Then the little fellow lay on his back and his mother cleaned his skin with her nails, taking off dandruff, or killing little insects. Once or twice the baby nshiego mbouvé said, “Woe, woe,” and afterwards clung to his mother’s breast. Then he climbed to her shoulders, the mother uttering low, guttural sounds of happiness or contentment.
How human they both looked! The little fellow’s face was so pale that one might have thought he had just recovered from a long illness. But it was his natural color. Suddenly the big nshiego mbouvé gave a shrill, piercing cry and with her baby holding on to her ran away into the thick of the forest. She had evidently seen me.
I continued my way. I do not know why, but the forest seemed to me more silent than before. I began to feel very anxious at the non-appearance of Oshoria and my hunters. “Paul,” I said, “are you going to be lost in this great forest, and die of starvation or illness? Your ammunition cannot last forever, and the fever may come at any time and you may be so feeble afterwards that you cannot help yourself. Then it will be all over with you.”
The day went by. The path still led on—and no answer had come to my cries of “Whoe—whoe—whoe—a.” The dim light of the forest told me that the day was coming to its close and that it was about time to make my camp. I stopped beside a little stream of clear water. I thought of Oshoria, of Ngola, Quabi, and Ogoola. I wondered if they also were lost and making their camp, and whether they were separated or together. I looked for two pieces of dry wood, and lighted four fires, as the day before, in the midst of which I lay down. I was very tired, for “Bulldog” was very heavy. I was soon lulled to sleep by the murmur of the little rivulet winding its way to some bigger one. I dreamt of home, of friends, of corn-bread, of turkey, of roast beef. When I awoke it was broad daylight—and only the embers of the fires remained. It was fortunate that no leopards had been round during the night, this unusual sleep had done me good.
I ate the last of my koola nuts, and before starting for the day I made the same kind of marks I had made each morning, so that my men could know the direction I had taken. I hoped I should find some koola trees, for I was hungry. I had not left the camp ten minutes before I came to two koola trees under which the path passed. There were but few nuts on the ground, as the wild boars had been there but a short time before, judging from the freshness of their tracks.
I collected what nuts there were. I was sure not to starve on that day. “Providence,” I exclaimed, “thou art kind to me. Thou hast always been kind to me.”
After a hearty meal of nuts I continued on my way. The path seemed endless and was very crooked. Many a time I shouted “Oshoria, Ogoola, Ngola, Quabi,” but got no answer. Taking courage, I said: “This path must come to an end or reach some inhabited place.” I only fired “Bulldog” once that day, for I had become chary of my ammunition. Again the day passed without sight of any of my hunters. The country I traversed was in many places very marshy, which made me believe that a river was not far off. Before dark I built my camp. I then tried to make a fire with two pieces of wood. I rubbed them against each other; the little piece dug quite a hole in the big one, but no smoke came; either it was not the right sort of wood, or it was too damp. I took some other wood but succeeded no better. Night was fast coming on. Then I said to myself: “I cannot sleep on the ground in the dark, for if a leopard passes by he is sure to spring on me and devour me. Even if I climb a tree and rest in the midst of its branches, he is sure to climb also if he scents me.” The leopards are great tree-climbers. The only way for me was to ascend a tall and very slim tree that no leopard could climb on account of the small size of its trunk. Looking ahead in the path I saw three very slender trees close together. Their branches intertwined with each other, after a certain height. I saw that from the first tree I could reach the second by creeping on one of its branches, and would be able to reach the third tree, that was the highest, in the same manner. I spied a branch about thirty feet from the ground, upon which I could rest for the night. There the prowling leopards could not reach me. I cut a slender creeper for a strap with which to fasten “Bulldog” on my back when I ascended the trees; then unloaded the dear rifle, to guard against accident. I climbed the first tree, took hold of one of its branches and lifted myself up; but not without great trouble, for “Bulldog” was much in the way. I succeeded, however, in reaching the second tree; I was then about fifteen feet above the ground. To reach the third tree from the second one was a very hazardous undertaking, and I ran great risk of tumbling down and breaking my neck, for the branch that was to help me to cross over was very slender; and I had some doubt if it would carry me safely. At first I thought I would drop “Bulldog” down, but I said upon reflection, “Paul, whatever you do, do not let your rifle be separated from you; an elephant might come and get hold of it with his trunk and break it; some leopard or other wild beast might beset you.”
With some hesitation I crept upon the transverse limb—but finally succeeded in reaching the third tree. Then I took a long breath and rested a while, after which I ascended still higher until I reached a height of about thirty feet, where I found a branch upon which I could rest for the night. There the prowling leopard could not reach me. A slender liane hung from a tree above my head, looking exactly like a snake, and I cut off about eight feet of it, and using it as a rope, made it fast round my waist and the trunk of the tree, so that, in case I fell asleep, I should not fall to the ground. I should have to remain on the tree eleven hours, for daylight would not come before that time. Soon darkness set in.
In the silence of the night I could hear the slightest noise. Two or three times I thought I heard little night animals walking on the dead leaves in search of prey, but I could not see two feet ahead of me, it was so dark. Once I thought I saw through the darkness the shining eyes of a leopard. I thought he was looking at me. The cold perspiration dropped from my forehead at the idea, but I was mistaken. The eyes were two big fireflies.
