A QUEER CANOE.--ON THE REMBO.--WE REACH THE NIEMBOUAI.--A
DESERTED VILLAGE.--GAZELLE ATTACKED BY A SNAKE.--ETIA WOUNDED
BY A GORILLA.
The sun is hot; it is midday. The flies are plaguing us; the boco, the
nchouna, the ibolai are hard at work, and the question is, which of
these three flies will bite us the hardest; they feel lively, for they
like this kind of weather, and they swarm round our canoes.
I wish you could have seen the magnificent canoes we had; they were made
of single trunks of huge trees. We had left the village of Goumbi, where
my good friend Quengueza, of whom I have spoken before, and the best
friend I had in Africa, reigned.
Our canoes were paddling against the current of the narrow and deep
River Rembo. You may well ask yourselves where is the place for which I
am bound. If you had seen us you might have thought we were going to
make war, for the canoes were full of men who were covered with all
their war fetiches; their faces were painted, and they were loaded with
implements of war. The drums beat furiously, and the paddlers, as we
ascended, were singing war-songs, and at times they would sing praises
in honor of their king, saying that Quengueza was above all kings.
Quengueza and I were in the royal canoe, a superb piece of wood over
sixty feet long, the prow being an imitation of an immense crocodile's
head, whose jaws were wide open, showing its big, sharp, pointed teeth.
This was emblematic, and meant that it would swallow all the enemies of
the king. In our canoe there were more than sixty paddlers. At the stern
was seated old Quengueza, the queen, who held an umbrella over the head
of his majesty, and myself, and seated back of us all was Adouma, the
king's nephew, who was armed with an immense paddle, by which he guided
the canoe.
[Illustration: THE ROYAL CANOE.]
How warm it was! Every few minutes I dipped my old Panama hat, which was
full of green leaves, into the water, and also my umbrella, for, I tell
you, the sun seemed almost as hot as fire. The bodies of the poor
paddlers were shining with the oil that exuded from their skin.
If you had closely inspected our canoes you would have seen a great
number of axes; also queer-looking harpoons, the use of which you might
well be curious about. We were bound for a river or creek called the
Niembouai, and on what I may call an African picnic; that is to say, we
were going to build a camp on the banks of that river, and then we were
to hunt wild beasts of the forest, but, above all, we were to try to
harpoon an enormous creature called by the natives _manga_, a huge thing
living in fresh water, and which one might imagine to be a kind of
_whale_.
The distance from Goumbi to Niembouai was about fifteen miles. After
three hours' paddling against a strong current we reached the Niembouai
River. As we entered this stream the strong current ceased; the water
became sluggish, and seemed to expand into a kind of lake, covered in
many places with a queer kind of long tufted reed. For miles round the
country looked entirely desolate. Now and then a flock of pelicans were
seen swimming, and a long-legged crane was looking on the shore for
fish.
At the mouth of the Niembouai, on a high hill, stood an abandoned
Bakalai village called Akaka; the chief, whom I had known, was dead, and
the people had fled for fear of the evil spirits. Nothing was left of
the village but a few plantain-trees; the walls of the huts had all
tumbled down.
How dreary all seemed for miles round Akaka. The lands were overflowed,
and, as I have said before, were covered with reeds. Far off against the
sky, toward the east-northeast, towered high mountain peaks, which I
hoped to explore. They rose blue against the sky, and seemed, as I
looked at them through my telescope, to be covered with vegetation to
their very tops. These mountains were the home of wild men and still
wilder beasts. I thought at once how nice it would be for me to plant
the Stars and Stripes on the highest mountains there.
As we advanced farther up the river the mountains were lost sight of,
and still we paddled up the Niembouai. Canoe after canoe closed upon us,
until at last the whole fleet of King Quengueza were abreast of the
royal canoe, when I fired a gun, which was responded to by a terrific
yell from all the men.
Then Quengueza, with a loud voice, gave the order to make for a spot to
which he pointed, where we were to land and build our camp. Soon
afterward we reached the place, and found the land dry, covered with
huge trees to protect us from the intense heat of the sun, from the
heavy dews of night, and from slight showers.
The men all scattered into the forest, some to cut long poles and short
sticks for our beds; others went to collect palm-leaves to make a kind
of matting to be used as roofing. The first thing to be done was for the
people to make a nice olako for their king and myself.
Our shelter was hardly finished when a terrible rainstorm burst upon us,
preceded by a most terrific tornado, for we were in the month of March.
By sunset the storm was all over; it cooled the air deliciously, for the
heat had been intense. At noon, under the shade of my umbrella while in
the canoe, the thermometer showed 119 deg. Fahrenheit.
We had brought lots of food, and many women had accompanied us, who were
to fish, and were also to cook for the people. The harpoons were well
taken care of, for we fully expected to harpoon a few of the _mangas_.
The manga canoes were to arrive during the night, for the canoes we had
were not fit for the capture of such large game.
In the evening old Quengueza was seated by the side of a bright fire;
the good old man seemed quite happy. He had brought with him a jug of
palm wine, from which he took a drink from time to time, until he began
to feel the effects of the beverage, and became somewhat jolly. His
subjects were clustered in groups around several huge fires, which
blazed so brightly that the whole forest seemed to be lighted by them.
I put my two mats on my bed of leaves, hung my musquito nets as a
protection against the swarms of musquitoes, then laid myself down under
it with one of my guns at my side, placed my revolvers under my head,
and bid good-night to Quengueza.
I did not intend to go right to sleep, but wished to listen to the talk
of the people. The prospect of having plenty of meat to eat appeared to
make them merry, and after each one had told his neighbor how much he
could eat if he had it, and that he could eat more manga than any other
man that he knew, the subject of food was exhausted. Then came stories
of adventures with savage beasts and with ghosts.
We had in company many great men. The chief of them all was good old
Quengueza, formerly a great warrior. After the king came Rapero
Ouendogo, Azisha Olenga, Adouma, Rakenga Rikati Kombe, and Wombi--all
men of courage and daring, belonging to the Abouya, a clan of warriors
and hunters.
We had slaves also; among them many belonged to the king--slaves that
loved him, and whose courage was as great as that of any man belonging
to the tribe. Among them was Etia, the mighty and great slayer of
gorillas and elephants. Etia provided game for Quengueza's table; he was
one of the beloved slaves of the king, and he was also a great friend of
mine. We were, indeed, old friends, for we had hunted a good deal
together.
On a sudden all merriment stopped, for Ouendogo had shouted "let Etia
tell us some of his hunting adventures." This order was received with a
tremendous cheer, and Etia was placed in the centre. How eager were the
eyes and looks of those who knew the story-telling gift of their friend
Etia, who began thus: "Years ago, I remember it as well as if it were
but yesterday, I was in a great forest at the foot of a high hill,
through which a little stream was murmuring; the jungle was dense, so
much so that I could hardly see a few steps ahead of me; I was walking
carefully along, very carefully, for I was hunting after the gorilla,
and I had already met with the footprints of a huge one. I looked on the
right, on the left, and ahead of me, and I wished I had had four eyes,
that is, two more eyes on the back of my head, for I was afraid that a
great gorilla might spring upon me from behind."
We all got so impatient to hear the story that we shouted all at once,
"Go on, Etia, go on. What did you see in the bush? Tell us quick." But
Etia was not to be hurried faster than he chose. After a short pause, he
continued: "I do not know why, but a feeling of fear crept over me. I
had a presentiment that something queer was going to happen. I stood
still and looked all round me.
"Suddenly I spied a huge python coiled round a tree near to a little
brook. The serpent was perfectly quiet. His huge body was coiled several
times round the tree close to the ground, and there he was waiting for
animals to come and drink. It was the dry season, and water was very
scarce, and many animals came to that spring to drink. I can see, even
to this day, its glittering eyes. Its color was almost identical with
that of the bark of the tree. I immediately lay down behind another
tree, for I had come also in search of game, and I could do nothing
better than wait for the beasts to come there and drink.
"Ere long I spied a ncheri 'gazelle' coming; she approached unsuspicious
of any danger. Just as she was in the act of drinking, the snake sprang
upon the little beast and coiled himself round it. For a short time
there was a desperate struggle; the folds of the snake became tighter
and tighter round the body of the poor animal. I could see how slowly,
but how surely the snake was squeezing its prey to death. A few
smothered cries, and all was over; the animal was dead. Then the snake
left the tree and began to swallow the gazelle, commencing at the head.
It crushed the animal more and more in its folds. I could hear the bones
crack, and I could see the animal gradually disappearing down the throat
of the snake."
"Why did you not, Etia, kill the snake at once?" shouted one man, "and
then you would have had the ncheri for your dinner?" "Wait," replied
Etia.
"After I had watched the snake for a short time, I took my cutlass and
cut the big creature to pieces. That night I slept near the spot. I
lighted a big fire, cooked a piece of the snake for my meal, and went to
sleep.
"The next morning I started early, and went off to hunt. I had not been
long in the forest before I heard a noise; it was a gorilla. I
immediately got my gun ready, and moved forward to meet him. I crept
through the jungle flat on 'my belly,' and soon I could see the great
beast tearing down the lower branches of a tree loaded with fruit.
Suddenly he stopped, and I shouted to him, 'Kombo (male gorilla), come
here! come here!' He turned round and gave a terrific yell or roar, his
fierce, glaring eyes looked toward me, he raised his big long arms as if
to lay hold of me, and then advanced. We were very near, for I had
approached quite close before I shouted my defiance to him.
"When he was almost touching me, I leveled my gun--that gun which my
father, King Quengueza, had given me--that gun for which I have made a
fetich, and which never misses an animal--then I fired. The big beast
tottered, and, as it fell, one of his big hands got hold of one of my
legs; his big, thick, huge fingers, as he gave his death-gasp,
contracted themselves; I gave a great cry of pain, and, seizing my
battle-axe, I dealt a fearful stroke and broke its arm just above the
joint. But his fingers and nails had gone deep into my flesh, which it
lacerated and tore."
Etia pointed to his leg, and continued: "I have never gotten over it to
this day, though it is so long ago that very few of you that are here
to-night were born then. I began to bleed and bleed, and feared that the
bone of my leg was broken. I left the body of the gorilla in the woods,
but took its head with me, and that head I have still in my plantation;
and at times," added Etia, "its jaws open during the night, and it roars
and says, 'Etia, why have you killed me?' I am sure that gorilla had
been a man before. That is the reason I am lame to this day. I succeeded
in reaching my pindi (plantation), and my wife took care of me; but from
that day I have hated gorillas, and I have vowed that I would kill as
many of them as I could."
The story of Etia had the effect of awakening every one. They all
shouted that Etia is a great hunter, that Etia had been bewitched before
he started that time, and that if it had not been for Etia having a
powerful monda (fetich), he would have been killed by the gorilla.
Our story-telling was interrupted by the arrival of canoes, just built
for the fishing of the manga. These canoes were unlike other canoes;
they were flat-bottomed, as flat as a board; the sides were straight,
and both ends were sharp-pointed, and, when loaded, with two men, did
not draw in the water, I am sure, half an inch. They glided over the
water, causing scarcely a ripple. There was no seat, and a man had to
paddle standing up, the paddle being almost as long as a man. These
canoes were about twenty-five feet long, and from eighteen to twenty
inches broad. In them were several queer kinds of harpoons, which were
to be used in capturing the mangas.