“I hope,” said Regundo to me, “the men will return with much game, for I have ‘gouamba.’”
“What is ‘gouamba’?” I asked.
“The women were preparing food”
He replied, “It is a craving for meat. When plantain or manioc is set before us day after day without meat or fish, we begin to look at the food with disgust.”
Regundo was right in his description. I had had “gouamba” many times, and I longed for meat, experiencing the same effect as if at home one were fed day after day on bread and water.
But Regundo’s wish was gratified. The hunters returned with a great quantity of game. The most successful were those who had gone net-hunting. Great numbers of long nets tied together had been spread in the forest, and the game had been driven into them.
Everybody was happy. Thank-offerings of game to the spirits “Olombo” and “Mombo” were taken into the forest for them to eat.
That day Regundo made a great offering of food to “Abamboo,” game, plantains, nuts, sugar-cane, ground-nuts, and placed them carefully in the forest. On his return he shouted, “Abamboo, I love you. I offer the best of the food I have to you. Be good to me. Do not let sickness come to me, Abamboo. Kill my enemies, those who wish me evil by witchcraft.”
He also made a sumptuous offering to “Mbuiri.”