GREAT MOUNTAINS.--ASHIRA LAND IS BEAUTIFUL.--THE PEOPLE ARE
AFRAID.--REACH AKOONGA'S VILLAGE.--KING OLENDA SENDS MESSENGERS
AND PRESENTS.--I REACH OLENDA'S VILLAGE.
What a beautiful country! How lovely the grass seemed to me! How sweet
it was to see an open space!
"Where are we?" cried I to my Okendjo men.
They answered, in Ashira Land--Otobi (prairie). It seemed to me that
they should have replied in Fairyland, as I had been so long shut up in
the dark forest.
I stood for a long time on a bluff just on the border of the forest. On
the left, in the far distance, loomed up mountains higher than any I had
yet seen. They looked very beautiful against the blue sky. These
mountains were called Nkoumou-Nabouali. No one had ever been on their
summit. On the right, in the distance also, were mountains, but not so
lofty, called Ofoubou-Orere and Andele, and in front of my position were
still other mountains called Okoukoue.
All over the prairies villages were scattered, and the hills and valleys
were streaked with ribbon-like paths, while here and there my eye caught
the silver sheen of a brook winding along through the undulating land. I
could also see groves of banana and plantain trees, with their leaves so
large and beautiful. There were likewise plantations of cassada and
peanuts.
The setting sun shone over the landscape, and the tall green grass
reminded me of home, and my heart at once went over the sea. Do not
think that I was without feeling because I went to Africa and left
civilization--that I never thought of friends. There were girls and boys
of whom I thought almost every day, and whom I loved dearly.
"Fire a gun," said Okendjo; "fire, Moguizi, so that my people may know
you by the thunder you carry in your hand, and that Okendjo brings them
a moguizi."
The good fellow was in a high state of excitement. Adouma was nowhere. I
loaded my guns with heavy charges, and fired, bang! bang! bang!
Immediately I could see the people running out of their villages; they
seemed in the distance like pigmies; they shouted, and were, perhaps,
just a little frightened as they ran to and fro. They had seen the smoke
and heard the noise, and soon they saw me. Okendjo had sent guides to
tell the people not to be afraid; besides, my fame had gone before me,
for many of the Ashira had seen me.
We did not long remain motionless, for it was almost dark, and we must
hurry. Soon every hill-top was covered with people, but as we passed by
they ran away.
Okendjo walked ahead of me, shouting "Ashira! I have brought to you a
great and mighty spirit! He is good, and does no harm! Ashira! I am
Okendjo."
The crowd shouted in reply, "The ntangani has come! The moguizi has come
to see our land--our land which he never saw before. Moguizi, we will
give you plenty to eat! Moguizi, do us no harm! Oh, Moguizi!" Then they
sung songs, and the idols were brought out, so that they might see the
moguizi that had come. The drums beat, but, as I have said, when I came
near, the people ran away, leaving their idols behind to look at me.
Indeed, the Ashira Land was a strange country.
We soon came to a village, the chief of which was Okendjo's brother; his
name was Akoonga. He was at the gate of the village, and trembled with
fear, but he had come to welcome me.
"Am I tipsy with plantain wine? Do tell me, Okendjo, if I see aright, or
is it a hallucination of my mind? Have I not before me the spirit who
makes the guns, the beads, the brass rods, and the copper rings?
"Do I see aright when I see that his hair is long, and as black as that
of the mondi? when I see that his legs are black, and that he has no
toes (I had boots on)? that his face is of a color I never saw? Do tell
me--tell me quick, Okendjo, am I drunk?"
Okendjo replied, "He is the spirit of whom you have heard so much, who
came into the Bakalai country. He comes from the spirit land to visit
us." The people then shouted, "How queer the spirit looks!" My hair was
long, very long, and excited their wonder.
Akoonga soon gave me a house. There the chief came, followed by ten of
his wives, each bearing two bunches of plantains, which, with fear and
trembling, they brought to my feet. Then came four goats, twenty fowls,
several baskets of ground-nuts, and many bunches of sugar-cane.
The chief told Okendjo to say to me that he was glad I was to spend the
night in his village, and that I was the master of every thing in it.
When night came Okendjo walked from one end of the village to the other,
and I heard him say to his people, "Be silent; do not trouble the
spirit; do not speak, lest you awake him, and he might awake in anger,
and smite you, and make the people of our village die. Neither our
forefathers nor ourselves ever saw such a wonder as this."
Next morning immense crowds surrounded the village. They shouted and
shouted, and, not to disappoint them, I walked through the street from
time to time.
Olenda, the king or head chief of the Ashiras, for whose place I was
bound, sent presents of goats and plantains for the spirit by two
messengers, and wanted to know if the arrival of the moguizi was true.
The king also sent word that I should be carried; for why should the
moguizi walk if he is tired?
The messengers went and reported to their king that it was so--a good
moguizi had come. Then a great number of men were sent back to carry my
baggage, and we left Akoonga's village. The men shouted, and from time
to time sung wild songs celebrating my arrival among them. After a walk
of ten miles I reached the village of Olenda. Olenda was the great king
of the Ashira tribe.