"when you will find no monkeys or other game and hunger will come upon you. Then Ndova must follow you. There are many kinds of fruits, berries, and nuts in the forest; these look very tempting, but several of them are very poisonous, and people die if they eat them. So when you see any fruit, berries, or nuts you do not know, do not eat them until you give them to Ndova first. If he eats them, these are also good for you."
"Monkeys never make a mistake; they have a gift which no man possesses. By the sense of smell they can tell if a berry, nut, or fruit is poisonous. They always smell a thing they do not know before eating it, and when it is poisonous they throw it away. If it is not poisonous, they give it a bite. In that case what is good for the monkey is good for the man. But I must tell you that often the nuts, berries, or fruits a monkey likes men do not like, for monkeys and men have not always the same taste."
After hearing the words of Rotembo I looked with renewed curiosity at Ndova. He was almost as large as Andekko. His nose was white, which contrasted strongly with the color of his dark hair tipped with whitish gray. He had long canine teeth. I was glad to hear he was gentle, for I should not have liked to be bitten by him.
"Oguizi, I give you Ndova," Rotembo said. "He is the third gift I promised you. I think you will get on well in the forest with Rogala, Andekko, and Ndova. There are two other of my slaves who are also great hunters. Their names are Shinshooko and Alapai. These three men live close together in the forest and spend their lives in hunting; they have their families with them.
"I got Ndova in the following manner," he continued. "I and my slave Rogala were hunting together near the plantation where you are going. We were lying in wait for boars, when finally we heard their grunts. We heard at the same time the chatter of monkeys above our heads. The boars came in sight and we fired. Then, to our astonishment, a little monkey fell from the tree above our heads. The firing of our guns had frightened his mother, who dropped him. He did not have the strength to hold on to the branches. I seized the little fellow and put him into my bag. The mother followed all the way back to the plantation, uttering cries of distress and anger. Sometimes she would come down to the ground, look at us, and go up into the trees again. She did not dare to approach too near us. After coming to the house we fed the little monkey with the milk of a goat and called him Ndova. His mother at the same time remained on a commanding tree close by, calling the little fellow. Soon she was joined by her mate, who added his calls to hers. They slept on a tree near the plantation that night, and we kept the baby in the house. At daylight the two big monkeys were still on the same tree, and uttered cries of anguish and distress, calling for the little fellow, but did not dare to come down.
"Three days passed and we thought little Ndova's mother had got tired and gone away for good into the forest, leaving her offspring to his fate, for we no longer heard her cries.
"We made a little bed of leaves and used to leave Ndova upon it in the sun. We had gone into our huts one afternoon. After a while I came out of the house and just in time. For Ndova's mother had apparently been watching from a tree and seeing nobody had come down and had taken hold of Ndova and was carrying him away into the forest as fast as she could. I shouted with all my might, and Ndova lost his hold and dropped to the ground.
"We went into the forest and made a trap to catch the mother, and brought the little monkey and put him in the trap. We were then sure that she would come and see him and try to get him away. When everything was ready, we hid and waited. After a time we saw a monkey quietly coming down a tree. It was the mother; we recognized her by her white nose. She uttered a sound of joy as she approached Ndova. Then she got into the cage, and the trap-door closed behind her.
"When we came towards the cage, the big monkey was much frightened. We took the cage with us.
"The mother nursed the little one for over ten moons (months), and after that she stayed with him until she died. By that time Ndova could take care of himself, and had learned the language of the ndova monkeys from his mother.
"After the death of his mother, Rogala took Ndova, who had grown fond of him, into the forest every day, to find food for himself, leading him by a string. Often the monkeys of his kind would come around above his head and talk to him, and Ndova would answer them. After a time Rogala tied a long rope to Ndova, so that he might go higher up the trees after fruits. Then came the time when Ndova could talk very loud and call other ndovas to him, and Rogala found that Ndova had become very useful. Rogala, Ndova, and Andekko are now three inseparable friends. Ndova and Andekko are great chums, for they love to play together."
I thanked Chief Rotembo for his valuable gifts, and said that they would be of great service to me, and promised that when ready to leave the country I would return Ndova and Andekko to him.
When Rogala heard these words, a broad grin of satisfaction overspread his face. He was the keeper of Andekko and Ndova, both of whom were his constant companions. He was afraid that Rotembo had given them to me for all time.
I gave a bone to Andekko, who was inclined to growl at me at first, and a ripe plantain to Ndova, who gave a peculiar "Oh oh" to show his joy. I found afterward that Ndova was very fond of ripe plantains and bananas.
"I will feed Ndova and Andekko often," said I to Rogala, "so that they may get accustomed to me."
I often think that if it had not been for Andekko and Ndova I should probably have died of starvation in the great forest.
A few days afterwards Rotembo came to me and said: "Oguizi, I want you to give me some of your hair. I shall consider this the greatest gift that I have ever received."
My hair had become very long and hung over my shoulders. I had let it grow, for it excited great wonder among the natives. It was very black and silky. So I pulled out half a dozen hairs and presented them to Rotembo. As soon as he received the gift, he muttered words I could not understand, then took his little idol from the bag that always hung by his side, and wound two of the hairs round and round its neck. The four others he carefully put aside in a little wooden box. After this he looked perfectly happy, and said to me, "Oguizi, the six long hairs you have given me are more valuable in my eyes than many tusks of elephants, brass kettles, wives, or slaves."
I often wished I had had flaxen hair and blue eyes instead of black hair and hazel eyes, for I should then have appeared still more wonderful in the eyes of these wild and savage men.
CHAPTER III
PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE – OFF FOR FOREST AND JUNGLE – A HERD OF ELEPHANTS – WE CAMP FOR THE NIGHT – NDOVA CALLS MONKEYS OF HIS TRIBE WITHIN RANGE – WE KILL TWO OF THEM – FEEDING ON ROAST MONKEY – A DESERTED HOUSE – A STORY OF WITCHCRAFT
A short time after I received these gifts from Rotembo, I made preparations to enter the great forest, to live with Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai, and Andekko the dog, and Ndova the monkey.
I put all my things together, – the precious tin box containing my sextant, etc., matches, and a bottle containing my quicksilver, a little iron pot, a frying-pan, a small coffee-pot, three pairs of laced boots, some fire steel with flints, files, two axes, one machete, and some medicines. I took also a shot-gun, my rifle "Bulldog," and a lighter rifle, powder, and ammunition.
When everything was ready, I called Rogala, and showing him the "precious box," I said to him: "Of all the things I possess, I think most of this box. You alone shall carry it on your back,, and no one must ever open it, for if he does, great misfortune will happen to him."
At daylight the following morning we loaded our canoe with my outfit, Rogala carrying my "precious box." Rotembo and his people followed us to the shore, and when we were ready to start, in a loud voice Rotembo invoked the spirits of his ancestors, Kombe and others, to follow me. After we had left I saw him seated on the ground before his little idol, talking
