Copyright, 1903
By Charles Scribner's Sons

Published September, 1903

UNIVERSITY PRESS, JOHN WILSON
AND SON · CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A.


Contents

Page
[CHAPTER I.]
A canoe-voyage to the country of Rotembo the Chief—A toilet ofceremony—Rotembo's grotesque costume—A formalreception—Speeches of Rotembo and myself—A dance in myhonor—My presents to the chief—We become good friends1
[CHAPTER II.]
I propose to go into the forest to hunt—Rotembo promises methree gifts—Rogala, the famous hunter, the first ofthem—Description of Rogala—Andekko, the dog, the secondgift—Ndova, the monkey, the third—How Ndova was captured andreared—I give Rotembo some of my hair8
[CHAPTER III.]
Preparations for departure—Off for forest and jungle—A herd ofelephants—We camp for the night—Ndova calls monkeys of histribe within range—We kill two of them—Feeding on roastmonkey—A deserted house—A story of witchcraft21
[CHAPTER IV.]
The home of Rogala—His hunting-trophies—A weird spot—Aspectof the surrounding forest—Shinshooko and Alapai—Leopards inthe neighborhood30
[CHAPTER V.]
We build a leopard trap—A night on the watch—The beast appearsat last—Caught in the trap and soon despatched—Her mate killedthe following night—Excitement of Andekko and Ndova36
[CHAPTER VI.]
My hunters and I become great friends—Andekko and Ndova growfond of me—We take Ndova into the forest—He calls monkeys tous again—Andekko's prowess as a hunter—A female gorilla andher baby—We kill the mamma and Andekko kills the baby41
[CHAPTER VII.]
Fight between monkey tribes, nkagos and mondis—My gun puts bothsides to flight—A visit from the bashikouay ants—Everythingflies before them—We drive them off with firebrands and boilingwater49
[CHAPTER VIII.]
Rogala's wife's parrot—I use it as a decoy—Parrots prove tougheating—The ngozos grow wary—Shinshooko discovers elephants inthe neighborhood—We go after them and kill two54
[CHAPTER IX.]
We build a fortified camp in the depths of the forest—Structureof the camp—Laying in stores of provisions—Koola nuts—Sourceof my influence over the natives62
[CHAPTER X.]
I take a swim in a crystal pool—Driven out by a huge snake—Ikill the snake—Camp-fire talk—How to hunt—Importance ofsilence and noiseless movements68
[CHAPTER XI.]
Another excursion—Footprints of gorillas (nginas)—Listening tothe monsters' roaring—Two of them calling to each other—Theygradually draw near to each other and to us—They meet and wesleep in the forest—Sudden appearance of the malengina—Killing of the ngina and his mate72
[CHAPTER XII.]
Ndova as a test of poisonous fruits and berries—He discovers abeehive—A feast of honey—Andekko's usefulness inhunting—Koola nuts—We kill two wild boars—Capture of a baby"man of the woods"80
[CHAPTER XIII.]
Ndova's thoughtfulness—His winning and sportive ways—He feelslonely and calls for other monkeys to come to him—A troop ofeleven appear—I frighten them away91
[CHAPTER XIV.]
Uneasiness of Rogala—He fears the new moon may see and bewitchhim—He builds a small house and hides in it—He has an attackof fever, which he ascribes to witchcraft96
[CHAPTER XV.]
Rogala leaves the camp—Non-appearance of Shinshooko andAlapai—What happened to Rogala on his journey—He returns afterfour days with a powerful mondah which he buries before the camp103
[CHAPTER XVI.]
We discover a pair of nshiego-nkengos—Description ofthem—Capture of a young one—He makes friends with Ndova andAndekko—His speedy death112
[CHAPTER XVII.]
My reckoning lost—Rogala and I go to an island where I can seethe heavens—We reach it by a raft and build a house—Turtle'seggs in profusion119
[CHAPTER XVIII.]
Appearance of the southern heavens at night—Homesickness—Itake several observations—Astonishment of Rogala—Find that Iam ninety miles south of the equator125
[CHAPTER XIX.]
We cross the river and hide our axes—Ndova's fright at apython—Andekko finds a leopard's lair—We capture two leopardcubs—A visit from savages—They are frightened by my Waterburyclock131
[CHAPTER XX.]
Leave the island for our camp—Monkeys among the trees—Findeverything untouched—I get lost following nginas—Am luckyenough to find koola nuts—Camp under the koola tree—Anothernight in the forest139
[CHAPTER XXI.]
Plantain peelings to eat—Human footprints lead me to avillage—The villagers evidently warlike—Admitted within thegate—Awe of the people at sight of the Oguizi145
[CHAPTER XXII.]
Alarm of my hunters at my absence—Rogala sets out to search forme—His superstitious terrors—Consults his ogana, oridol—Finds my traces at last and follows me to the village150
[CHAPTER XXIII.]
Witchcraft proceedings of the Bakalais—Two of the class"bewitched"—A negro albino—The idol Makambo—Her dreadappearance—Return to camp—Monkeys overrun the camp—I drivethem off—Escape of Ndova—His unexpected return154
[CHAPTER XXIV.]
We come to the end of our provisions—Antelope skin boiledfurnishes us a repast—Ndova decoys monkeys and we soon get foodenough—Alapai finds fruits and nuts also160
[CHAPTER XXV.]
I find strange footprints on the banks of a rivulet—Rogala andI set off in pursuit—We find a man under a koola tree—Surpriseand capture him—Terror of our captive—We take him to camp anddiscover he is a cannibal164
[CHAPTER XXVI.]
Ndova falls sick—Stung by a scorpion or bitten by acentipede—Refuses to eat—Grows weaker in spite of all our careand nursing—One morning I find him dead—We make a coffin forhim and bury him in the forest173
[CHAPTER XXVII.]
I go hunting in the forest with Andekko—Disappearance of thedog—Sounds of a fierce conflict—I find Andekko fighting with amandrill—He kills his enemy, but dies of his wounds—Buried inthe forest178
[CHAPTER XXVIII.]
Our provisions fail—Attacked again by bashikouays—Release ofAkenda-Mbani from his fetters—He proves a goodtrapper—"Gouamba"—My waking visions—Another huntingexpedition—We kill two monkeys, then starve again181
[CHAPTER XXIX.]
Decide to break up our camp and return—Arrival at Rogala'shome—I make myself a pair of skin trousers—Departure forRotembo's village—Our grand reception and succeedingfestivities—Rotembo's promise—Farewell189

List of Illustrations

["I saw peeping through the leaves a black fierce face looking at us"]Frontispiece
[The meeting with Rotembo]FacingPage4
[Rogala and Andekko]""12
[Ndova's mother tries to carry him away into the forest]""18
["We raised our guns and aimed at the two biggestwhite-nosed ones and fired"]""26
["She looked at me in fear and trembling, and she andthe children ran to hide"]""32
["The leopard was slowly crawling near"]""38
["We fired and brought him down"]""44
["Boiling water and hot ashes were thrown upon the antsand we put brands across their path"]""52
["Suddenly the bull made for the river"]""58
["Gun in hand, I watched for him to swim to the surfaceof the water"]""70
["He put his nose close to her face and moanedpitifully"]""88
["Soon I saw their heads peeping over the palisades"]""94
[Rogala and his idol]""98
["The two nshiego-nkengos had their backs turned towardsus, and were eating pineapples"]""114
["When the raft was ready Rogala, Ndova, and Andekkocrossed to the island"]""122
["When I was ready to take observations, I seated myselfcross-legged before the artificial horizon"]""128
["Rogala came out of the den holding two little liveleopards by the neck"]""136
["Clearly this village belonged to a warlike tribe,whose people were always fighting"]""146
["When I saw him, I came towards him, and in an instantwe were in each other's arms"]""152
["Suddenly Rogala uttered a terrific war-cry and rantowards the man"]""168
["He ate with us, and consequently had the same food"]""174
["Andekko had pinned the mandrill down and they werefighting savagely"]""180
["At the end of the day I had made a pair of skintrousers"]""190