NEWS BROUGHT THAT GORILLAS ARE NEAR BY IN THE FOREST—THE DOGS GOT READY FOR THE HUNT—THEIR NAMES—A GRAND HUNTING COUNCIL—REGUNDO’S WISE ADVICE—CAUTIONS TO BE OBSERVED.

One morning just as I shouldered “Bulldog,” and was ready to go into the forest, Regundo came to me much excited, and said: “Oguizi, I have great news to tell you. Some men have just arrived with the news that there are nginas in the forest, and near the plantain trees.”

“Great news, indeed, you tell me, Regundo,” I replied, “and we must get ready to go and attack them. Send for Oshoria, Ngola, Ogoola, and Quabi.”

“Yes,” said Regundo, “for they are your hunters, and wherever you go they must follow you.”

Soon my four hunters were on hand; they had also received the news about the nginas and came to tell us of what they had heard. There was great excitement among the people.

While we were sitting together Regundo said thoughtfully: “If the nginas were only contented to eat two or three big bunches of plantains or bananas, and then go away, it would not be so bad. But they pull the trees down, give two or three bites to a bunch, leave the rest, then go to another tree and do likewise, so that in a short time they have plucked twenty or thirty bunches. When tired of eating they go back into the forest and the following morning they come again and take another meal, return into the forest and late in the afternoon make their appearance again for still another meal, after which they go into the forest to sleep. But the elephants are our worst enemies; when a herd of them go into a plantain field they destroy it utterly, and often cause widespread hunger in the country.”

It was agreed that early the following morning Oshoria, Ogoola, Ngola, Quabi, and I should start with the men who had brought the news, and that we should take dogs with us. So we made preparations at once. Towards sunset fourteen of the best hunting-dogs—the fiercest and bravest, which were afraid of no beast—were tied together. Names had been given to them that denoted the qualities they possessed. They were called “Fierce,” “Never Sleepy,” “The Attacker,” “He who never runs away,” “The Catcher,” “The Never Afraid,” “The Pouncer,” “The Defier,” “The Sly,” “The Biter,” “The Jumper,” “The Runner,” “The Watchful,” “The Bloody.” They were indeed a fierce set of dogs, covered with scars, marks of the wounds they had received from the wild beasts they had attacked. They were all descended from fierce hunting-dogs. They seemed to know that they were to be led out to the fray, for they were all yelping, barking, and jumping about. They were strange-looking animals; small, with short hair, straight ears, twisted tails, and yellow and black in color.

As Regundo looked at them he said: “Oguizi, if you encounter any nginas some of these dogs will not come back; they will be killed in the fight.”

To this Oshoria returned: “Perhaps it will be so, perhaps not; for these dogs are very knowing. They know how to retire or advance; their eyes are sharp, and they will watch every motion of the nginas.”

In the evening a large idol was set in front of Regundo’s house. Women came with lighted torches, the tomtoms were brought out, and soon a dance began, accompanied by wild singing.

Later in the evening, as Regundo, Oshoria, Ngola, Ogoola, Quabi, and I were seated by a bright blazing fire, Regundo broke the silence and said: “Oguizi, when people go hunting, they have to be careful about not getting lost in the great forest. Often hunters have to leave the paths or have to walk in small streams for a long time, to get to a path further on. Their eyes have to be very sharp in order not to pass it by. In many places the hunting paths are very difficult to follow as there are hardly any traces of them, or they disappear entirely for a while on account either of the growth of the jungle over them, or of fallen trees. Many of these paths are seldom trodden and have to be followed with the greatest of care. At certain places a number of paths come together or diverge in different directions. In this case it is very important to make no mistake, otherwise one goes entirely out of his way. So when one gets into a path that is almost entirely obliterated, or leaves the hunting path, his eyes must notice everything round him, every peculiar tree, every stream, every rock.

“But this is not enough, for often when one is lost he fancies that he has seen such and such a tree before, though really he has not. It is necessary therefore to make marks with your knife upon the bark of trees; to break now and then young boughs of trees on your right and on your left; to collect big handfuls of leaves and to put them together on the ground; to cut off branches and lay them across the path. By doing this carefully people do not get lost. By following these marks one returns to the point whence he started. One can never be too careful, for it is very dangerous to be lost in the great forest. If you have been bewitched you may die of starvation, find neither wild honey, berries, nor nuts. Or you may go so far out of your way that you come to a land inhabited by another tribe than yours and then you are captured and made a slave. Once lost it is very difficult to get back to your starting-point. You turn round and round without knowing it. Once I was lost, and when evening came I found myself by the same big tree I had left in the morning.”

Here Regundo took a long breath and lighted his pipe, which had gone out while he was speaking.

Then he resumed: “Hunters must be very careful in the handling of their guns; for the forest is full of creepers and vines of all kinds. Branches continually get in the way, and any of these may catch the trigger, and the gun go off. Never have the muzzle of your guns pointed towards your body or in the direction of your neighbor.”

“You are right, Regundo,” I exclaimed. “Besides one man must never point his gun at another, even though he calls it playing. It is a very bad sort of playing. People are often killed in that manner. Then the man who was playing with his gun, says that he thought it was not loaded. A man who points his gun towards another man ought to be punished.”

“Yes, he ought,” shouted the hunters with one voice. “We hunters never play in that way with our guns.”

Then came another pause, after which Regundo continued: “A man who has not a cool head must never be a hunter. In the presence of a dangerous beast he is lost himself if he loses his head, for he cannot shoot straight. A cool head is very necessary in the presence of an elephant, a ngina, a buffalo, or a leopard, especially if you come suddenly upon them, or when they attack or charge you.”

At the end of these words of wisdom from Regundo, all shouted: “That is so, that is so.”

“Yes,” I said, “no man is a good hunter unless he has a cool head; otherwise he is sure to be killed.”

After this little interruption Regundo continued: “Hunters have to be particularly careful when they hunt elephants, especially a bull or ‘rogue elephant,’ for these often charge even when the bullet is sure to cause their death afterwards. The best thing that can happen is to kill them on the spot, then there is no danger ahead. A man must be particularly cool-headed when an elephant charges. He must stand perfectly still, looking at the beast when he comes towards him and must know exactly the time to move, and then retreat three steps, if he is not protected by a tree, just in time for the elephant to pass before him. Elephants cannot make a sudden sharp turn or stop at once when they charge. They go straight ahead and they do not return to charge the enemy a second time. One must be exceedingly careful not to approach the elephant, though he appears to be dead, for sometimes he gets up suddenly and charges, and if the hunter has not a clear field, or is encumbered by creepers or trees and cannot step backward, then the elephant will impale him, trample upon his body, or kill him with his trunk.”

“Yes, yes, that is surely so,” shouted the hunters. “Mbango was killed in that manner, two dry seasons ago. We found him dead, the elephant having trampled upon him. One of his feet had been entangled in a creeper, and he could not step backward in time.”

Regundo finished his speech by saying: “Hunters must always be very careful in shooting, so that the bullet does not hit on its way some young tree or creeper, for then the bullet not only loses its force, but deviates from its course. But,” he added thoughtfully, “all precautions are useless if witchcraft comes in, for misfortune follows the man who has been bewitched.”

As the men got up they invoked Mombo and Olombo to give them good luck. “You know that we love you, that every time we kill game we give you some,” they shouted. Then we bade each other good-night.