LEAVE FOR ASHIRA LAND.--IN A SWAMP.--CROSS THE MOUNTAINS.--A
LEOPARD AFTER US.--REACH THE ASHIRA COUNTRY.
Early on that morning of my departure for the Ashira Land we were
awakened by the voice of friend Obindji, who was recommending Okendjo to
take great care of his "white man," and see that nothing should hurt
him.
We were soon under way, and, leaving the Ovenga, ascended the Ofoubou
River for three miles and a half, when we unloaded our canoes. Then we
struck off due east.
We had very great trouble in getting through the marshy lands which
border the river, for they were overflowed to the very foot of the
hills.
This was about as hard a piece of traveling as I ever had in my life.
The water was so yellow that I could not see to the bottom, which was
slimy clay, covering the roots of trees.
I hardly entered the swamp before down I seated myself in a manner I did
not like at all. I barely saved my gun from going to the bottom. My foot
had slipped on a root. Then I went tottering along, getting hold of all
the branches or trees I could reach, at the same time saying to myself
that I did not see the use of such a country.
I was in water from my knees to my waist; below my knees I was in mud. I
felt warm enough, for at every step I would go deeper into the sticky
mud, and it was difficult to get my feet out again. I took good care to
have Okendjo and two or three fellows go ahead of me. They had no
clothes, and if they tumbled into the water I did not care; they were
not long in drying off.
Finally we got through, and stood at the foot of a mountain ridge along
which, we may say, lay the route leading to Ashira Land. Here we gave
three cheers, and with cheery hopes I started once more for a _terra
incognita_.
We are lost in the jungle. Under the tall trees a dense jungle covers
the ground; lianas hang gracefully from the limbs and trunks of trees.
Many of them are covered with flowers. Now and then, huge blocks of
quartz rocks are met with. We go along slowly, for we are tired.
Okendjo says that soon we shall reach the promised land, where goats,
fowls, plantain, and palm wine are plentiful.
Mountain after mountain had to be ascended. Oh, how hard we worked! How
we panted after reaching the summit of a hill. How beautiful were the
rivulets, they were so pure, so cool, so nice; their crystalline water
rolled in every direction, tumbling over the rocks in foaming cascades,
or purling along in a bed of white pebbles. Oh how much they reminded me
of the hill-streams and trout-brooks of home; for if the trees I saw had
not the foliage of our trees at home, the stones were the same. The
quartz was similar. Nature there, at least, was alike. The rocks were of
the same formation.
I felt well and happy. I was on my way to discover new lands, new
rivers, new mountains, and new beasts and birds. I was to see new tribes
of men whom I had never seen before.
[Illustration: GOING TO ASHIRA LAND.]
So I trotted along, Okendjo, Adouma, and I leading the way. By-and-by
the country became still more rugged. The blocks of quartz we met were
of larger size, and soon our path led us in the midst of huge masses of
stones. How queer and small we looked as our caravan filed, one by one,
between the ponderous blocks! We looked exactly like pigmies alongside
of the huge boulders.
Quite near us were some large ebony-trees; how beautiful their foliage
looked, contrasting with the blocks of quartz and granite, some of which
were covered with mosses, and others perfectly bare. What could have
brought these huge boulders on those mountains? I should not wonder if
glaciers had accomplished it in ages that are past. The more rocky the
soil, the better ebony-trees appeared to flourish.
How hard the walking was! In many places the rains had washed away the
soil from the immense and wide-spreading roots, which ran along the
ground like huge serpents--indeed, many of them were just like big boa
constrictors.
My feet were so sore by walking on those roots, or rather by stepping
from one to another, for I was obliged to wear thin-soled shoes, so that
I might bend my feet to seize the roots. If I had worn thick shoes I
should have tumbled down at the first jump.
Just before sunset we stopped, and I ordered the camp to be built, the
fire-wood to be collected for the night. There were no large leaves to
be found, so we all hoped that no rain or tornado would come that night.
We all made beds of such leaves as were to be found; for myself, I put
two mats on the top, and lighted, as usual, four fires round me to keep
off the wild beasts.
The Bakalai built a camp for themselves, the Ashira built another, and
my own was between the two. I lay down, feeling very tired, and prayed
to God to take care of me. For a pillow I used the belt which held my
revolvers, and taking one of my guns in my arms, I went to sleep.
Toward one o'clock in the morning I was awakened by the loud roaring of
a leopard which was prowling round our camp. He had smelled human flesh;
probably he had tasted it before, but he dared not approach very close,
for the fires were bright and the men awake. He was afraid of the bright
light, and his howls testified how enraged he was. He was, no doubt,
hungry, but his cowardice kept him back. I ordered some guns to be fired
at random in the direction where we heard his growls.
For a while the forest became silent, and the leopard went off. We
thought we had frightened him; but, just as we were on the point of
going to sleep once more, suddenly the roaring began again, and this
time the beast had come nearer. He wanted, no doubt, to make his
breakfast upon one of us; but his desires were not to be gratified. I
felt mad, as I wanted to sleep, for the next day was to be one of hard
traveling.
If I had dared, I would have ventured into the forest after the beast;
but the risk was too great, it was so dark. The leopard would have done,
no doubt, as cats do, lain flat on the ground and waited for his prey,
and pounced upon me as the smaller animal would do upon a mouse. So, as
the roars of the beast continued, we concluded to keep awake, first
putting more wood on our fires.
The loads we had carried since leaving Obindji had been very heavy, and
the sore backs of the men began to show that they had hard work. I was
loaded as well as any of them, with powder, shot, my own food, bullets
for my gun and my revolvers, which I carried in my belt, an extra pair
of pantaloons, shoes, etc., etc.
Resuming our journey next morning, I discovered that the fellows had
either been eating lots of plantains, or perhaps slyly throwing away a
quantity of them, in order to be relieved of the burden. I warned them
that if we were short of food they would have to starve first.
They replied, "There are plenty of nuts in the forest--there are plenty
of berries in the forest; we can stand being a day without food!"
Toward the evening of that day we began to see signs of a change in the
face of the country. Now and then we would pass immense plantations of
plantains, the trees loaded with fruit. We came at last to one which
gorillas had visited and made short work of, having demolished lots of
trees, which lay scattered right and left. Elephants had also made sad
havoc in some of the plantations. Then we came across patches of
sugar-cane. These plantations were scattered in the great forest, and
grew in the midst of innumerable trunks and dead branches of trees that
had been cut down.
The soil became more clayey, and at last we emerged from the immense
forest. I saw, spread out before me, a new country, the like of which I
had not seen since I had been lost in the great equatorial jungle. It
was Ashira Land. The prairies were dotted plentifully with villages,
which looked in the distance like ant-hills.