Back Aa

King Mombo

Close

<h2 class='c007'>CHAPTER XXII</h2> A JOURNEY TO THE ELEPHANT COUNTRY—SERIOUS ANNOYANCE FROM FLIES, WASPS, AND MOSQUITOES—IN THE MIDST OF A DROVE OF HIPPOPOTAMI. I was anxious to go on a long hunting expedition. One day when Regundo, Oshoria, Ogoola, Ngola, Quabi, and I were seated under a big tree, I said to them: “We must go and hunt elephants, hippopotami, crocodiles, and other big game.” This suggestion was received with sonorous grunts of approbation by them all, and it was agreed that we should prepare ourselves for a long expedition. The following day I saw Oshoria slyly entering the idol house, and after he had closed the door behind him I approached the house and, peeping through a crack, saw that he was marking his body with ochre of different colors. Then he muttered words to the idol that I could not understand. Afterwards he took from a little wooden box a piece of red ochre and made a mark with it between his eyes, and another mark in the hollow of his chest, and then spoke very fast. Then he went to another box, and took from it a charmed necklace, to which was hung a sort of small 159iron bell, which was filled with charmed powder and which he put around his neck. When I saw that he was ready to come out I retired as quickly as possible. For three days great preparations were made for our hunting expedition. The wives of the hunters prepared food for us. Dear Regundo invoked every evening the spirits of his ancestors to protect us. The ouganga or medicine doctor, made incantations for our success, and said that we were to be lucky. We started with two canoes, the people following us to the banks of the river. As the day advanced it became very warm, for there was not a breath of wind on the river. It was a good day for flies; they plagued us sadly, attacking us with great persistency. I was kept busy all the time handling my elephant-tail to protect myself against them, but when they got between its long, coarse, black hairs it meant death to them. My eyes had to be everywhere in order to watch for them, and my ears very quick to find out where they were flying; but in spite of all my watchfulness they succeeded in giving me now and then a sting. Suddenly we would hear a sharp whiz; then the men would shout at once: “Look out, there is an ibolay flying around.” They were not mistaken. There was an ibolay, flying with such rapidity that he was no 160sooner seen than lost to sight. I kept a sharp lookout for him, ready to strike with my elephant’s tail, but I was stung twice by one during the day. It was worse than the sting of a bee. I had to be quiet, for it would not have done for an Oguizi to utter cries of pain, but it was very hard sometimes not to do so. Another fly, the iboca, of the size of a hornet, also quick in its motion, gave the severest bite of all; my clothes were no protection whatever. Often the blood ran down the face or body of the men that were bitten. The fly that annoyed us most was the nchouna, which was very numerous. We could not tell of its approach, for it came unobserved and silently and had inserted its bill so gently that it got its fill of blood before we knew we were bitten. Afterwards the itching began, and lasted several hours, varied at intervals by certain sharp stabs of pain. We paddled as often as we could under the branches of trees overhanging the water, to be protected from the powerful sun. Once, to our utter dismay, our canoe went bang into an elonay’s nest. The elonay is a very fierce wasp. There are no flies the natives dread so much. The men shouted: “The elonays are after us; let us get out of the way,” and we paddled as fast as we could, to be out of their reach. Ogoola, Ngola, and Quabi seemed to be the men they chiefly 161attacked. These threw themselves into the water. They did not think of crocodiles or anything else. They kept under water quite a while, and after a time came back on board. The bite of the elonays is very painful. It leaves an acrid poison, which causes pain for two or three days. At intervals the poison seems to gather fresh force, and the wound begins to throb. That night we slept in our canoes. During the night there was a constant howling of wild beasts. I thought the forest was full of leopards, hyenas, and unknown fierce creatures. Fortunately, our canoes were at anchor far away from the banks, and the hungry animals could not reach or spring upon us. Evidently they scented us, and would have been delighted to make a meal of some of our number. The mosquitoes troubled us so much that we were glad when morning came. Then we were bothered by sand-flies. These disappeared when the sun became powerful enough to drive them away, but the flies that delight in the sun and the heat of the day took their place. The rivers are far worse than the forest in regard to flies. Suddenly Oshoria, who steered my canoe, shouted: “Ngooboos [hippopotami] ahead.” Then he added: “They are in the middle of the stream; let us go near 162the shore.” The men stopped paddling, and we all looked in the direction in which Oshoria pointed, and saw a herd of hippopotami, looking like stranded logs on the water, for they did not move. We paddled slowly and noiselessly close to the shore, so that the huge beasts could not see us. We came nearer and nearer to them every minute. I counted twenty-two hippopotami. My attention was suddenly attracted to a part of the river where I heard peculiar loud sounds, or grunts. Looking in that direction, I saw two bull hippopotami by themselves, fighting with each other. They rushed towards each other,—then disappeared under the water, and reappeared again. Their big, ugly mouths, when opened, showed us their tusks. They attacked with great fierceness, lacerating each other’s bodies with their crooked tusks. Finally one was victorious, and the other swam away as fast as he could. <div id='t162' class='figcenter id002'> <ANTIMG src='images/p1621_ill.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' /> <div class='ic001'> “Their big, ugly mouths when opened, showed us their tusks” </div> </div> 163We approached the hippopotami slowly and with caution, to within fifty yards of the herd, without seeming to attract their attention. “Let us paddle nearer,” I said to the men. We came within twenty-five yards, and then I took “Bulldog,” and aiming at the ear, as one of their vulnerable spots, I fired. The animal sank. I found that it was of no use to kill a hippopotamus in the water, for they sink to the bottom. The whole herd of hippopotami became much excited at the shot, snorted and plunged under the water,—disappearing and reappearing,—and soon the animals were seen scattered in every direction around us. They dived, and when they rose some of them came dangerously near. I became fearful they would upset our canoes, and that if they succeeded in doing so, they would attack us, and their big crooked tusks were sure to make short work of our poor bodies. Oshoria ordered that we should paddle as fast as we could to get out of their way. One of the hippopotami swam under our canoe, and rose about three yards from us. But we kept on our way untouched, and a few miles further upstream we came to another herd of these unwieldy creatures, sporting and snorting in the water, now popping their huge unshapely heads out, then diving to the bottom. We passed this herd, and after paddling two or three miles further we saw two cow hippopotami, with their little ones apparently resting on their backs. 164 <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

1 of 2

2 of 2