To their disgust, disappointment, and dismay they saw that the njokoos had been there before them, that the trees were all down, and that there was not a bunch of plantains left.
“The njokoos have been here,” shouted the big ngina, in a rage, and gave vent to roar after roar. His mate did likewise. Then he said to her, “These horrid njokoos have not even left a tree standing. They have eaten our plantains.” For the nginas thought these plantains belonged to them. The njokoos had thought likewise. The big fellow was so disappointed and angry that he repeated again and again his roars of rage and defiance. He was ready to fight anything he met.
The njokoos, who were not yet far away, heard him, and laughed among themselves, and trumpeted back: “We are not afraid of you, nginas. You dare not come and attack us. We are the ones who have eaten all the plantains.”
So the nginas left the place with empty stomachs, and feeling in a very bad humor against the njokoos. They had hardly left when another herd of njokoos, who also knew of the place, made their appearance, and when they saw the plantain field destroyed, they trumpeted, “We are too late. Other njokoos have been here before us,” and they, too, went away feeling not in the best of humor. And soon after their departure some other nginas also familiar with the place appeared on the field, and when they saw its devastated condition, they too were disappointed, and departed, saying to one another, “We are too late. We are too late.”
XXII
ARRIVAL OF THE HUMAN BEINGS WHO OWN THE PLANTAIN FIELD
It so happened that the plantain field which the njokoos had destroyed had been planted by human beings who were cannibals. They were great hunters, very brave and fierce, knew the use of firearms, and had guns with which they shot many njokoos. It was the custom of these men to have their plantations hidden in the forest and far away from their villages. Many of these were so far off that a day’s journey was necessary for them to go and come back with a load of plantains on their backs. It was hard work for these men of the forest to make a plantation, for they had first to fell the forest trees, and, when partly dry, to set fire to them, and then to plant the shoots.
Two days after the njokoos had left, some of the women of the tribe to whom the field belonged, came to get plantains to take back with them to feed their people. When they saw that all the plantain-trees had been torn down, and the fruit devoured, and witnessed the havoc the njokoos had wrought, they exclaimed, “The njokoos have been here and eaten up everything. What shall we do to feed our families?” They also saw the footprints of nginas and were filled with fear. They started for their village in great haste, making loud noises to scare the monsters off.
On their return, as they entered their village, they shouted: “Listen; the njokoos are near our plantations. They have already destroyed one of them, and eaten up everything, and if they are not driven away we shall be hungry in days to come, for they will destroy other fields of plantains.”
There was great excitement among the human beings when they heard the doleful news. They shouted: “The hard work we had to cut these trees and make this plantation has been all for nothing.” The warriors and hunters swore vengeance, and vowed to kill all the njokoos and nginas they could find.
Many people started for their plantation to stay until they had driven all the njokoos and nginas from their country, and took their guns and their tom-toms with them. When they arrived there, they made a great noise, fired guns, beat their tom-toms, danced and sang all night, and made invocations to their idols and their forefathers. Five of the most valiant hunters swore that they would not go back home until they had killed some nginas or njokoos.