THE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST—FIVE KINDS OF APES—THE NGINA OR GORILLA—HIS GREAT STRENGTH AND FIERCENESS—HOW HE ATTACKS MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS—OSHORIA’S ACCOUNT OF HIM.

The slaves assembled the next evening. I said to them: “Yesterday I heard about the people living in the big forest. Now tell me of the strange beasts that roam amongst the trees.”

Regundo replied: “Oguizi, there are many strange creatures living in the forest. Some of them resemble people. We call them men and women of the woods, for they have no tails and have faces like human beings. There are five kinds of them, nginas [gorillas], nshiego-mbouvÉs, nshiego-kengos, nshiegos, and kooloo-kambas. The ngina is the blackest of all. Some of the nshiegos have faces almost of the same color as yours, Oguizi.

“The one amongst these we dread more than all the others is the ngina, for he is very fierce and has the strength of many men. So we call him the ‘giant of the forest.’ There is the skull of a ‘man’ ngina on the top of my house. Look at it. I killed the creature several years ago, when I was younger. By its side is the skull of his mate.”

I looked up and in the moonlight I saw a strange-looking head with a crest on the top and powerful teeth. Its jaws had apparently more power than those of a lion.

Regundo got up, went into his house and, coming back with a gun, said: “Oguizi, this gun has killed several nginas, many elephants. The ‘mondah’ [charm] attached to it is very powerful. It has brought me good luck in hunting and is the cause of my always having killed the animals I shot, no matter how strong or how fierce they were.”

Then Oshoria rose and said: “When a hunter comes before a big adult man ngina, he feels that he must kill the ngina or be killed by him. It is sure to be one or the other.” Then after a short pause he continued: “Strange to say, the ngina has the same number of bones that we have. The babies have twenty teeth like our children; later they have twenty-eight. Then they get four more and have thirty-two teeth, like adult human beings.

“The ngina lives in the dense and most solitary parts of the forest; it is a restless creature, wandering from place to place in search of food. They never kill animals to eat them, for they feed only on berries, nuts, and fruits of the forest, and on the sugar-cane, plantains, and bananas, which they steal from our plantations, thus causing us often to go hungry. A full grown ngina can easily eat twenty or thirty bunches of green plantains or bananas a day, many scores of pine-apples, and big heaps of berries, nuts, and fruits. They eat all the time, from morning until dark. So they have to roam about in search of food, unless they discover a field of plantain trees bearing fruit; then they remain near the place until they have eaten up everything.

“A man ngina is so strong that no number of men can ever capture him. He would tear to pieces those attacking him. He can bend the barrel of a gun, and break trees, or branches of trees, that are much bigger than his thighs just as if they were reeds.”

“Tell me, Oshoria,” said I, “how nginas attack the hunters that pursue them.”

Oshoria replied: “If the man ngina is with his mate, the latter always runs away, giving a shrill cry of alarm. Then the man ngina gets up on his hind legs, standing like a man, and looks around to see where his enemy is. Then he gives yell after yell, roar after roar, until the whole forest is filled with the din of his big voice. Then he comes forward to attack, walking erect, and roaring all the time. Sometimes the yell resembles that of an angry dog, though a hundred times louder. His big vindictive gray eyes look his antagonist straight in the face, glaring vengeance, and meaning death. The hair on the top of his head moves up and down, and the hair on his body stands erect. Then he beats his chest with his huge and powerful hands. They have such big hands, Oguizi, and these are so powerful, that when they strike a man they almost cut him in two. Once I killed a big ngina, who had one arm shorter than the other, for it had been broken, probably by the blow of another ngina fighting him, but, strange to say, the arm had knitted together of itself.

“It takes a stout heart to face the monster when he comes to the attack. It is of no use to try to run away, for a ngina runs faster than a man. When he looks at his enemy he seems to say to him, ‘I am going to kill you. You are soon to die. How do you dare to come and disturb me in my solitude.’ His wrinkled black face is terrible to look at, and every time he roars, he shows his powerful teeth, which can crush the arm of a man in an instant.”

“Do they fight with their teeth,” I inquired.

“No,” he replied, “their great weapons are their big, long muscular arms, and their hands, their legs, and their feet, but especially their arms. When they have disabled or seized their antagonists, they often in their rage give a bite or two, but one way or the other it is all over with a man when he is in the clutches of the ngina. Oguizi, the huge creature has nails like those of a man.”

“How big are the nginas?” I asked.

“They are as tall as men, and vary in size also, but they have such big chests that two grown men put side by side at the back of the ngina could not be seen by a man coming from the opposite direction.”

“Where do you aim when you are going to shoot a ngina?”

“In the direction of the heart. When shot there he dies instantly, and, like men who are shot through the heart, he falls forward. Then comes a great sight. He groans, the long arms stretch out. His fingers twitch, his hands open and shut several times, and woe to the man who should find himself in his grip at that time.

“When a ngina roams in the forest where men have only spears or poisoned arrows,” continued Oshoria, “he roams undisturbed and at leisure, for no body of warriors, however brave, would dare to attack him. Though he might fall under the weight of many spears, he would succeed in killing many men first. Only guns can kill nginas. The nginas are very suspicious, and when they hear a noise in the forest they move away from it, but when they tire of being tracked they show fight. When old, the man ngina and his mate travel together with the baby. When very old the man of the woods is always alone. There is a great danger when we walk in the forest in coming suddenly upon a man ngina. Then he is sure to attack us, and if a man has no gun he is sure to be killed.

“I wish you could see a ‘woman’ ngina with her baby. They look like human beings. Just a little before dark she goes up a tree with the baby to sleep. The big fellow sleeps at the foot of the tree to keep watch, and woe to the animal that comes near.”

“Tell me, Oshoria,” said I, “do leopards attack the ngina?”

“They do sometimes. The leopards move so silently in the forest that the nginas cannot hear them approach; then the leopard springs upon the back of the ngina and fastens his teeth into his neck, while his claws are deeply imbedded in his back. Then the combat is soon over, for the neck of the ngina is torn to pieces, and he succumbs. But woe to the leopard if the ngina can seize him with his powerful hands.

“When a ngina sees a leopard on the ground, he runs towards a tree, and, setting his back against the trunk, stands in an erect posture, or seats himself. There he feels strong, and can withstand the attack of the leopard. He watches with deep, gray, sunken eyes every movement of his antagonist, trying to scare him with his yells and roars. We believe that if a leopard is bold enough to spring upon a ngina when he has his back against a tree, the ngina often succeeds in seizing the leopard by his tail as the latter springs. Then he swings the animal round and round by the tail, striking it at last against a tree, and killing his enemy instantly in that way. At other times, when a ngina succeeds in jumping upon a leopard, he puts one of his powerful hands upon his neck to prevent him from turning his head and biting him, then holding the beast with his feet, which are like hands, he breaks his spine, and tears him to pieces, biting him terribly at the same time. Just look at his teeth!” concluded Oshoria, pointing at the same time at the head on the top of the house.

“Does the ngina attack elephants?” I asked.

“I do not think the ngina attacks elephants, Oguizi. I hope you will see and kill a ngina with ‘Bulldog’ while you are with us. There are not many in the forest.”

“We must see some nginas,” I cried.

“You will meet some,” shouted the hunter in response.

When Oshoria had finished his narrative the perspiration was fairly running down his face, he had become so excited. I did not wonder, for he remembered how the huge beasts had attacked him, and he fancied that the animal was before him and that he heard his fearful yells and tremendous roars.

I said to him: “Now fill your pipe, and I will light it with my fire-stick.” After he had rested a while I said to him: “Do nginas build houses, or any shelter whatever?”

“No,” he replied, “and if any one says that he has seen a shelter built by a ngina, he lies.”

By this time it had grown late and soon all the slaves left after bidding me good-night.