CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.
WE SEE STRANGE THINGS, AND GIVE OUR NEGRO FRIENDS THE SLIP.
During the two following days we passed through a country that was morethickly covered with the indiarubber vine than any place we had beforemet with in our African travels. I could not help feeling regret thatsuch a splendid region should be almost, if not altogether, unknown anduseless to civilised man. There seemed to be an unlimited supply ofcaoutchouc; but the natives practised a method of gathering it which hadthe effect of destroying the vine.
One day, some weeks after this, we came upon the habitation of a mostremarkable species of monkey, named the Nshiego Mbouve, which we hadoften heard of, but had not up to that time been so fortunate as to see.Being exceedingly anxious to observe how this remarkable creature madeuse of its singular house, Peterkin and I lay down near the place, andsecreting ourselves in the bushes, patiently awaited the arrival of themonkey, while Jack went off in another direction to procure somethingfor supper.
"I don't believe he'll come home to-night," said Peterkin, after we hadlain down. "People never do come in when any one chances to be waitingfor them. The human race seems to be born to disappointment. Did younever notice, Ralph, how obstinately contrary and cross-grained thingsgo when you want them to go otherwise?"
"I don't quite understand you," said I.
"Of course you don't. Yours seems to be a mind that can never takeanything in unless it is hammered in by repetition."
"Come now, Peterkin, don't become, yourself, an illustration of your ownremark in reference to cross-grained things."
"Well, I won't. But seriously, Ralph, have you not observed, in thecourse of your observant life, that when you have particular businesswith a man, and go to his house or office, you are _certain_ to find himout, to use the common phrase? It would be more correct, however, tosay `you are certain not to find him in.'"
"You are uncommonly particular, Peterkin."
"Truly I had need to be so, with such an uncommonly stupid audience."
"Thank you. Well?"
"Well, have you never observed that if you have occasion to call at ahouse where you have never been before, the number of that particularhouse is not in its usual place, and you find it after a search quiteaway from where it ought to be? Has it never struck you that when youtake out your umbrella, the day is certain to become hot and sunny;while, if you omit to carry it with you, it is sure to rain?"
"From all of which you conclude," said I, "that the Nshiego will notcome home to-night?"
"Exactly so; that is my meaning precisely."
After Peterkin said this, we relapsed into silence; and it was well thatwe did so, for had we continued our conversation even in the whisperingtones in which it had up to that time been conducted, we should havefrightened away the ape which now came, as it were, to rebuke Peterkinfor his unbelief.
Coming quickly forward, the Nshiego Mbouve chambered quickly up the treewhere its nest was built. This nest was not a structure _into_ which itclambered, but a shelter or canopy formed of boughs with their leaves,somewhat in shape like an umbrella, under which it sat. Theconstruction of this shelter exhibited a good deal of intelligentingenuity on the part of the ape; for it was tied to the tree by meansof wild vines and creepers, and formed a neat, comfortable roof, thatwas quite capable of shedding the night dews or heavy rains, and thusprotecting its occupant.
We were greatly amused by the manner in which the creature proceeded tomake itself comfortable. Just below the canopy was a small branch whichjutted out horizontally from the stem of the tree. On this branch theape seated itself, its feet and haunches resting thereon. Then it threwone arm round the tree, and hugging that lovingly to its side, gave whatappeared to me to be a small sigh of satisfaction, and prepared to go tosleep.
At this Peterkin chuckled audibly. The Nshiego's eyes opened at once.I cocked my gun and took aim. The desire to procure a specimen was verystrong within me, but an unconquerable aversion to kill an animal insuch cozy circumstances restrained me. The Nshiego got up in alarm. Ipointed the gun, but could not fire. It began to descend. I pulled thetrigger, and, I am happy to add, missed my aim altogether, to theintense delight of Peterkin, who filled the woods with laughter, whilethe Nshiego Mbouve, dropping to the ground, ran shrieking from the spot.
My forbearance at this time was afterwards repaid by my obtaining twomuch finer specimens of this shelter-building ape, both of which werekilled by Peterkin.
On quitting this place we had a narrow escape, the recollection of whichstill fills me with horror. We were walking rapidly back towards ourencampment, chatting as we went, when Peterkin suddenly put his foot onwhat appeared to be the dead branch of a tree. No sooner had he done sothan the curling folds of a black snake fully ten feet long scatteredthe dry leaves into the air, and caused us both to dart aside with ayell of terror.
I have thought that in the complicated and wonderful mechanism of manthere lies a species of almost involuntary muscular power which enableshim to act in all cases of sudden danger with a degree of promptcelerity that he could not possibly call forth by a direct act ofvolition. At all events, on the present emergency, without in the leastdegree knowing what I was about, I brought my gun from my shoulder intoa horizontal position, and blew the snake's head off almost in aninstant.
I have pondered this subject, and from the fact that while at one time aman may be prompt and courageous in case of sudden danger, at anothertime the same man may become panic-stricken and helpless, I have come tothe conclusion that the all-wise Creator would teach us--even thebravest among us--the lesson of our dependence upon each other, as wellas our dependence upon Himself, and would have us know that while at onetime we may prove a tower of strength and protection to our friends, atanother time our friends may have to afford succour and protection tous.
I have often wondered, in reference to this, that many men seem to takepride in bold independence, when it is an obvious fact that _every_ manis dependent on his fellow, and that this mutual dependence is one ofthe chief sources of human happiness.
The black snake which I had killed turned out to be one of a veryvenomous kind, whose bite is said to be fatal, so that we had good causeto be thankful, and to congratulate ourselves on our escape.
In this region of Africa we were particularly fortunate in what we sawand encountered, as the narrative of our experiences on the dayfollowing the above incidents will show.
We had scarcely advanced a few miles on our journey on the morning ofthat day, when we came upon a part of the country where the natives hadconstructed a curious sort of trap for catching wild animals; and ithappened that a large band of natives were on the point of setting outfor a grand hunt at that time.
We were greeted with immense delight on our arrival, for those natives,we soon discovered, had already heard of our exploits in the lands ofthe gorilla, and regarded us as the greatest hunters that had ever beenborn. After a short conversation with the chief, through the medium ofMakarooroo, we arranged to rest there a day, and accompany them on theirhunting expedition; and the better to secure their good will, wepresented some of the head men with a few of the beads which we stillpossessed. Then hauling our canoe out of the water, we preparedourselves for the chase.
After a long and tedious march through somewhat dense jungle, we cameupon the ground, which was partly open, partly clothed with trees andshrubs. Here the natives, who numbered several hundreds, spreadthemselves out in a long semicircular line, in order to drive the gameinto the trap.
As we followed them, or rather formed part of the line, I overheard thefollowing conversation between Peterkin and Makarooroo, who chanced tobe together.
"Now, Mak," said the former, examining the caps of his rifle, "explainto me what sort of trap this is that we're coming to, and what sort ofbrutes we may expect to find in it."
"De trap, massa," replied our faithful follower, drawing the back of hishand across his mouth--"de trap am be call _hopo
_--"
"Called what-o?" inquired Peterkin.
"_Hopo_."
"Oh! go on."
"An' hims be made ob great number oh sticks tumble down--an' hole at deend ob dat; an' de beasties dat goes in be zebros, elosphants, eelands,buff'los, gaffs, nocrices, noos, an' great more noders ob which meforgit de names."
"Oh! you forgit de names, do you?"
"Yis, massa."
"Ah! it wouldn't be a great loss, Mak, if you were to forget the namesof those you remember."
The conversation was interrupted at this point by the appearance of abuffalo, which showed that we were drawing near to the scene of action.But as Makarooroo's description is not remarkable for lucidity, I mayexplain here that the hopo, or trap, consists of two parts; one part maybe termed the conducting hedges, the other the pit at their termination,and into which the game is driven. The conducting hedges are formed inthe shape of the letter V. At the narrow extremity there is a narrowlane, at the end of which is the terminating pit. This pit is abouteight feet deep and fifteen feet broad, and its edges are made tooverlap in such a way that once the animals are in it, they have nochance whatever of getting out again. The surface of the pit isconcealed by a thin crust of green rushes, and the hedges are sometimesa mile long, and nearly the same width apart at the outer extremities.
We were still a considerable distance from the outer ends of the hedges,when the natives spread out as above described, and I am convinced thatour line extended over at least four miles of ground. The circle, ofcourse, narrowed as they advanced, shouting wildly, in order to drivethe game into the enclosure.
That the country was teeming with game soon became apparent, for everand anon as we advanced a herd of gnus or buffaloes or hartbeests woulddart affrighted from their cover, and sweep over the open ground intoanother place of shelter, out of which they were again driven as theline advanced. In the course of half an hour we drove out hartbeests,zebras, gnus, buffaloes, giraffes, rhinoceroses, and many other kinds ofsmaller game, either singly or in herds.
"Now, lads," said Jack, approaching Peterkin and me as we walkedtogether, "it is quite evident that if we wish to see this sport inperfection we must get outside the hedge, and run along towards the pit;for there, in the natural course of things, we may expect the grandclimax. What say you? Shall we go?"
"Agreed," said I.
"Ditto," cried Peterkin.
So without more words we turned aside, followed by Makarooroo, leapedthe hedge, and running down along it soon reached the edge of the pit.
Here we found a number of the natives assembled with spears, lookingeagerly through the interstices of the hedges in expectation of theadvancing herds. We took up our stand on a convenient spot, andprepared to wait patiently. But our patience was not severely tried.We had not been more than five minutes stationed when the noise of theclosing line was heard, and a herd of buffaloes dashed wildly out from asmall piece of jungle in which they had sought shelter, and gallopedover the plain towards us. Suddenly they halted, and stood for a momentsnuffing the air, as if uncertain what to do; while we could see, evenat that distance, that every muscle of their bodies trembled withmingled rage and terror. Before they could decide, a herd of gnus burstfrom the same place; and presently a dozen zebras galloped out, tossingup their heels and heads in magnificent indignation. These lastscattered, and approached the hedges; which caused several natives todart into the enclosure, who from beneath the shelter of oval shields aslarge as themselves, threw their spears with unerring certainty into thesides of the terrified creatures.
At this moment there was a general rush from the scattered groups oftrees and clumps of jungle, for the animals were now maddened withterror, not only at the shouts of their human persecutors, but at theirown wild cries and the increasing thunder of their tread.
The shouting and tumult now became excessive. It was almostbewildering. I looked round upon the faces of the negroes nearest tome. They seemed to be almost insane with suppressed excitement, andtheir dark faces worked in a manner that was quite awful to witness.
Presently there was a general and indiscriminate rush of all kinds ofwild animals towards the narrow end of the hopo. The natives pressed inupon them with wild cries. Spears flew in all directions. Ere long theplain was covered with wounded animals struggling and bellowing in theirdeath-agonies. As the rushing multitude drew nearer to the fatal pit,they became crowded together, and now the men near us began to playtheir part.
"Look out, Jack!" I cried, as a buffalo bull with glaring eyes andfoaming jaws made a desperate effort to leap over the barrier in ourvery faces.
Jack raised his rifle and fired; at the same instant a spear was sentinto the buffalo's breast, and it fell back to form a stumbling-block inthe way of the rushing mass.
The report of the rifle caused the whole herd to swerve from our side soviolently that they bore down the other side, until I began to fear thehedge would give way altogether; but they were met by the spears and thefurious yells of the natives there, and again swept on towards thenarrow lane.
And now the head of the bellowing mass came to the edge of the pit.Those in front seemed to suspect danger, for they halted suddenly; butthe rush of those behind forced them on. In another moment the thincovering gave way, and a literal cataract of huge living creatures wentsurging down into the abyss.
The scene that followed was terrible to witness; and I could not regardit with other than feelings of intense horror, despite my knowledge ofthe fact that a large tribe of natives depended on the game then slainfor their necessary food. The maddened animals attempted to leap out ofthe pit, but the overlapping edges already referred to effectuallyprevented this until the falling torrent filled it up; then some of themsucceeded in leaping out from off the backs of their smothered comrades.These, however, were quickly met and speared by the natives, while everand anon the great mass was upheaved by the frantic struggles of somegigantic creature that was being smothered at the bottom.
While this scene of wholesale destruction was going on, Makarooroo cameup to me and begged me, with mysterious looks, to follow him out of thecrowd.
I obeyed, and when we had got away from the immediate neighbourhood ofthe turmoil, I said,--"Well, Mak, what's wrong?"
"De chief, massa, hims tell me few moments ago dat canoe wid Mbango andoomans hab pass dis way to-morrow."
"To-morrow!" I exclaimed.
"No, me forgit; hab pass yistumday."
"Indeed!"
"Yis, an' de chief hims say hims want us to stop wid him and go hunt forweek or two. P'raps he no let us go 'way."
"That's just possible, Mak. Have you told Jack?"
"No, massa."
"Then go bring him and Peterkin hither at once."
In a few minutes my companions were with me, and we held a brief earnestconsultation as to what we should do.
"I think we should tell the chief we are anxious to be off at once, andleave him on good terms," said I.
Peterkin objected to this. "No," said he; "we cannot easily explain whywe are anxious to be off so hastily. I counsel flight. They won't findout that we are gone until it is too late to follow."
Jack agreed with this view, so of course I gave in, though I could notin my heart approve of such a method of sneaking away. But our guideseemed also to be exceedingly anxious to be off, so we decided; andslipping quietly away under the shelter of the hedge, while the nativeswere still busy with their bloody work, we soon gained the forest. Herewe had no difficulty in retracing our steps to the village, where,having picked up our little companion, Njamie's son, who had been leftto play with the little boys of the place, we embarked, swept down thestream, and were soon far beyond the chance of pursuit.