King Quagomolo will not let us go—He shows us his plantain grove—Schemes for escape—Start on an elephant hunt—Elephants caught by traps and nets—Two natives crushed to death—Part of an elephant cut off for the idols—A native dance—The king not such a fool as we take him for—Detained by rain—Enter an hostile country—Encamp and feast—Tobacco and palm-wine make his majesty wax valiant—We keep watch—A night attack—Captured by King Sanga Tanga—How can Tubbs rejoin us—Try to explain to the king—We go to get Tom—King Quagomolo’s surprise—Return with Tom and the knapsacks—Huge apes—The Nshiego’s house—Disturb domestic happiness—Separated from my companions—See a fire—A charming family—I retreat—Climb a tree—An unpleasant visitor—I go to sleep.
Day after day passed by, and still King Quagomolo made some excuse for not allowing us to proceed on our journey. He could well afford to support us, for, savage as were he and his people in most respects, they possessed an unusually large plantation of plantains, on a piece of level ground a short distance from the lake. He took special pride in it, and invited us to pay it a visit. We could not calculate how many trees there were, though there must have been upwards of twenty thousand. The trees stood about five feet apart, and the bunches of plantains which each tree produced weighed from thirty to fifty pounds, those from some of the larger trees much more. There were several varieties even in the same grove. The king informed us that some of these trees bear fruit six or seven months after the sprouts are planted, others, again, take two or three months longer before they bear fruit; and what we may consider the finer species do not begin to bear until about eighteen months after the sprouts are put into the ground, but these last bear by far the larger bunches. This plantain grove was one of the pleasantest sights we had witnessed since we had landed on the shores of Africa. No cereal on the same space of ground, however highly cultivated, could afford the same amount of food.
We complimented the king, through Aboh, on the beauty and size of his plantation, and the fruit it contained.
“Very good for eat, but no good for trade,” was the answer. His majesty had, it was evident, an eye to commerce, and we discovered that the article which he could obtain with the least difficulty, and sell at the highest price, were elephants’ tusks. His hunters, we found, frequently went in chase of the monsters for a twofold purpose,—to obtain ivory, and to keep them at a distance from the plantain grove, among which two or three elephants in a few hours might have committed immense damage. He had arranged a grand elephant hunt, not having taken part in one since his illness. He had made up his mind that we should accompany him, believing that our rifles would be the means of securing more ivory than could his own people with their darts and spears. We hoped that if we complied with his wishes, he would be more ready to allow us to take our departure. We accordingly agreed to accompany him. Tom wished to go also, but, although he was able to walk, Charley advised him not to run the risk of again spraining his ankle, feeling sure that great activity would be required from the experience we had already had in getting out of the way of elephants.
“But I’ve been thinking, sir, that we might have a chance of making our escape while we are out hunting. We could easily slip away from the natives, and push on fast in the direction we want to go.”
“There are two objections to that,” answered Charley. “In the first place, the natives can travel through the forest faster than we can, and would soon overtake us; then, as we could not go out hunting with our packs, we should have to leave them behind us; besides which, I would rather leave the king who has treated us so hospitably, in an open fashion, with his goodwill, instead of stealing off like deserters.”
“I dare say you are right, sir,” answered Tom, “but we shall look very foolish if the king, after all, insists on our stopping with him.”
“Should such be the case, we can but take up our packs and march off, and should any attempt be made to stop us, fight the black fellows.”
“That’s the sort of plain sailing I like,” said Tom.
We were surprised next morning at the extent of the preparations made for the hunt. We found nearly four hundred men, armed with spears and javelins, assembled in the great square of the village, a large number having come from the neighbouring hamlets. The king soon came out of his palace—for so I may call it, although it was but a rude hut, thickly thatched with palm-leaves. He was dressed far more elaborately than we had hitherto seen him, with a circle of feathers on his head, and a kilt of long grass round his waist secured by a belt, to which hung a number of fetishes or charms. The skin of a leopard hung over his shoulder, to which was suspended a gun, while he carried also a long spear, ornamented with a tuft of hair at the end. The rest of the huntsmen were attired as usual, in nothing but the waist cloth, which is worn by the most savage tribes.