From the Cape to Cairo: The First Traverse of Africa from South to North

by Ewart Scott Grogan; Arthur H. Sharp

The natives stated that there was a track round Mount Götzen, and it was not until we had actually started that they informed us that it was impossible to take cattle there. One man volunteered to show the way, but at the last moment endeavoured to escape. However, he was caught, and a string was tied round his neck. I explained to him that I could not risk being left without a guide, and had therefore been compelled to take that precaution, promising him, however, a supplementary present when he had completed his task, as compensation for his offended dignity. He then protested that the track was impossible, saying that there was no water for two days, nor any food, and that the path was so bad that it would cut everybody's feet to pieces. Sharp and I accordingly arranged that it would be better to see what the path was like before moving with the whole caravan. For this purpose I started with half a dozen men, carrying my necessaries, while Sharp returned to our camping-place.

I and my boys set out for the slopes of Mount Götzen, and on the way managed to pick up two more guides. After climbing a very steep hill, we arrived on a flat terrace, where there were many signs of elephant; this we crossed and plunged into the dense forest, characteristic of the slopes of these volcanoes. The track was almost indistinguishable, and the recent depredations of elephant had rendered it practically impassable. After eight hours' work we found that it would be impossible to reach a pool of water which, my guide acknowledged, existed at some distance. At this point two of the guides mysteriously vanished, and I sincerely congratulated myself on having tied the third one up.

I waited for my boys to close up, but waited in vain: all except two had lost the track, and though I fired round after round, there was no response. Everything, with the exception of the inside of my tent, was with the boys who had strayed. To afford some shelter we fixed up this part of the tent on some poles, which we cut with a sword-bayonet.

Torrential rains fell all night, but unfortunately we had no means of catching the water, as the roof of foliage above our heads caught the fall and poured it on to us through unexpected channels. It was exceedingly cold, and we had no food. However, the night passed somehow, and the following morning, retracing our steps and firing shots at intervals, we eventually discovered the other boys. The sun was very hot, and selecting an open glade, we sat down and dried ourselves, while making a square meal.

In the midst of my meal I had an idea that somebody from behind was looking at me; and turning round, I saw the hideous, distorted features of a pigmy leering at me in open-mouthed astonishment through the bush against which I was resting. When he saw that he was detected he dashed away at an incredible pace, and my boys failed to catch him. These pigmies are usually described by travellers as implacably hostile to strangers, but I never had any trouble with them, although I came in contact with many.

Having no water or food, I had, for the second time, to abandon the attempt to reach Mushari, and sorrowfully retraced my steps to camp, burning on my way the hut of the guide who had bolted; a punishment that he richly deserved, as he had undertaken to come for payment and had left me, thinking that I should be lost, and taking with him my axe.

In this part of Africa the natives use the word "tanganyika" for any lake or extensive body of water.

On my way into camp I saw another pigmy in one of the villages. He had brought honey to trade with the Ruanda people for grain. The natives informed me that the pigmies have no settled villages, nor do they cultivate anything. They live the life of the brute in the forests, perpetually wandering in search of honey or in pursuit of elephant; when they succeed in killing anything, they throw up a few grass shelters and remain there till all the meat is either eaten or dried. They depend upon the other natives for the necessary grain, which they either steal or barter for elephant-meat or honey. All their knives, spear-heads, and arrow-heads they likewise purchase from other people, but they make their own bows and arrows. So well are these made that they are held in great esteem by the surrounding people. This pigmy fled on my approach, and although the country was perfectly flat, and therefore my boys were on equal terms when they tried to catch him, he easily escaped. The pace at which he ran was extraordinary. It is curious to notice how perfectly adapted they are to the surroundings in which they live; the combination of immense strength necessary for the precarious hunting-life they lead, and of compactness, indispensable to rapid movement in dense forest, where the pig-runs are the only means of passage, is a wonderful example of nature's adaptability.

After a few days' rest I made my third and successful attempt to cross the lava-beds, which I describe in the following chapter on Mushari.

Sharp undertook to take the live stock and the main caravan round the southern slope of Mount Götzen, and to eventually meet me in Mushari. This involved a waterless tramp of twenty-five miles, unless he could find the pool of water spoken of by Count Götzen as existing in a small crater on the lava-bed between Mount Götzen and the lake.