At a little distance a man was stationed on the top of a slender tree. From there he addressed the medicine-man, and asked him questions about Jockoo or Abamboo, shaking the tree at the same time, to which Angooka replied in a sonorous manner. The business of Angooka was to keep away the evil spirits and destroy witchcraft in the plantation. Angooka suddenly danced in the wildest manner, uttered all sorts of incantations, peered into the face of every one as if to divine their thoughts, and then declared that there were no witches or wizards with them. Then the ceremony came to an end. Near Angooka were Oshoria, Ngola, Ogoola, and Quabi. I heard the medicine-man say to them: “Great indeed is the Oguizi that we have with us. How strange he looks, with his long, straight black hair. His eyes seem to find out the thoughts of a person. Strange that the Oguizi has come to the country of King Mombo, and to you his slaves.”
“Where do you think the Oguizi lives?” asked the men of Angooka, who replied:
“The Oguizi can disappear from our sight when he wishes. He has come to see our land, and one of these days he will go and we shall never see him any more. He will rise in the air unseen and go to the moon.”
Regundo then said to the medicine doctor: “Last night we heard a rumbling noise in his house, the striking of a hammer upon an anvil, and saw flashes of light inside through the cracks in the walls. We heard the Oguizi’s incantations. He was then making the things he gives away. When I went into the house in the morning the anvil and hammer were gone, and no remains of fire were to be seen. How strange is the piece of iron which he holds in his hands, to which our knives hang without dropping! How wonderful are his little sticks from which fire springs! How wonderful are the strange boxes [the Waterbury clock and the musical box] full of spirits that are talking to him.”
I did not want them to know that I had been listening to them, and when I finally revealed myself and went toward them, I acted as if I had heard nothing.
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.
One morning just as I shouldered “Bulldog,” and was ready to go into the forest, Regundo came to me much excited, and said: “Oguizi, I have great news to tell you. Some men have just arrived with the news that there are nginas in the forest, and near the plantain trees.”
“Great news, indeed, you tell me, Regundo,” I replied, “and we must get ready to go and attack them. Send for Oshoria, Ngola, Ogoola, and Quabi.”
“Yes,” said Regundo, “for they are your hunters, and wherever you go they must follow you.”