In African Forest and Jungle

by Paul B. Du Chaillu

Andekko was in high glee; he followed us for a little while, then wandered off into the forest by himself, and from time to time came back to us to make sure, probably, of our presence. He had left us for the fifth or sixth time, when suddenly we heard his barking; he was evidently after some gazelle or antelope. We knew that he was coming in our direction as his barking became louder and louder. We expected at every moment to see an antelope or gazelle pass before us. We were not mistaken. Erelong a beautiful antelope with large spiral horns appeared, followed by Andekko, barking at the beast in the fiercest manner. A well-directed shot brought the antelope down.

Then we cut the game to pieces, and made two "otaitais" (baskets to carry on the back), and we put a lot of the meat in them. On our return to the camp we built a big platform, upon which we put the meat and lighted fires to smoke it.

One day, not long after, Rogala said to me: "Oguizi, the boars are very fat just now, for they feed on koola nuts, and these are plentiful. I feel like having boar's meat to eat."

As he said this, his mouth seemed twice as large as usual. He evidently fancied he was eating fat boar's-meat. I agreed with him, and we decided on a boar-hunt. We put a lot of berries and nuts in the cage of Ndova, and left plenty of bones for Andekko, and departed for the hunting-ground where the boars might be found. Quite a distance from our camp we could still hear Andekko barking and the cries of Ndova.

We soon came to a koola tree and saw many nuts on the ground. We thought we would get a meal before the boars did, so we broke open many nuts and ate them. Afterwards we hid near the trees. We waited for a long time before any boars made their appearance. At last we heard their grunts, and soon after they were busy eating the koola nuts before us. We picked out two of them, fired, and killed them both. They were fat, as Rogala had said they would be. We could not carry all the meat with us, so it was agreed that Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai should return the next day to fetch what we could not take. On returning to camp, we built another platform for smoking the boar's-meat.

"Now," said I to Rogala, "we have plenty of meat, so we can go and hunt the 'men of the woods.'"

It was a curious coincidence that my hunters on their return from fetching the boar's-meat next day brought news of the "men of the woods." They said: "Oguizi, to-day we saw a place where the nshiego-mbouvés have been. They have come to feed on a peculiar fruit that is just getting ripe, and I am sure they will remain in the neighborhood where we saw their tracks for a time. Let us go there."

It was agreed that we would not fire at any other animals, even if we saw an elephant with the biggest of tusks. The men advised me to take "Bulldog" with me, for we might meet nginas, who also were fond of the fruit.

After a good night's rest we started, Rogala taking a net with him to throw over a baby nshiego-mbouvé or a baby ngina, if we should encounter any. We left Ndova and Andekko in the camp this time also.