SAYING GOOD-BY.--A PANIC-STRICKEN VILLAGE.--PACIFYING THE PEOPLE'S
FEARS.--A TIPSY SCENE.--MAJESTY ON A SPREE.--LUNCH BY A RIVER SIDE.
ON the 30th of May, early in the morning, there was great excitement in
Mayolo's village. That morning we were to leave for the Apono country.
Mayolo himself was to take me there, and we were all getting ready, the
men carefully arranging their otaitais. The horns were blown as the
signal for our departure, and we took the path in single file, Igala
leading, and Mayolo and I bringing up the rear.
"Good-by, Oguizi!" shouted the people. "Don't forget us, Oguizi! Come
back, Oguizi!"
Following a path in the prairie, we traveled directly east. Our road
lay among the ant-hills, which could be counted by tens of thousands,
of which I gave you a description in my "Apingi Kingdom." After a march
of seven miles we came to Mount Nomba-Obana. Mayolo once lived on the
top of this mountain, but moved his village to its base, and afterward
went to the place where I found him. At the foot of Nomba-Obana, on
the somewhat precipitous side, were great quantities of blocks of red
sandstone, and in this neighborhood we saw the ruins of Mayolo's former
village. Mayolo is always changing his home, for he fancies that the
places he occupies are bewitched.
At a distance of about three miles from Nomba-Obana we came to a stream
called Ndooya, which we forded, but in the rainy season it must be a
considerable body of water. We were approaching the Apono villages,
and I felt somewhat anxious, for I did not know what kind of reception
the people would give me. Groves of palm-trees were very abundant, and
I could see numerous calabashes hanging at the tree-tops, ready to
receive the sap, which is called palm wine.
At last we came in sight of the village of Mouendi, where we intended
to stay. The chief was a great friend of Mayolo. As soon as the
inhabitants saw me a shout rent the air. All the people fled, the women
carrying their children, and weeping. The cry was, "Here is the Oguizi!
Oguizi! Now that we have seen him, we are going to die." I saw and
heard all this with dismay.
We entered the village. Not a soul was left in it; it was as still as
death. I could see the traces of hurried preparations for flight as
we continued our march through the street of this silent village till
we came near the ouandja. There I saw Nchiengain, the chief, and two
other men, who had not deserted him. These were the only inhabitants we
could see. The body of the chief was marked, striped, and painted with
the chalk of the alumbi. He seemed filled with fear; but the sight of
Mayolo, his _nkaga_, "born the same day," seemed somewhat to reassure
him.
Mayolo said, "Nchiengain, do not be afraid; come nearer. Do not be
afraid. Come!" Then we went under the ouandja, and seated ourselves.
In the mean time, I had taken a look at Nchiengain. He was a tall,
slender old negro, with a mild and almost timid expression of
countenance.
Then Mayolo said, "I told you, Nchiengain, that I was coming with the
Oguizi. Here we are. The Spirit has come here to do you good--to give
you beads, and many nice things. Then he will leave you after a while,
and go still farther on."
Then I spoke to Nchiengain in his own language, for the Aponos speak
the same language as the Ashira and Otando people. I said, "Nchiengain,
do not be afraid of me. I come to be a friend; I come to do you good.
I come to see you, and then will pass on, leaving beads and fine
things for your women and yourselves. Look here"--pointing to all the
loads which my Otando porters had laid on the ground--"part of these
things will be for your people," and immediately I put around his neck
a necklace of very large beads, and placed a red cap on his head. I
then gave necklaces of smaller beads to the two other men, and said,
"Nchiengain, you will have more things, but your people must come back;
I do not like to live in a village from which all the people have run
away. Mayolo's people did not run away, and you do not know what great
friends we are. Call your people back."
I then went around the village, and hung a few strings of beads to the
trees, and Nchiengain shouted, "Come back, Aponos; come back! Do not be
afraid of the Spirit. As you come back, look at the trees, and you will
see the beads the Spirit has brought for us, and which he will give to
us." The two men then went out upon the prairie and into the woods,
and before sunset a few men and women, braver than the rest, returned
to the village, taking with them the beads which they had seen hanging
from the branches of the trees.
In the evening the bright fires blazing in all directions showed that
the fears of the people had been allayed, and that many of them had
returned to their homes.
How tired I felt that evening! for not only had I been excited all day,
but I had left Mayolo's village in the morning with a heavy load on my
back. Besides my revolvers, I carried a double-barreled gun, and in my
bag I had fifty cartridges for revolvers, ten bullets for a long-range
Enfield rifle, ten bullets for smooth-bore guns, ten steel-pointed
bullets, and more than twenty pounds of small shot, buck-shot, powder,
etc. In all, I carried a weight of over sixty pounds, besides my
food, and my aneroids, barometers, policeman's lantern, and prismatic
compass. I was so weary that I could not sleep. I resolved not to carry
such big loads any more.
But my work was not yet done: in the evening I had to make astronomical
observations. As I was afraid of frightening the people, I had to
do this slyly. I was glad when I had finished it, but I found by my
observations that we had gone directly east from Mayolo's village.
The next morning I walked from one end of the village of Mouendi to
the other. The street was four hundred and forty-seven yards long, and
eighteen yards broad. The soil was clay and not a blade of grass could
be seen. The houses were from five to seven yards long, and from seven
to ten feet broad; the height of the walls was about four feet, and
the distance from the ground to the top of the roof was seven or eight
feet. Back of the houses were immense numbers of plantain-trees. In
the morning many of the people returned. Mayolo and Nchiengain had a
long talk together. Nchiengain was fully persuaded that I could do any
thing I wished; consequently, that I could make any amount of goods and
beads for him. A grand palaver took place, and Mayolo began the day by
making a speech. He said,
"The last moon I sent some of my people to buy salt from you Apono. You
refused to sell salt, and sent word that you did not want the Oguizi
to come into your country, because he brought the plague, sickness,
and death. So I said to the Oguizi, 'Never mind; there is a chief in
the Apono country who is my _nkaga_ (born the same day); I will send
messengers to him; he has big canoes, and I am sure he will let us
cross the river with them.' Then I sent three of my nephews to you,
Nchiengain, my nkaga, with beads and nice things, and I said to them,
'Go and tell Nchiengain that I am coming with the Oguizi, who is on
his way to the country of the Ishogos.' You sent back your kendo,
Nchiengain, with the words, 'Tell Mayolo to come with his Oguizi.' Here
we are, Nchiengain, in your village, and I am sure you and your people
will not slight us" (_mpouguiza_).
I gave to Nchiengain one shirt, six yards of prints, one coat, a red
cap, one big bunch of white beads and one of red, a necklace of very
large beads, files, fire-steels, spoons, knives and forks, a large
looking-glass, and some other trinkets, and then called the leading men
and women, and gave them presents also. This settled our friendship,
for the people were pleased with the wonderful things I gave them.
The news of my untold wealth spread far and wide. People from a
neighboring village, who had been very much opposed to my journey
through their country, made their appearance. When Nchiengain saw them,
he said, "Go away! go away! now you come because you have smelt the
_niva_ (goods and nice things). You are not afraid now."
After two or three days the people of Mouendi began to say, "How is
it that two or three days ago we were so afraid of the Spirit? Now
our fears are gone, and we love him. He plays with our children, and
gives beads to our women." When I heard them utter these words, I said,
"Apono, that is the way I travel. Those fine things that I give you are
the plague I leave behind me! I bring not death, but beads; so do not
be afraid of me." They replied, "Rovano! Rovano!" ("That is so!")
A few days passed away, and then the Apono and I became great friends.
They began to wonder why they had been so frightened by the _Ibamba_
(a new name given me by the Apono), and soon all the people had
returned to the village. Good old Nchiengain and Mayolo had at last
a jolly frolic together, and got quite tipsy with palm wine. I wish
you had heard them talk. The way they were going to travel with me
was something wonderful. Such fast traveling on foot you never heard
of before. Tribe after tribe were to be passed by them. They were not
afraid; they did not care. We were even to travel by night over the
prairie, for the full moon was coming.
After a few days at Mouendi, Nchiengain with his Aponos, and Mayolo
with his own people, took me farther on; but before our departure
Nchiengain and the Apono went out before daylight to obtain the
palm wine which had fallen into their calabashes during the night.
By sunrise they were all tipsy, and Nchiengain was reeling, but he
was full of enthusiasm for the journey; Mayolo also was tipsy, but
not quite so far gone as his friend Nchiengain. When I saw this state
of things I demolished all the _mbomi_ (calabashes), spilling on the
ground the palm wine they contained, to the great sorrow of the Aponos.
"Where is Nchiengain?" I inquired, when we were ready to start. He
could not be found; and, suspecting that he was somewhere behind his
hut, drinking more palm wine before starting, I went to hunt for him.
The old rascal, thinking I was busy engaged in looking after my men,
was quietly drinking from the mbomi itself, with his head up and his
mouth wide open. Before he had time to think, I seized his calabash,
and poured the contents on the ground. Poor Nchiengain! he supplicated
me not to pour it all away, but to leave a little bit for him. "I will
go with you at once," he said; "give me back my mug" (a mug I had
given him); "oh, Spirit, give it back to me!" By this time all the
villagers had gathered about us. I put the mug on the ground, and told
Nchiengain's wife to come and take it; and this gave great joy to the
people, who exclaimed, "Nchiengain, go quick! go quick!"
When we left I went to the rear, to see that all the porters were
ahead; but old Nchiengain lagged behind, for he could not walk fast
enough.
Three quarters of an hour afterward we found ourselves on the banks of
a large river, the same which is described in my "Apingi Kingdom"--that
kingdom being situated farther down the stream than the point at which
we were now to cross. The river could not be seen from the prairie, for
its banks were lined with a belt of forest trees. We found on the banks
of the stream Nchiengain's big canoe waiting for us, together with some
smaller ones. The large canoe was very capacious, but before all my
luggage could be ferried over it was necessary to make seven trips. I
sent Igala, Rebouka, and Mouitchi to the other side with the first load
to keep watch. The canoe had just returned from its seventh trip, and
the men were landing, when suddenly I heard the voice of Nchiengain in
the woods shouting, "I am coming, Spirit! Nchiengain is coming!" It was
half past four P.M. A whole day had been lost.
Not caring to take his majesty Nchiengain reeling drunk into my canoe,
I jumped into it and ordered the men to push from the shore with the
utmost speed. We started in good time, for we were hardly off when
I began to distinguish the king's form through the woods, and when
he reached the shore we were about fifty yards distant. We heard him
shout "Come back! come back to fetch me;" but the louder he called the
more deaf we were. "Go on, boys!" I ordered. As our backs were turned
to the king, of course we could not see him. Finally we landed, and,
taking my glass, I saw poor Nchiengain gesticulating on the other side,
apparently in a dreadful state, thinking that I had left him. The canoe
was sent back for him, and a short time afterward he was landed on our
side of the river, to his great delight. Two or three times during the
passage he lost his equilibrium, but he did not fall. When he joined us
he was about as tipsy as when I left him in the morning.
Poor Mayolo, who had been continually tipsy since we had left his
village, fell ill during the night, and a very high fever punished him
for his sins.
We built our camp where we had landed. A thick wood grew on the bank of
the river, and firewood was plentiful. In the evening Nchiengain was
sober again, and before ten o'clock every body was fast asleep except
three of my Commi men, who were on the watch. The dogs were lying
asleep, and almost in the fire. Every thing now promised well, and I
was anxious to hurry forward as rapidly as possible on the following
day.
At a quarter past six o'clock A.M. we left our encampment, every body
being perfectly sober. Soon afterward we emerged from the woods into
a prairie, and passed several villages, the people of which seemed to
have heard wonderful stories of my wealth. They came out, and followed
me with supplies of goats and plantain, and begged Nchiengain and his
people to remain with the Oguizi. In the villages they went so far as
to promise several slaves to Nchiengain if he would do this. Hundreds
of these villagers, while following us, gazed at me, but if I looked at
them they fled in alarm. Finally, seeing that it was useless to follow,
they went back, shouting to Nchiengain and to Mayolo that it was their
fault if I did not stop. My porters joined them in their grumbling, for
the fat goats tempted them.
About midday we halted in a beautiful wooded hollow, through which ran
a little rivulet of clear water, and by its side we seated ourselves
for breakfast. I was really famished. After spending an hour in eating
and resting, we started again. When we came out of the wood we saw
paths leading in different directions, one going directly east to
several Apono villages. Nchiengain was opposed to our passage through
them, and therefore we struck a path leading in a more southerly
direction, or S.S.E. by compass. For three hours we journeyed over an
undulating prairie dotted with clumps of woods, and then crossed a
prairie called Matimbié irimba (the prairie of stones), the soil of
which was covered with little stones containing a good deal of iron.
The men suffered greatly as they stepped upon them.
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