I appeared suddenly before them, so that they did not even have time to rise. Both looked at me, appearing dumbfounded. They tried to get up, but fear had paralyzed both and they could not rise. I showed to them “Omemba,” the stick of King Mombo, which they recognized at once. Then I saluted them in the Commi language by saying, “Mbolo.” They answered, “A-ee,” and returned the salutation by saying “Mbolo,” and I answered “A-ee.” This is the mode of salutation in King Mombo’s country.
The sight of “Omemba” had somewhat calmed their fears. I saw by their appearance that they were slaves, for both had their front teeth filed to a point. The Commi people do not file theirs—these two people came evidently from a far country. The man said to me, in the Commi language, “Both my wife and I are slaves of King Mombo, and many more slaves owned by him are in the neighborhood, on different plantations.”
His wife went inside of her house and brought me out a stool and the tail of an elephant to kill the flies which bothered me, and they both bade me welcome and asked me to stay with them.
Strange indeed was the appearance of Regundo, for such was the man’s name. One side of his face was painted with red ochre, the other with white; a broad yellow stripe adorned the middle of his chest; the circuits of his eyes were also daubed with color. In the middle of his forehead was a round, white spot. He had evidently just made his toilet, for the colors looked fresh. He was also covered with charms or “mondahs.” His wife’s face was also painted. She wore large iron rings in her ears.
On the roof of Regundo’s house were skulls of antelopes with their horns, skulls of wild boars, leopards, monkeys, and other animals, evidently apes, unknown to me, but the heads of which resembled, somewhat, human heads. Six large elephants’ skulls were lying in front of the veranda—under which hung in a line sixty-three elephants’ tails.
As I was looking at them, Regundo said, “These are the tails of the elephants I have killed. I have been a great hunter all my life, but now I have given up hunting, and I send but very little game to my master, King Mombo. But there are hunters here who are younger than I am, and who go much into the forest in search of elephants and other game.”
While Regundo was talking his wife went away, but soon returned with a chicken that was a kind of bantam, tied by the legs, a basket of sweet potatoes, a bunch of plantains, and four eggs, and laid these at my feet. My talking to them in a language they could understand, and the sight of “Omemba,” had reconciled them to me. They had also heard, before I came, that I was a great friend of King Mombo.
I looked round. I saw, at a little distance, a number of small houses together, also built of the bark of trees. As soon as Regundo saw me looking at them he said: “Those are houses of slaves belonging to King Mombo. He has many slaves; some of them are old, and he has inherited them from one of his brothers.”
He had hardly uttered these words when I saw a number of men and women coming towards the houses. The women carried heavy bunches of plantains, or baskets filled with manioc roots. Most of the men had axes with them, and were returning from the forest, where they had been felling trees for new plantations.
“Those people are the slaves of King Mombo,” said Regundo. “There are others that live further on in the forest. The brothers of the king, and some of his people, also have plantations and slaves not very far from here, higher up the river and in the forest.”