducks on the stream all
swimming together, and made signs that I should fire into the middle of
them, which I did, killing three and wounding four more. Tom instantly
dashed off to secure them. I was with great interest watching him
hunting after one of the wounded birds, when suddenly I heard some ducks
rising with a loud whirr close behind me. Looking round I saw a huge
python, over twenty feet in length, rearing itself up within three feet
of me.
I had not reloaded the gun, and, seizing it by the barrel with both
hands, I was about to club the snake on the head with it, when suddenly
it lowered its head and began to creep away. I called out to Tom, who
came running with the ducks, and seeing the snake, said, “Dat be big
fetich,” and he signed to me to return to the fetichmen’s village at
once.
As we were retracing our steps the snake followed us. Dreadfully scared
by the neighbourhood of the huge reptile, we dashed into the enclosure,
and it followed us in. When the fetichmen saw the snake, instead of
being alarmed, they seemed very much pleased, and while some of them
commenced to beat drums and play upon pipes, others opened the entrance
into the inner enclosure. The snake made its way right in. Looking in I
saw that the whole space inside was full of huge snakes, though none was
so large as the monster which had so frightened me.
As soon as it was inside the fetichmen closed the opening again, and
surrounded Tom, and began asking him a number of questions. His answers
seemed to give them great pleasure, and all the ducks which I had shot
were thrown into the snakes for them to feed on. For the new-comer a
goat was provided, which, despite its desperate struggles, was forced
inside, where instantly the python seized on it, and after reducing it
to an almost shapeless mass by coiling itself around it, commenced to
swallow it.
I was sitting on the top of the stockade watching this operation, which
Tom kept on saying was “bery good,” when we heard yells similar to those
by which he had heralded our arrival, and he jumped down from where he
was sitting beside me and said, “Dat fader come.”
With Tom and one of the fetichmen we went out to meet Hararu, _alias_
Jack Sprat, who said it was lucky indeed that I had got away from his
village when I did, for messengers had come over from Okopa to ask where
the white man was who had arrived that morning.
“How can they know anything about it?” I asked.
“How dey sabey? dey sabey plenty quick; one man tell man, him tell
noder, so him sabey one time.”
“What am I to do? But are you afraid of Okopa?”
[Illustration: SURPRISED BY A PYTHON.
_Page 121._]
“Okopa no care one lilly bit, but slaver man say him ship come fire
s’pose no gib massa up; so me say what time white man come, me gib um
chop and gib um coat, and me tell him sleep. What time me come see he
run away, he be tief.”
All this seemed very curious to me, for certainly Hararu, when he
thought I was a Spaniard, was about to have me killed, and as that did
not say much for his fear of the Spaniards, I ventured to suggest this
to him.
“Dat palaver true, but what time me carey kill Spagnole me no sabey dat
oder Spagnole ship lib for riber. One me sabey break for bar; me tink
dat all.”
“But now,” I said, “the Spaniards, if they care about catching me, will
know that I can’t go about in the jungle by myself, and will soon find
out where I am.”
“Dat be so,” said Jack Sprat, “so what time chicken cry my boy take you
long way, and s’pose men come look, no catch Inglishman.”
I was fain to be satisfied with this, and when we all got into the
fetichmen’s village Hararu was at once taken to see the big snake, which
had now gorged the goat and was lying torpid. He came to me and said I
must be a very big fetich, or otherwise the snake would have attacked
me.
I wondered at this, as the priest at the snakes’ house at Whydah had
said the very same thing. I was very glad to hear it, but I did not
think, notwithstanding Jack Sprat’s kindness to me, that his gratitude
would go so far as resisting the Spaniards if they came up to search
his village for me. I was sure that Pentlea and Camacho, if they had not
been lost in the schooner on the bar, would not believe in any fetich
story, or that Jack Sprat and his people could not find me.
I was told I must get what rest I could, as the next day we should have
to travel far, and we should start very early. So I went to the hut
which had been assigned to me and lay down; but I could not sleep, and
wondered what possibly could be my future. Evidently I had not been
recognized by those on board the _Petrel_, or my father would never have
left the river without an attempt to rescue me. Now I was apparently
going to be sent away into the interior, and how I should ever reach the
coast again, or get back to England, seemed a mystery. I remembered,
however, what I had heard about Livingstone, and thought that, like him,
I should keep up a brave heart, and by God’s mercy I might ultimately
return home in safety. As I thought of this I remembered I had been
neglecting my prayers very much, and so getting off the couch on which I
was lying, I knelt and prayed long and heartily for protection, not
forgetting to return thanks for the many mercies which had been
vouchsafed to me.
When I had finished I heard a noise outside, and trying to open the door
of my hut, I found it fastened on the outside. I looked through some
chinks in the wall, and I saw that the principal fetichman was alone
[Illustration: AFRICAN SORCERER.
_Page 129._]
in the middle of the village, close to the entrance to the inner
enclosure, and was going through some mysterious performances. All the
huts were closed, and the only light was that afforded by a small fire.
I watched him for some time whilst he poured from a goat’s horn some
fluid into his left hand, and carefully watching the drops as they fell,
chanted all the time in a curious kind of a monotone. Evidently he was
much puzzled, for sometimes he seemed displeased, and at others he
smiled. At last he jumped up and gave a great shout, and running round
unfastened the doors of the huts, calling to the inmates to come out.
Fresh fuel was heaped on the fire, and all danced round the place in a
weird and uncanny way, only old Jack Sprat refraining from joining. All
at once they stopped, and Jack Sprat calling to me to come out, said,
“Fetich say you be good; man make good for you; he catch good. Now two
tree hour Tom he take you. Canoe lib for riber; four day catch good man
he send you one bery big riber where plenty ship come. You catch go your
country.”
I thanked the old man for all he was doing, and asked what I could do
for him if ever I got back to England.
“Dat be long time,” he said, “and me old. P’raps me die, but tell good
men come and make trade for Tom, make book, and no trade with Okopa.”