DAILY LIFE AND SCENES IN THE JUNGLE
I am so frequently asked about the details of my daily life in the
cage, how the time was occupied and what I saw besides the apes, that I
deem it of interest to relate a few of the events of my sojourn in this
wild spot.
In order to convey an idea of it, I shall relate the incidents of a
single day and night; but of course the routine varied in some degree
from day to day.
At six o'clock, as the sun first peeps into the forest, it finds me
with a tin cup of coffee, just made on the little kerosene stove. It
is black and dreggy, but with a little sugar it is not bad. With a few
dry crackers I break my fast of twelve hours, and am ready for the task
before me.
[Illustration: STARTING FOR A STROLL]
In the meantime the boy rolls up my bed and his mat. By this time Moses
has helped himself to a banana or two. Then I take my rifle, he climbs
up on my shoulder, and we go for a short walk in the bush, while the
boy sweeps out the cage and puts everything in order for the day. When
we return, the boy, armed with a native spear, or a huge knife,
takes the big jug, and goes to a spring, about three hundred yards
away, for a supply of water.
Then Moses is allowed to climb about in the bushes and amuse himself;
the boy sits down, or goes to his village a mile away, while I watch
for gorillas. Silence is the order of the day, and here I sit,
sometimes for hours alone, almost as quiet as a tomb.
Presently a rustle of the leaves is heard, and a porcupine comes
waddling into view. He is poking his nose about, in search of food, but
has not discovered my presence. He comes closer, until the scent or
sight of me startles him, and away he goes. By-and-by a civet cat comes
stealing through the bush, till he observes me, and hastily departs.
After an hour of patient waiting the sound of clashing boughs is heard
in the tree-tops. A few minutes later may be seen a big school of
monkeys, led by a solemn-looking old pilot, who doubtless knows every
palm that bears nuts within twenty miles around. They are now coming to
inspect my cage, and see what new thing this is, set up in monkeydom.
As they come nearer, they become more cautious and tardy. They find a
strong bough in the top of a big tree, and the grave old pilot perches
himself far out on it, to peep at my cage. Just behind him sits the
next in rank, resting his hands on the shoulders of the leader, while a
dozen more are arranged in similar attitudes behind each other, along
the limb. Each one pushes the one just in front of him, to make him
move up a little closer, but no one of them, except the pilot, seems to
want the front seat.
They look in silence, turning their little heads from side to side, as
if to be certain it is not an illusion. They nudge one another again,
and move up an inch or two closer, squinting their bright eyes, as if
in doubt about the strange sight before them. They have made such calls
before, but have not quite determined what kind of an animal this is in
the cage. At each successive visit they come a little nearer, until now
they are not a hundred feet away. Now they take alarm at something, and
hurry away in another direction.
Next comes an armadillo, prowling about for insects among the leaves.
He catches a glimpse of the cage, he stands motionless for a moment, to
see what it is, and then, like a flash, he is gone.
During this time birds of divers kinds have been flying in all
directions. Some of them perch on the limbs near by, some pick the
nuts of the palm-tree, while others scream and screech, like so many
tin-whistles, or brass horns. Many of them are parrots. Some have
brilliant and beautiful plumage.
It is now ten o'clock. Not a breath of air stirs a leaf of the whole
forest. The heat is sweltering and oppressive. The voices of the birds
grow less and less frequent. Even the insects do not appear to be so
busy as they were in the earlier hours of the day. Moses has abandoned
his rambles in the bush, and sits on a fallen tree, with his arms
folded, as if he had finished work for the day.
Along towards this hour everything in the forest appears to become
quiet and inactive, and continues so until about two o'clock in
the afternoon. I was impressed on more than one occasion with this
universal rest during the hottest part of the day, and the same thing
seems to prevail among the aquatic animals.
I now prepare my repast for midday, by opening a can of meat or fish,
and warming it in a tin plate on the little stove. I have no vegetables
or dessert, but with a few crackers broken up, and stirred into the
grease, and plenty of water to drink with it, I find it an ample meal.
When it is finished, Moses coils up in his little hammock, swung by my
side, and takes his siesta. The boy, when there, stretches out on the
floor, and does likewise.
During the hours from ten till two, few things are astir, though I have
seen some interesting sights during that time.
It must not be supposed that the change is sudden at these periods, for
such is not the case. It is not a fixed time for everything to cease
its activity. It is by slow degrees that one after another becomes
quiescent, until life appears almost extinct for a time; but as the sun
begins to descend the western sky, things begin to revive, and by three
o'clock everything is again astir.
Now a lone gorilla comes stalking through the bush, looking for the red
fruit of the _batuna_ that grows at the root of the plant. He plucks
a bud of some kind, tears it apart with his fingers, smells it, and
throws it aside. Now he takes hold of a tall sapling, looks up at the
shaking branches, and turns aside. He pauses and looks around as if
suspicious of danger. He listens to see if anything is approaching, but
being reassured he resumes his search for food. Now he gently parts the
tangled vines that intercept his way, and creeps noiselessly through
them. He hesitates, looks carefully around him, and then proceeds
again. He is coming this way. I can see his black face as he turns his
head from side to side, looking for food. What a brutal visage! It has
a scowl upon it, as if he were at odds with all his race. He is now
within a few yards of the cage, but is not aware of my presence. He
plucks the tendril from a vine, smells it, and puts it in his mouth. He
plucks another and another. I shall note that vine, and ascertain what
it is. Now he is in a small open space, where the bush is cut away, so
as to afford a better view. He seems to know that this is an unusual
thing to find in the jungle, so he surveys it with caution. He comes
nearer. Now he has detected me. He sits down upon the ground, and looks
at me as if in utter surprise. A moment more he turns aside, looks back
over his shoulders, but hurries away into the dense jungle.
It is now four o'clock, and I hear a wild pig rooting among the fallen
leaves. I see a small rodent that looks like a diminutive hedgehog. He
is gnawing the bark from a dead limb, possibly to capture some insect
secreted under it; but as rodents usually live upon vegetable diet, he
may have some other reason for this.
It is five o'clock, and the shadows are beginning to deepen in the
forest. I see two little grey monkeys playing in the top of a very tall
tree. The birds are tiresome and monotonous. Yonder is a small snake
twined around the limb of a bushy tree. He is doubtless hunting for a
nest of young birds. The low, muttering sound of distant thunder is
heard, but little by little it grows louder. It is the familiar voice
of the tornado. I must prepare for it.
The stove is now lighted, and a pie-pan of water set on it. In it is
stirred an ounce of desiccated soup. It is heated to the boiling-point,
and then set on the swinging table. Then a can of mutton is emptied
into another pan of the same kind, and a few crackers broken and
stirred in. The soup is eaten while the meat is being cooked. When it
is ready, the flame of the stove is turned off, and the second course
of dinner is served, consisting of canned mutton, crackers and water.
The dishes, consisting usually of three tin pie-pans and a cup, are
thrust out into the adjacent bush, for the ants and other insects to
clean during the night.
In the meantime Moses has had his supper, and gone to his own little
cage, to find shelter from the approaching storm. The curtains are hung
up on the side of the cage, from which the tornado is coming. Now the
leaves begin to rustle. It is the first cool breath of the day, but
it is only the herald of the furious wind that is rapidly advancing.
The tree-tops begin to sway. Now they are lashing each other as if in
anger; the strong trees are bending from the wind; the lightning is so
vivid that it is blinding; the thunder is terrific. One shaft after
another, the burning bolts are hurled through the moaning forest. The
roar of thunder is unceasing. I hear the dull thud of a falling tree,
while the crackling boughs are falling all around me. The rain is
pouring in torrents, and all nature is in a rage. Every bird and beast
has sought a place of refuge from the warring elements. No sign of life
is visible, no sound is audible, save the voice of the storm.
How unspeakably desolate the jungle is at such an hour, no fancy can
depict. How utterly helpless a human being is against the wrath of
nature, no one can realise, except to live through such an hour in such
a place.
[Illustration: PREPARING FOR THE NIGHT]
On one occasion five large trees were blown down, within a radius of
two hundred yards of my cage, and scores of limbs were broken off by
the wind, and scattered like straws. Some of them were six or eight
inches in diameter, and ten or twelve feet long. One of them broke the
corner off the bamboo roof over my cage. The limb was broken off a huge
cotton-tree near by, and fell from a height of about sixty feet. It was
carried by the wind some yards out of a vertical line as it fell, and
just passed far enough to spare my cage. Had it struck the body of
it, no doubt it would have been partly demolished, for the main body
of the bough was about six inches in diameter and ten feet long. This
particular tornado lasted for nearly three hours, and was the most
violent of any I saw during the entire year.
Now the storm subsides, but the darkness is impenetrable. I have no
light of any kind, for that would alarm the inhabitants of the jungle,
and attract a vast army of insects from all quarters. Moses and the boy
are fast asleep, while I sit and listen to the many strange and weird
sounds heard in the jungle at night The bush crackles near by. It is a
leopard creeping through it. He is coming this way. Slowly, cautiously
he approaches. I cannot see him in the deep shadows of the foliage,
but I can locate him by sound, and identify him by his peculiar
tread. Perhaps he will attack the cage when he gets near enough. He
is creeping up closer. He evidently smells his prey, and is bent on
seizing it.
My rifle stands by my elbow. I silently raise it, and lay it across my
lap. The brute is now crouching within a few yards of me, but I cannot
see to shoot him. I hear him move again, as if adjusting himself to
spring upon the cage. He cannot see it, but he has located me by scent.
I hear a low rustling of the leaves as he wags his tail preparatory to
a leap. If I could only touch a button and turn on a bright electric
light over his head! He remains crouching near, while I sit with the
muzzle of my rifle turned towards him, and my hand on the lock. It is
a trying moment. If he should spring with such force as to break the
frail network that is between us, there could be but one fate for me.
In the brief space of a few seconds a thousand things run through one's
mind. Not prompted by fear, but by suspense. Is it best to fire into
the black shadows, or to wait for his attack? What is his exact pose?
What does he intend? How big is he? Can he see me? And a category of
similar questions arise at this critical moment.
A clash of bushes, and he is gone. Not with the stealthy, cautious
steps with which he advanced, but in hot haste. He has taken alarm,
abandoned his purpose, and far away I can hear the dry twigs crashing
as he hurries to some remote nook. He flees as if he thought he was
being pursued. He is gone, and I feel a sense of relief.
It is ten o'clock, the low rumbling of distant thunder is all that
remains of the tornado that swept over me a few hours ago. The stars
are shining, but the foliage of the forest is so dense, that I can only
see one here and there, peeping through the tangled boughs overhead. I
hear some little waif among the dead leaves, but what it is, or what it
wants, can only be surmised.
Another hour is passed, and I retire to my hammock. The sounds of
nocturnal birds are fewer now. I hear a strange, tremulous sound up
in the boughs of the bushes near the cage. It sounds like the leaves
vibrating. It ceases, and begins again at intervals. I listen with
attention, for it is very singular. It is a huge python in search of
birds. He reaches his head and neck forward, grasps the bough of a
slender bush, releases his coil from another, and by contraction draws
his slimy body forward. The pliant boughs yield to his heavy weight.
The abrasion causes it to tremble, and the leaves to quake.
I fall asleep and rest in comfort, while the dew that has fallen on the
leaves gathers itself into huge drops, their weight bends the leaves,
and they fall from their lofty perch, striking those far below with a
sharp, popping sound. The hours fly by, but in the stillness of the
early morning is heard a most unearthly scream. It is a king gorilla.
He simply makes every leaf in the forest tremble with the sound of his
piercing shrieks.
The dawn again awakes to life the teeming forest, and all its denizens
again go forth to join the universal chase for food.
All of these incidents cited are true in every detail, but they did not
occur every day, nor did all of them occur on the same day, as would be
inferred from the manner in which they are related.
This gives a glimpse of my real daily life in the jungle, but the
monotony was often relieved by going out for a day or two at a time,
or hunting on the plains, a few miles away. My menu was occasionally
varied by a chicken, piece of goat, fish or porcupine; but the general
average of it was about as described.