CHAPTER VII
Hippopotami — Game in the Wasulu country — Lazy carriers — In pursuit of elephants — Fetish haartebeest — “Red” elephants — A fetish altar — Braimah’s juju — Charms and tests.
AT Falama I found the two hunters I had engaged for my shooting expedition. They were the head hunters of the district, one of them being a man from the big hunting village of Dialakoro, who was reputed to know every yard of the game haunts in the Wasulu country, so it was with high hopes of good sport that I began to talk over plans with these two local celebrities. The Sankarani River runs in a semicircle round the village of Falama, at a distance varying from one to three miles from the place. I was informed that there was a hippopotamus pool in the river, so I decided to bend my steps thither that afternoon, on the chance of getting a hippo and also with a view to seeing the nature of the country from a shooting standpoint.
Taking Braimah, the expert from Dialakoro, with me I set out about 3 p.m. We traversed a patch of grass-country, in which I saw traces of kob and waterbuck, for about a couple of miles before reaching the river. Braimah led me to a well-worn hippo path in some rather thick undergrowth near the river-bank, on the off-chance of finding a hippo on land. After twisting and winding for some time in this thicket, I heard the movements of a ponderous body in front of us. This was without doubt the beast we were hunting, and sure enough in a few minutes, after some careful stalking through the bush, I caught sight of him. He was within fifty yards, and had just turned broadside on to listen, with his piglike eyes looking in our direction. His massive form was plainly outlined at that distance, as fortunately the bush was a little thinner here. A shot from my ·450 rifle rolled him over, hitting him in the heart. After this we made our way to the pool, taking up a concealed position on the river bank. Three or four hippos shortly appeared, frolicking in the clear, cool water of the pool. For some time I lay in the shady refuge of the bushes, watching their playful antics. It was an amusing sight to see these huge monsters gradually and lazily raising their big heads out of the water, until finally with a snort the whole head was thrust out to full view, when, after drawing a deep breath, they would suddenly disappear beneath the calm waters of the stream. After for some time watching this pretty scene and regretting I had not brought my camera, I decided to have a shot at a big bull who was in the party. The best shot at a hippo in the water is one directed at his nostrils, which can be seen when he thus raises his head. Consequently the next time my friend appeared I fired at this spot. It took three shots before I was satisfied I had killed him, and then I turned away rather disgusted with the sport, for hippos are harmless creatures and the amusement derived from shooting them does not give one much satisfaction.
I have heard some men give the hippo credit for being vicious, but personally I am of opinion that he will never wilfully harm anyone. It is true they have been known frequently to overturn canoes on a river, but I cannot help thinking that, when this does occur, it is purely an accident, for the hippo is very blind and it is quite conceivable that he may often raise his big head just underneath a canoe without being aware of the latter’s presence. On leaving the pool we soon picked up the tracks of a herd of kob, which had recently passed that way. There was still an hour and a half before dark, so I decided to follow them. We were now once more in the open grass-land where the grass had been burnt in patches. Proceeding cautiously up-wind, for these antelopes have a very keen sense of hearing and smell, we espied the herd peacefully grazing in the distance. After a careful stalk of 400 or 500 yards I managed to secure a fair-sized male. It was now nearly dark, so we proceeded towards camp. Parties were sent out to bring in the meat of the first hippo and of the kob, and all the village was full of joy at the prospect of plenty of “beef.”
The second hippo would have to be left till the following day, for they sink when shot and the bodies do not float for about twenty-four hours. A message was sent to the fishermen down-stream to look out for the animal, and to bring it in as soon as it was found. They were to have the meat on condition they brought me the tusks, an arrangement which pleased everybody!
I had arranged with my hunters to proceed the next day to a place called Doulajan, sixteen miles east, where they reported that I would be in the centre of the elephant country. As my chief object in visiting the Wasulu country was to hunt elephant, and my time was limited, I was anxious to reach this locality as soon as practicable. That day, after making my plans, I had already despatched the second hunter to Doulajan to get all news of the elephants’ whereabouts at that time and to meet me on my arrival at camp, or as soon after as possible.
The next morning, as we set out, my heart was light at the prospects of some really good sport, for I had every reason to believe I was within easy reach of the elephant, and from all accounts there were some fine tuskers among them.
That day, however, was doomed to be a day of annoyance and disappointment. Leaving my carriers to follow by the ordinary road, I and Braimah were to leave before dawn by a small hunters’ track, known only to himself, which would lead us through a favourite haunt of waterbuck. I ordered my “boy” to meet me at a place where the two paths crossed, at eleven for breakfast.
After a very hot and disappointing walk, during which I saw not a single trace of waterbuck, we arrived at the place where I proposed to breakfast. My carriers and servant had not arrived, so I got a hut swept out by the chief and composed myself for a little sleep. I was feeling fatigued, after the early start and the heat of the day, so I slept for some hours and woke to find it was three o’clock and still no sign of my carriers. I began to be uneasy that some might have run away and could not be replaced. I was also by this time uncommonly hungry, and decided to get some food from the chief and then set out with Braimah to look for my “boy” Mamadu. After a refreshing meal of fresh milk and pawpaw, I felt fortified once more and departed with my hunter in quest of the missing carriers and “boy.” We had gone three or four miles, I suppose, when I heard a chattering proceeding from a tree close to the path just in front of us. On turning a corner we came into full view of Mamadu, the carriers and the loads all under a shady tree. The men seemed to be enjoying themselves vastly and not to be in the least concerned about me! My wrath can be more easily imagined than described at the spectacle thus disclosed. Here had I been waiting several hours for these lazy scoundrels and imagining all sorts of disasters that might have befallen them, when all the time they were simply loafing and enjoying a rest on the roadside. They jumped up pretty sharply on my appearance, and proceeded to place their loads on their heads. Mamadu was of course full of excuses to account for the delay, but I fear he so perjured himself as to lose any chance of a seat in heaven. The most annoying feature of the business was that I should not now be able to reach my shooting-camp at Doulajan that night. And it appeared that the only reason for all this delay was that my servant might enjoy his silly habit of chattering!
It was quite dark when we reached the village where I should have breakfasted, and here another disappointment awaited me. The hunter I had sent to Doulajan had arrived with news, as I hoped, of the elephant. His information was distinctly disheartening. He stated that some hunters from the south of Wasulu had been among the herd a few days previously and had driven them some distance east of their previous feeding-ground. In fact, he stated that it was rumoured the animals had gone almost to Odienné, which I knew to be five or six days’ march from Doulajan. The only thing to be done was to go on to Doulajan next day and follow up the elephants if there seemed any chance of overtaking them within a reasonable time.
The place I selected for my camp was on the banks of a small stream, about five miles from the village of Doulajan. Here I pitched my tent, which had hardly as yet come into requisition. The spot was a delightful shady place, which seemed a veritable haunt of wild game, judging by the numerous tracks of animals coming down to drink at the stream hard by. I had procured a third local hunter, and now sent two men off to get more definite news of the elephant, while I kept one with me for shooting purposes near my camp.
These hunters are strongly imbued with ideas of fetish. Braimah had a long flint-lock gun of which he was inordinately proud. To a native his gun is an object more to be cherished than his child. He carries it with him everywhere, even when going to his peaceful farm where there is no danger from man nor the likelihood of his seeing any wild beast. This particular gun was decorated with every imaginable sort of “juju,” or fetish charms. Panthers’ claws, lions’ teeth, antelope horns and pieces of waterbuck’s hide adorned the stock. The butt had a piece of elephant tail freely smeared in the blood of the wild boar tied upon it. The latter animal is particularly venerated for the good luck it is supposed to bring to the sportsman.
Our camp was on more than one occasion visited by the wild beasts of the neighbourhood. Leopards and hyenas were fairly numerous here, while the deep musical roar of the lion was frequently heard resounding through the bush at night.
One morning as I was making my toilet preparatory to an early start on a hunting trip, I saw the beautiful sight of a herd of about fifteen West African haartebeest coming down to drink at the stream. My attention was at first attracted by hearing the thundering of many hoofs on the stony ground outside the camp. Rifle in hand I cautiously crept out of my tent, and soon they came into full view, never suspecting the near presence of man, for our camp was well concealed in the trees and they did not get our wind. There is something awe-inspiring to my mind at the spectacle of wild animals when they are unaware of the proximity of man and are seen thus in their native haunts. Game is always most beautiful when it is most natural and unalarmed. It makes one feel a brute to shoot it, thereby destroying the life of a fine creature.
The West African haartebeest here were the best I saw during my travels, and I secured two very good heads. These animals were numerous in the Wasulu country, herds of twelve or fifteen being frequently seen, although I never saw them in larger numbers than this. This animal is, I suppose, quite the most clumsy-looking of all West African antelopes, its curious, ill-shaped head and lumbering gait reminding one more of a donkey than any other animal. I spent three days thus and enjoyed some good sport with antelope. During my expeditions I used to come across tracks of elephant fairly often. These appeared to be at least a month old, and I began to doubt the veracity of the statement that these animals had been seen here more recently than that. It seemed to me evident that they had retired towards the better watered country in the direction of the Ivory Coast forest some considerable time previously.
The dry season was now in full swing and streams in the Wasulu district were drying up rapidly. I observed two distinctly different kinds of tracks. One lot appeared to be those of the ordinary elephant, while the other lot seemed to belong to a smaller species of that beast. On discussing the matter with my hunter he confirmed my theory by stating that the smaller tracks were those of a herd of the “red” elephant. This animal I had never yet seen, but had heard it mentioned for the first time by some French friends. At Faranah they had again told me of its existence. So I was very eager to get a specimen. The elephant appears to be of a reddish grey hue, probably terra-cotta would be a better description, and to the best of my belief is peculiar to this region, although as I never saw one, nor could I even see the skin of one in the district, I am not in a position to give any more authentic information on the point. It has the reputation of being very fierce, and is said to charge without provocation, but I am inclined to believe this is an exaggeration. It is certainly a good deal smaller than the ordinary African elephant, and carries quite small tusks by all accounts.
That day my two hunters returned, and much to my disappointment their reports of the elephant were most discouraging, and made me only more certain that the animals had left our vicinity some time back, which would make my chance of ever coming up with them exceedingly remote. The same evening I got news, however, from the chief of Doulajan that he had heard on the most reliable authority that the herd had been seen at a place three days’ march from our camp, close to Odienné. I at once determined to proceed there on the chance of there being some truth in the yarn, although I must confess that I was not very sanguine as to the success of my quest.
Striking camp at an early hour in the morning, we marched for three days through a more wooded country, gradually verging into forest-land. Tracks of elephant were numerous, but these were by no means fresh. Finally, I was forced to abandon the enterprise, for I was daily getting farther and farther from my northerly route, and could afford no more time to spend in hunting in this country.
The dense forest we were now in reminded me how extremely difficult it is to see these huge beasts in country of this nature. I recollect once when tracking a large herd from an early hour until late in the afternoon, through a swampy country, I had quite lost all traces of them and began to despair of finding them again. I was on the point of turning homewards, but thought I would first cross a neighbouring swamp to have some lunch on the opposite bank, which appeared dry. Being on the point of sitting down I suddenly observed what appeared to be a moving leaf. On closer inspection it proved to be the ear of an elephant not more than twenty yards away and concealed in the foliage. A little manœuvring resulted in a successful stalk, and the animal, which was a fine tusker, was bagged. These beasts, although not actually deaf, get so accustomed to forest sounds that they had never heard our somewhat noisy approach across the swamp.
My plan was to return to Falama on the Sankarani River, where I had arranged for fresh carriers to meet me, and from thence to proceed to Bamako by the shortest route. The hunting villages which are passed in this district gave a very fair indication of the game to be found in the neighbourhood. It is the custom to erect outside the village a high altar, built up with the horns of antelope and the skulls of almost every conceivable beast shot by the local hunting people. This altar is erected for fetish purposes, the heads being allowed to remain there till they rot. The native hunter has no sense of sport as we look upon it. He kills wild animals primarily for the meat he will get, and, as trophies of the chase, horns and skins have no value in his eyes. Some of the more dangerous animals may sometimes be hunted for the danger involved in attacking them, but even then it is done more out of bravado than from the love and excitement of the sport.
One of my hunters had a native flute which he would play at night in camp to amuse himself and his companions. The instrument is a very simple one, made out of a reed-cane, having a few holes punched in it to form the notes, and a roughly shaped mouthpiece. The music is melancholy, and by no means disagreeable. He was a lithely built, active fellow, making a picturesque figure as he sat in the glow of the firelight playing strange native melodies on his instrument.
Braimah had a greater weakness for “Juju” than the others. His chief care, after seeing to his gun before our start every morning, was to find out if Diana intended to favour our sport that day. The method adopted to carry out this test was a curious one. The only things necessary to work the charm were two kola nuts. His procedure was as follows:
A kola was taken in each hand and some mystic words were then muttered over them, the gist of which was, as far as I could understand, something like this: “May the God of the Chase grant me good fortune, and may he cause these two kolas to point towards me.”
The kolas were then thrown in the air, and the way in which they landed on the ground decided the luck that was going to be his that day. If the two kolas fell with their ends both pointing towards the thrower all would be well. On the other hand, if the kolas, when they reached the earth, had the pointed ends turned away from Braimah, then the God of Hunting was full of wrath and would not be appeased that day. If one nut was pointing towards him and the other in the inverse direction, the operation had to be repeated three times before a definite decision could be arrived at. It must be explained for the benefit of those who have never seen a kola nut that one end is more pointed than the other. The shape of the nut resembles that of a Brazil nut, a sort of pyramid on a triangular base, and the colour is either white or pink.
Braimah’s trick, I noticed, often did not give a correct forecast of the day’s performances. When I tackled him on this point he always had some ready excuse on his tongue, and I never succeeded in shaking his conviction of the infallibility of the charm. As a matter of fact, a native has such a strongly rooted belief in his various fetishes and superstitions that it seems quite impossible ever to shake it. Of course, in many cases, when fetishes are in the hands of “medicine-men,” these people are so crafty that the particular charm they are working appears never to fail. I have in mind the charm used for the purpose of testing adultery among certain tribes. In this case the accused is told to drink a mixture made of the infusion of leaves of the cotton tree and some other ingredients, the reasoning being that if he drinks it and vomits he is innocent, but if he is guilty he will die in agonies. As a matter of fact, the result is a foregone conclusion, for if the “medicine-man” wishes the death of his victim he merely puts a little deadly poison into the concoction, thereby producing the desired result, while the natural property of the mixture is to make the imbiber vomit. This performance is carried out in the midst of the congregated villagers, so that the effect produced on their ignorant and superstitious minds is tremendous.
If the accused man is rich, he can generally buy his innocence by a judicious bribe paid to the “medicine-man.” Fetish priests wield great power over the people in West Africa. Their influence is in a way similar to that of the “Mullahs” in the East among Mohammedans. The latter stir up the people to mad religious fervour by their frenzied preachings in much the same manner that the fetish priest excites the minds of his hearers.