GREAT EXCITEMENT IN THE VILLAGE.--A DESERTED TOWN.--THE INHABITANTS
FRIGHTENED AWAY.--AFRAID OF THE EVIL EYE.--THE AUTHOR TAKEN FOR AN
ASTROLOGER.--LOST AMONG THE PLANTATIONS.
ON the morning of the 10th of June there was great excitement in the
village of Mokaba. The Apono, headed by Kombila, were ready to take me
to the Ishogo country. All the porters wore the red caps I had given
them, and had put on their necklaces of beads. At a quarter past ten
o'clock, just as we started, I ordered guns to be fired, to the immense
delight of the Mokaba people. Kombila gave the word for departure, and
one by one we took the path leading to the hills which lay directly
east of the village, and soon afterward we were in the woods, passing
plantation after plantation that had been abandoned, for they never
planted twice in the same place. We finally arrived at a plantation
called Njavi, where thousands of plantain-trees were in bearing, and
where sugar-cane patches were abundant. Fields of pea-nuts were also
all around us soon afterward. We rested to take a meal, and, as Njavi
was situated on the plateau, I had a good view of the country.
When we resumed our march eastward the Apono were in great glee, for
they had become accustomed to me. Kombila was filled with pride at the
idea that he was going to take the Spirit to the Ishogo country. The
men were talking loudly, and I saw that there was no chance for killing
game. The country was splendid. The hills had been getting higher and
higher till we had reached Njavi, but since leaving that point we had
been going down the slope. We crossed a dry stream with a slaty bottom,
and soon afterward came to a stream called Dougoundo, the Apono porters
walking as fast as they could. Toward four o'clock we reached the large
Ishogo village of Igoumbié, but found it deserted. The few men who saw
us ran into their houses and shut their doors--for they had doors in
Igoumbié. The people reminded me of frightened chickens hiding their
heads in dark corners. A few men had been so alarmed that they had lost
the power of walking, and as I passed did not utter a single word nor
move a step. We walked through the whole length of the street, then
got into the woods, and stopped. Kombila said to me, "Let me, Spirit,
go to the village;" and he went with a few of his men. Soon afterward
an Ishogo man came with Kombila, and asked me to remain in his
village. "The Mokaba people are our friends," he said; "they marry our
daughters; how can we let them pass without giving them food?" Rebouka
being lame (one of my heavy brass kettles having fallen on one of his
feet), I consented.
[Illustration: APONO AND ISHOGO VILLAGE.]
Now I found that I could no more know who was the chief of a village.
Kombila, I began to suspect, was not the chief of Mokaba. The chiefs
had a superstition that if I knew who they were I would kill them.
In the Ishogo village I was among a new people, and, indeed, their
appearance was strange to me. Little by little they came back to the
village, for the Mokaba people were great friends of theirs, and they
told the Ishogos not to be afraid. Many of the villagers, as they had
to pass by me, would put their hands over their eyes so as not to see
me. They were afraid.
I took a walk through the long street of that strange Ishogo village,
and counted one hundred and ninety-one houses. The houses were much
larger than those of many other tribes, and were from twenty to
twenty-two feet in length, and from nine to twelve feet in width. Each
had a door in the middle from two to two and a half feet in width,
and about three and a half feet high. The height of the lower walls
was four and a half feet, and the distance to the top of the roof
eight or nine feet. The doors of the houses were very tasteful. Each
owner seemed to vie with his neighbor in the choice of the prettiest
patterns. Every door was carved and painted in different colors. On the
opposite page is a representation of some of the patterns, so you may
judge for yourself of the taste of the Ishogos.
As I walked through the village, I thought what a great Spirit I must
have seemed to the savage people of the interior of Africa. When I
passed the houses of Igoumbié, some of the people, thinking I was not
looking at them nor at their dwellings, partially opened their doors to
get a peep at me; but if I happened to glance at them they immediately
retired, evidently believing that I had an "evil eye."
I remained a day in the village of Igoumbié to make friends, so that
the news might spread among the Ishogos that I was not an evil spirit;
but most of them were so shy that when they had to pass the door of my
hut they put their hands up to the side of their face so that they
might not see me. Yet, in spite of their shyness, I made friends with
many, and gave them beads.
[Illustration: ISHOGO HOUSES, WITH ORNAMENTAL DOORS.]
One night the village was filled with fear. The people could not
understand my doings. They were unable to discover what I meant by
looking at the stars and at the moon with such queer-looking things
as the instruments I held in my hand, and with dishes of quicksilver
before me in which the moon and the stars were reflected. The aneroids,
barometers, thermometers, boiling barometers, watches, and policemen's
lanterns puzzled them extremely. They could not see why I should spend
the greater part of the night with all those things around me.
I could not afford to lose much time in this village, for I had been
so much detained before by the plague and other impediments, which have
already been described, that it became necessary for me to go. I had
still to pass through the territory of tribe after tribe; the Congo
River was far to the eastward of us; the sources of the Nile were far
away. So I said to Kombila, "Let us hurry. Take me to the farthest
Ishogo village that you can. There we will remain a little while, and
then I shall know all about the Ishogos."
We left Igoumbié, and once more plunged into the great forest. As I
lost sight of the village, I heard the inhabitants crying loudly, "The
Spirit has gone! the Spirit has gone!"
Suddenly, toward midday, the Apono porters stopped. I saw that a
palaver was about to take place. I ordered my Commi men to be in
readiness in case of any trouble. Kombila said, "Spirit, the people of
Igoumbié wanted to have you among them. We said _nèshi_ (no). The loads
you have are heavy, and my people do not want to go farther unless you
give them more beads, for their backs are sore."
I answered, "I have a heart to feel, and eyes to see. I intend to give
to each of you a present before we part. Go ahead." The four elders or
leaders of the party shouted, "It is so! it is so!" So we continued
our march, and passed several villages, but the people were dumb with
astonishment and fear.
In the country through which we were traveling, paths led from village
to village, and when we came to a settlement we had to go through the
whole length of it. Some of the villages in which the people had heard
of my approach were perfectly deserted. In others the inhabitants had
hidden themselves in their huts, and we saw none of them.
Once we lost our way, having taken the wrong path, and, being
bewildered among the plantations of the natives, we had a hard time.
Finally we came to a stream which the men recognized, and ascended it;
but the day was then far advanced, and we concluded to build our camp.
We all felt very tired, the men having sore feet on account of little
ferruginous pebbles which covered the ground. After our fires had been
lighted, and the men had smoked their pipes, and put the soles of their
feet as near the fire as they could without burning them, we began to
have a nice talk, and I asked the Aponos many questions.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]