FAREWELL TO MBENE.

133

Accordingly, the next day every body but the children went into the fields; and the poor little ones-all who had been weanedhad but a dreary time of it playing around in the mud, and greedily munching the few ground-nuts their mothers had left them.

I found now that I must not stay long with Mbene; for, though he had enough to eat for himself, I could not live on nuts, and he found it hard to get plantains or fowls for me. The poor fellow was sorry, and even ashamed at his poverty, which in this case he could not help, as he had but moved his village lately, and they were only to plant now; so I determined to bid good-by to him without loss of time. I gave him such presents as satisfied him for his trouble and his faithfulness to me, rewarded my men according to promise and also to their gratification, and then made arrangements with Mbene to transport me to the banks of the Noya River instead of the banks of the Ntambounay River, by which I had come, for I desired to see this river also.

So for the last time Mbene and I broke together the plantain of friendship, and then I went on my way, followed by protestations of love from him which I was glad enough sincerely to reciprocate.

We were now journeying toward the Noya. About five o'clock on the first day we had a storm, whose approach caused us to stop and build ourselves a comfortable camp. Thanks to the huge leaves with which Providence has provided so many of the trees and shrubs of the African forests, this was an easy matter; and we lay comfortably sheltered, and near a cheering fire, while the thunder rolled, and a heavy rain poured down, and occasional flashes of lightning revealed grand masses of the gloomy old forest. Gradually the storm passed over; and as we lay there talking, one by one the men sank back in silence asleep. I was soon asleep myself, leaving all care to those who had the watch, and whose duty it was to see to the fires.

About midnight the screams of several leopards awoke me; but they were not very near us, our fires probably keeping them off. I had four distinct fires about my shed, and these I now carefully poked up and fed, that no hungry leopard might be tempted to rush across the lines; and then returned to sleep.

The next day we saw numerous elephants' tracks; but the great beasts avoided us, and fled in great haste when they heard us coming. They had probably been hunted, and had a watch

out. We saw, too, a strange water-snake, whose body was black, with rings of bright yellow along the whole length. My men were much alarmed when they saw it, for they said its bite was mortal; they tried to kill it with their spears, but it managed to escape them. They told me that besides being poisonous it was very good to eat, and gave as a caution that the head must be cut off immediately it is killed, in order, I suppose, to prevent its fangs from fastening on any part of the body.

At last, after some hard traveling, the forest being very dense and often swampy, while numerous streams, bridgeless, of course, had to be crossed on crazy logs, we came to a small creek leading into the Noya, which was only two or three hundred yards distant. We seized on two canoes we found empty on the creek; and as these would not hold all our party, I put in all my goods and as many men as I could make room for, and made the others promise to wait till we sent a canoe for them, which was likely to be soon. Sure enough, scarce had we emerged into the Noya, a noble stream refreshing to look upon after the wretched creeks which had been crossed for two days at very frequent intervals, than we met a couple of women fishing in two canoes. I promised them some leaves of tobacco if they would go and bring along the men, and they were only too glad to do so.

Thus we descended the Noya. The banks are clothed in this part with trees of a pleasant shape and a dark evergreen verdure, which made a favorable contrast to the immense gloomy mangrove swamps which line all these rivers near the sea-shore. Here and there we saw little native villages peeping through the woods, looking so quiet and pleasant that for the moment I could forget the horrors of witchcraft, polygamy, and other cruelties which rule even in these peaceful groves.

Toward afternoon we came to the village of a chief, Mbene's friend, who had sent a message to me to stop at his place on my way down. We were received with acclamations; all the people turned out to see me, and there was the usual singing, dancing, and cutting capers. The chief took me immediately to his own. house, the best in the town; but I was not destined to remain quiet, for presently the house and all the neighborhood began to fill up with people eager to take a look at me. I was this time doubly a hero; for they had heard of my trip to the Fan country, and had prophesied that I should be killed and eaten by those

INDIA-RUBBER VINES.

135

terrible people, of whom all these tribes seem to stand in great awe. Now that I was come back in safety, they openly proclaimed that I must be the lucky owner of a fetich of very remarkable powers. The king complimented me on my safe return, and asked why I cared to see the cannibals and go to their country.

When I answered that I went there to shoot birds and animals strange to me, there went up a general shout of astonishment, and I fear I lost somewhat of the confidence and admiration of the hearers, for they could scarce give credence to what appeared so foolish. Nevertheless, Wanga, the chief, invited me to stay as long as I pleased with him.

I got up early the next morning to take a look at the country, and try to shoot some birds for my collection and also some pigeons for breakfast. It was a fine clear morning, and I now for the first time noticed the beautiful situation of Wanga's town, which I had been too weary to appreciate the night before. It lay on the edge of a bluff, perhaps one hundred and fifty feet high, which overhung the Noya, and from whose summit I had a view of this river's course for several miles up and down. Immediately back of the town was a heavy forest of grand old trees, many of vast size both for height and thickness. The underbrush was tolerably dense, and huge vines stretched from tree to tree like gigantic snakes. Among these vines I noticed the India-rubber vine, and found it to be very plentiful in this region.

The natives looked at me as I was stuffing the birds I had killed, and were lost in wonder at what seemed to them very remarkably foolish.

I spent several days in the villages near here, and was every where received with kindness and also with curiosity. They had never seen a white man before, and of course were full of surprise, and alarm too, for a time. Others, who were more experienced, asked curious questions about the manners and customs of the white people. When I told them that a man was put into prison for having two wives, both men and women set up a shout of wonder, but seemed to think that, though the white man's country must be a great country, the white men were themselves more lucky than wise..

Wanga had promised me a new set of guides if I would stay some days with him; accordingly, I sent Mbene's men back, with proper acknowledgments, and prepared for a start with my new guides.

136

THE PEOPLE OF THE NOYA.

We were to go down the Noya for a few miles and then take the land, leaving our canoes to return.

I wanted very much to go off privately, but that would not do. The king and the whole village, male and female, about two hundred people, came down to bid me good-by, and I had to shake hands all round, which took more time than I cared to spare for the purpose. But it was the last pleasure I was ever likely to do to a people who had received me with very great kindness. One feels a strange softness about the heart on leaving one of these simple African villages, where, stranger in a strange land, he has yet been treated kindly, and all his wants supplied. The people seem really sorry to see you go; and as you leave, thinking that in all human probability you will never meet these kind people again, you feel sorrier than you expected.

We descended the Noya for a few miles, hailed at every turn by the inhabitants of villages who wished us to stop; and then abandoned our canoes and took to the land. For some miles it was very swampy, and the loads of my men made traveling difficult and tedious. I had now with me the entire results of this expedition, and this formed no light burden even for the stout, finely-made negro fellows I had. The people along the Noya are a fine-looking race, not above, but up to the "middle height," with rather intelligent features, and not very black. They seem to live very happily in their villages, though, of course, all the vices and superstitions of Africa infect them, and, once in a while, make brutes of them.

Presently we came to high land, and then the landscape regained somewhat of the beauty it had about Wanga's village, while we were able to push ahead faster over the solid ground. Toward sunset we reached a place called Ezongo, where the inhabitants, seeing our heavy loads, and supposing that I brought them vast and unheard-of amounts of trade, turned out with the greatest amount of enthusiasm to welcome me.

Their ardor cooled somewhat when they learned the contents of my packages, and I found in the course of the evening that the rascally chief or king of Ezongo, thinking I must place a great value on things I had gone so far to get, had determined to hold me till I paid a heavy price to get away.

I was very angry at this outrage; but for a while things looked as though I should have trouble. I determined not to submit

ATTEMPT AT BLACK-MAIL.

137 to an imposition which would leave me empty-handed and defenseless, even if it would have answered to let any one of these fellows impose on me under any circumstances. There seemed likely to be a palaver. I determined to fight for my rights, but was, of course, anxious to get all settled peaceably. The king, urged on by his people, who seemed a greedy set of rascals, insisted on his price. At last, my Mbicho guides from the Noya tried to settle the matter. They were wise enough to get the king to come to me with them alone. I gave the rascal a coat and an old shirt, and told him, what was literally true, that I was very poor, and could not pay what his people wanted, and that he must be on my side. He went out at once and harangued the turbulent extortioners. I watched the result with considerable anxiety; but at last, seeing that he would succeed, paid my Wanga-town guides, and prepared to set out for Yoongoolapay, a village whose chief I had seen on the coast some time before, when he made me promise to pay him a visit on my return from the interior.

I was now really so reduced in trade that I had only a few white beads left to pay to my guides, and was glad enough to be getting down toward the territory of a man who knew me, and would probably trust me.

We arrived at our destination late in the afternoon, and were received with great demonstrations of joy. My old friend, King Alapay, was very glad to see me, and asked me to stay some days, which, being very much worn out with constant exposure and anxieties, I determined to do. His village is situated upon a high hill overlooking the surrounding country, and a beautiful stream skirts the foot of the hill. It is a charming situation, and the people who hold it I found very kind, peaceable, and hospitable.

A considerable number of independent Mbicho villages lie here within a circuit of a few miles, and live in great harmony with each other, all having prudently intermarried to such a degree that they are really one large family. I was made welcome among them all, and spent some very pleasant days in hunting, and particularly in that kind of sport called here asheza-hunting, or net-hunting-a practice very common among the Bakalai tribes.

This singular sport is very much practiced in this part of Africa, and, as it is generally successful, is a local amusement, and brings out the best traits of the natives. I was always very fond of it.