The ogata was furious, and said: “You miserable little gazelle, you have escaped me!” Then he grinned as the ogatas do; but it was a grin of disappointment and hate. Reluctantly he recrossed the river, and went to his burrow to watch again for prey.
The day of retribution was coming for the ogata; his life of slaughter was soon to come to an end. No more creatures were to be eaten by him. It happened the next day that some human beings, as they were paddling in their canoe close to the shore, saw the burrow the ogata had made. They landed, and exhibited great glee when they saw the fresh trail of the ogata. They knew it was not an old burrow, and that the ugly creature was inside asleep.
So they went back of the two openings, collected wood, closed the entrances, and inside the exit, a little distance from its mouth, set a snare to catch him. When all was ready, they lighted a fire at one entrance, and pushed the burning wood inside. The smoke was so dense, and the fire so bright, that the ogata was frightened and ran out toward the exit. There he was caught in the meshes made for him, and was killed.
CHAPTER XXXV
THE KAMBIS, OR ANTELOPES, THE NCHERIS, OR GAZELLES, AND THE BONGO
A herd of beautiful kambis with long spiral horns were one day running through the forest for their lives, and never stopped until they had gone many miles, and thought themselves out of danger. They were panting for breath, for they had run a long way and were much frightened.
When they had rested, they exclaimed: “It is a wonder that we have been able to grow to our full size. Just think of the enemies we have prowling in the forest, and all the time seeking to kill us! We never know if we are safe. We have to be all the time on the lookout. The wicked and blood-thirsty njego is always trying to take our lives. Think of the number of kambis the njegos kill every rainy and dry season. Only a few days ago one of these horrid njegos sprang upon us and killed one of our number.
“There is the huge ombama; he is just as sly as, and even more so than, all our other enemies. He coils round trees of his color, so that we cannot see him, then darts upon us when we pass near him and squeezes us to death.
“The mboyos [jackals] corral us, then precipitate themselves upon us and kill us. The hyenas are also our enemies, and are just as bad as the mboyos. The crocodiles sometimes catch us. We do no harm to any of these wicked creatures. We are not blood-thirsty. We live on the leaves of trees. We kill none of their prey. It is fortunate that we are fleet-footed.”
Then a wise old kambi said: “Our greatest enemies are the human beings. They kill more of us than all the njegos, ombamas, crocodiles, hyenas, and jackals put together. These human beings are full of evil devices and tricks, and have mboua [dogs] to hunt us. They spread long lines of nets in the forest to catch us, drive us within them, and then come and kill us.”
“Yes,” assented all the kambis. “These human beings are indeed our worst enemies, though we do not do them any harm whatever; we do not eat their plantains or their other food.”