My dear Solis,—Looking back through the vista of years, and remembering your solicitude when I came to you broken in health, and the care, professional and other, through which your affection and skill restored me to health and permitted the resumption of my literary labors, my heart overflows. I take great pleasure in dedicating this volume to you as a partial evidence of the gratitude and brotherly affection of
Ever your firm friend,
PAUL DU CHAILLU.
New York, June 19, 1901.
Contents
| CHAPTER I | |
| Page | |
|---|---|
| I leave New York for Africa—Narrow quarters on the schooner—Our cargo—Out of sight of land—The sea and all that therein is—A storm brewing | [1] |
| CHAPTER II | |
| A storm at sea—A tempest-tossed little bird—Fine weather again—Fight between a swordfish and a whale | [10] |
| CHAPTER III | |
| The Sargasso Sea—The northeast trade-winds—Dolphins and bonitas—New stars come into view | [17] |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| The “Doldrums”—Fierce heat of the sun—Strong local currents—The southwest trade-winds—Huge sharks all around us | [22] |
| CHAPTER V | |
| Crossing the equator—The southeast trade-winds—The equatorial current—The Gulf Stream—Struck by a tornado—Land in sight—Africa at last—The great forest | [28] |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| Wandering through the forest and learning the country—I reach King Mombo’s village—Received by the king—His fear of witchcraft—Visits my dwelling and receives presents from me | [35] |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| Superstitions of King Mombo—Visits to the house of his idols and his ancestors—A strange meal followed by a strange dance | [41] |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| Bad luck of Mombo’s village—Ascribed to witchcraft—Arrival of a great medicine-man—His incantations—The accused sold as slaves | [50] |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| King Mombo gives me the stick “Omemba”—I leave the village on a hunting trip—Parting injunctions—A herd of hippopotami | [55] |
| CHAPTER X | |
| Sounds of human voices—I encounter Regundo and his wife, slaves of King Mombo—Other slaves—Hunters and warriors of Mombo | [63] |
| CHAPTER XI | |
| Wonder of the natives at my Waterbury clock, magnet, matches, and music-box—Character of Mombo’s plantation | [72] |
| CHAPTER XII | |
| King Mombo’s plantation—Work of the slaves in clearing and cultivating the forest—Strange village of the slaves—Houses of the spirits—Regundo’s account of witchcraft and its punishment—Ovengua | [79] |
| CHAPTER XIII | |
| The native dogs—How they hunt their own game when they are not fed—Their ways of attack—Their usefulness to their masters in war-time—Oshoria’s story | [87] |
| CHAPTER XIV | |
| A great hunting-feast—“Roondah”—Different viands of the menu—Speeches at the banquet—Music and dancing—A weird forest scene in the torchlight | [95] |
| CHAPTER XV | |
| A talk with King Mombo’s slaves—Why slaves do not run away—Various features of the traffic—The cannibals of the interior—My daily occupations | [104] |
| CHAPTER XVI | |
| The animals of the forest—Five kinds of apes—The ngina or gorilla—His great strength and fierceness—How he attacks man and other animals—Oshoria’s account of him | [116] |
| CHAPTER XVII | |
| The other apes of the great forest—Oshoria tells about the nshiego mbouvés—Capture of a baby “man of the woods”—His mother killed—Correspondence of the different apes with the various human races | [124] |
| CHAPTER XVIII | |
| Angooka, the medicine-man—His strange appearance—Eavesdropping—I overhear the conversation of the slaves—They talk among themselves about the Oguizi | [131] |
| CHAPTER XIX | |
| News brought that gorillas are near by in the forest—The dogs got ready for the hunt—Their names—A grand hunting council—Regundo’s wise advice—Cautions to be observed | [134] |
| CHAPTER XX | |
| We start after the gorillas—Cautious walking through the forest—The dogs find the ngina—Yells of the monster brought to bay—He slaughters two of the dogs—Taunts of the hunters—Shot through the heart at last | [142] |
| CHAPTER XXI | |
| Singular sight in the forest—All kinds of animals fleeing in one direction—A terrible ant—The bashikouay army—Attacked everywhere at once—How I escaped the tormentors | [153] |
| CHAPTER XXII | |
| A journey to the elephant country—Serious annoyance from flies, wasps, and mosquitoes—In the midst of a drove of hippopotami | [158] |
| CHAPTER XXIII | |
| Mudbanks covered with crocodiles—How they stalk their prey—An unsuspecting boar suddenly swallowed up—Habits of the huge creatures | [164] |
| CHAPTER XXIV | |
| Difficulty of making our way—Fallen trees and dense thickets—Our meat gives out—Looking for koola trees—A meal of their nutritious nuts—Their importance to the traveller in the forest | [171] |
| CHAPTER XXV | |
| Lost in the forest—A herd of elephants lures me on—Separated from my hunters—Two nights on the ground and one in a tree—Found at last—Joy of the men | [178] |
| CHAPTER XXVI | |
| The elephant hunting-ground—The beautiful prairie skirting the forest—The welcome sky and sun and stars after the forest gloom—Hunting elephants by moonlight—Three large herds—Narrow escape of Oshoria and myself—Death of the huge tusker | [193] |
| CHAPTER XXVII | |
| The killing of a second elephant—How bull elephants fight—The contest for the leadership of the herd—Oshoria’s graphic account of a battle royal witnessed by him—Return to the plantation | [206] |
| CHAPTER XXVIII | |
| Departure from the slaves’ plantations—Arrival at King Mombo’s—A warm greeting from the old king—His sacred promise never to part with his slaves—Farewell to him and his people | [214] |
List of Illustrations
| “These ... inquired if we wanted to barter for ivory with them” | [Frontispiece] |
|---|---|
| FACING PAGE | |
| In the cabin of the schooner | [2] |
| “The captain shouted to me: ‘A swordfish is fighting a whale’” | [14] |
| “When he saw these presents his face beamed with joy” | [38] |
| “The king and I sat down opposite each other” | [48] |
| “Then he handed me ‘Omemba’” | [59] |
| “The voices came nearer and I saw a large canoe” | [60] |
| “He had a very determined face” | [68] |
| “Then came a profound silence. I lighted another match” | [76] |
| “Just in time to see a huge male leopard spring upon one of the dogs” | [92] |
| “The women were preparing food” | [96] |
| “The first musician played on a ‘handja’” | [102] |
| “A big fellow, tall and slender, rose. He was tattooed all over” | [110] |
| “A little before dark she goes up a tree with the baby to sleep” | [120] |
| “Sometimes he suddenly gets up and charges” | [140] |
| “The big monster ... seized ‘Bloodthirsty’ and threw him dead on the ground” | [150] |
| “Their big, ugly mouths when opened, showed us their tusks” | [162] |
| “We dragged the board with the crocodile upon it into the water” | [168] |
| “I pointed out the footprints to them” | [174] |
| “With some hesitation I crept upon the transverse limb” | [188] |
| “I distinguished a huge bull which was leading them” | [198] |
| “The two enormous tusks went through his side” | [212] |
| “I stood up and held ‘Omemba’ in my right hand” | [218] |
| “My hunters ... fell at my feet and clasped them” | [224] |
KING MOMBO