TERRIBLE STORMS OF THUNDER.--DAYS OF ANXIETY.--SHOOTING AN
ANTELOPE.--BRIGHTER PROSPECTS.--MAYOLO HAS A HARD TIME WITH HIS
DOCTORS.--BASKET-MAKING.
HOW strange the Otando prairie looks since the fire has burnt the
grass! Tens of thousands of gigantic mushroom-like ant-hills are seen
every where. I had never met such a great number before. I have given
you a picture of these queer ant-hills in my "Apingi Kingdom."
We are in the season of tornadoes, of thunder and lightning. Hardly a
day passes that some terrible storm does not burst upon us; and such
thunder--how terrific! We have not the slightest idea at home of what
thunder is. Among the mountains here it is perfectly appalling and
terrific. It is grand and sublime, and fills one with awe. The whole of
the heavens at times seems entirely illuminated by the lightning; and I
find that it rains quite often during the day. The heaviest tornadoes
in these regions seem to occur in the month of April.
Days pass in the Otando country which are full of anxiety for me.
Mayolo is sick, and some of my Commi men are down with the plague. Oh
dear, how the time is going! How far the head waters of the Nile are!
What a tremendous journey ahead! How many days of hunger do I see
looming before me; how many days of sickness and of anxious care! But
my heart is strong. God has been kind to me. The plague has spared me;
it has been around me; it has lived with me, and in my own dwelling;
and I stand safe amid the desolation that it has spread over the
country. I am surrounded here by savage men. May I live uprightly, so
that, after I have left, the people may think well of me!
But when am I ever to leave this Otando country? Just as I am wondering
over this, and thinking of the principal events that have taken place
since I left the sea-shore, my revery is broken by the barking of my
dogs in the prairie. I look, and what do I see? A beautiful antelope
closely pursued by my six dogs. Andèko, and Commi-Nagoumba, and Rover
cling to the neck of the antelope, with their teeth in the flesh, while
Turk, Fierce, and Ndjègo are barking and biting the poor creature
wherever they can. I run with the villagers in chase. Soon I am on the
spot, and, aiming carefully at the beast, I bring it down with a single
shot. It is a very fine hart. There is great joy in the village, and
I divide the meat among the villagers, giving a big piece to friend
Mayolo, who is delighted, for he says he is very fond of antelope's
meat.
By the end of April things began to look bright. Mayolo was getting
well; Macondai was improving very fast, and Igala and Rebouka were
almost recovered. But, as soon as Mayolo got better, he was more afraid
than ever of witchcraft, and he and his people had a great time in
"pona oganga." Pona oganga is a strange ceremony, which I am about to
describe to you. It was performed because Mayolo wanted to know who
were the people who had bewitched his place, and made the plague
come among his people.
[Illustration: HUNTING AN ANTELOPE.]
A great doctor had been sent for, and, after his arrival, he went into
a hut, carrying with him a large bag. Soon afterward he came out,
looking horribly. He was dressed in a most fantastic manner: his body
was painted with ochre of three different colors--red, white, and
black; he wore a necklace formed of bones, the teeth of animals, and
seeds; around his waist was a belt of leather, from which dangled the
feathers of the ogoloungoo; and his head-dress was made of a monkey's
skin. As he came out he spoke in an unnatural and hollow voice, then
filled a large basin with water, looked intently into it, and shook his
head gravely, as if the signs were bad. Then he lighted a big torch,
and looked steadily at the flame, as if trying to discover something,
moved the torch over the water, shook his body terribly, smoked a
condo-quai, made a number of contortions and gestures, and again spoke
in a loud tone, repeating the same words over and over. The people, in
the mean time, were silent, and looked at the great man attentively.
Then he gazed steadily into the water again, and said, while the
people listened in breathless silence, "There are people in your own
village who want to bewitch it, and bring the plague and kill people."
Immediately a great commotion took place. The crowd shouted, "Death to
the sorcerers!" and rose up and swore vengeance. "The mboundou must
be drunk!" cried Mayolo; "we want no wizards or witches among us."
The paths leading to the village were closed. No strangers were to be
admitted.
The next morning the village was empty; the people had all gone into
the woods. I could hear their voices; they had gone to make some of
their number drink the mboundou.
Poor Mayolo really had a hard time with his different doctors. He
was continually changing them, and they came from all the adjacent
villages. At last he gave up the men doctors, and had a celebrated
female doctor, an old, wrinkled woman, who had gained a great
reputation. The visit of a physician among these people is very unlike
that of a physician at home. This female doctor was a very singular
person. She appeared to be about sixty years of age, and was short,
and tattooed all over. When she came to make her visit she was dressed
for the occasion. Her body was painted, and she carried a box filled
with charms. When Mayolo expected her he was always ready, seated on
a mat, and with a genetta-skin by him. The female doctor would come
in muttering words which nobody could understand; then she would rub
Mayolo's body with her hand, and mark his forehead with the chalk of
the alumbi; then she made a broad mark with the chalk on his chest, and
drew stripes the whole length of his arms, muttering unintelligibly all
the time; she then chewed the leaves of some medicinal plant, and spat
the juice over Mayolo's body, especially on the affected part, near the
heart, still muttering magical words. Afterward she lighted a bunch
of a peculiar kind of grass, and as it burned, made the flames almost
touch the body of poor Mayolo. Two or three times it seemed as if the
fire was burning him. She began the fire-ceremony at the sole of his
foot, gradually ascending to the head, and, when the flames ceased, she
made the smouldering fire touch his person.
When I asked her why she used fire, she said that it was to prevent
disease from coming into Mayolo's body from the outside.
[Illustration: OTAITAI, OR PORTER'S BASKET.]
All this time the Otando people were busy making _otaitais_, or
porters' baskets. The otaitai is a very ingenious contrivance for
carrying loads in safety on the backs of men. I have brought one of
these baskets home, and preserve it as a keepsake. It is long and
narrow; the wicker-work is made of strips of a very tough climbing
plant; the length is about two and a half feet, and the width nine
inches; the sides are made of open cane-work, capable of being expanded
or drawn in, so as to admit of a larger or smaller load. Cords of bast
are attached to the sides, for the purpose of securing the contents.
Straps made of strong plaited rushes secure the basket to the head and
arms of the carrier, as shown in the preceding picture.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]