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CHAPTER XXVI

NDOVA FALLS SICK – STUNG BY A SCORPION OR BITTEN BY A CENTIPEDE – REFUSES TO EAT – GROWS WEAKER IN SPITE OF ALL OUR CARE AND NURSING – ONE MORNING I FIND HIM DEAD – WE MAKE A COFFIN FOR HIM AND BURY HIM IN THE FOREST

The following morning, to my astonishment and no small consternation, Ndova was ill, and refused to eat the berries and nuts given to him, of which ordinarily he was very fond. He looked at them, but would not even take them in his hands. His body was hot, and it was evident that he had a high fever. His heart beat very fast. It was very strange, I thought; he had been so well the evening before.

I said to Rogala: "I wonder if Ndova could have been stung by a scorpion or a centipede during the night, or perhaps a small poisonous snake entered his house and bit him when he tried to play with it."

"No," said Rogala, "monkeys are like people; they are afraid of snakes and do not play with them."

I took Ndova on my knees and examined his body, on which I discovered a red spot, showing that he had been stung either by a scorpion or a centipede.

"Look!" I said to Rogala, pointing out the place to him. "Ndova has been stung by a scorpion or a centipede."

"It is so," replied Rogala.

There are two or three species of centipedes and scorpions; the very poisonous ones are dark red, almost black. Rogala looked carefully at the red spot, and then said in a thoughtful and sad voice: "I am afraid it is all over with Ndova, for we black men die of the sting of this bad kind of scorpion and centipede, or else, if we escape, we are very ill. Their stings are often as dangerous as the bites of poisonous snakes."

I immediately gave a little dose of medicine to Ndova, but it did not seem to do him any good. That night we all went to sleep feeling very sad.

At break of day I went to Ndova to see how he was. I said, "Good-morning, Ndova," but he remained quiet in his little house. He did not come out, as he had always done before, and jump on my shoulder, and give a chuckle, which probably meant in the monkey language of the ndova tribe, "I am glad to see you." Instead of the chuckle I heard an indistinct sound, and he looked at me in a forlorn way as if to say, "I am very ill."

I felt his body. It was hotter than the day before, and his pulse beat so quickly that I felt he could not live much longer.

I shouted to Rogala: "Ndova is very, very ill; come and look at him;" and he came.

"Truly," he said, "Ndova is very, very ill indeed."

"If Ndova dies," I said, "we lose a very good friend who has been invaluable to us in this forest. Never shall we get another monkey as intelligent."

In the course of a few days poor Ndova had grown so thin that we could hardly recognize him. His eyes had entirely lost their mischievous expression, and could only give us a blank look. I put a little jacket on him which I made out of a woollen shirt. I made a little bed, shaking the leaves thoroughly, and laid him upon it, and covered him with what was left of the woollen shirt. Then I said: "Ndova, I am going into the forest to get berries for you."

When I returned I put some berries before his lips, but his mouth did not open to eat them. "Eat these, Ndova," I said to him; but he only answered me by a look. Before dark I went to say good-night to him, but he had not the strength to move his arms, which were under his little blanket. I tucked him in, and while I was doing so, his eyes looked at me in a blank sort of way. I said to him: "Dear Ndova, I wish you could know how much we think of you, and how we shall miss you if you die."

"I do not think we shall find Ndova alive to-morrow morning," I said to Rogala, who was by my side.

I went to bed with a heavy heart, thinking how many times Ndova had rescued us from hunger and perhaps starvation. I awoke several times during the night, and each time I got up and went to see if Ndova was dead. His life was ebbing away, his pulse was very low, but he still breathed.

In the morning I found Ndova dead. He looked as if he were asleep under his blanket. I shouted to Rogala: "Ndova is dead." Then we stood mournfully by his side, and Rogala said with a sad voice: "Ndova will follow us no more in the forest."

We cut a big log, split it in two, and dug a big hole inside. This was to be the coffin of Ndova, and we laid his body in it.

After this we dug a grave at the foot of a tree near Rogala's house and collected stones. When everything was ready, Rogala and I carried the coffin to the grave, followed by Shinshooko, Alapai, and Akenda-Mbani.

With my knife I carved upon the bark the following inscription:

HERE LIES NDOVA

OUR FRIEND

Then we put the coffin into the grave, covered it with earth, and surrounded it by stones. My hunters and I hardly spoke to each other that day.

CHAPTER XXVII

I GO HUNTING IN THE FOREST WITH ANDEKKO – DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DOG – SOUNDS OF A FIERCE CONFLICT – I FIND ANDEKKO FIGHTING WITH A MANDRILL – HE KILLS HIS ENEMY, BUT DIES OF HIS WOUNDS – BURIED IN THE FOREST

We felt very lonely after the death of Ndova. But, alas! his loss was not to prove our only misfortune. I went one day alone into the forest and took Andekko with me. After walking three or four miles I came to a part of the forest where there was no jungle. Such tracts are often found, especially where water has been long standing during the rainy season. I walked consequently noiselessly, looking carefully all around me as I went.

Andekko had disappeared in search of game. After a while I saw three large mandrills, the largest I had ever seen, walking away from me. Mandrills of that size are very formidable animals and have terrible canines. They were out of sight, and I had been unable to shoot at them, as trees were in my way.

I kept on, nevertheless, when I was suddenly startled by the fierce barking of Andekko. Then I heard a howl of pain from him, followed immediately by a shrill shriek from an animal which I thought must be one of the mandrills I had seen. I hurried as fast as I could towards the place whence the cries came, and once more I heard the fierce barking of Andekko.

I was not mistaken. When I reached him, as I soon did, Andekko had pinned the mandrill down and they were fighting savagely. Andekko was covered with blood. One of his ears hung limp. He had a terrible gash in his back, and part of his lower lip was badly cut. The mandrill's teeth had made sad havoc with poor Andekko.

But the mandrill lay underneath him on the ground, the blood flowing from his neck profusely. Andekko's teeth had probably bitten through the jugular vein. But what big teeth the mandrill had! When he saw me, he uttered a piercing cry. I shouted to Andekko again and again, but he did not heed my voice in the least. He glared with rage, and his hair stood up straight on his back. Nothing could have made him give up his prey. He had hold of the mandrill in such manner that the latter could not bite him. They rolled on the ground on the top of each other. Andekko clung fast. The mandrill tried with his feet to push Andekko off, and uttered scream after scream. But before long he stopped, and at last all became silent. The neck of the mandrill had been torn to pieces. The rage of Andekko was so great that it took me quite a while to make him loose his hold.

The mandrill was dead, but poor Andekko was a terrible sight. I said to him: "Andekko, you are a brave and fearless dog." Then I tore some strips from my shirt and bandaged his wounds to stop their bleeding. He had great difficulty in following me, he was so weak. I walked very slowly. At last we reached the camp, and it was hard to make him go through the aperture made in the fence for him to go out and come in at. My hunters had returned, and we all felt sorry for poor Andekko. He seemed utterly dejected. We made a bed of dry leaves for him to lie upon, and boiled some monkey meat for him. But when it was done and offered to him, he refused it. Poor Andekko had the fever, like Ndova, and, like Ndova, he lingered but a short time. We made a grave for him outside of the camp at the foot of a tree, and we buried him there.

I cut upon the bark with my knife:

HERE LIES

ANDEKKO THE BRAVE

A FAITHFUL DOG

TO HIS DEATH

CHAPTER XXVIII

OUR PROVISIONS FAIL – ATTACKED AGAIN BY BASHIKOUAYS – RELEASE OF AKENDA-MBANI FROM HIS FETTERS – HE PROVES A GOOD TRAPPER – "GOUAMBA" – MY WAKING VISIONS – ANOTHER HUNTING EXPEDITION – WE KILL TWO MONKEYS, THEN STARVE AGAIN

Berries and nuts had become very scarce and we had to go a long way to gather them, for those that were near our camp had been eaten. Game had also become very scarce. One day we all set out for the depths of the forest together. Before leaving the camp we made signs to Akenda-Mbani that we were going after food, by opening our mouths and drawing our stomachs in, to show that they were empty. He evidently understood us, for he smiled.

"If we fail to find food," said Rogala, "it will be on account of witchcraft; yes," he shouted, "it will be on account of witchcraft. I have always suspected Okambi of being a sorcerer, and it will be his witchcraft that will cause our starving."

"Sh-sh-sh, Rogala," said I, "if you speak so loud you will scare the game." The very thought of witchcraft had made Rogala forget himself.

Though we walked all day, we found no nuts or berries of any consequence. The season of the koola nuts was nearly over, and the wild boars had been under the trees we knew. We saved some of such nuts and berries as we found, however, for Akenda-Mbani.

Suddenly we were attacked by the dreaded bashikouay ants and had to flee for camp. "Let us hurry as fast as we can, Rogala," said I, "for Akenda-Mbani is in nchogo, and if the bashikouays pass that way he is sure to be devoured by them, and we may only see his skeleton on our arrival."

We hurried back as fast as our legs could carry us, and it was a good thing that we returned. Otherwise we should surely have found only the skeleton of Akenda-Mbani, as I had said, for we had not been at home an hour before the bashikouays made their appearance.

Fortunately we were ready to receive them. In a number of places within our enclosure firewood had been piled up and was all ready to be lighted. Water was boiling in all the pots we had, and we had plenty of hot ashes. The smoke prevented the bashikouays from ascending the trees, and we spread hot ashes wherever they appeared.

After this I said to Rogala: "We must take Akenda-Mbani out of the nchogo. I do not care whether he runs away or not. I do not want his death on my head or on yours. The Oguizi wishes nobody to die. Just think what a narrow escape he had! If he had been eaten up by the bashikouays, it would have been our fault. It will never do to keep a man in nchogo unless some one is near to watch him."

"You are right, Oguizi. It is so; it is so," he repeated half a dozen times. Then he added thoughtfully: "Yes, when people have been discovered to be wizards, they are tied to a tree when the bashikouays are in the neighborhood, and in a short time nothing is left of them but their bones."

So Rogala and I took Akenda-Mbani out of his nchogos, first freeing his hands, and then his feet.

I felt now quite happy, for Akenda-Mbani was free, and if we had been sure of him at first he would not have been placed in nchogo at all. He was now one of us. The next day we all went again into the forest in search of firewood, and without being told to do so, Akenda took a heavy load on his back, and carried it to the camp. The day following, he went into the forest by himself, and set traps for game, coming back with a porcupine and a pangolin or ant-eater. So plenty was in the camp once more for the moment. The porcupine meat is very good, the pangolin's was very strong.

But when these were eaten, no more game was trapped, and we again boiled some of the antelope skin.

I had such a "gouamba" – that is, such a longing for meat – that the nuts and the boiled antelope skin became loathsome to me. I ate them just as a man would eat, day after day, bread soaked in water.

What a fearful meaning there is, I said to myself, "in that native word 'gouamba'!" I spent hours in a sort of waking dream in which I fancied that I had returned home, and had met many friends, one after another, as I walked about the streets. The first one would say: "Hello, is that you, Paul? Welcome home. Won't you dine with me to-day? My wife and children will be so glad to see you back again. We have roast beef to-night."

Then, in a moment, I found myself at the family table. A big, juicy piece of roast beef was before my eyes on the table. I saw my friend cut the roast beef. A big piece was served to me. I was then asked if I would have sweet potatoes, corn, and other vegetables. I could see the smoke rise from these hot dishes. How I enjoyed the pudding and the ice-cream at the end of the dinner!

I went out and met another friend who also asked me to dinner. This one had turkey instead of roast beef. How I looked at the turkey! It had been roasted to a nicety, and was a rich brown all over. Then my friend asked: "Paul, which piece do you like best?" To which I answered: "I have no choice." Then a large piece was put on a plate for me with the stuffing. The waitress would pass the cranberry sauce, then the potatoes and the green peas. How good all these tasted! Then came the strawberries and the ice-cream. Then more dinners, with other friends. How I enjoyed these in my imagination! Then hunger would stop, and then come back with ten times greater force. We drank as much water as we could, for there is nourishment in water.

Akenda-Mbani went to look after his traps one day, and Rogala and I went hunting. We were in desperate straits. We had gone quite a distance from the camp, and had seen nothing, when suddenly I thought I heard something in the distance. I gave a "click." As soon as Rogala heard it he stopped and then came to my side. I had heard, as I thought, monkeys leaping from tree to tree. We stood still, and the noise became gradually louder. The monkeys were evidently coming in our direction. Hope of food loomed before our eyes. Then all became silent; the monkeys had manifestly stopped upon some fruit-bearing trees, and were feeding. At such times they are always still, for they do not want to attract the attention of other monkeys.

We went in the direction where we thought they were, looking at the tops of the trees as we went along. After a while we heard nuts falling on the ground. Soon we came under the tree, and pulp and seeds fell upon our heads and all around us. Looking up, we saw the monkeys. I counted seventeen of them; they were nkagos, and were so busy eating that they did not notice us.

We picked out two of the biggest, aimed at them carefully, and fired. They fell on the ground with a great crash. In the meantime the troop gave a shrill cry of fear and decamped with the utmost speed, and for a long time afterwards we could hear the noise of the branches as they rose again after the monkeys had leaped to others. When they thought they were far from danger, they stopped and uttered the peculiar nkago cry, calling upon their missing companions; but no answer came back to them, for our two monkeys were stone dead.

They kept calling again and again, however, for a time; then at last we heard nothing more. We swung the monkeys over our backs, and had regained the hunting path leading towards our camp, when I thought I heard a slight noise on a tree. I looked up, thinking a bird had made it, when to my surprise I saw a monkey looking down upon us. He was a nkago, and was following his dead mate, and looking down upon her in deep silence. I could see his human-like eyes watching us. He had wondered why his call had not been answered by her, had left the troop to seek her, and then seen her lifeless form on the back of Rogala. He seemed to know that something was wrong. I would have given a good deal to know his thoughts.

We continued on our way. The monkey kept following us, watching, peeping down upon us and upon his dead mate. When we stopped, he stopped, his eyes always looking down upon us. I see them still to this day. I was so sorry I had killed his mate. I noticed that he never jumped from one limb of a tree to another, but crept along their trunks and branches, evidently wishing to make no noise to attract attention. He followed us to our camp. I could not tell why, but I did not feel like eating monkey that evening, for I thought I had never in an animal seen eyes with such a human expression. The next morning I saw him for an instant; he was still looking for his mate. But that was my last glimpse of him. He probably went back to his troop.

CHAPTER XXIX

DECIDE TO BREAK UP OUR CAMP AND RETURN – ARRIVAL AT ROGALA'S HOME – I MAKE MYSELF A PAIR OF SKIN TROUSERS – DEPARTURE FOR ROTEMBO'S VILLAGE – OUR GRAND RECEPTION AND SUCCEEDING FESTIVITIES – ROTEMBO'S PROMISE – FAREWELL

The monkey meat did not last more than two days. Then food became as scarce as before. We had clearly exhausted that part of the forest.

"The times are hard with us," I said to Rogala; "the bashikouays have driven the game away. There are no more koola nuts. Let us go back to your home, where we shall find plenty of plantain and cassava."

Rogala agreed readily to my proposal. The two following days we rested and made preparations for our departure. I was very glad to return to the home of my hunters. My clothes were in tatters; hardly anything was left of my trousers; I had worn out all my shoes; my old panama hat was a sight.

Joyfully we left our old forest camp, and after an uneventful journey we reached the home of my hunters. It was time indeed. How well I slept in my little hut that night! All the things I had left behind were exactly in the same place. No one had touched them.

I had saved skins of the gazelles we had killed, and I sewed them together first; then I took what was left of my trousers and put them on the skins and marked out the pattern with charcoal. Then I cut up the skins and sewed with my big needle, and at the end of the day I had made a pair of skin trousers. I also covered my old shoes with gazelle skin.

When I had furnished myself with something to wear, we prepared to return to Chief Rotembo. All my hunters and Akenda-Mbani were to accompany me. Many bunches of plantain were collected; the men went hunting and killed an antelope for Rotembo, and the following morning we left, one canoe loaded with the skins and bones of the animals I had killed and with the birds I had stuffed.

After a pleasant trip down the Ogobai, we arrived at the village of Rotembo amid the firing of guns and the beating of the tomtoms.

The news quickly spread that the Oguizi had returned, and many people came flocking to our village. Canoe after canoe was to be seen coming from up or down the river all the time.

Then a great meeting took place. Rotembo was dressed in state, and made a great speech, saying how much he loved me. The crowd shouted, "Great is Rotembo, the friend of the Oguizi! Great is the Oguizi!" Tomtoms beat and guns were fired.

Then I arose, and in the midst of a profound silence I made a speech. "Rotembo," I said, "I love you and your people. When I was hungry you gave me food; when I was thirsty you gave me water. You gave me shelter and nothing was stolen from me." At these words a great shout of joy arose. The tomtoms beat furiously, and more guns were fired.

"You gave me Rogala, your faithful slave," I continued; "I bring him back to you. There are Shinshooko and Alapai also, your faithful slaves, who love you. They with their wives and children have been kind to me. There is Akenda-Mbani, whom we found in the forest. Now, Rotembo, you are my friend." (All shouted, "He is your friend!") "Never let one of these men or their wives be sold."

"I will never sell them," cried Rotembo.

Then the great meeting broke up. Rotembo and his people drank a great quantity of fermented drinks they had made to celebrate my return. There was a grand ball which lasted all night. Rotembo himself danced, and came before me singing and dancing in the midst of vociferous cheers by the people.

The next day I prepared a great feast that Rotembo and I were to eat together. The bottom of our canoe was to be our table. Rogala, Shinshooko, Alapai, and Akenda-Mbani were seated at a table close to ours. Rotembo's wives waited upon us. A mass of people formed a great circle round us, and looked at us, and one of them said: "The great Oguizi loves also Rogala and Shinshooko, Alapai and Akenda-Mbani."

In the evening I called my hunters together, and gave each a new gun, powder, and some iron bars. I gave them beads for their wives also, and the next day I accompanied them to their canoe and bade them good-bye. They felt sad to leave me, and as they embarked, Rogala said: "Oguizi, come again to see us at our plantation."

The people believed that I had killed Andekko and Ndova to take them with me, and wondered why I had not killed my hunters to take them with me also. "When they die," said they, "the Oguizi will take them with him, for he loves them."

Two days afterwards, I bade good-bye to Rotembo. He invoked the spirits of his ancestors, and came to the shore to see me off. He had given me people and a canoe to take me to another part of the great forest, to a great king who was his father-in-law. And with the stars and stripes floating at the stern of my canoe I was paddled out of sight of Rotembo and his village.