DANCING AROUND THE ELEPHANT MEAT.
THE ALETHE CASTANEA.
A piece was cut off and sent into the woods to appease the hunger of these deities (or, more likely, of their representatives, the leopards, or the bashikouay or hyenas), and then the rest was eaten by the people, all in the presence of the doctor.
Next came the division of the great heaps of uncooked meat. The town, the town’s friends, the hunters, the hunters’ friends and their friends, all came and got shares. I received about fifty pounds for myself, then besides I had a piece of the trunk, and four of the feet were given to me. These, by the way, must have weighed more than fifty pounds by themselves.
As soon as I went back to my place I got an orala and smoked my meat, which I intended to keep, as we say, for a rainy day, that is, for a day when I would have nothing to eat.
I do not know why, but for a few days after the killing of the elephants the country was full of bashikouays. I could scarcely move anywhere without falling in with these fellows, and their bites were, as usual, very severe. They had no doubt smelled the elephant flesh and claimed their shares. I noticed that there was a curious little bird with these bashikouays, the Alethe castanea. This is a beautiful bird, which follows or precedes these bashikouays, and feeds on the insects that fly away from the ants; it is a new species. They fly in small flocks, and follow industriously the bashikouay ants in their marches about the country. The birds eat insects; and when the bashikouay army routs before it the frightened grasshoppers and beetles, this bird, like a regular camp-follower, pounces on the prey and carries it off.
The natives have some superstitions about this bird, and it is said by them to have a devil in it. For what reason they say so I could not find out.
My old enemies the snakes were also quite abundant, and as we pushed through the woods we often saw several great anacondas hanging from a projecting bough, waiting their prey. I shot a little bird, a very curious one, which, in its fall, lodged among some vines. I was anxious to get it, and began to climb up after it. Just as I was reaching out for my bird, a snake, belonging to one of the most venomous kinds found in these woods, stuck out his head at me from the thick vine foliage. I was very much startled, and dropped down to the ground without any loss of time. I could almost feel the reptile’s breath against my face. It was a great scare. People do not get over snake bites very easily, and I am sure you are not astonished that I was frightened.
