forward and with one blow flattened its head against the tree
with his gun butt, and then folded the snake up and got as
much of it as possible into the bag, while the rest hung dangling
out. Ngouta, not being able to keep ahead of the Duke, his
Grace’s pace being stiff, went to the extreme rear of the party,
so that other people might be killed first if the snake returned
to life, as he surmised it would. He fell into other dangers
from this caution, but I cannot chronicle Ngouta’s afflictions
in full without running this book into an old-fashioned folio
size. We had the snake for supper, that is to say the Fan
and I ; the others would not touch it, although a good snake,
properly cooked, is one of the best meats one gets out here,
far and away better than the African fowl.
The Fans also did their best to educate me in every w a y ;
they told me their names for things, while I told them mine,
throwing in besides as “ a dash for top ” a few colloquial
phrases such as : “ Dear me, now,” “ Who’d have thought it,”
Stuff, my dear sir,” and so on ; and when I left them they
had run each together as it were into one word, and a nice
savage sound they had with them too, especially “ dearmenow,”
so I must warn any philologist who visits the Fans, to beware
o f regarding any word beyond two syllables in length as
being of native origin. I found several European words
already slightly altered in use among them, such as “ Amuck ”
— a mug, “ Alas ”— a glass, a tumbler, I do not know whether
their “ Ami ”— a person addressed, or spoken of—is French or
not. It may come from “ Anwe”— M’pongwe for “ Ye,”
You.” They use it as a rule in addressing a person after the
phrase they always open up conversation with, “ Azuna
Listen, or I am speaking.
They also showed me many things: how to light a fire
from the pith of a certain tree, which was useful to me in after
life, but they rather overdid this branch of instruction one way
and another ; for example, Wiki had, as above indicated, a
mania for bush-ropes and a marvellous eye and knowledge of
them; he would pick out from among the thousands surrounding
us now one of such peculiar suppleness that you
could wind it round anything, like a strip of cloth, and as
strong withal as a hawser; or again another which has
a certain stiffness, combined with a slight elastic spring,
excellent for hauling, with the ease and accuracy of a lady
who picks out the particular twisted strand of embroidery silk
from a multi-coloured tangled ball. He would go into the
bush after them while other people were resting, and particularly
after the sort which, when split is bright yellow, and
very supple and excellent to tie round loads.
On one occasion, between Egaja and Esoon, he came back
from one of these quests and wanted me to come and see
something, very quietly ; I went, and we crept down into a
rocky ravine, on the other side of which lay one of the outermost
Egaja plantations. When we got to the edge of the
cleared ground, we lay down, and wormed our way, with
elaborate caution, among a patch of Koko ; Wiki first, I
following in his trail.
After about fifty yards of this, Wiki sank flat, and I saw
before me some thirty yards off, busily employed in pulling
down plantains, and other depredations, five gorillas : one old
male, one young male, and three females. One of these had
clinging to her a young fellow, with beautiful wavy black hair
with just a kink in it. The big male was crouching on his
haunches, with his long arms hanging down on either side, with
the backs of his hands on the ground, the palms upwards.
The elder lady was tearing to pieces and eating a pine-apple,
while the others were at the plantains destroying more than
they ate.
They kept up a sort of a whinnying, chattering noise, quite
different from the sound I have heard gorillas give when enraged,
or from the one you can hear them giving when they are
what the natives call “ dancing” at night. I noticed that
their reach of arm was immense, and that when they went
from one tree to another, they squattered across tfle open
ground in a most inelegant style, dragging their long arms
with the knuckles downwards. I should think the big
male and female were over six feet each. The others would
be from four to five. I put out my hand and laid it on Wiki’s
gun to prevent him from firing, and he, thinking I was going
to fire, gripped my wrist.
I watched the gorillas with great interest for a few seconds,