ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPA1GN PRODUCTION NOTE University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library Brittle Books Project, 2014.COPYRIGHT NOTIFICATION In Copyright. Reproduced according to U.S. copyright law (JSC 17 section 107. Contact dcc@librarv.uiuc.edu for more information. This digital copy was made from the printed version held by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was made in compliance with copyright law. Prepared for the Brittle Books Project, Preservation Department, Main Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2014THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 916.7 B26a i •••ACROSS THE GREAT CRATERLAND TO THE CONGOACROSS THE GREAT CRATERLAND TO THE CONGO A SEQUEL TO " THE WONDERLAND OF THE EASTERN CONGO" Describing a Journey of Exploration and Research to the hand of the Giant Craters in Tanganyika Territory, and to the ForestsLakes, and Volcanoes of the South-Eastern Congo. With some Account of the African Apes, and the Capture and Training of the African Elephant BY T. ALEXANDER BARNS, F.R.G.S., F.E.S. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY J. W. GREGORY, D.Sc., F.R.S. PROFESSOR OF GEOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW LONDON ERNEST BENN LIMITED 8 Bouverie Street, E. C. 4 1923MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BILLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER.PREFACE V ^ As the journey which I have attempted to describe in the following pages owes its inception directly to a certain event which took place on my last Congo Expedition in 1921-22, and described in my previous work entitled " The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo," the present narrative is, in every sense of the term, a sequel to the last one. This venture, which my wife and I together em- barked upon, was primarily a romantic quest for a new and gorgeous butterfly reported to exist—and verified by my own observation—in the forests of West Africa and the Congo, but which had never been captured. An undertaking made possible by the sporting spirit, and unfailing interest in entomology, of my friend Mr. James J. Joicey, of The Hill, Witley, Surrey, to whom I owe a deep debt of thanks for the material support he so generously extended to the enterprise. The excursion, for it was little more, that I made over the Highlands of the Great Craters was merely " by the way." I had to reach the Belgian Congo «§ by one route or another, so I naturally took the most interesting, if not the easiest. Since my visit to this ^2 remarkable region—inspired, I have no doubt, by my £ published descriptions of the country—not a few «■ people have gone there. In fact, it is on the highroad ** to become one of the show places of Africa. This is |Nill to the good, for it will awaken public interest in ' 5PREFACE The Tanganyika Territory, about which so few people know anything. But save the wild animals. With such a unique natural game sanctuary as the Ngoron- goro Crater, it would be a thousand pities not to make it so, in fact. When passing through this " Craterland," and, more, when writing about it, I felt my incompetency to do justice to its remarkable features, especially from a geological standpoint. Being nothing of a geologist, and realising that many people would wish to know more about its age, its structure, and its relation to the south-eastern branch of the Great Continental Rift of Africa alongside, and partially within which, it lies, I communicated my failings to the greatest authority on these matters, Dr. J. W. Gregory, F.R.S., Professor of Geology to the University of Glasgow, with the result that he generously consented to write an Introduction to this book dealing with these matters, and for which I feel very much in his debt. Then, referring to that part of Chapter XI. which deals with the capture and training of African elephants, let me thank Monsieur E. Leplae, Directeur General of the Belgian Colonial Ministry, for his kind per- mission to use the interesting matter contained in his report on this subject, and for the interesting photo- graphs he has supplied me with. In regard to this, two facts may be emphasised and which speak for themselves—one is, that no other report of this kind has ever been prepared before; and the other, that the Elephant Training Establishment at Api in the Belgian Congo is the only place of its kind in Africa. We are indebted to the Belgians, but especially to the Belgian Royal Family, for the only serious and successful attempt ever made to train African elephants. 6PREFACE Finally, I would ask the indulgent reader not to criticise the style of my writing too severely (my photo- graphs, I feel, will please, for whatever they may be lacking in, it will not be in care of reproduction, for the art book publishing department of Messrs. Ernest Benn, Ltd., is second to none). Just looked upon as a plain tale plainly told it will, I trust," pass muster." I even hope that some may find in it the lure of Africa's " Broad Highway," for I have tried to conjure up and faithfully portray all that is " best and bravest " of what we found as we roamed that expansive thorough- fare—all of beauty, if something of the bizarre as well. The vast expanse of Africa is scarcely comprehended by most people, but some idea may be gained of its size when it is realised that its area is considerably larger than all Europe (including European Russia), all India, half of Australia, and all New Zealand put together. Truly, an expansive thoroughfare ! But bear with me, dear reader, and we will pass along it together. But, first, to get the atmosphere—" The Caravan !" Fifty or sixty heathen souls with half a hundred loads— A gibbering, dusky throng that rolls along the Northern Roads— A tattered hammock, and the rest—we know it, stick and stone, We who have left the pleasant West in yearning for our own» The London streets lie far behind, the London lights are dim— Our comrades here are Heathen Kind, who chant the Heathens' Hymn, And moonlit camp, and sunlit joy, and stubborn sable clay Replace the Carlton and Savoy—alack and well-a-day ! Feathery bush and tufted grass, and silver mists of morn, And smouldering fires when we pass the camping-place at dawn, And silent beasts that prowl at night, and slink and crouch and creep Round and about the firelight when all the world's asleep. 7PREFACE The ragged, jagged screen of trees, the belt of bush between, The spacious upland where the breeze peeps out across the scene, The shrouded streams that wind away in shadow at high noon, The tiny tasselled clouds that play about a silver moon. The paths that thread their twisted line beneath a brazen sky, And raw-limbed cactuses* that twine above as we go by, And silent ghosts that shuffle past aloof, as ghosts should be, From shadows where their lot was cast into Eternity. This is the world we left behind, en route for London Town, This is the world we hoped to find when Pleasures weighed us down— This is the world that Nature made—her own peculiar star— Wherein She plies her eerie trade, unhindered and afar. We love each whisper of the wind, each rumour of the road— Each frowsy goatskin slung behind, and every knotted load, Each red-brown village framed in smoke among the feathered maize, Even the belt of scrub that cloaks the glories of the ways. God gave the Heathen woes enough—but deep content as well, Fashioning him from sterner stuff to bear a sterner hell— The soft-skinned darlings of the West may cling to Fortune's lap— Our lot, perhaps, is still the best, marching across the map. Cullen Gouldsbury in " From the Outposts" T. A. B. Hove, September, 1923. * The poet had in mind cactus-like plants, as no true cacti are to be found in Africa.—T. A. B. 8CONTENTS chapter page PREFACE - - - - 5 INTRODUCTION - - - - - 13 I. REDISCOVERY—THE LAND OF THE GIANT CRATERS - 25 II. PAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO, THE CRATER CITY OF WILD ANIMALS - - - - "34 III. THE REALMS OF VULCAN AND THE LIONS OF NGORONGORO 53 IV. POLYGLOT PEOPLES—IRAKU AND IRANGI, AND OUR JOURNEY FROM THE CRATERLAND TO TANGANYIKA - -69 V. IN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX"—WILD LIFE ACROSS THE CONGO, AND OUR SEARCH FOR THINGS THAT ARE NEW - 88 VI. IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL—ROAMING THROUGH THE CONGO FOREST AND EXPLORING THE MOKOTO LAKES - I06 VII. AFRICAN APES—GORILLA AND CHIMPANZI HUNTING ON THE KIVU VOLCANOES - - - - - 126 VIII. ROUND LAKE KIVU—RAKWATARAKA AND THE FAIRY FOREST OF RUGEGE - - - - - - 152 IX. SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT—THE RUSISI AND " LOOPING THE LOOP " ON TANGANYIKA - - 172 X. ACROSS THE TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND, AND THE MAN-EATERS OF THE MARUNGU - - - 190 XI. AFRICAN ELEPHANTS — THEIR PURSUIT, CAPTURE, AND TRAINING ------ 206 XII. STORM AND SUNSHINE ON THE MWERU LAKE—OVER THE KUNDELUNGU TABLELAND TO THE KATANGA - - 241 XIII. MIND PICTURES—ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL - - 263 APPENDICES ------ 270 INDEX ------- 273 9LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS All photographs copyrighted in the British Empire and United States of America.—T. Alexander Barns. FIG. 1. ngorongoro, the greatest crater in the world Frontispiece FACING PAGE 2. the kibo summit (19,328 feet) of kilimanjaro—the highest mountain in africa - - 34 3. looking across the floor of the east african rift valley - - - - - 40 4. looking towards ngorongoro across the belt of tropical forest that surrounds it on the east- 42 5. the lemunge where it commences its fall into ngorongoro - - - - "44 6. our first view of the great central crater of ngoro- ngoro and—lying within it—the magad lake - 46 7. "a sea of backs with an undercurrent of legs " - 48 8. the mud flats along the eastern shore of lake magad 50 9. looking northward across the floor of ngorongoro to the ololmoti volcano in the distance - 50 10. sir charles ross and the author - - 52 11. " d. l." and one of her mules - - "52 12. the remarkable clover pasture of ngorongoro - 54 13. oldonyo-lengai - - - - - "54 14. the crater of ololmoti - - - 56 15. masai women packing their donkeys for a trek across the craters - - - - - -58 16. crater flowers^ - - - - - - 60 17. on the rim of elanairobi ! - - - 62 18. the southern half of the crater lake of elanairobi 64 19. ngorongoro, looking south from ololmoti - - 66 20. oldonyo-lengai, or the " mountain of god " - 66 21. oldonyo-lengai, the rose and silver " mountain of god" - - - - - 68 22. ready for the lions ! - - - - 70 10LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. FACING 23 . THE END OF A SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT IN THE " GREAT CRATER " 24. OUR CAMP IN THE EUPHORBIA FOREST - 25. A LONELY SCENE - 26. " THE WONDER CRATER OF THE WORLD " 27. BENEATH OLDEANI !----- 28. CRATER FLOWERS ------ 29. THE GIGANTIC AERIAL BULB OF 1' ADENIA GLOBOSA " 30. CRATER FLOWERS ------ 31. CLOSELY CULTIVATED ! - 32. A WAMBULU HOMESTEAD - 33. A WAGOGO WOMAN - 34. A MANGATI BELLE - 35. THE KONDOA FIRE KING AND HIS BURNING BRAND 36. CRATER FLOWERS ------ 37. CATTLE AND PADDY-BIRDS AT KINDU ON THE UPPER CONGO 38. OUR TWO ENTERTAINERS—" TICKY " AND " POLLYPOPS "- 39. " MUNOMBO—THE PIRATE " - 40. " BREEDING THE DARK GERM OF CANNIBALISM " 41. APPROACHING THE MOKOTO LAKES - 42. SKETCH-MAP OF THE MOKOTO LAKES - 43 AND 44. A MALE AND A FEMALE GORILLA IN PROFILE 45 AND 46. A WEST AFRICAN GORILLA FROM THE FRENCH CAMEROONS ------ 47. BAMBOO GROUND SHOOTS- - 48. A BAHUTU BEEHIVE IN THE RUGEGE FOREST 49. A MALE GORILLA LAID OUT FOR SKINNING 50. " NO HEEL-TAPS " - 51. JOHN DANIEL AND HIS PLAYMATE, MISS ESME PENNY 52. A GIANT GORILLA FROM THE KARISIMBI VOLCANO 53. A WAMBUTI PYGMY - 54. A SEMI-PYGMY BUSHMAN - 55. WHISTLING THE RAIN AWAY - 56. MRS. DE RIDDER, AT KISENYIES, RECOVERING FROM A MAULING BY A LION - - - 57. AN IDEA FOR TOY-MAKERS ! 58. A CRATER-ISLAND AT THE NORTH END OF LAKE KIVU 59. A GLEN IN THE RUGEGE FOREST - - - - 60. MY FRIEND—RAKWATARAKA - 61. RAKWATARAKA OF ISCHARA - II PAGE 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 92 94 94 96 98 98 108 114 124 126 128 130 130 132 134 134 "144 I5° !SO *52 156 158 l60 162 l62LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIG. FACING PAGE 62. A MARKET IN PROGRESS AT CHA-NGUGU ON THE SHORES OF LAKE KIVU - - - - - -164 63. THE BUREAU DE CHANGE AT THE CHA-NGUGU MARKET - 166 64. " FAIRYLAND " - - - - - - 168 65. THE SEMI-PYGMY BATWA OF THE LAKE KIVU REGION - 170 66. PYGMY WOMEN OF THE CONGO FOREST - - - I70 67. TROPHIES FROM THE LUVUA VALLEY - 2o6 68. BOWEN, THE ELEPHANT POACHER, WITH HIS RECORD COUP 222 69. A YOUNG ELEPHANT AT API TRAINED TO FELLING TREES BY PUSHING THEM OVER - 222 70. FOUR TRAINED AFRICAN ELEPHANTS AT API - - 238 71. MONSIEUR VERMEERSCH - - - - -238 72. BUFFALOES - 240 73. TWO YOUNG LIONS THAT ROAM AT WILL ROUND THE API STATION ------ 240 74. MORNING ON THE LUVUA RIVER, SHOWING THE RIFT FORMATION OF THE VALLEY ABOVE THE RISING MIST 242 75. THE BARGE ON LAKE MWERU - 248 76. PREPARATIONS FOR CROSSING THE UNINHABITED KUNDE- LUNGU PLATEAU - - - - - 256 77. INTO THE LAKE MWERU RIFT - - - - 258 78. A RAFFIA PALM FOREST IN THE KATANGA- - - 260 79« " LAUGHING WATER " ----- 262 80. NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS ------ 264 81. NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS ------ 266 82. NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS - - - - 268 THE PLATEAU OF THE GIANT CRATERS at end ROUTE OF THE EXPEDITION, 1921-22 - - at end 12INTRODUCTION Eastern Equatorial Africa is remarkable for the variety and extent of its volcanic formations. They include lofty volcanic cones, of which the highest, Kilima Njaro, has a crater filled with perpetual ice and snow; vast lava fields such as the Athi Plains, which are crossed by the Uganda railway near Nairobi; the worn stumps of ancient volcanoes, such as Kenya; and powerful young volcanoes, such as the group to the north of Lake Tanganyika, which may be part of Ptolemy's " Mountains of the Moon." Most of the volcanoes are extinct, but the description given of one of them, known as Doinyo Ngai or Oldonyo-iengai, " The Mountain of God," by an Arab trader more than fifty years ago showed that it was still active. The first European to see a volcanic eruption in Eastern Tropical Africa was G. A. Fischer, one of the pioneers in the exploration of Masailand. He passed Oldonyo-iengai in 1883 when it was in active eruption. To the south-west of this mountain lies a volcanic region containing a series of huge depressions. The greatest of them, Ngorongoro, was marked on maps in 1870 from the reports of Arab traders. The first accurate information regarding this hollow mountain was obtained by Oscar Baumann, who visited it in March, 1892. He recognised the volcanic nature of its rocks, and described the mountain as a ruined crater. The many features of special interest in the Engotiek Highlands near 01*donyo-lengai and Ngorongoro * 01 is the Masai for " the." 13INTRODUCTION led to their careful investigation by several German explorers, especially Professor Fritz Jaegar, whose memoirs are illustrated by a series of valuable maps (published 1909, 1911, 1913) showing the chief features of the geography, vegetation, and geology. He named the district the " Hochland der Riesen- krater," that is the Highlands of the Giant-Craters. Subsequently, Dr. H. Reck added to the attraction of the district by the discovery of some extinct animals, including an elephant, a baboon, and also a human skeleton, a welcome addition to the still scanty yield of fossils by Central Africa. The first British traveller to visit and describe these volcanic highlands is Mr. T. Alexander Barns, and his account of his travels will be read with special interest, owing to the alluring problems on which his work throws further light. The first problem of these volcanic highlands is the nature of the " Giant Craters for if they be ordinary craters, they are by far the greatest on the earth. " Crater " is the Latin word for a bowl or basin used in cooking; the corresponding Greek word was given to a bowl for mixing wine and water. The term is applied in geography to the bowl-shaped hollow at the summit of a volcano through which the erup- tions take place. The word is adopted by many geographers for any hollow in a volcanic mountain. According to this wide use of the term, there are five chief varieties of craters. The normal variety is a pit left by the piling up of lava or volcanic ashes in a ring-shaped hill around the mouth of a volcano. Such craters include the central pits of Vesuvius and Etna. A second variety includes pits made by volcanic explosions, such as those which in A.D. 79 blew away 14■^8 FIG. i.—NGORONGORO, THE GREATEST CRATER IN THE WORLD. It is 12 miles in diameter, 35 miles in circumference, 2,000 feet deep, and said to contain 75,000 head of big" game, which never leave it. This photograph was taken from our camp amongst the Euphorbia trees growing on its western edge. Frontispiece.THE LIBRARY OF THE BIMilSlTV IM0ISINTRODUCTION the top of Vesuvius, and in 1883 tore Krakatoa into particles of dust that floated for months in the air. The military use of the term for cavities made by explosions is justified by these explosion-craters. A third variety consists of pits made by the sinking of the ground. Subsidences occur in all kinds of rocks. They are especially common in limestone countries owing to the solution of the rock by sub- terranean streams of water, and in volcanic areas owing to the subterranean cavities left by the erup- tions. The heaps of volcanic material piled on the surface, moreover, often overload it, and press down blocks of the crust. Subsidences made the wide shallow pit on the summit of Kilauea in the Hawaian (Sandwich) Isles, and made or enlarged the great caldrons in the islands of La Palma and Grand Canary. A fourth variety of craters includes pits excavated on volcanic mountains by streams of water aided by rain and wind or by the sea. These excavating agents are especially powerful on volcanic deposits, which often consist of alternate layers of loose and compact beds. The loose materials are easily washed away, and the hard layers fall when they are undercut. A fifth variety consists of pits due to the fall of a colossal meteorite having punched a hole in the earth and ridged up the ground around like the raised rim made when a projectile pierces a sheet of armour. These five varieties may be termed respectively upbuilt-craters, explosion-craters, subsidence-craters, erosion-craters, and impact-craters. Erosion-craters have nothing to do with volcanic action, except for the accident that the erosive agents have acted on volcanic material. The term " crater "is as inappropriate to them as it would be to other hollows worn out by wind and water. Subsidence- and impact-craters are also due 15INTRODUCTION to agencies which are essentially non-volcanic, though they may act on volcanic areas. Hence some authorities restrict the term " crater " to the two varieties directly due to volcanic action, viz. upbuilt-craters and explo- sion-craters. Pits in volcanic mountains due to sub- sidence are then called " caldera " or caldrons, from the use of the Spanish word " caldera " for some vast volcanic pits that exist in the Canary Islands. The use of " caldera," of which the English equivalent is " caldron," as a geological term is due to Sir Charles Lyell in 1852,* though it is often attributed to a sug- gestion by C. E. Duttonf in 1882. The caldera especially discussed by Lyell is that in the island of La Palma, which is, therefore, the typical volcanic caldron or caldera. It is a pit three to four miles in diameter, and is surrounded by cliffs from 1,500 to 2,500 feet in height. Lyell, in discussing the origin of this caldron, said there were three possible explana- tions. It might have been formed by a volcanic explosion, a view which he rejected. Secondly, it might have been due to water having hollowed out the cavity; and Lyell considered that this process helped " in part at least." The third possibility, which he ultimately accepted, is that the summit of the volcano had fallen in. In a longer discussion of this problem in 1865 Lyell % definitely adopted the distinction between crater and caldera. He also applied the name caldera to the large pit on Kilauea in the Hawaian Islands, and attributed it to the infall of the top of the mountain {op. cit,, p. 619). " Subsequent engulfment and denudation" after the volcano had * " A Manual of Elementary Geology," fourth edition, pp. 390-396. f In Fourth Annual Report of the United States Geological Survey, pp. 86,105. t " Elements of Geology," sixth edition, pp. 616-619. 16INTRODUCTION ceased to be active, he clearly regarded (ibid., p. 619) as the essential feature of a volcanic caldron. He stated in the course of a long description of the caldera of La Palma (1865, pp. 621-635), that it " may have consisted at first of a true crater, enlarged afterwards into a caldera by the partial destruction of a great cone " (p. 632). Dutton, in his description of Kilauea, adopted the same explanation as Lyell, and also suggested that such infall pits should be called " caldera." The term " crater," Dutton said, is a misnomer for them, and gives rise to serious misconceptions. The Lago di Bolsena in Italy (10J miles in diameter), the Crater Lake in Oregon (5I miles in diameter), Mono Lake in California (15 miles in diameter), Santorin in the Greek Archipelago—which is 6 miles in diameter, and was described by Lyell as a caldron (" Principles of Geology," eleventh edition, vol. ii., p. 71)—are other examples of caldrons or subsidence- craters. The first problem, then, in regard to the Engotiek Highlands is to which of these five varieties of crater its vast pits belong. There is no reason in their case to consider their formation by the fall of meteorites. It is equally clear that they were not due to erosion, for in the two largest, Ngorongoro and Elanairobi, the rim is complete, so that there is no outlet. In those with an outlet, such as Loolmalasin and Lo Ossirwa, the gash through the rim was cut later than the central hollow; the outlet may, in fact, be a conse- quence of the hollow and not its cause. Again, Ngorongoro is not a crater in which the vol- canic pipe occupied the whole floor. The pit is far too large for an upbuilt-crater. It is twelve by eleven miles in diameter, and is surrounded by steep walls 17 BINTRODUCTION from 1,700 to 2,000 feet high. On its floor is a lake four miles long. A volcanic pipe of nearly 100 square miles in area is far larger than any known on earth. Unlike Ngorongoro,upbuilt-craters are pits on the sum- mit of volcanic cones, and they are comparatively small. The crater of Vesuvius is only about 600 or 800 yards in diameter. Etna has a crater about a mile wide, on the top of a cone about 10,800 feet high. The crater of Matavanu, the great volcano of Savaii in the Samoan Isles, is about 400 yards across. The largest crater in Iceland is 2,200 yards long by 800 yards wide. Ngorongoro differs from all these upbuilt-craters by its relatively low rim and by the immensity of its basin, which is twelve miles in diameter. It is obvious that the mouth of the volcanic pipe of Ngorongoro must have occupied only part of the floor. The problem is, What enlarged the depression above the mouth into the present huge basin ? The common method of formation of large craters with low rims is by explosion. The most famous crater made by a volcanic explosion , is that which blew away the summit of the older Vesuvius in a.d. 79 and buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The northern part of the base of the mountain was left as an amphitheatre, which is known as Monte Somma. On its floor the modern cone of Vesuvius has been up- built* A better investigated explosion in 1883 blew up the island of Krafcatoa. The island before that date was, like Monte Somma at Vesuvius, part of the base of a volcanic cone, of which the upper part had been destroyed by a prehistoric explosion. This old explo- sion-crater was three to four miles widet The largest explosion-crater made by a known eruption is that of Katmai in Alaska. On June 6th, 1912, an explosive eruption blew off the upper part 18INTRODUCTION of that mountain, hurled into the air five cubic miles of shattered rock, and left below the former cone a crater three miles in diameter and in places 3,700 feet deep. Another large explosion-crater is that of Cuicacha in Ecuador, which is about two miles long by a mile and a half wide. The shape and relatively low rim of Ngorongoro are features in which it resembles some explosion-craters. Naturally, there- fore, the first hypothesis as to its origin attributed it to an explosion that would have been many times more powerful than that of Katmai, which is at present regarded as the most violent in the history of volcanic phenomena. The evidence against the formation of the vast pits in the Engotiek Highlands by explosions appears, however, conclusive. Explosive eruptions scatter lumps of volcanic rock over the adjacent country, and hills built up by them consist of the coarse fragmentary materials known as tuff and agglomerate. According to Professor Jaegar, the rim of Ngoron- goro consists wholly of lava and includes no tuff. It is true that to the north-west and north-east of the Engotiek Highlands the wide Serengeti plains are formed of tuffs; but if these tuffs had been ejected from Ngorongoro and its neighbours, they would be thickest near these mountains. According to Jaegar's map, however, they are absent all along the southern and south-western margin of the volcanic area. Some specimens collected by Mr. Barns at a trough in Ngorongoro show that the floor is there covered by volcanic tuff, which has been identified by Mr. Camp- bell Smith. It is a thin bed resting on a lava flow. Mr. Barns's discovery of these tuffs agrees with Bau- mann's report of their occurrence on the mountains. According to Professor Jaegar, however, the tuffs of 19INTRODUCTION this volcanic area consist only of some insignificant patches formed at parasitic eruptive centres. If so, Ngorongoro is probably nearest in character, as Jaegar has remarked, to Kilauea, and, like that volcano, was formed as a dome of lava, low and broad in proportion to its height. The vast pits in both mountains were apparently due to the collapse of the top of the lava dome. Moreover, the lavas of the Engotiek volcanoes are not of the kinds usually associated with volcanic explosions; they are lavas which well forth quietly and build up broad piles of massive rock. A review of the evidence available in 1921 led me, when comparing the volcanic history of the Engotiek Highlands with those of Kenya Colony (" Geology and Rift Valleys of Africa," pp. 286-289), to agree with Professor Jaegar that all the probabilities were against the origin of Ngorongoro and the neighbour- ing pits by explosions. The evidence is in favour of their origin by subsidence. I therefore regarded the pits as volcanic caldrons, and referred to this mountain group as " the Giant Caldron Mountains." Mr. Barns's photographs, such as Fig. 9 and Fig. 26, and his sketch of Ngorongoro published in the Geographical Journal (December, 1921, p. 405), sup- port that view, as they show even walls like those made by subsidence and not the torn, jagged walls left by volcanic explosions. The origin of the pits by subsidence agrees not only with their shape and structure, but with their position. They occur along a band due to subsidence. Further sinkings along this band would be natural. This part of Africa consists of a foundation of ancient rocks, including gneiss, schist, and granite, and of some altered sedimentary rocks, similar to those of the Rand goldfield in the Transvaal. These rocks are all 20INTRODUCTION of great geological antiquity. They were succeeded, after an enormous interval of time, by the volcanic rocks, which are arranged like the letter L. The base lies west and east, and forms the volcanic band of Kilima Njaro, Meru, and Esimingor, over the spurs of which Mr. Barns and his companions reached Ngo- rongoro. Off lying volcanoes occur both to south and north. One of the northern members of this group is the cone'of Shomboli on the frontier of Kenya], Colony. This volcanic region is traversed by the Great Rift Valley, on the down-sunken floor of which are a series of lakes, including Magadi, Natron, and Mailyara. At the southern end of Lake Natron, a branch of the Great Rift Valley passed off south-westward to Lake Eyasi, and beyond it to the grassy plains of Wembere. The three great caldrons occur in the down-sunken trough of the Eyasi Rift Valley. They are, therefore, situated along a sunken land, and the subsidences continued after the volcanic eruptions had begun, for the faults that made the Eyasi Rift Valley have cut across the older lavas of Lemagrut, which is the westernmost volcano of the Engotiek Highlands. The later lavas from that volcano poured over the fault scarps, and the later or main series of eruptions filled up the northern part of the Eyasi Valley near its junc- tion with the main Rift Valley. As Ngorongoro and the other great pits occur, therefore, between the in- fallen basins of Lake Eyasi and Lake Natron, they occupy positions where subsidences after the volcanoes had become extinct would have been very likely to happen. Whether the division of volcanic basins into craters and caldrons will be ultimately accepted is still doubt- ful . The term "crater "is often adopted for both kinds. Mr. Barns's description of the basins of Ngorongoro and 21INTRODUCTION its fellows as giant-craters is, therefore, in accordance with the terminology adopted by many authorities. The advantage of having one term to include all the depressions in volcanic mountains may lead to them all being called craters, and the varieties specified by double names such as explosion-craters, infall-craters, upbuilt-craters, impact-craters, and erosion-craters. A second problem on which the volcanoes of the Engotiek Highlands throw light is the date of the volcanic eruptions which have given East Africa its most fertile lands. The succession of lavas in Engotiek represents, however, only the later part of the long volcanic succession known in Kenya Colony. The age and relative position of the volcanic rocks of the Engo- tiek Highlands are suggested by the following table. East African Series. Geological Age. Engotiek Equivalent. Naivashan Laikipian Nyasan Doinyan Kapitian Pleistocene Pliocene Miocene Oligocene Eocene Upper Cretaceous Oldonyo-lengai, etc. Oldowai Bone Bed. Main lavas of the highlands. Formation of Eyasi Rift Valley. ? Older lavas of Lemagrut. The evidence for the age of the different series in this succession is still scanty; but the bone beds dis- covered by Dr. H. Reck at the Oldowai Gorge, near Lemagrut, help to fix the dates. The fossils do not yet appear to have been fully described; but as the animals are extinct, the age of the bone beds is probably Plio- cene. They are, therefore, approximately contem- porary with the fossils that were collected by Dr. Oswald at Homa, on the shore of the Victoria Nyanza, and described by Dr. C. W. Andrews. 22INTRODUCTION The volcano of Oldonyo-lengai (or D. Ngai), at the south-western corner of Lake Natron, is another of the especially interesting mountains of this part of Africa. I have seen it only in the far distance from Lake Magadi. Thence it appears as a beautiful volcanic cone with a white sheen, which may be due to a volcanic mud containing some salt of soda (" Rift Valleys and Geology of East Africa," 1921, p. 287), This volcano is the most active in Kenya Colony or Tanganyika Territory, the volcanoes of the Mfumbiro group being now in part of the Belgian Congo. It appears to have been in frequent eruption between 1882, when it was seen in action by Fischer, and the violent eruption in 1917, which, with the efforts of the Masai to allay its wrath, have been described by Mr. C. W. Hobley (Journ. Nat. Hist. Soc. East Africa, vol. vi., pp. 339-343). Mr. Barns has had the privilege of visiting this mountain, and his interesting descrip- tion adds materially to our knowledge of it. Some points regarding it are still uncertain, and the nature of the white material in its volcanic ash will remain doubtful until some of it is collected and analysed. Evidence to lay the existing doubts as to the nature and formation of the wonderful basins of Engotiek should soon be available. Mr. Barns's paper on these neglected highlands in the Geographical Journal (De- cember, 1921) has already directed British travellers to them; and his book, with its graphic description of their magnificent scenery, their gorgeous flower-beds, and the abundance and tameness of the game, which make Ngorongoro the most remarkable zoological garden in the world, will help to secure the fulfilment of his prediction that Engotiek will become one of the show places of Africa. The later chapters of Mr. Barns's book will be read 23INTRODUCTION with interest from their account of his long journeys in the eastern part of the Belgian Congo. His in- structive observations in that region fill a gap in African literature. The war has made profound changes in tropical Africa, of which the most fundamental may be its effect on the attitude of the negro to the European. Attention has been diverted by the war from the essen- tial progress of the country. Mr. Barns, in addition to his thrilling personal adventures, has given illuminat- ing sketches of the condition of central Africa in recent years; he shows the steady progress of the Upper Congo under the efficient administration of our Belgian allies, and in one chapter tells the story of how, by mag- nificent perseverance, the Belgians have added to their beneficent achievements the taming of the African elephant. 10.700* 4,200 6,500 6,200 cL a, Sections illustrating the contrast between the upbuilt-croXer of Etna ; b, the explosion-crater of Katmai (the dotted line shows the outline before the explosive eruption of 1912); the caldron of Kilauea; and d, Ngoro- ngoro. Approximately to natural scale, 1 inch = 5 miles; heights in feet. The lower line in each marks the sea-level. J. W. GREGORY. 24Across the Great Craterland to the Congo CHAPTER I rediscovery—the land of the giant craters Some one hundred and twenty-five miles west of Kili- manjaro in Northern Tanganyika Territory (late Ger- man East Africa), and about seventy-five miles west of Mount Meru, lies a region—romantic and remote— known as the Land of the Giant or Great Craters. It is a plateau composed of, and formed by, volcanic ejecta, mud and debris discharged by a group of some of the largest and most interesting volcanoes in the world. Roughly, it is about ninety miles long by some thirty broad. It is not easy of access to the ordinary traveller, for it lies away from the main caravan routes, being surrounded by waterless tracts to the north and west, and enclosed to the south, east, and north-east by extensive lakes and active craters. When referring to this part of East Africa, Sir Harry Johnston writes:" This region, so curiously withdrawn from the other great watersheds of East Africa, sending its rivers neither towards the Indian Ocean, nor to Tanganyika, nor to the Nile basin, but using them up in large and small salt lakes, in measureless swamps, and vast depressions that were once shallow lakes in times of greater rainfall; of rift valleys and faults; of large, small, and even gigantic craters, the rims of 25EARLY INFORMATION ON which reach almost to snow level; of conifer forests; of grassy prairies teeming still with game; of beauti- fully moulded hills and wooded valleys; of tumultuous rivers that flow for hundreds of miles, and then sink into the ground and finish; of hot mineral springs; of phosphate and soda deposits—is deserving of the most minute research. Its dried-up lake-beds are believed to contain deposits of Pleistocene, Pliocene, and Miocene age which may yield evidence of an earlier mammalian fauna, or may elucidate the origin of the existing mammalian types of Africa, together with the evolution of the African forms of man." It is hard to understand the reason why such a re- markable region has escaped the attention of English travellers and explorers, but such is the case. Until my article appeared in the Geographical Journal of December, 1921, very little, if anything, had been written in English about the district, either in con- nection with its natural features or natural history. Mr. Heawood, the librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, very kindly appended the following note to my article, which it is interesting to give. It is headed " Early Information on the Highlands of the Great Craters," and is as follows: " It may be of interest to note that, many years before this region was first traversed by a white man, some rough inkling of certain of its features had been gained through the careful enquiries of the early missionaries. In particular, the great mountain Oldonyo-lengai (or Donyo Ngai), the ' Mount of God,' has already appeared in the famous 4 Mombas Mission Map,' which did so much to turn attention to the East African interior about the middle of the nineteenth century. Somewhat later the data collected by the missionaries 36THE LAND OF THE GIANT CRATERS Wakefield and Farler, interpreted and mapped by geographers like Keith Johnston and Ravenstein, had supplied descriptions which made a forcible appeal to the imagination of would-be explorers. The moun- tain was said to be even higher than Kilimanjaro, though not so massive; to be a volcano with a manor a (tower or peak) on the top, from which smoke constantly ascended, causing a perpetual black cloud above it; and to exhibit ' radiating and coruscant appearances. Ngorongoro also figures in the early itineraries, not far from its true position, and would seem in those days to have not lain so aloof from caravan routes as Mr. Barns says it does to-day. It was described as a thickly populated Masai district, with many villages, in a country full of big game, where the caravans remained about twenty days to hunt and trade. Maps constructed from such native information were pub- lished by this Society (Journ. F. G. S., vol. xl., 1870, p. 303; Proc. R. G. S., N.S., vol. iv., 1882, p. 776), accompanied by the text of the itineraries. It may be said that since the occupation by the English of late German East Africa, now known as The Tanganyika Territory, parts of it are being re- discovered. As was bound to be the case during and after the war, many people began to study the map of this part of Africa, and whether it was the financier, the explorer, or the big-game hunter and naturalist who conned the sectional map of this huge area, he could not help being struck by the extraordinary configuration of that part of it known as the Eyasi Section, B 4, west of Kilimanjaro, and to wonder to himself why he had neither heard anything con- cerning it nor why (if he enquired) could so little be found out about it. 27EARLY EXPLORERS OF To the African traveller with the wanderlust full upon him, a mere glance at this map will touch a chord within him, the sounding of which, and like the Pipes of Pan, he will find hard to resist. To my cost, be it said, I am one of this ilk, and the map being once seen and the seed sown, so to speak, I determined to visit Eyasi on the first opportunity, and see for myself the wonders spread out there and styled so surprisingly " The Land of the Great Craters." My interest in the place dates from the day I met Sir Harry Johnston, who was, perhaps, the first to realise what a wonderful place this " Craterland " must be and what a little was known about it. It was he who, unable at this time to make the journey himself, first brought the region under my notice, advising me to go there. However, owing to a press of work, it was not until the actual day of my de- parture from England that I was able to take a pro- longed look at the map sent me by Mr. A. R. Hinks, F.R.S., Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. Before describing my journey through the country, I will begin by giving my readers a few details con- cerning it, but as nothing was known of the district in England and I am unable to read German, these I had to find out for myself on the spot, and during my sojourn in the neighbourhood itself. It appears that the region first became known to the Germans with any accuracy some thirty years ago, through the journeys of the explorers Baumann, Abel, Bast, Glauning, Count Gotzen, and others. So far as I am aware, nothing is known as to who was the first white man* to discover the existence of these # It was Baumann. He was the first European to see Ngo- rongoro, and reached there in 1892.—J. W. G. 28THE LAND OF THE GIANT CRATERS gigantic craters, forming the core, as it were, around which this high volcanic plateau rests. This is the more to be wondered at, as such a discovery may well rank with that of Kilimanjaro or Kenya. The district is inhabited by the wandering pastoral Masai, and it is interesting to note that they tell a tale of the first white people to come there, describing them as two white men and a woman, and then again another visit of whites who are described as riding on giraffes, which I take to be an expedition mounted on camels. To the Germans it was known as Das Hochland der Riesenkrater, or the Winter Hochland; by the natives inhabiting the Arusha district it is called Engotiek, and is now known on English maps as the Highlands of the Great Craters or the Engotiek Plateau. When the Germans first attempted to administer the district, they started by building a small fortress in the Wambulu or Iraku country to the west of the south end of Lake Manyara, from which they hoped to subjugate the inhabitants to the north. In this they were opposed by a powerful and wily old Tatoga chief called Saigilo, who had a strong hold on the natives, being much revered by them as a great ma- gician, and who gave the Germans no end of trouble. Now Saigilo was an old man, and although his tribe, the Tatoga, are now to be found far away to the south of Lake Eyasi, in his father's time they were rich in cattle and powerful, owning most of the great plateau to the north, including the Ngorongoro Crater. Thus we know that the Masai, who now graze their cattle and live among the Great Craters, were not the original owners of this splendid country, but drove out the Tatoga and their sub-tribe the 29GERMAN INTEREST IN Kisamjangs, whom they found there—a people of Nilotic stock, closely allied to the Masai themselves. The title, " The Land of the Giant Craters," would seem to smack of the cinema or sensational fiction, but, as a matter of fact, it exactly describes this ex- tensive volcanic plateau, which is fairly honey- combed throughout its terraced length with craters and calderas of all sizes, from the giant Ngorongoro— the largest volcanic formation of this type in the world*—to " fairy-rings " and verdure-clad " blow- holes " only a few yards in diameter. As the Germans contemplated opening parts of the plateau for white settlement, and otherwise took a great interest in the region, small portions of the dis- trict are well surveyed; they had even gone so far as to survey a railway to Mwanza from Arusha, which was to pass through the Iraku country. Within the Ngorongoro Crater itself two farms had been granted to a family named Siedentopf, all the male members of which were very active participants in the late war, and it was Herr Siedentopf, senior, who kept the German soldiers supplied with meat rations at a critical time by shooting wildebeeste in Ngorongoro. As this crater is said to contain 50,000 of these animals, which never leave it, the task was a fairly easy one; it could, if necessary, have supplied them with meat for a very long time. In fact, not only did the Germans contemplate erecting a canning factory within the crater for this purpose, but the Kaiser himself, who shortly before the war took a great interest in the scheme, is known to have * The crater of Aso-san in Japan is said to be nine miles by fourteen, but it is more or less a ruin and divided in half by a range of hills. 3°THE LAND OF THE GIANT CRATERS remarked, more than once, that the game in Ngorongoro could support a very large army for a considerable period. There is something fantastic about writing of 50,000 animals living in a volcano, and talking of erecting a factory in one; but this is nevertheless true, and quite in keeping with other wonders of the place^ The elder Siedentopf, it appears, took some interest in archaeology, and it was due to his research that two barrows were unearthed in the crater, bringing to light two skeletons, so the tale goes, and some inter- esting ornaments that were found upon them. These may have been merely the graves of former Tatoga chiefs, or they may even have been of considerable antiquity. This I am unable to say at present, but, in any case, the find seems to have caught the interest of the then Kaiser, for in 1914 he caused the German archaeologist and geologist, Dr. Reck, to proceed to the neighbourhood and undertake a systematic survey of the Great Craters and their surroundings. What the professor found is still a matter of surmise, as war broke out shortly after his return to Berlin and the completion of his expedition, but the report goes that it included fossil human remains and skeletons of extinct animals, as well as diamonds and gold. In the meantime, it is interesting to note that those who met this Dr. Reck report his having said that " his discoveries would one day astonish the world." The truth of the report of the presence of inter- esting fossil remains is in part borne out by the fact that the Ngorongoro Crater itself and the surrounding country (in a similar manner to the process now active in the mud valley of Oldonyo-lengai to the north-east, where wild animals were known to be buried beneath 31VOLCANIC ACTIVITY OF the ejected mud during the recent eruption) have been plastered at varying intervals of geological time by successive layers of grey volcanic mud, ash, and sand, put forth by the Oldeani and Ololmoti Volcanoes when they were active; both these craters being considerably younger and having been formed after Ngorongoro. These superimposed strata of volcanic deposits are everywhere in evidence where erosion has exposed them and where " cuttings " have been formed. There is, however, no evidence to show that any of these southern craters have been active within comparatively recent times. One has not, however, to go far for a reconstructive landscape effect similar to that which must have existed over the Highlands of the Great Craters, for, sixty miles to the north-east, between the volcanoes of Oldonyo-lengai and Gelei, lies a steaming desolate grey mud-plastered country presenting the identical features that once existed right across the volcanic mass of the Engotiek Plateau. Later on I paid a visit to these " infernal regions," which I hope to describe in their due place in the following chapters. The foregoing notes, with the help of the map, will, I trust, give my readers an interest in the country through which I travelled and in the description of the journey which I am about to give. The Guildford Castle took my wife and myself south, booked for Dar-es-Salaam, where I had arranged to disembark and take the railway to Kigoma on Lake Tanganyika. During the voyage, of course, I took several long looks at the map " Eyasi, B 4," which lay rolled up in my cabin just as it reached me in London, and set to wondering if and how I might break my journey to the Congo, and squeeze in a visit to the 32THE LAND OF THE GIANT CRATERS Great Craters without interfering with my entomo- logical work. I thought it possible, if I reached Dar-es-Salaam in good time, to break my joUrney at Dodoma near Kilamatindi and pay the Craters a flying visit from there if there happened to be any means of transport up-country. The venture was continually in my mind, but I finally decided to let the idea drop—at all events, until we had disembarked. However, this was not to be, for, thrown together with other people on a long voyage such as the one I was then making, one makes acquaintances, and so it came about that I met Sir Charles Ross, an enthusiastic sportsman, the inventor of the well-known rifle bearing his name, and on big-game shooting bent. In a few days' time we were talking over my pet scheme of a trip to the Great Craterland, and, of course, out came the magic map again, and, on this being supplemented by a glowing description of the wonders of the place, with the almost immediate effect that Ross decided to join my expedition for the shooting, and that we should disembark at Mombasa, proceeding to the Great Craters via Voi and the military railway to Moshi. This was not all, however, for with Ross's party was an American Diana whom we will call D. L., and who, after a restless night and dreams of volcanoes and maps, decided she would like to come, too, under my wife's chaperonage. Then the Major had to join the expedition; he was never enthusiastic about it—possibly he was a little lacking in imagination —but, travelling with Ross, he could not well be left out. Last of all there was McMillan, the chauffeur, and he had to join up, making us a party of six. 33 cCHAPTER II past kilimanjaro to ngorongoro, the crater city of wild animals The last days of January found us entering the beauti- ful harbour of Mombasa, where the usual struggle with bags, boxes, and customs papers began. Sir Charles Ross and his party, although sumptuously equipped in the matter of rifles, ammunition, and cameras, had little else to carry them into the wilds, save some odd chairs and cushions, and, I think, a tin trunk or two of garments. It was therefore decided that I should purchase the necessary camp equipment and stores at Mombasa—no, mean task, I might say, for six people, and one that made me stand aghast at the poor purchasing power of the rupee—whilst Ross went on to Nairobi to take delivery of three Ford cars he had purchased and to present our credentials to the powers that be. It took us a week and more to finish our respective jobs, so it was well on into the second week in February before we eventually met again at Voi and took the one weekly train to Moshi. This place forms the junction of the Voi military railway (since abandoned, I believe;, and the rails to be sent up-country) with the late German Tanga-Moshi line, and stands just below the southern foot of the stupendous volcanic pile of Kilimanjaro, at an elevation of 2,760 feet above sea-level. There is very good shooting close at hand, 34Fig. 2.—THE KIBO SUMMIT (19,328 feet) OF KILIMANJARO. The highest mountain in Africa.THE LIBRARY OIF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO but especially so around Lake Jipe, where that shy gazelle, the long.-necked gerenuk, may be met with and> in the Pare Mountains, the giant Abbot's duiker. The latter mountains form part of the border between Kenya Colony and Tanganyika Territory, and are inhabited by a curious native tribe called the Vagweno or Wapare, who have formed, as part of their fetishism, the execrable custom of infanticide, and to such an extent that the race is dying out. These people have twenty and more reasons in their religious creed why they should break the necks of their newly-born children. To give a few of them: (i) If the child at the time of birth touches the ground instead of the cow-skin provided for the event. (2) A child that is illegitimate according to their curious moral code. (3) A child of parents who have not gone through their secret initiation ceremonies at the age of puberty. (4) A certain kind of stick is put over the door of the newly-married by the mother of the bride, and so long as this stick remains there and is not removed by the mother no sexual intercourse is allowed between the couple under pain of losing by death a child that might be born under those circumstances. The administration, previously the German and now the English, have attempted to check these practices, but with little success, as during the war the old customs again held sway uncontrolled. At Moshi we spent just sufficient time to get our baggage through the customs, the bright-eyed American lady through her first dose of fever, and one Ford car through to Arusha to test the fifty-three miles of road to that place. Ross here began to realise that his light Ford cars were a " wash-out " so far as carrying any weight was concerned across the country 35MT. MERU AND ARUSHA ahead of us. They were all very well for and round Nairobi, but it may be taken as proved that the ubiquitous native porter holds the field where serious exploration work in Africa is concerned. Ross's two Fords and one I hired (an old war relic) just managed to land us and a few personal belongings in Arusha without any serious breakdown, the rest of our gear following with porters. En route a young Abbot's duiker was brought us, but, perhaps owing to the joggling of the car or being hurt in some way, it unfortunately died before we reached Arusha. At various places along the way, especially when crossing the arid Sanya Plain, fine views of the snowy Kibo Summit of Kilimanjaro are to be obtained, the road, which is being put in order and substantial bridges built, gradually ascending all the way until the rich highlands of the Meru Mountain are reached. All visitors to Arusha fall in love with the place, and, judging by the extremely fertile volcanic soil, the deep and perennial streams, and the luxuriant growth shown by the varied collection of tropical and subtropical trees and plants, from peaches, bananas, and coffee (the coffee is said to be of better quality than that produced in Kenya) down to wheat and potatoes, this part of the district, at any rate, will go ahead. Arusha is also likely to become, so I am told, the Government hill-station at some future date. A sum of £320,750 has been allocated for railway expenditure in the Colony's recent estimates for the projected extension of the Tanga-Moshi line to Arusha, which, it is to be hoped, will shortly have the sanction of the Colonial Office. Unfortunately, the district is very limited in extent. As I passed through, it struck me that tea should do 36PAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO well here; the rich red soil and the copious rainfall— the latter well distributed throughout the year— should suit this plant admirably. However, most of the plantations and farms are at present held by Dutch- men and Greeks, whom I judge from experience are lacking in agricultural enterprise; so if tea is to be tried —and it is well worth while—it is the Government who will have to do it. One hundred and fifty porters were waiting for us at Arusha, recruited from the villages of the agricultural Masai, who now inhabit the slopes of Meru. They proved to be a pleasant lot of savages, and never grum- bled, although they must have been hard put to it at times not do do so, especially when nights were cold and rainy, and they had to sleep out as best they could. Most of them had their hair plaited into pigtails, one behind and one in front, and were fond of wearing all kinds of curiously shaped ornaments in their ears, the lobes of which were cut and hanging down, in many cases as far as the level of the chin, in true Masai fashion. Their fashion in bonnets seemed to run in the direction of red-dyed ox and goat stomachs, which had been slit open, dried, and tanned until they resembled thin parchment, being rough on the interior surface from the villi of the intestine. To each bonnet (for they resemble in shape a Scotch bonnet) were affixed two strings on either side, with which to tie it on under the chin when the wind blew. The Highlands of the Great Craters are some seventy-five miles, as the crow flies, west of Arusha, and the region being administered by the Political Officer at this place, we were now afforded the first authentic information concerning the country we had set out to reach. What we did hear made us all the more keen 37THE START FROM ARUSHA to get there, for the reports of the great concourse of animals within the Ngorongoro Crater, and its scenic wonders, did not belie all we had heard about it, and greatly pleasing to my friend Ross was the news that lions were abundant and commonly seen in the daytime, also that the rhino carried exceptionally fine horns, and, as Major Brown, the D.P.O., put it, " might well be classed as vermin." We also now found out that the district was inhabited only by the nomadic pastoral Masai, who never culti- vate a grain of anything; we therefore had to arrange for a certain supply of food for our large " safari" to reach us from time to time. An arrangement was made respecting this by Major Brown, who kindly sent instructions to Mbulu, a Government post sixty odd miles to the south of the Craters, whereby we were to receive a good quantity of native meal by special porters at a main camp we proposed to make within the central crater of Ngorongoro. For our ten days' journey to this proposed rendezvous we carried with us about half a ton of meal for the present necessities of the men. With the able help of our Somali headman Ahamet all the loads were presently adjusted, and one forenoon saw our caravan file out of the shady roads of Arusha into the torrid acacia-strewn plains below, far across which lay the volcanoes and lakes of the magic map " Eyasi, B 4." For the next three days we trekked across an arid steppe region, finding water fairly plentiful at this time of the year, although muddy with the heavy rains we encountered. Game was abundant, and we saw a few Shilling's giraffe, also many of those splendid game birds, the giant bustard or pau, a nest of which our 38PAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO table boy discovered, with two light blue and brown splotched eggs in it. The following day brought us to the Mbujuni River, which, rising in the Esimingor Mountains, runs due south across the Mbugwe road, and not in a northerly direction as marked on the Kilimanjaro Section map, B 5. From here we skirted round Esimingor, and, marching parallel with the shore of Lake Manyara, although still some distance from it, reached a Masai encampment, and pitched our tents near the only available water, which lay in a muddy depression on the Manyara flats, and which had been churned up with the hoofs of zebra and many cattle. The zebra seemed to like the company of human beings, for they would not leave our vicinity. The Masai, of course, never kill or eat the game about them, and in consequence the latter show no fear of man— in fact, I think the game near our camp looked upon us as a kind of protection from the lions, which are very numerous on this side of the lake. As we rounded the spurs of Esimingor, and dropped down the low escarpment of the East African Rift Valley to this camp on the grass flats of Manyara, we obtained our first uninterrupted view of the great wall on the far side, running north and south across the landscape, as if barring our path to further pro- gress, and upon which, to our right, towered the mas- sive summit of Loolmalasin, the highest peak of the plateau. The natives with me immediately pointed to the escarpment before us and exclaimed " Engo- tiek," which is the name commonly used amongst them for the Highlands of the Great Craters. Looking to the north along the western wall of the Rift Valley, which so much resembles the Great Central African 39LAKE MANYARA Rift, along which I had journeyed not so many months ago, the sharply cut outlines of the Oldonyo-lengai Volcano stood out darkly against the sky-line some fifty miles away. Again looking to the south, across the thin silver streak of Lake Manyara, were to be seen the steep buttresses that round off the Iraku portion of the plateau, known as the Wambulu country. We were glad enough to move off next morning away from the filthy water and intolerable cloud of flies of this camping-place, round the north end of Manyara to the Dathyieni River,* a fairly big stream of clear water running between cool and forest-clad banks, and having several sources above, and on the face of the escarpment. The way took us first across a long stretch of open plain covered in sage bush, interspersed with belts of thorn scrub, and then, as we neared the ancient shore-line of the lake, over the most curious petrified mud formation I ever remember to have seen, resembling gigantic flattened cobble-stones, across which it was difficult to walk. These cobbles decreased in size until the old shore itself was reached; here they were loosely piled one on top of another, resembling great balls of hardened grey mud, from the size of a large ostrich's egg down to pieces a few inches in diameter—all were symmetrically corrugated exteriorly in a wavy pattern almost as if sculptured by man. When one of these stones was hammered, the outward encrustation broke off in rounded layers of ever-in- * This river is wrongly named on the sectional map Eyasi, B 4, as Olgedju-Rongai. Neither the local Masai nor our porters knew it by this name. The direction of this river is also wrongly placed, as it flows into Lake Manyara at its north-west corner, and not through the centre of the grey saline flats that lie across the north end of the lake. 40 Fig. 3.—LOOKING ACROSS THE FLOOR OF THE EAST AFRICAN RIFT VALLEY. The escarpment in the distance was the first view we obtained of the Land of the Great Craters.fflf THE tSHIVBSITY OF H.UKOISPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO creasing hardness, until a milky opaque core of flint was exposed to view. As we passed the lake its shallowness, even far out, was easily discerned by the great quantity of flamingoes feeding across it, making a great splash of rosy reflec- tion around them as they fed. From the map, one is led to believe that the expanse of water is very con- siderable, but as a matter of fact its superficial area is comparatively small, amounting to two big lagoons north and south, and some water channels, the rest of the lake-bed being occupied by dried saline mud and sand, grey and brown in colour. After our hot march of several hours, we were glad to find such a pleasant camping-place as the banks of the Dathyieni River, which runs almost at the foot of the sheer wall of cliffs now rising nearly 2,000 feet above us, and in the shadow of which our tents lay. The elevation of this camp was 3,150 feet above sea-level. Having the Major sick on our hands, and not knowing exactly what lay before us, the following day was spent by Ross and myself in climbing up the escarpment to reconnoitre, as we had been told that water was scarce —this report proving correct. The view spread below us when we reached the top was superb, and, what interested me still more, one gained an idea of the formation of the " floor " of this part of the Rift Valley, and one recognised that it was divided up into a chain of basins of varying dimensions, formed of such porous volcanic debris and beaten upon by such a fierce sun that some of them would scarcely hold water, and each divided by what may be termed a low, and in some cases a narrow, dam. Lake Natron was one, the next southward being a small basin formed by the eruption of Oldonyo-lengai in 41ACROSS THE RIFT VALLEY 1917; following this the Engaruka Flats; then the big Manyara Basin, and so on farther still to the narrow Babati Lake beneath the Ufiome Volcano. As we clambered down again to our camp we passed above a cleft in the face of the escarpment, where with a continuous roar a subterranean river leaps out into the Rift Valley—possibly the Munge River, by which we camped the following day, as its lower course is unknown, and its waters apparently become lost in some lake-bed or crater midst the primeval forest surrounding it. Getting a start at dawn the following morning, we all climbed the escarpment, having breakfast on its edge, where my aneroid showed an elevation of 4,950 feet. We made a seven-hour trek that day, which took us first across open park lands, reminding me in all essentials of the Tanganyika-Nyassa Plateau, and then, gradually ascending, on to undulating grass country with scattered thorn trees, until we reached the sharply defined belt of primeval forest that clothes the eastern slopes of both Ngorongoro and the Loolmalasin. It would appear, from the lack of evidences well known to the trained observer, that this dense and dank forest belt harbours neither many mammals nor any abundance of insects. Monkeys were con- spicuous by their absence, elephant tracks there were none. Rhino, which are exceedingly numerous all over the Great Craters, only pass through it, and the giant forest hogs which roam this side of these High- lands in great numbers, as well as the bushbuck, prefer the forest glades, which commence when the edge of the high central plateau is approached at an elevation of about 7,000 feet. 42Fig. 4.—LOOKING TOWARDS NGORONGORO ACROSS THE BELT OF TROPICAL FOREST THAT SURROUNDS IT ON THE EAST. The peak in the distance is the Hettner Summit (11,856 feet), the highest point of the plateau, and known to the Masai as " Loolmalasin."THE LIBRARY OF HIE PJMVI&SITY PF HJJIfOISPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO We camped that night on a green circular lawn of grass surrounding a tiny pool in the centre of a minia- ture crater—the most perfect spot that can well be imagined for a camp. The natives know it as Olbalbal Losaiyaie, and it lies close to the eastern bank of the Munge River, which could be heard rushing past in its bed of lava. The elevation being 5,800 feet, we passed a cold night, and in the morning, everything being drenched with dew, we were glad to pass beyond the forest belt and reach the open glades previously mentioned. These glades were the most beautiful I have ever seen. We had arrived in between the two seasons of the little and big rains, when the flowers of both plants and trees were in blossom to perfection. The forest, bordering these narrow glades which ramified through it in all directions, had formed itself into high hedges and banks, which were brilliant with a species of yellow-flowered arborescent bean, which, although common on the heights of Kilimanjaro, Mweru, Kenya, and the Great Craters, are seldom met with farther west, either on the Ruwenzori or Birunga Mountains. Below this background of yellow flowers hung great bunches of purple vernonia blooms, and then came a wonderful carpet of white lilies, scabious, forget- me-nots, and everlasting flowers in between the greens of fennels and wild turnip; then, lower still, midst the fine grasses and clovers, little erect growing violets on long stalks, as if they, too, would aspire to arbores- cence. Presently we stood on a ridge with the forest and its glades behind us, confronted by a splendid and what looked to be a circular treeless moor many miles across, and we knew that we had now reached the top- 43ON THE HIGHLANDS most plateau of this fascinating country, the far side of which bordered the vast chasm of the great Ngo- rongoro Crater. This moor, which stands at an eleva- tion of 7,800 feet, presents many interesting problems to the vulcanologist, for it would appear to be the ancient floor of a giant crater. From where we stood its northern and western circumferences were bounded by the steep slopes of the Loolmalasin Summit and the Ololmoti Crater and their connecting ridge, and on the southern and eastern side by a ring of connected ridges and hills bearing every resemblance to the ruins of a crater wall. In support of this supposition there were to be found in odd corners of this saucer-like plateau the small craters so frequently met with on the floor of volcanoes of large size. On such a one, containing a pool of water, we camped for that night, after traversing a portion of the moor. We found its hummocky grass-covered surface very fatiguing to walk over, the hummocks being formed by uncountable generations of moles. This is the large grey mole (I forget the specific name) with the pair of long teeth that come out to meet the upper incisors from an aperture below the bottom lip, and is common all over Africa. In this friable volcanic soil there were millions of these moles—they are, in fact, to be found pushing up their chocolate-coloured " hills " all over the Great Craters. Their fur is of an exquisite quality and colour, so here there should be a unique opportunity for an enterprising trader willing to foster such an industry as mole-catching amongst the younger genera- tion of Masai. Frequenting the large patches of fragrant "lad's love " bushes which cover many acres of the moor are numerous rhino. Ross, coming across five late 44Fig. 5.—THE LEMUNGE WHERE IT COMMENCES ITS FALL INTO NGORONGORO. This river rises in the crater of Ololmoti, and gushing out through a cleft in the eastern side of this volcano falls 4,000 feet before reaching the Magad Lake.the imm ■■■■ ■ of the rhivpbsity 8f hjumisPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO that evening, shot one—his first. We saw eland, hartebeeste, and other game, and many spoors of lions. Altogether we had a splendid and interesting day, and, in spite of the long march, we hardly felt tired in the rarefied air, the Major especially feeling the benefit of the high altitude, as he had been gassed in the war. Then, again, on the morrow we knew we were to reach Ngorongoro, so we looked forward to a thrill, and felt we were on the threshold of something startling and original. Lying near us, even surrounding us, were evidences of the creation of the world. What riddles might not be solved here if we only had the power to read them aright! What prehistoric peoples, what animals might there not be buried beneath this mud-crust if we could but delve deep enough to find them ! Thinking thus, I wandered away from the camp nestling in its wisps of smoke on the wide moorland, and on my way kicked against a grinning human skull. Nothing ancient about it; might be a hundred years old, no more. I picked it up, bringing it back with me; it might, I thought, on examination, teach us some- thing about the inhabitants of this Craterland. It was the skull of a young man from the Nile, and he had died fighting, for the bone near the temple had been fractured. The camp on the moor was astir at an early hour the following morning, for, owing to the proximity of Ngorongoro, which we were to reach that day, the spirit of expectancy had invaded it, causing us to tumble out of our flapping tents with but scant atten- tion to the cold Scotch mist driving past outside. Our tents lay well towards the centre of this exten- sive saucer-like moorland which I have described, so 45FIRST SIGHT OF THE GREAT CRATER we had some two hours' walk before us ere we could reach its extreme western edge, where it gave the impression of a leap into the blue as it fell away into the vast chasm of the Great Crater. After a hearty breakfast, therefore, and having packed our traps, the long column of our safari once more filed out towards our goal, the first sight of which I will now attempt to conjure up before my readers exactly as we saw it, although mere words must inevitably fail over such a task. Across our right front, as we follow our Masai guides over the tussocky turf and across the one sizable stream that wanders through the centre of this alpine moor, lies the imposing pile of the Ololmoti Crater, its frowning brows forming what seems to be more a mountain range than a single volcano. On looking half-way along its face a narrow breach in its ramparts is discernible, through which, after collecting its waters from the springs and pools of the inner crater, leaps the Lemunge River on its short but turbulent way to the lake lying in the mighty abyss of Ngorongoro 4,000 feet below. We reached this stream at a point not quite half-way down its length where it leaves the edge of the moor and starts on its headlong c6urse over the wall of cliffs. Here we crossed it, and, leaving the moorland behind, we entered a broken country, made, on the one hand, gloomy and weird with old blackened and matted primeval acacia forests, and, on the other, beautiful with an extraordinary wealth of flowers and flowering shrubs. Passing through this unique scenery and out beyond the last belt of dark forest, the enchanted traveller finds himself standing on a great eminence— an " edge of the world "—from which he gazes down 46>;A' : H| ■k, ir- ggj Fig. 6.—OUR FIRST VIEW OF THE GREAT CENTRAL CRATER OF NGORONGORO AND— LYING WITHIN IT—THE MAGAD LAKE. The southern crater of Oldeani can be seen in the distance and, in the foreground, the primeval Acacia forest described in this chapter.n*jp 0!" iii: DIVERSITY Or IUJMNSPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO into a chasm so vast, and presenting such novel features, that his breath is taken away at the sight. After scanning our surroundings for some time, all the details of this wonderful amphitheatre began to reveal themselves. First, the unbroken ring of precipitous cliffs circling away on either hand, to meet in the blue haze twelve miles across from where we stood, now forest-clad and grass-grown, but at one time holding within bounds a mighty steaming sea of lava. Then, on the far side of the wide-spreading crater floor, neath the shadow of yet another great crater—the Oldeani—lay the Magad Lake, blue and gleaming midst its marshes and its mud flats, marking the position where the giant forces had at last sunk down to rest. Then, again, and not the least striking part of this phenomenal panorama, as we came to know full well, were the light and shade, the wonderful cloud effects, and the pygmy thunder and rain-storms that chased one another round the circular wall of cliffs or that hung low above the lake as if to suck up its shallow moisture; or, again, at other times that stood above the two towering sentinels of Oldeani and Ololmoti as if the sun-struck banking clouds had once more drawn fire and smoke from their long-dead throats. This was not all, however, that could be seen from our coign of vantage, for even without the aid of our glasses we could see that such a concourse of wild animals were collected within this giant ring-fence that Africa's best big-game days could scarcely equal. The enclosure of the crater must have reached a circum- ference of well over thirty-five miles, giving plenty of room, one would imagine, for all the animals it contained, and yet in many places their numbers 47THE CRATER CITY OF WILD ANIMALS were so great that there seemed to be a crush of game. Later on, when we went down amongst them, we gave way to open-mouthed astonishment. As we looked out across Ngorongoro, all this was very comforting to our little band of six; we felt we had indeed reached an entirely original spot on the world's surface, and that our experiences in such a place could not well fail to be novel and even thrilling, for it was a land well calculated to stir the imagination of the most blast of globe-trotters. My wife facetiously remarked that " if anyone knew of a better 'ole they had better go to it." Doubtless D. L. and Ross hugged themselves at the thought of the magnificent sport that now lay dished up before them, and the Major saw himself midst a throng of game that he could get closer to with his cameras than he had ever approached before, and as for me— well, a wish had come true, and who asks for more than that in this world ? By reason of its vastness, its novel surroundings and scenery, its brooding mystery and teeming life, Ngorongoro far surpasses, in my opinion, such sights as Kilimanjaro or the Mountains of the Moon, or even the great Kivu Volcanoes. Of such a place one might well say, " See it and die," for surely no place was ever half so beautiful. Presently, after clambering down the last 1,000 feet, we found ourselves again crossing the Lemunge River and resting beside it on the short clover-sprinkled turf of the crater bottom. Farther down the stream stood Siedentopf's deserted homestead, and all around us, in dense array, with tails swishing and manes bristling, stood, pranced, danced, galloped, and snorted thousands of blue wildebeeste and thousands of zebra. 48Fig. 7.—" A SEA OF BACKS WITH AN UNDERCURRENT OF LEGS." A herd of blue wildebeeste—500 strong-—within the crater of Ng-orong-oro. Rising- above the clouds is the volcano of Ololmoti.PAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO Kongoni hartebeeste and Thompson's gazelle were numberless, but not filling the landscape to the extent that the gnu and zebra did. As this side of the crater—the north-east side—was practically treeless, and wood and shade therefore becoming a question of importance for the main camp that we proposed to make, we decided, it being still early afternoon, to continue our march to its south- east curve, with the idea of making our camp on the edge of a belt of acacia forest that we could discern in the distance. This place, which is known to the Masai as Leitokitok, proved'to be eminently suitable to our purpose, for we found there good spring water, wood, and shade; it was a long way, however, and took us close on two and a half hours to reach it. This first march across the floor of this colossal amphitheatre was a wonderful experience, made more so, if that were possible, by the kind of triumphal procession to which we were treated by a never- ending mixed herd of wildebeeste, hartebeeste, zebra, and gazelle. As I say, it took us over two hours, and we were walking through herds of game all the time. Wherever one looked over the far crater-plain there were animals, and, looking at them along an absolutely flat surface, they might well be described as a sea of backs with an undercurrent of legs as they moved hither and thither about us. We reached the acacia forest at dusk, to find that it stood beside an extensive marsh, and debouching directly from the cliffs of the crater wall into it was a deeply eroded " trough " (whether made by the action of water or by flowing lava it was difficult to tell) some 30 to 40 feet deep and 200 yards broad. Our camp, therefore, when we had it pitched, stood on the same 49 DLAKE MAGAD level as, and looked out across, the flat crater plain, but behind us ran this deep " cutting," with a spring at the bottom, extending out towards the lake and its marshy surroundings. An interesting place, as I soon found out, and the only place in the whole crater from which the stratification of its actual floor could be critically examined. On the face of this " cutting " it was possible to trace with ease the successive inun- dations of volcanic mud and sand which had been poured into the Great Crater by the ancient eruptions of Ololmoti, or which had been deposited there at a time when a much larger lake than the present one covered a considerable area of the crater bottom. The very first day in our new camp produced a novelty, for a rhinoceros who marches up to within 250 yards of a large camp and lies down to sleep in view of everybody may be considered as such. Ross being absent at the moment, chasing some other quarry, this fine old beast fell to D. L.'s rifle, to her unbounded delight. To put our camp in order, to arrange for future supplies to reach us from Mbulu (the Government post sixty miles to the south), to attend to the various wants of our porters, and to overhaul our several kits after our fourteen days' trek, now occupied us all for a day or more, after which we each began to stroll out in any direction our fancy took us. The Major went picture-taking, Ross went shooting, the ladies took a rest, and I went exploring and collecting. No one could get lost, for the grass was like a lawn, and the tents could be seen from at least ten miles away almost without the aid of glasses. My first ramble was along the marsh to the wild shores of the shallow Magad Lake, which, although 50Fig. 8.—THE MUD FLATS ALONG THE EASTERN SHORE OF LAKE MAGAD. Fig. g.— LOOKING NORTHWARD ACROSS THE FLOOR OF NGORONGORO TO THE OLOLMOTI VOLCANO IN THE DISTANCE (see Introduction).H8IVFBSITY OF H.LIKOISPAST KILIMANJARO TO NGORONGORO continually fed by the Lemunge and other streams, would seem, possibly by reason of evaporation or the porous nature of its bed (as is the case with Lake Manyara), to have very little rise and fall, or even, it would appear, with a tendency to diminish rather than increase in size and depth. Its water was potashy and distasteful except where streams flowed into it. The slimy flats surrounding it were strewn with petrified mud. There were many cranes, storks, and waterfowl; ducks and geese were in great variety, but they preferred the marsh and the streams to the bitter mud of the lake shore. The wealth of game was extraordinary. It has been calculated that before the war the crater contained 50,000 head of wildebeeste and 25,000 head of other game. This number must have been decreased somewhat during Siedentopf's occupation, as he was engaged on slaughtering wildebeeste and drying the meat for the German troops during the war, and also for their long bushy tails which he and his sons were in the habit of exchanging with the Masai for sheep—the Masai setting great store by these tails for fly switches. However, judging by the great number of calves which accompanied the females, the herds will soon regain their original numbers. It is a curious fact that the Masai are possessed of the conviction that if their cattle graze on the Ngo- rongoro pasture when the wildebeeste are calving their stock will become sick and die. No Masai cattle, therefore, are to be seen in the crater at this time. The wildebeeste calves were easily caught —funny little brown things with blue-grey eyes, heavy heads, and thick legs. Apart from the blue wildebeeste, the list of animals 51GAME IN THE CRATER living in the crater comprised hippo (living in the pools of the marsh), rhino, ostrich, eland, zebra, Kongoni hartebeeste, Thompson's and Grant's gazelle (the latter differing slightly from the usual grantii in the shape of their horns and the bar on the flank), Chand- ler's reedbuck, oribi, lions (of which more anon), cheetahs, hyenas (the large brown spotted species, seen in great numbers in the daytime), and jackals, also in great numbers. Baboons were to be seen in troops of a hundred or more; there were also number- less guinea-fowl, quail, and the giant bustard or pau. How such a vast quantity of game manages to subsist and keep their condition year in and year out (for they never leave the crater) on this one area is rather perplexing, until one realises after a walk across the place that the pasture is practically composed of one close mat of succulent white and red clover, in places growing to such luxuriance on the rich volcanic mud and debris that acres and acres of it stand knee deep in one solid mass of green, as if it had been heavily sown and fertilised by man. Such wild clover pasture I have never before seen, and it is probably unique in the whole breadth of Africa. The elevation of the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater I found to be 5,800 feet above sea-level, at our first camp, and the Magad Lake 160 feet below this again. (Considerably more than the Germans have it on their maps; in fact, I found their elevations in most instances much below mine.) We were, therefore, some 2,000 feet below the peaks and highlands with which we were completely surrounded. 52Fig. io.—SIR CHARLES ROSS (right) AND THE AUTHOR. About to leave the Ngorongoro Camp for an excursion northward. Fig ii.—'"D. L." AND ONE OF HER MULES. Two mules accompanied the expedition to the Craters, and both did well.HE LIBRARY Of THE IWVFBSITY OF H.UKOISCHAPTER III the realms of vulcan and the lions of ngorongoro An interesting detail in the Configuration of our surroundings that I am not sure if I have made clear to my readers, as from a written description this is not easy, is the fact that the two extinct volcanoes of Ololmoti and Oldeani (one to the north and one to the south) both overshadow the giant central crater or caldron of Ngorongoro between them. They stand, as it were, poised on the edge of its circular wall, but their summits reaching up many thousands of feet above it. Looking out from our camp, these two volcanoes, in reality inconceivably immense, for the crater of one of them measures over three and a half miles in width, are dwarfed into insignificance by the colossal proportions of the great abyss on the edge of which they stand. Ololmoti, the northern crater, attracted me the most, for not only was it the third largest of the group (Elanairobi being the second largest), but it contained the source of the Lemunge River, which, as I have described, rises within it and gushes out through a curious cleft in its side, as if Vulcan himself had split the great wall with one titanic blow of his hammer. Having decided to leave the main camp on a trip of exploration to the active volcano of Oldonyo-lengai, 53OLOLMOTI VOLCANO I resolved, therefore, first to elimb Ololmoti, as I had a great hankering to see into it and experience such a thrill as a bird's-eye view from its summit was likely to give. I also had it in mind that a sketch made from such a pre-eminent and commanding position would be well worth any trouble I might experience in obtaining it. To gain the foot of Ololmoti it was first necessary to climb out of Ngorongoro itself, so, selecting a fine morning, I left our main camp with fifteen porters, and, taking the same way by which we had first come into the place, I negotiated the stiff climb up the Lemunge Ravine to the edge of the moor upon which we had previously camped. Here I pitched my tent for the night, and on the following morning, which, fortunately, remained fine, I took four natives and started to climb the volcano. The ascent from my camp took me a good four hours of climbing before I reached the highest point. Naturally, my followers and I arrived at the top very much out of breath and pretty well fagged, so it was a very mean advantage that two rhino took of us on the very summit by charging us in the rough scrub, shaking us up very badly after the arduous climb. The whole crater, inside and out, is closely overgrown with arborescent " lad's love " bushes, very hafd to push one's way through, but of a fascinating fragrance. No wonder the rhino make their home here, for the crater sides are a mass of fragrant herbs and mints and alpine flowers. There are, too, some sheltered alpine meadows in the deep folds round this crater that are marvels of beauty, carpeted with a lush green thick-leaved flora, and surrounded by an arborescent kind of broom, as well as massive moss and fern-hung hagenia trees of 54Fig. i2.—THE REMARKABLE CLOVER PASTURE OF NGORONGORO. Probably unique in the whole of Africa. It is owing to this rich pasturage that the countless herds of game thrive there. Fig. 13.—OLDONYO-LENGA1. Where it joins the western wall of the Rift Valley.THE UB8JIBY OF THE f'K'VFR^rV fiF IF_LIK.O!STHE REALMS OF VULCAN the utmost grace and beauty. The map gives the impression that the Ololmoti Crater is closely covered with primeval forest; this is wrong, for there are only small patches of hagenia and acacia forest that could be described as such—fragrant scrub interspersed with patches of coarse grass covers the crater within and without. My aneroid showed 10,100 feet as the highest point we reached on the lip of the crater. It is a perfect ring some three and a half miles across, and contains quite a respectable mountain in its centre, which is in reality a gigantic core of ash and lava. The catch- ment area of this crater basin forms itself into small pools and runnels of water on each side of this core, which then drain out through the narrow cleft of which I have spoken as the Lemunge River. The scenic effect of the Ngorongoro abyss below and the extensive view beyond it to Lake Manyara is unsurpassable. The sketch I made gives some idea of it, but only a vivid imagination or an actual visit to the summit of Ololmoti can fill in the colours and the ethereal beauty of such a scene. I was fortunate in having a fine morning for my rambles. The early afternoon, however, clouded over, so, keeping a sharp look-out for rhino, I made my way back to the tent. The following day I struck camp, and, crossing the pass between Ololmoti and the great pile of Loolma- lasin, I took a north-easterly direction over the curiously formed bed of an ancient lava lake called by the Masai Embulbul. From here there is a long upward rise along a beautiful moorland valley of splendid close pasture to a narrow ridge that connects the Elanairobi Volcano with the Loolmalasin massif. 55ELANAIROBI: CRATER FLOWERS The previous day a great mob of 6,000 Masai cattle had used this same track. They were being shifted by the district cattle inspector down into the rift valley on account of an outbreak of rinderpest on the highlands. I caught them up in the late evening, and camped beside the lowing herds on the eastern slope of Elanairobi. By reason of its eastern aspect, facing the rising sun, and also no doubt on account of the ideal conditions of moisture prevailing^ this eastern slope of Elanairobi has become a veritable alpine " herbaceous border " of flowers. Amongst those that I could place were a large flowering sweet-scented delphinium (white with black stamens), purple thistles in great bunches, verbena-scented thymes, mints, docks, fennels, burrage, sorrel, forget-me-nots, mallows, campions, crow's- foot, petunias, poker-plants, ground orchids, at least a dozen kinds of clovers and trefoils of a wonderful range of colours from white to salmon-pink, violets, nettles, marguerites with scented leaves (all plants seemed to have scented leaves), wild turnips, star of parnassus, purple and white lupins, scabious of many kinds, camomiles, daisies, and great beds of crinum lilies. I was, of course, much interested in the Masai camps and their contents. Their poor pack-donkeys extited my pity, for every available household possession seemed to be crammed on the backs of these patient beasts until the poor things were hidden and loaded down beneath mountains of pots and other oddments. As the pack-saddles were of hard basket-work, and of the most primitive description and ill-fitting, they had, in many cases, caused terrible sores by constant rubbing. In the morning the Masai grazed their cattle on 56,■ . ; - ' Fig. 14.—THE CRATER OF OLOLMOTI (3J Miles Across). What looks like a hill in its centre is in reality a core of lava. The source of the Lemunge River can be seen as a thin line running across the middle distance. It was amongst the thick mass of " lads love " bushes in the foreground that the author was charged by two rhino'.THE LIBRARY OF IE UNIVERSITY 8F IIAIHfllSTHE REALMS OF VULCAN the edge of the Elanairobi Crater, and there I followed them. This extinct volcano is made both interesting and beautiful by reason of the lake it contains. This body of water is over two miles across, green-blue in colour, arid covered with an iridescent film. It is said to be of considerable depth. The northern interior slope of the crater is covered to the water's edge with primeval forest. Judging by the inundations along the shore-line, there has been a considerable rise recently in the level of this crater lake. The elevation of my camp on the slope of the volcano I made 8,850 feet above sea-level, and the low eastern portion of the crater-ring 9,360 feet. The highest point of this crater reaches an elevation, in my opinion, of well over 10,500 feet. From the north-eastern lip of Elanairobi I obtained my first view of Oldonyo-lengai, or the " Mountain of God," as the Masai call it. Little wonder that these savages look upon this extraordinarily beautiful volcano with the utmost awe and veneration, for even from this distance it presents a picture of en- chantment, the mysterious fascination of which is hard to resist. This volcano erupted during the war, one eruption taking place in January and another in March, 1917. These eruptions were reported, but, owing to the war, little notice was given to this interesting phenomenon at the time. The Masai look upon the volcano as sacred, and the source of all blessings and benefits for their race. The internal rumblings that preceded the eruptions of 1917 were put down to the bellowings of cattle that were to come out to enrich them. After the last eruption, and when it was safe to 57THE MOUNTAIN OF GOD approach, the Masai picketed the neighbourhood, allowing no one but a Masai to go near the volcano on pain of death. They afterwards took goats and cattle there, and conducted thither many of their women with blood and milk, which was poured out at the foot of the mountain. These women, who were mothers, were supposed to milk their breasts there, as a form of sacrifice to the mountain god, and were also left there alone for a period, supposedly becoming pregnant during that time. There is no previous description of any eruption from this volcano; it was, in fact, covered with mountain scrub right to its peak, where there were two small craters. Its height was placed by the Germans at 9,350 feet; it must now be considerably higher than this, and culminates in a single crater on its tapering and graceful summit. The sides are so steep that it is impossible to climb this volcano. Owing to the superstitious awe in which the " Moun- tain of God " is held by the Masai, no guides were forthcoming. They flatly refused to accompany me, so I had to break trail myself, and, followed by a few of my Arusha porters, I set out, and eventually reached the volcano by way of the barren watercourses that run below it, through the difficult and fatiguing country to the west of the Kerimasi Volcano. Even after four years the grey ash put out by the former is still to be seen covering the ground in many places that are ten miles or more away from it. A close view of this entrancingly beautiful mountain is "a sight for the gods." It thrusts its massive yet slender and tapering form upwards from the bed of the rift valley in one resplendent pyramid of pink, grey, and white deposits, " arabesqued " with folds 58 Fig. i5.-MASA! WOMEN PACKING THEIR DONKEYS FOR A TREK ACROSS THE CRATERS.THE REALMS OF VULCAN and furrows of beautiful and varying shapes. A saddle of ash and soda-mud, white and shining, out of which emerge two curiously shaped parasitic craters, join Oldonyo-lengai to the green cliffs of the escarpment. The entire scene is a contrast in effects and colour that enthrals the beholder, giving him that sense of detachment and unreality in his surroundings that beautiful or bizarre pictures or landscapes are apt to do. A thin film of vapour rises over the sharply cut edge of the narrow vent, but no glow is perceptible from this volcano at night. The grey mud-plastered valley that runs along its southern foot, merging into the steaming lava lake under the volcano of Gelei, might have been trans- planted from some other world, so weird and desolate does it appear. The lower part of this valley abounds with steaming parasitic craters, ash-cones, and fuma- roles of all sizes and shapes, some of them raised up in tiny truncated cones, whilst others have formed themselves into great cracks and round caverns flush with the surrounding surface of volcanic mud. East- ward, across the lake of lava, and through the swirling yellow and grey fumes, rises the huge pile of the Gelei Volcano, a mass of parasitic craters terraced and piled one above the other to its high summit, honey- combing the entire cone with smoking vents. The saline mud shot out by the eruption of Oldonyo- lengai has erected a low dam connecting with the foot of the Gelei Volcano, forming yet another basin in the chain of basins composing the floor of the East African Rift Valley. I would have given a good deal to have been able to penetrate into this steaming wilderness, and over to the Natron Lake, which I could just see beyond; but 59EXCURSION NORTHWARD COMPLETED time was against me, and I was unprepared for a longer excursion than I had already made, so, having obtained some interesting photographic records, I retraced my weary steps to camp. Before I left this camp on the following morning to make my way round the western side of Elanairobi, and so back to Ngorongoro, I was again besieged, as I had so often been before, by Masai women and warriors wanting medicine from me. The love of these natives for the white man's medicine is astonish- ing ; they will do anything to get hold of it, and consider themselves well repaid for a day's work or half a dozen calabashes of milk if they receive some quinine tablets or salts in return. Eye-sickness, spread by the swarms of flies prevalent in the Masai country, is a very common complaint amongst them, so there was usually a big run on the sulphide of zinc. [A curious custom the Masai displayed, when they came to our camps, was that of eating any pieces of paper (the variety did not matter) they happened to get hold of. I believe they looked on it as a form of white man's medicine, possibly because our drugs were wrapped up in it.] I was exceedingly glad to leave this camp, for by day the flies were an abomination, and at night a large species of elephant mosquito literally swarmed oyer everything. As these pests are only found in the vicinity of Elanairobi, I presume they are bred in its craterlake, where they hatch out and descend in vast buzzing clouds on the surrounding slopes. On my return journey I saw many eland, a common antelope on these highlands. The giant forest hog are also very numerous in the eastern forest belt, where they frequent the open glades where the wild turnips grow. 60Fig. 16.—CRATER FLOWERS. Thistles and Delphinium candidum..-,t f I8RARY Of HIE "" :t IY OF ILLINOISTHE REALMS OF VULCAN As one marches across these beautiful downs and one's foot presses into the close and sweet pasture, one is immediately struck with the thought of what an ideal ranching and farming country it would make, but as so many other parts of Africa answer to this description, it will, doubtless, be some time before the white settler penetrates thus far. I reached the Ngorongoro camp, after an absence of eight days, to find the other members of our party in the highest spirits, due to the fact that numerous lions had been encountered, three of which—two of them, black maned—had already fallen to the rifles of the other members of our party. Even before I had left on my voyage of exploration to the north the lions were much in evidence round the carcase of the rhino shot by D. L., which lay in front of our camp. True, the feast only lasted one night, and the lions, judging by the noise that went on, did not have it all their own way. Hyenas and jackals had joined in, and their whining growls of protest were easily to be distinguished from the throaty coughs of the great cats, keeping, as one guessed, the smaller fry at a respectful distance. The lions of Ngorongoro were what we called " daylight " lions, for, owing to their being uninvested, they were, more often than not, to be seen abroad in the daytime. Although numerous everywhere, they were located as being especially so on the opposite side of the crater, which decided us to shift camp to the north-west corner of the Magad Lake. The crater wall on this side is cut into at frequent intervals by the deeply wooded ravines or kloofs, which had become the permanent homes of these beasts. Like all other animals within the Great Crater 61MASAI LION HUNT of Ngorongoro, they were especially tame and especially large and fat, and with fine manes. Preying on the abundant game around them, they had become nu- merous and bold, offering such sport as is seldom obtained in these days. This was the chance of a lifetime for D. L. and Sir Charles Ross. Several days, therefore, were spent in lion-hunting, seven very fine specimens being even- tually bagged as well as two cheetahs. The Masai helped in driving out two of the lions, which gave every- body an exciting time, for they would only come out at the last moment, and when hard pressed. One of them, a big lioness, roaring fiercely, charged Ross, and came within an ace of getting him, no doubt giving him a thrill which he will remember to his dying day . To give some details of the hunt, I must first say that we had sent for the Masai chief a few days before, requesting his help, and he had brought some of his warriors to the camp. They were a fine lot of men, each in possession of a heavy spear and shield, and with jangling iron bells tied below their knees. The drive was started by climbing the cliffs near the camp to get to the top of the wooded ravines that run down the inner slopes of Ngorongoro. The Masai said that " there were always lions in one or other of these places," and they were right. Ross and Alec McMillan climbed up the cliffs; I remained below to protect the ladies, who were anxious to see the fun. The lions were to be driven down from above in our direction, so that we were in a position not without danger if there happened to be a number of them. From where we stood at the foot of the slope we could see everything that went on above us. First, 62Fig. 17.—ON THE RIM OF ELANAIROBI! A bed of Crinum lilies.THE LIBRARY OF IE piViRSlTY 9F lUJRQiSTHE REALMS OF VULCAN the Masai came half-way down through the low bush lying between two of the ravines, then, turning, they passed through the one on their left, tapping their shields and jangling their bells, but there was no shouting. Then, as they marched on in line, suddenly an angry coughing grunt came to us over the sunlit hill-side, and a shout went up as a big lioness broke cover and at a quick but defiant trot crossed over to the ravine ahead. The line of warriors now followed, and on reaching the place, which was narrow and deep, they halted to throw stones. The direct result of this was an angry roar, and for the second time the lioness showed herself, this time coming in our direction. She was in no hurry, however, and lay up again in a small patch of sage bushes, where she was marked down by all of us. The time to approach for a shot had now come, so Ross, and Alec the chauffeur, led by a plucky native called Katemboy, went forward, the Masai lining up meanwhile in the direction in which they expected the quarry would break away. On reaching the vicinity of the bushes, Katemboy caught sight of the lioness, and becoming excited, and having Ross's rifle in his hand, fired at her, hitting her, as we afterwards found out, in the stomach. The next thing we saw was the beast making its charge at Ross and the gun-boy, as I have described. It then disappeared back into the ravine from which it had been driven. Ross, thoroughly disgusted and not a little shaken by the turn of events, and bottling up his annoyance for another occasion, pulled himself together for a second attempt. Katemboy, wishing to retrieve his mistake, now with great pluck dived into the ravine, poking out the wounded lioness with an empty gun 63DAYLIGHT LIONS in his hand, and the next thing we saw was the beast accompanied by a second lion, that nobody realised was there, bounding down the ridge facing us. Sir Charles Ross and Alec fired simultaneously, and with the two well-aimed shots bowled over both animals. A thrilling moment for us all! The big lioness was excessively fat. It is, possibly, not generally known that this fat, when tried out, has remarkable preservative properties when used on leather articles; moreover, it is greatly sought after by many African tribes, who believe that when they smear themselves with it they become courageous. We boiled it down as dubbin for our boots. Lions were to be seen every morning on this side of the crater if one went out to look for them. Some of them apparently made their lairs—the lionesses most probably—like the hyenas, in sandstone caves or abandoned burrows. Ross, one day, ran into what he described as " a small troop of lions " near some such underground lairs. He shot one of the lions and wounded three others, but as the latter disap- peared into some burrows he was unable to retrieve them. Hyenas were also extraordinarily numerous—there were, in fact, hundreds of them. I have been told, and can well believe it, that these animals have increased enormously during and since the war, especially, it is said, in a certain district along the southern border of Kenya Colony, where, owing to lack of their ordinary food, they have become a menace to life and property. As many as 10,000 have been trapped and killed by the game rangers of Kenya. Regarding their habits, it is not generally known that both male and female hyenas suckle their young, but I know this 64Fig. 18.—THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CRATER LAKE OF ELANAIROBI. A sulphurous yellow film spreads itself in patches across the blue-green water.iHE LIBRARY OF IHE UNIVERSITY OF IlilKOiSTHE REALMS OF VULCAN from ijiy own observation. It is also said that they are hermaphrodite, but with what truth I am unable to say. Ross, who after he left me went for a shooting trip in Kenya, assures me that one night, while sitting over a dead zebra waiting for a lion, so many hyenas came round the bait that they resembled a large flock of sheep. South of the craters we got into another district where lions, like the Man-eaters of Tsavo, had for many weeks held up the inhabitants of a very consider- able area, and where the people had literally come to starvation in consequence. Like so many true African lion stories, superstition plays a large part in this one. Transmigration—or, as some may prefer to call it, reincarnation—of the soul of a dead chief into the form of a lion is a firm belief with many native African races. In the case I am about to relate, a great Sandawi chief had died, and when, soon after, two lions commenced to prey on his people, they said " the great chief had become a lion, and, being angry with them, had returned to devour them." The marauding of these man-eaters went on to such an extent, and the natives themselves refusing to attempt any retaliation, that presently the lions became a menace to the existence of the com- munity. Then after a while a stage was reached when the villagers refused to go out into the more distant parts of the fields for fuel or to harvest their crops, with the result that the inhabitants commenced to starve. This state of things continued for some time, but, as we all know, hunger is one of those fundamental things that will drive men to desperate deeds, so the local witch-doctors were approached by the new chief and his headmen, and told that, as they were thought to be in communication, with the dead chief, they were to 65 EMAN-EATERS inform him that now they had paid enough and that the killing should cease. The Man-eaters, however, went on taking their toll, until the people, getting really " fed up " at last, and putting the blame on the two witch-doctors as now being in league with the lions, speared them out of hand. After this the new chief came into disfavour, but to save himself, not only from the lions, but from his people as well, came into the Government station, and asked to be put in jail as the safest place he could think of. It being a remote part of the country, it was only when this happened that the real facts came out. At first, the local Resident sent out some native soldiers to see what they could do, but this proving ineffectual, he had to go himself, finding the inhabitants of the district in question in a pitiable state of hunger and nerves. Eventually, after many organised hunts and setting of trap-guns over dead bodies, during which time not a few fatalities occurred, these terrible beasts were at last brought to book, no less than seventy- three people having fallen victims to their boldness and cunning. To return to Ngorongoro. Everything in this wonderful crater seemed in some subtle way to take to itself an air of enchantment, and to differ from any- thing one had ever experienced before. Our new camp, for instance, was a most remarkable place. To be able to overlook the floor of the crater we selected a site well up under the cliffs, on a spur of the great wall, that was thickly overgrown with the most enormous candelabra euphorbia I have ever seen; they must have been of great age, for they reached to 40 feet in height, with trunks that were a good 30 inches in diameter. The scene from our tents, of the lake, which was now 66Fig. 19.—NGORONGORO, LOOKING SOUTH FROM OLOLMOTI. From a sketch by the author, and referred to in the Introduction. pMia Fig. 20.—OLDONYO-LENGAI, OR THE "MOUNTAIN OF GOD.' As I first saw it from the lip of the Elanairobi Crater.HIE- SJIfMlf OF THE C31VSBSITY 6? JlUKSiSTHE REALMS OF VULGAN close to, and the great crater plain with its crowding game, was a picture to marvel at, set as it was in a frame of branching blue-green euphorbias. Even the mag- nificent chorus of lions that lulled us to sleep o' nights seemed to be just that much more effective than one had heard elsewhere, due, possibly, to the echoes of the encircling cliffs around us. This western side of the crater differed in many ways from the east, which we had just left. The for- mation of its floor on this side was in shallow terraces, as if formed by the receding waters of a lake that possibly at one time extended right across the crater. The bottom slopes of the wall of cliffs showed masses of fine scoria, which could be picked up in handfuls, as if it were still fresh from the bowels of the earth. Flakes of obsidian were strewn about. Rather curiously, too, there were numerous large ant-hills on this side, and spread amongst them clumps of fine trees, forming a pleasant park-land near the lake. In the course of my rambles near the estuary of the Lemunge River, I found myself in front of a high outcrop of lava, which can, in fact, be seen for many miles across the crater plain. When examining this I discovered, chipped out of the iron-like lava, two rows of shallow holes, each about 3J inches wide, forming the " board " of the African native game known in Swahili as bao. As this game is unknown to the Masai, and never played by them, this is doubtless a relic of the days when the Tatoga owned the crater. The exciting interlude of the lion hunting came as a climax to our sojourn at Ngorongoro, for the time at our disposal was now drawing to a close and we had to think about moving on. We were merely passing through the country. Many months would be neces- 67RESEARCH NECESSARY sary to thoroughly explore the Great Craters and their surroundings. A well-equipped scientific ex- pedition to this neighbourhood and to other parts of Tanganyika Territory, would show astonishing results and well repay its founders. It may be that yet another Gigantosaurus still remains to be un- earthed or, perhaps, as some think, ancient tombs await the pick and shovel of the excavator. Regarding the Gigantosaurus africanus, the largest fossil saurian ever discovered, it may be interesting to record that this was found, together with other fossilised remains ('Gigantosaurus robustus, Branchio- saurus brancai and B. fraasi, two species of Dicrceo- saurus, Kentrosaurus, Omosaurus, and Polacanthus), in 1907 by Professor Dr. E. Fraas of Stuttgart in the Dinosaur shales that exist close to Tendaguru Hill, and a place called Kindope, in the Makonde district behind the port of Lindi in Tanganyika Territory. Dr. Fraas was on a holiday when he had the wonderful luck to make these discoveries. Unfortunately, the head of the G. africanus was missing from the rest of the skeleton, and has never yet been found. 68Fig. 2i.—OLDONYO-LENGAI, THE ROSE AND SILVER " MOUNTAIN OF GOD." This volcano coruscates in the sun and is venerated by the Masai as the giver of all good things.I'lif I.IBMRY OF THF C3!YE9SITY XirCHAPTER IV polyglot peoples—iraku and irangi, and our journey from the craterland to tanganyika We had decided to leave Ngorongoro by mounting the cliffs that form its south-western curve. One fine morning, therefore, found us struggling up one of the many steep Masai cattle tracks that cut into the crater wall, on to the high pasture between the vol- canoes of Oldeani and Lemagrut. When we reached this, the " Great Crater " lay below us. Ngorongoro ! No one knows the meaning of the word or whence it came, and I have asked many of the wandering Masai about it. It stands for the wonder crater of the world—a sight scarcely to be equalled on the earth's face. Perhaps we should never see it again, so our gaze rested lingeringly for the last time on its vast amphitheatre, lit up at that hour by a brilliant sun which was reflected in the silver pool of Lake Magad. Thus we left it to its peace and solitude, resuming our journey over the high plateau that lies beneath Oldeani. We made camp that afternoon in yet another wonderful spot. This time on the edge of a ravine clothed in primeval forest, and beneath gnarled and knotted trees laden with every imaginable parasitic growth, from the tiny liver-worts to festoons of orchids and lichens. From our tents we looked out across undulating downs long with feathery grass to the 69THE VOLCANO OF OLDEANI towering mass of Oldeani on the far side, whose mantle of green bamboo forest made a streak across the landscape, where it met the open pasture in a sharply defined wall of stems. This was a great place for rhino and their tracks were everywhere in evidence. At sundown, a fat old bull came out from the bamboos and took a mud bath, which we watched with interest through our glasses. The following morning, whilst making our way across this plateau, we saw much game, including ostriches, and Ross and D. L. both bagged another rhino apiece. Our route presently took us over the shoulder of Oldeani into the deep basin of Lake Eyasi. As we slowly made our way down the steep sides of this volcano a magnificent view unfolded itself—a most splendid picture of wild lake scenery, enhanced by the dark clouds of a thunderstorm that drove across it from the west. The foot of Oldeani abuts right on to the shore of Lake Eyasi, giving this volcano a towering effect of great grandeur, for it rises sheer from the lake level (3,430 feet), in a distance of only a few miles, to a height of 10,360 feet. The south-western face of the crater has been riven asunder, in the long ago, by an eruption of world- shattering force, strewing the country below with such a devastating holocaust of lava and volcanic debris that it has hardly yet recovered. The crater now contains the sources of two streams which flow out from each side of a central core or neck, joining up afterwards into a swiftly flowing stream with an unpronounceable Masai name. The crater of Oldeani presents the novel features of being overgrown within by a primeval forest mostly composed of ancient white cedars, and without, 70UiJ Fig. 22.—READY FOR THE LIONS! A Masai moran or warrior with the " Great Crater " in the background. He is holding a gigantic spear and a heavy shield without which these warriors never move. He has a knob-kerry and hunting knife slung at his belt, and still another knob-kerry, as well as a pair of sandals, are held in his right hand.THE LIBRARY OF THE KI!.Vc3S5TV Of fSUKOISPOLYGLOT PEOPLES on its northern slopes, by a thick mass of bamboo. The name Oldeani* means " The Bamboo Mountain." The higher south-western slope of the volcano has a beautiful alpine flora, amongst which we found canter- bury bells, yellow cosmos, pink and white geraniums, creamy white anemones with flowers 4 inches across, and scabious and other beautiful flowers in great variety. The well-known South African sugar bush covered a considerable portion of this side of the mountain with its handsome foliage at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. After painfully descending the steep l^va-strewn slopes of Oldeani and negotiating the many deep cuttings that barred our downward course, we were more than glad to find ourselves camped within reach of the lake. The vegetation about us was now of that thorny rough and tough description, with many baobab trees, that one associates with the African low veldt. Here, perhaps, it was just a little more tough and thorny, and absolutely broken to pieces by the quantities of rhino that inhabited it. We found the north-eastern lake region to all intents and purposes a desert, which we had a very trying and hot day's work to cross. In its character it resembled a Mexican steppe with stunted thick-leaved plants—aloes, " cacti," and eu- phorbias. It is a matter of interest that, although no true cactus is found outside the two Americas, except as an importation, we discovered a plant here bearing a fleshy deep-crimson flower, almost like a starfish to look at, that would have made a botanist * The suffix Old, which will be noticed as continually occurring on maps of this region, stands for Oldonyo, which is the Masai word for " the mountain." 7iOUR PARTING ON LAKE EYASI jump, so much did it resemble a cactus.* Another extraordinary cactus-like plant we found in this region had flowers resembling a large bunch of auriculas, also of a deep-crimson colour with green centres, the edges of the petals bearing fine hairs that kept moving with every air current. The scent of both the flowers I have described smelt strongly and nastily like rotting meat. I am assured by a competent botanist that both plants were euphorbias—not cacti— although they closely resembled them. Yet another interesting plant from this region with a giant aerial bulb will be found illustrated in these pages. After crossing this barren land we camped on the Katete River, a muddy stream of fresh water that flows into Eyasi on its eastern side. The palm-fringed mouth of this river is the haunt of thousands of hippo; their numbers are prodigious, and, I am told, formed the staple fat supply for the German Army during the war. There are some giraffe in this region and a few gerenuk, as well as other small game. The camp on the Katete River was to be the parting of the ways, for my wife and I had to strike south to Tabora and the railway, en route for the Congo, and Ross and his party wished to do some more hunting before they finally returned to Nairobi. We therefore divided the remaining " luxuries," and over two half- bottles of good champagne we wished each other bon voyage and a safe return to the Old Country. My wife and I, accompanied by thirty porters, now made the best of our way over the Ngaboro Mountains towards a native track that leads into the Government * The cactus-like form of some desert Old World plants is a striking case of adaptation of different plants to similar conditions- —J. W. G. 72Fig. 23.—THE END OF A SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT IN THE "GREAT CRATER.' A lioness shot by Sir Charles Ross, with the help of the Masai moran.Mff I.fBRARY Of THE' tSSPEBSITY OF ILljROiSPOLYGLOT PEOPLES station of Mbulu. A local Wambulu native, who had been sent out to us by the assistant Political Officer at this place, lost us in these unknown hills, and there shamefully deserted us in a waterless country, making his own way back to his home. I reported this native for his unwarrantable conduct; but such is the care- lessness of colonial officialdom at times that he was let off with but a slight censure after his unpardonable offence of abandoning a safari, which included a white woman, to ah unknown fate in a trackless and waterless mountain region. After an excessively trying journey through dense thorn scrub, overrun with rhino and elephant, we eventually reached the first habitations of the Wambulu with our clothes badly torn and our food supply at an end. Two days afterwards we reached the old German boma of Mbulu. The Wambulu natives occupy a high and fertile plateau known as Iraku. They are an interesting industrious and intelligent people of Nilotic origin, tall, with fine features, and in many ways similar to the Watuzi of Ruanda. Owing, however, to the con- tinuous raids of the Masai in former times, they are not numerous. They are very clever pastoralists and agriculturists, both the men and women working hard tending their large stocks of cattle, sheep, and goats, and growing large and well-matured crops of maize, rice, sorghum, millet, eleusine, beans, yams, many kinds of native vegetables, and European potatoes; they also raise quantities of fowls. The Mbulu country has an exceedingly pleasing aspect with its well-ordered—often terraced—patches of cultivation, its quaint houses, its herds of cattle and sheep, its curious combination of clumps of 73IRAKU AND THE WAMBULU thin-stemmed tall phoenix palms (with orange-coloured fruits) with large stretches of heather and bracken, and, along the many beautiful streams, clumps of graceful tree ferns. The Wambulu houses are interesting. They are of three kinds—round, square, and oblong—the round ones thatched with reeds, the others having low mud roofs, and are built sometimes above, but more often below, ground. Those below ground, which may be called " dug-outs," are probably the oldest form of Wambulu houses; they are so well hidden, in many cases, by being dug-in to the sides of a steep slope or gully, and covered with earth upon which grass has grown, as to be indistinguishable from their surroundings. Many of them have a narrow winding trench entrance in the best military style. Until recently the Wambulu were in the habit of kraaling their stock in similar cave houses, but now they are kept in low-arched, mud-roofed houses above ground, this style of cattle pen being in use even amongst the Sandawi natives of Kondoa Irangi. The Wambulu " dug-outs " have, as a rule, three compartments—a kind of entrance hall running across the breadth of the dwelling, and two other divisions behind this; some of the houses are of quite large dimensions, 15 feet by 25 feet being not uncommon. They contain raised pole tables for their earthenware cooking and other utensils and a raised reed bed. These natives use both the wooden mortar and a hollowed stone for pounding their flour. They " bray " skins well which the women wear, and on to which are sewn beads and cowrie-shells, and are frequently tasselled in a neat manner. The men take their produce to market sewn into skin sacks, which they 74Fig. 24.—OUR CAMP IN THE EUPHORBIA FOREST. Looking- out over the Great Crater.fHf irnm OF the □IVEBSITY of lUUtfllSPOLYGLOT PEOPLES pack on to their small grey donkeys. The women carry large loads on their backs strapped round their shoulders. The country in many respects resembles the Ruanda, but there are no bananas, and it is, of course, cultivated to an extent that is never seen there. It is extremely well watered, with a rich pasty soil overlying pink mica schist through which run large seams of mica and pink quartz. The contour of the highlands of the Great Craters to the north has been altered by the hoofs of milliards of cattle passing and repassing across the centuries; here, however, the run of the land has been altered by the hand of man, for with the flight of time and a continual scooping out of the sides and heads of the watercourses for cultivation, the face of the country has been completely changed. Near the White Fathers' Mission of Mbulu is a small lake, in and around which live many pythons, which are held in veneration by the Wambulu. The natives in the vicinity have the curious custom of carrying back to this lake any python that is found any distance away from it. To the west of the Wambulu, inhabiting the neigh- bourhood of the Jaida Swamp, are the Kindega of mixed Bantu and Nilotic affinities, also, it is said, some wandering Pygmy or Bushmen tribes. To the south again of the Kindega are the pastoral Mangati (also Nilotic), a small tribe, but immensely rich in cattle. Their cattle, being handed down from father to son, remain in the hands of individuals, each owner of a herd being a chief to himself. One family may own as many as 15,000 head of cattle. One of the Mangati customs is the right to wear an ivory bangle (or two, as the case may be) above the elbow when one 75THE MANGATI AND WAFIOME of them has killed a lion and a man (a man may mean a child, and often does). A Mangati warrior, therefore, is thought very little of unless he can show this ivory bangle. To kill a lion is comparatively easy, but to kill a man in these days rather more difficult, hence this custom is becoming the cause of frequent murders amongst the otherwise peaceful Mangati. At the time of our visit to the neighbourhood, one chieftain had just been fined 500 head of cattle for killing a baby, for the sole purpose, it would appear, of obtaining the right to wear the bangle. The Mangati women on any special occasion, or when visiting each other, don very fine soft beaded leather cloaks, which are greatly prized amongst them. To the south again of the Mangati are the Tatoga, under their present chief Yidahonga, once a powerful race and owners of the Great Craters and many herds erf cattle, but now, due to the bloodthirsty Masai, their power and possessions have dwindled to a mere shadow of their former greatness. Then there are still other tribes, the Wassi and Barungi. To the east of the Wambulu country and down in the rift valley, at the south end of Lake Manyara, are the Wambugwe, with a physique and language purely Bantu it would seem. Although living so close to the Wambulu, they ap- parently have little to do with each other, as they are unable to understand each other's language. The Wambugwe are short and thick-set, and great runners; it is said they are able to run down and spear a wilde- beeste. To take us on our southward journey down to the Wafiome country, the assistant Political Officer sup- plied us with a fine lot of Wambulu carriers, who took us along the well-graded German road (with deep 76Fig. 25.—A LONELY SCENE. Looking- across the floor of Ngorongoro towards Oldeani, draped in clouds.HE IJBMHY OF IHF ^BSITY 8? •"!POLYGLOT PEOPLES cuttings) that runs through their fine country. In con- tradistinction to the Arusha natives (the agricultural Masai) whom we had lately paid off, and who each carried a long knife or spear, these peace-loving natives carried nothing more lethal than their sticks. The second day took us off the berg (7,000 feet) down into the forest of the rift valley (4,750 feet), passing through some fine scenery en route. After crossing the Eer River, the fourth day brought us to Dodo's village, which lies beneath the massive ruins of a volcano named Ufiome, after the Wafiome natives who inhabit the region. Here we paid off the Wambulu carriers, as the Government, very rightly, and following a method that has long been in practice in the Belgian Congo, do not allow the natives inhabit- ing the high veldt to stay long on the mosquito infested lowlands, as they are prone to contract malarial fever. The country we had now reached comprises the district known as Bonga, a small basin or catchment area complete in itself. It lies in the rift valley; in its centre stands a picturesque lake known as Klaui,* and an its north-western side are several extinct craters. The Wafiome who inhabit this country are of mixed origin, certainly more Bantu in physique than Nilotic, of a low order of intelligence and morality. They have savage and extraordinary customs, as the/reader may judge for himself from the following account of some of them. For instance, when a young Wafiome girl becomes of marriageable age, she is shut up in a low house (so low that she can only remain in a stooping or sitting position) of small dimensions (perhaps with others of * Named Lake Bassoda on the sectional map of Africa, but the Wafiome did not appear to know this^name. 77CUSTOMS OF WAFIOME her own age in separate compartments), where she is kept for six months (it used to be a year) to get fat. After she is put in this enclosure she is not allowed to wash or feed herself; her mother attends to this, and helps her with a kind of bodily shampoo, using the juice of a certain plant for this purpose. The only work the " captive " is now allowed to do is to sew beads on to her dress and to plait her hair, which is allowed to grow as long as it will, as it is used, when she comes out of confinement, to hide her face. When the six months are up and she becomes free, she is known as a dena (plural dageno), and is now permitted to become the temporary wife of any man she fancies. During this time, however, and before she has decided on a man for a husband, she is not allowed to cross a stream or river either by a bridge or on foot; she can only cross by being carried over by a man, who is, according to custom, unable to refuse this politeness. Bevies of these dageno with long hair hiding their faces roam the country at times, looking for husbands and generally enjoying themselves, and, moreover, turning the head of every bachelor for miles around. A dena may take a fancy to a certain man and may live with him for three months, but after that time she returns to her mother, and if not then enceinte the man is unable to marry her. If later she becomes pregnant by another man, that is perfectly legitimate, and the former suitor is then able to arrange for the marriage feast, but he is unable to wed until this takes place. From Ufiome we gradually made our way to the Tanganyika Railway. We changed porters again at Kondoa Irangi, finding the Political Officer in charge, 78Fig. 26.—"THE WONDER CRATER OF THE WORLD." Our "safari" climbing out over its south-western rim (see Introduction).THE" LIBRARY OF THE 5BSITY (ifPOLYGLOT PEOPLES Mr. J. B. Bagshawe, a most congenial soul, as well as an exceedingly capable, entertaining, and hospitable man. The natives of his interesting district have a great liking for him; he is, moreover, interested in their customs and ceremonies to an unusual extent. He gave me a lot of interesting information about the natives with whom he had come in contact, amongst which was the following. It has to do with a native conjurer known locally as the Kondoa Fire King, and I give the facts in Mr. Bagshawe's own words: " I had an opportunity of watching closely a native conjurer of my acquaintance who possesses a secret which would be invaluable to a fire brigade He smears himself with what is apparently a vegetable oil which renders his skin impervious to flame. I have taken a photograph of him holding a blazing bottle-straw within an inch of his naked armpit. He scorches his skin for as long as you like, and the closest inspection reveals no damage. On one occasion, in the presence of the Bishop of Kilimanjaro, Mr. Bamp- fylde, and the whole of my family, this native brought a bundle of sticks into my back yard, and under the scrutiny of the afore-mentioned audience he pounded up leaves taken from two trees, mixed the resulting juice with water from my kitchen, and scorched himself as usual. I smeared some of this juice under my own arm and applied the flame myself, closely, for half a minute. I could feel only a pleasant warmth, and felt no pain either then or afterwards. No mark was left on my skin, and even the hair on my arm was uninjured. Both the trees from which he used leaves are common ones." If ever an official had a conglomeration of races to look after, with mixed and outlandish customs and 79KONDOA IRANGI languages to learn, surely Mr. J. B. Bagshawe. The varied influences and superstitions at work in the Kondoa tribal court must be hard to fathom with anything like justice. To enumerate only some of the tribes, there are first the Masai, then the alien Arab and Swahili element, then the Sandawi, the Wafiome, the Wambulu, the Tatoga, the Wassi, the Wagogo, and the wandering Kindega Bushmen. The Sandawi inhabit the district directly adjacent to Kondoa Irangi. It is thought that they were originally lake dwellers from Lake Victoria, and the fact that they use a long wooden implement for planting and tilling the fields almost exactly resembling a canoe paddle lends support to this theory. The Swahilis and Arabs are heartily disliked by the indigenes for their intrigue and interference, but no doubt the adminis- tration find them useful in finding out things and keeping in touch with the undercurrent of native affairs. An interesting case came before Mr. Bagshawe for trial some time before our arrival at Kondoa. It had to do with a Waha murderer of more than uncommon cunning. The facts were these, and might be taken as an example of the varied work an official has to accomplish: One day an intelligent-looking native applied for work on the station, and after a time, due to his dili- gence and usefulness, became an overseer and inter- preter at Kondoa. For a time all went well, then came a day when a native woman was found cut and bleeding half-way along the road to the railway. She was picked up by some native carriers and brought into the town- ship, where she was nursed and eventually recovered from her wounds. She had an extraordinary tale to tell, which was as follows: 80Fig. 27.—BENEATH OLDEANI! Trees near our camp festooned with orchids.THE LIBRARY Of THE• DIVERSITY' Or IUJKOISPOLYGLOT PEOPLES " I and my husband had been working on the rail- way for many months, and, having saved some money, we were on our way home, carrying with us two large bundles of native cloths and calico which we had purchased. At dusk, when we reached a lonely part of the road, a man jumped out of some bushes and speared my husband from behind, killing him in- stantly. He then ran after me and, catching me up, knocked me senseless with an axe he carried. When I regained consciousness I found myself amongst some trees on the side of the road where he had dragged me, believing me to be dead. I heard whistling in the direction I supposed the road to be, and out of the corner of my eye I saw my assailant dragging my husband by the legs, and watched him hide the body, in the thick grass. He then came back to me and, after hitting me over the head again with his axe, dragged me several hundred yards away from the road, whistling as he did so. During the night, my senses having returned sufficiently, I got back to the road, and in the early morning was found by some passing natives, having again lost consciousness." Having heard this tale, Mr. Bagshawe sent out to search for the murdered man, and he was found as the woman had described; the bundle of cloths, etc., were, however, missing. There was a village not so very far away from the place where the crime had been committed, and a report came in that the Waha foreman had been seen in this village on the day of the murder. Thinking this rather curious, Bagshawe instituted a search of the man's belongings, with the result that the stolen cloths were found buried in his hut. The man was then arrested and tried for this cold-blooded 81 FTHE WAHA ASSASSIN murder, being convicted on the evidence of the woman. The tale, of course, should end here, but there is more to follow, as this Waha native, having served as a soldier with the German forces, was no ordinary man, and put up a stiff fight for his life, holding up the entire population of Kondoa Irangi, including three white men. In an African colony a native murderer is not hanged off-hand. It takes time. The evidence has to be read and reread, and eventually the Governor's signa- ture is obtained and the sentence carried out. It was during this interval that the incidents I am about to relate occurred. In the course of the war and during the evacuation of Kondoa by the Germans the few buildings in the place were considerably knocked about, and the Political Officer had to patch up such houses as there were and make the best use he colild of them. Bagshawe, when taking over the reins of government, had turned one of these patchwork houses into a prison, as well as using it as an armoury and ammunition dump. This is the building in which our Waha assassin was confined, and as he had escaped once he was on this occasion heavily shackled with a strong chain from ankle to ankle. This fact, however, did not deter the prisoner from watching his opportunity and barricading himself in the empty prison. When I say " empty," I mean empty of human beings; it was, however, not empty for him, for in a loft above the cells were many thousands of rounds of ammuni-r tion, some dozens of Mills bombs, and a stack of rifles, if he could only get at them. An astonished native corporal in charge of the 8 3Fig. 28.—CRATER FLOWERS. (Clematopsis stuhlmannii.)fHE IIBRARY Of HIE raVEHSITY Of HI.UROiSPOLYGLOT PEOPLES prison, finding himself locked out by a solitary prisoner, went to report the matter to his commanding officer, with the result that the door was soon broken in. Hpw he did it nobody quite knows, but when the entrance had been forced, and, one supposes with a strength born of despair, it was found that, shackles and all, Waha (I forget his name, but we will call him Waha) had leapt to the loft, had smashed in a window, and before they knew where they were the white officer and his men were under fire from the loft window and two of their number shot stone dead. Here was a nice kettle of fish, for the windows of the ammunition loft, of which there were four, commanded the entire centre of the station, and, as Waha blazed away at anyone he could see, a hurried retreat was the order of the day. The man had complete command of the situation; neither distant cajolery nor threats nor rifle bullets could move him. After three days of this sort of thing, it was eventually decided to burn the man out and stand the loss of the ammunition and rifles rather than have the work of the station held up any longer. During the night, therefore, and with the aid of petrol, a fire was started at one corner of the building, and the flames eventu- ally reaching the loft, Waha was seen to jump from one of its windows into the enclosed courtyard below. The officer was, however, prepared for this, and landed several Mills bombs over the wall, one of which ex- ploded between the man's legs, breaking both, as well as the chain that bound them. So died this Waha desperado ! From the hospitable roofs of Kondoa Irangi, we set out one morning to make the small station of Saranda on the Tanganyika Railway—a seven days' march. 83TO THE TANGANYIKA RAILWAY Though the country is flat and sandy for the most part, the heat extreme, and the tsetse both numerous and vicious, the picture of this journey stays in my mind as one continuous vista of beautiful flowers and flights of butterflies. The memory, fortunately for us mortals, has a felicitous habit of recording the beauty of life and pushing its hardships and discomforts into the background, so I remember only the pleasant part of this trip. But a record remains, registering the fact that this wonderful journey across the Great Craterland to Saranda was no light achievement, and this was the joy with which we heard the whistle of a shunting engine and stepped practically out of the bush on to the rails; we, in fact, bent down and affectionately patted their polished surface. It must be remembered that I, personally, had had practically no rest (I had no conveyance other than Shanks's pony, and had organised the entire safari, no small task when there are 150 carriers and 6 white people) since leaving Arusha on February 14th until I reached Saranda in April, and I had just then com- pleted a journey over rough country of over 280 miles since leaving Ngorongoro. But as I say, memory with me only registers the good times and takes no count of the bad, so the flowers and butterflies remain to beautify the track to Saranda. No ! Wait! There is one other im- pression ! It is a Wagogo maiden, standing sil- houetted with her jet black skin against the grey back- ground of an ant-heap, and using a leather sling to hurl chunks of clay across the sorghum fields to scare birds stealing the ripening grain. What waste of energy ! If I had thought about it, I might have instructed her in the art of scaring birds as they do it 84Fig. 29.—THE GIGANTIC AERIAL BULB OF ADENIA GLOBOSA. From the desert region north of Lake Eyasi,W I IBRARlf Of fHE UNIVERSITY OF ILLlBfliSPOLYGLOT PEOPLES in Nyasaland, by tying the heads of grain endlessly together all over the field. She then could have sat down outside her hut, and, with frequent jerks from the " master-string," have set the whole field in move- ment, and kept the busy birds at bay indefinitely. The Indian station-master at Saranda was bewailing the enormous slump in the revenue of his station, and in trade throughout the country. At that time the Kenya currency muddle was at its height, and had— quite unnecessarily, it seemed—involved Tanganyika Territory, causing an almost entire suppression of trade in the country. All whom I talked with spoke of the repressive policy of the Government, and the vampire methods of the neighbouring colony of Kenya. Keeping expenses down is one thing, but discouraging enterprise in a new colony is quite another. If a passing traveller may express his views and put a question, why does not the Government inaugurate a thoroughly progressive policy while it is about it ? It will be found less expensive in the long run, for Britain can make up her mind she has got the country for a very long time, as no other nation will be found rich enough to take over its debt—at any rate, in our time. The new Customs Tariff, and the principle of assimilating its economic and financial position with that of Kenya, seems to have caused widespread dis- content amongst the settlers and traders, but—no doubt, from a purely administrative point of view—this is a good system. An open policy of prospecting is essential, and good mining laws must be framed to foster the industry instead of restricting it. The country must be advertised and a bureau opened in London for the purpose (at present the ignorance about 85TANGANYIKA TERRITORY the territory is abysmal) and some inducement offered to settlers and investors. Although Tanganyika Territory has an area of 384,000 square miles as compared with Kenya's 247,000, it is more " patchy " and with a larger desert area, demanding a greater concentration on fewer industries. Cattle, cotton (the American upland type), sizal, oil-producing plants, and tobacco are the first that strike one. I have no faith in East Africa, so far as gems and rare metals are concerned, but it can well be that coal and petroleum may prove them- selves of far greater worth to a country than gold or diamonds. After a wait of two days, which was spent in packing insects and other specimens for dispatch to England, we boarded the second of the two weekly corridor trains from Dar-es-Salaam to Kigoma. We left just before mid-day, reaching Kigoma at sunrise the follow- ing morning. To do the full journey the train takes thirty-six hours. Kigoma, after the Belgian evacuation, bore a dilapidated and " nobody-cares-a-damn " kind of a look. The town as I remembered it in 1919 had a smart, well-kept appearance. Now it was unkempt, lifeless, and shuttered. By the courtesy of Major Bagnell, the Political Officer, we stayed in the old Kaiserhoff Hotel, an hotel no longer, but serving many useful purposes. After a wait of four days, we took passage on a small Belgian tug-boat, the Vengeur, and found ourselves commencing the second stage of our travels. It proved to be a journey of several thousand miles that we were embarking on, and was to last a full year. It was to take us again through the damp and leafy maze of the Congo Forest, and along its mighty rivers 86Fig. 30.—CRATER FLOWERS. A new violet Hibiscus growing to 9 feet'in height with flowers 6 inches across.fHE LIBRARY Of fHE BHIVERSITY OF ILUMNSPOLYGLOT PEOPLES in a search for one richly coloured and rare insect. To the snow-crowned Birunga Volcanoes—the haunt and stronghold of the giant gorilla. To sun-bathed Kisenyies by the Lake of Kivu. Through the fairy forest of Rugege. Down the foaming Rusisi, and " looping the loop " at the very place we were then leaving, southward over the wind-swept Marungu to Lake Mweru. Then, southward still, over hundreds of miles of all kinds of country, to Cape Town. But how were we to know all this, as our little vessel nosed her way out of Kigoma Harbour, and headed for Albertville, across the lake ? 87CHAPTER V in quest of the " antizox "—wild life across the congo, and our search for things that are new Who shall say that romance is dead ! For were we not lately come from such matchless surroundings as I have described in the foregoing chapters, and a few weeks afterwards, were we not embarking on a chase across Africa for an elusive butterfly which had been seen in the forest region of the west by several observers, including myself, but which had never yet been captured—an entomological rarity that would flutter the museum dovecotes all over the world should I have the luck to secure even a single specimen ? As this chapter describes the events that occurred and the methods I employed in my attempt to capture this insect, I must give, if only to awaken the interest of my readers, the history of events that led up to the organising of this rather remarkable quest. In my book " The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo," describing my previous journey through the Congo Forests, will be found an account of how, when on my way to Stanleyville and when crossing in a canoe a broad river called the Lindi, I saw floating above me, but some yards out of reach of my net, a brilliantly coloured swallow-tail (Papilio*) butterfly of exceptional size. Its forewings were black with a lustrous blue-green bar across them, and the hind * See The Bulletin of the Hill Museum, vol. i., No. x, p. 39. 88Fig. 31.—CLOSELY CULTIVATED! The Wambulu country south of the Great Craters.fllF LIBRARY OF THE a»WRH(MTlf ^K!+}Nft|SIN QUEST OF THE "ANTIZOX" wings bright brown with black markings along their edges. To a " mad entomologist " like myself, this was a thrilling sight, for I realised that the insect was a new species. The largest butterfly in the world, the Antimachus swallow-tail, is found on the Lindi River, as Well as the wonderful blue Xalmoxis, but the butter- fly I saw, although certainly a member of this genus, was neither of these and was, if anything, larger. My astonished paddlers took me for a madman as, nearly overbalancing myself with my vehemence, I commanded them to push the canoe along after the flying butterfly. Sad to relate, however, it flew away over the forest, and although I stayed on the river for the rest of that day and the two following ones, it never returned, although I fancy I caught sight of another of the same species in the forest farther on. At that time—in the early part of 1921—steamer passages home to Europe were difficult to obtain, and had to be booked and paid for six or eight months in advance, and it was this fact alone that prevented me from making at least a temporary home on the banks of the Lindi and further efforts to bring about the capture of the butterfly I had seen. As a matter of fact, I reached Matadi, my point of embarkation, with only thirty-six hours to spare. When I reached England and reported these facts tt> Mr. James J, Joicey, the owner of the Hill Museum, for whom I had been collecting, he, being an enthusiast, was at once bitten with the idea that I should again proceed to the Lindi River without loss of time on a second attempt to obtain for him a specimen of this elusive Papilio. To have the best chance of success it was necessary 89TO THE CONGO RIVER for me to reach the place at the same time of year— e.g., the end of April. So after a few months' holiday in England my wife and I again set out for Africa, leaving the Old Country on December 23rd, 1920. Before leaving, my discovery of a new giant Papilio (Mr. Talbot, Mr. Joicey's curator, and I gave it the name of " Antizox " [it sounds like some new patent medicine !] for brevity—a play on the two names antimachus and zalmoxis, to both of which species we thought the insect might be related) was to some extent verified by reports reaching us that a similar insect had been seen by a Frenchman between Liberia and French Guinea, and again on two occasions by Dr. W. A. Lamborn in Southern Nigeria. These are the facts, therefore. The trip over the Great Craterland was in the nature of an excursion— a side line—that I could not allow to interfere any longer with the avowed object of the expedition, or I should have, of course, prolonged my stay in that wonderful region. It was lucky that a French railway engineer of some importance (from Madagascar en route to Brazzaville in the French Congo) was travelling with us at the time, as also was an American Education Commission* under Dr. Jesse Jones of the Phelps-Stokes Fund, and, like ourselves, bound for Stanleyville on the lower Congo. Together we made up an international party, for which the Belgian authorities, polite and hospitable on all such occasions, did their utmost. Not only did they go to the greatest trouble to have boats and trains en correspondence for us, but they attended to the * To those who are interested, the report of this Commission is contained in a work entitled " Education in Africa," published by the Phelps-Stokes Fund, 297, Fourth Avenue, New York. 90Fig. 32.—A WAMBULU HOMESTEAD.HE LIBRARY jOF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISIN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " many other details that make for greater ease on a long and tiring journey made through a country as yet unreached by the hotel-keeper. The result of this was that we reached Stanleyville from Kigoma in the record time of eight days. The route was from Kigoma to Albertville by lake steamer Albertville to Kabalo on the Lualaba River by rail. Kabalo to Kongolo by river steamer (during the night). Kongolo to Kindu by rail. Kindu to Ponthierville by river steamer. Ponthierville to Stanleyville by rail. A distance of approximately 700 miles. Since my visit to Albertville in 1919, the place had been greatly enlarged. Then there were only com- paratively few buildings, now there were many fine brick residential houses, besides large engineering shops and warehouses. It had a great air of bustle. Gangs of native workmen amounting to some hundreds lined up for roll-call in the early morning beside our waiting train, being sent off afterwards to their varied duties in the workshops round about. Parts of the new 500-ton steamer, the Due de Brabant (a sister ship of the Baron Dhanis) were then beginning to arrive, and on our return to Albertville a year later we saw the completed hull standing on the slips awaiting the fitting of her boilers. The Belgians have now four steamers on Lake Tanganyika, and we thought then that the prestige of Great Britain was woefully upheld by so potty a little vessel as the King George. Colonel de Meulemeester, the Governor of the Eastern Province, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Brussels, received us very kindly at Stanleyville, and helped us m his usual generous way to obtain porters for the interior. Our goal—the home of the Great Papilio—was 91UP THE LINDI VALLEY Bafwasende, a small Belgian poste on the banks of the Lindi River, buried in the heart of the Ituri Forest and lying just north of the first degree north of the Equator. It takes a good twenty days of marching to reach the place going in a north-easterly direction from Stanley- ville, and as I was plagued with severe sciatica at this time, due to overstrain of my muscles, it was a via dolorosa for me. Even sitting in a deck chair tied to two bamboos and carried by natives I obtained little relief. Not the least part of the complaint, as my wife remarked, is the bad language and temper it engenders, and the only time of the day (or night) that I found any real relief was when I was able to lie with my back to the sun and drink whiskey that had been previously evaporated by boiling until only a very potent spirit remained. The sciatica did not leave me entirely until I reached the dry uplands of Kivu. There I effected a complete cure by following a remedy recommended by the White Fathers of the Roman Catholic Mission at Lulenga, combined with a rough-handed native rubbing camphorated oil into my leg three times a day. The White Fathers' remedy was a. drastic one, but is worth giving and may save other souls from torment. It is this: Starting with five drops of iodine in coffee or hot milk five times a day, the patient increases this gradually in the course of some weeks until he is taking, in some cases, as much as 25 drops at a time, or 125 drops in the course of the day. It is a French remedy, and the Fathers aver that they have proved it to have remarkable curative effect in cases of not only sleeping sickness and malaria, but in pulmonary complaints as well, as the drug passes through the blood and is breathed out of the system through the 92S = * fii-- Fig. 33 —A WAGOGO WOMAN. Using her sling- to scare birds from the gardens. 2$. . ' ti *- , t1' Fig. 34.—A MANGATI BELLE. On a visit to friends and wearing her " Sunday best' beaded skin cloak.#F 1I8RARY OF THE UNiVfiA«ITY PF ihUHUISIN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " lungs. To put it in another way, instead of applying iodine externally over the skin, the patient applies it internally to the nerves and blood. I know many people become garrulous over com- plaints and remedies, but I will risk this charge being conferred against me, as the iodine remedy I mention is worth wide publicity. It was with no little relief that I reached Bafwasende. There, I was delighted to find my friend Monsieur d'Aout still in command of the station, for I knew that this energetic and capable little man (the natives know him familiarly as kitwabunga, literally " the man with flour on his head "—for his head is bald and " downy ") would put all the resources of his district at my disposal to help me obtain the insect I had come so far to find. If it was humanly possible to get it I now knew that I stood every chance. My wife and I established ourselves in a vacant house on the edge of the ever-encroaching forest that completely encloses this tiny Belgian outpost, and after a few days' rest I began to mature a plan of campaign. Having allowed for a stay of three months at this place, besides insects I decided it was worth while to collect mammals. The word went forth, therefore, amongst the Wabali that " an engelesi (Englishman) had arrived to collect vidudu (insects) and that he would pay good prices for them. Moreover, he especially wanted a certain kind of large insect, for which he was willing to pay a reward of 200 francs. He also was willing to buy all kinds of small antelopes and animals if they would bring them in alive or freshly killed. This white man also required twelve natives to be trained as collecting ' boys ' and they would be paid at the rate 93 ,THE SEARCH COMMENCES of fifteen francs a month and food, with special ' bonuses ' for good work. He further required three canoes and eighteen paddlers for work on the river, and an ex-soldier shikari and assistant." To make sure that the inhabitants of the Lindi Valley, both south and north of Bafwasende, should know what was required, the sympathetic Monsieur d'Aout gave out that a large dance would take place on a certain date (a sure inducement this amongst the Wabali to come into the station) to which the riverine chiefs were especially invited. This dance, when it came off, was quite a remarkable affair jn itself. I have seen many weird dances all over Africa, but this one was quite exceptional and the most interesting I have ever watched. Not so much on account of the fact that the dancers were cannibals and some of them without doubt belonging to the terrible Society of Human Leopards, but, owing to the extraordinary antics of the dancers and the way they mimicked animals, such as the chimpanzee, the leopard, and various birds, and the savage way they depicted love and hate and murder—this last with nasty-looking knives that, if they had not actually cut up human flesh or beheaded some hapless wight, certainly looked as if they had. Then their body ornaments and head-dresses alone were remarkable. Fortunately francs were cheap, for I distributed a good many that day, as well as a number of butterfly nets, killing bottles, pins, and cork-lined boxes. And so we mixed entomology and anthropology ! Then came the next move. To make three draw- ings in colour of the " Antizox," one of which was given to an intelligent half-caste Arab up-river, another to a would-be black entomologist below Bafwasende. 94YiG. 35.—THE KONDOA FIRE KING AND HIS BURNING BRAND. This man has discovered a vegetable juice which, when smeared on the naked skin, renders it proof against the effects of fire. Fig. 36.—CRATER FLOWERS. The crimson, evil-smelling-, auricular-like flowers of an Euphorbia (Caralluma) from Lake Eyasi, probably a new species.fSE M3RARY (If THE UHIVER5ITY OF ILLINOISIN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX Still a third I nailed to a board with a notice beneath, calling upon all and sundry, in French and Swahili to take note that a 200 franc reward was offered for the capture of the " Antizox " dead or alive. The board was then nailed to a short post with a zinc cover above it to protect it from the rain and put up at the ferry, on what was a well-frequented track through the forest between Stanleyville and Irumu. Then, what I called the canoe patrol had to be organ- ised. This consisted of three canoes with eighteen paddlers, who were to move up and down the river banks which, for the most part, were so thickly forested that to reach certain spots was only possible by water. But before anything I had the most difficult task of all, and that was to train the collecting " boys." When doing this I often found that the most savage and unpromising material in the way of a collector often turned out the best. Some " boys " would never take sufficient care with their captures and had to be sacked. I was continually changing them. It was only with the utmost patience that I was able to make them understand that, firstly, I wanted the insects as perfect as possible, then, to distinguish the different species and, lastly, to realise that the common kinds ■yvere valueless. My best collectors were an under- sized, half-clothed, half-pygmy man and his son, named respectively Dunda and Wetty. These two brought me some wonderful bugs. They were really worth all the others put together and, as I paid them very well, they cleared quite a respectable sum in cash before they left me. Monsieur d'Aout took a tremendous interest in my work and, catching the collecting " fever " himself 95LIFE OF A TROPICAL COLLECTOR and much to the amusement of his soldiers, was to be seen chasing hopeful 200 francers across his compound and into the forest. After a time things began to straighten themselves out and things began to come in. To start with there were the insects. About ten o'clock of a day these began to arrive in ever-increasing numbers, and, when I was not at home, keeping my wife busy with pins and forceps. At one time it would be a naked black piccaninny with a large and valuable Emperor moth crushed in his hand and demanding a franc for it. At another it would be a round-eyed Mubali woman with a great moth stuck through the body with a thorn and flapping itself to pieces as she hurried up to the house breathless with excitement. The women often brought things up, and another method of theirs was to secure their capture, if it was large, by tying it round the body with a thin string of fibre, from which it dangled toy-aeroplane-fashion. Goodness knows how they caught them without nets ! Then, of course, often and often, beautiful insects—mostly the large variety of Saturnid moths—were brought to me held by the wings between finger and thumb with scarce a scale left to show what species they had belonged to. Then I had live butterflies brought to me in little plaited wicker cages, sometimes containing only one butterfly, and at others full of the commonest kinds (I must say it again, " Goodness knows how they caught them without nets!"). Then there was a man who brought me live butterflies enclosed in a calabash and another who had them confined in a receptacle formed of large leaves folded together, the undoing of which let out, unexpectedly, a bright cloud of 96Fig. 37.-CATTLE AND PADDY-BIRDS AT KINDU ON THE UPPER CONGO.fHE LIBRARY OF HE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISIN QUEST OF THE "ANTIZOX" insects. Then, again, there was the man who would bring in Goliath beetles; they were usually tied by the leg with a length of fibre and when placed on the verandah started to fly away with a loud buzz—this being the signal for a wild dash to lay hold of the drifting string. It was all very exciting, for whenever we saw a man running towards the house (there seemed to be always someone running towards the house!) we always hoped that at last the " Antizox" had arrived. After this I must mention the animals—dead and alive animals! A really astonishing collection of forest folk. No less than six water chevrotains (Dor- catherium) were brought me—four alive and two dead —a most curious pig-like water antelope, without horns, but owning long tusks which grew out beyond the lips from the upper jaw. It has small round ears, a long pig-like snout, stiff chocolate-coloured hair with creamy yellow spots and bars over it, and short legs bare of hair almost to the second joint. Then there were two live tree hyraxes—male and female—(Pro- cavia dorsalis), the coney-like animal that makes the forest hideous with its night cry and has the great rhinoceros for a cousin-many-times-removed. A weird brush-tailed porcupine (Atherura) with such a variety of quills and hairs that it looked as if someone had been playing a joke trying to produce a new animal—this was dead, and I had a prickly job skinning it. Dead also (thank Providence !) were the two Ituri leopards they brought me, slung on poles—one was an old male (nbw in the South Kensington Museum), and its strong smell was nauseating; he had killed several of the village dogs, and had been trapped and speared. Then there were several species of genets and mon- 97 GFOREST FOLK gooses.* A potto lemur (Periodicticus), the weirdest animal with a stump tail and long big-toe claws. There was also a big forest baboon, dead, and I was glad of it by the look of his hyena-like mouth and teeth. Several tortoises added to the list, as well as a live family of scaly tree ant-eaters or pangolins—father, mother, and son (now in South Kensington Museum). It was necessary to kill these three animals, and I had a great difficulty in doing so, even with a pistol bullet, as they rolled themselves into balls presenting only a sphere of horned armour. The natives eat and cook them by throwing them alive into the fire, as they do tortoises. Some beautiful green fruit pigeons were brought us as well as two little wild piglets which Mrs. Barns tried unsuccessfully to rear. To finish up with there were three Red River hogs which fell to my native hunter's rifle, and two large male chimpan- zis (one black and one pink-faced) and a black Ituri forest hog (Hylochcerus Ituriensis)—a great prize— which fell to mine. But I am forgetting two other live animals that came into our life at Bafwasende. They are priceless, and are called " Ticky " (the South African word for a threepenny bit) and " Pollypops." Two more lovable animals never existed. Both came down to us, to gladden our hearts, from the swaying tree-tops of the great Congo Forest, looking upon us as their father and mother (we were the only ones they could remember, at any rate!), and both followed our varying fortunes * It is interesting to note that the natives of the Lindi River brought me up the greater portion of the skin of a very large mongoose that they called the Hindi. It is unknown to me, and may be a new animal; it is said to frequent the streams. The hair is very thick, black, and long.—T. A. B. 98Fig. 38.—OUR TWO ENTERTAINERS TICKY" AND "POLLYPOPS. Fig. 39.— "MUNOMBO—THE PIRATE" (see p. 260).fHE LIBRARY Of THE UHiViiRSiTY 0F ILLINOISIN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " for a year of travel for thousands of miles over land and sea, and both are with us still. " .Ticky " is a gem of a monkey known as the Golden-browed Guenon (Cercopithecus ignitus)—the prettiest species in Africa —and "Pollypops," of course, can only be one thing —a Grey Parrot.* As I shall have more to tell about these two as we journey along, I will give their early history in a nut- shell. " Pollypops' " is simple: she came to us as a half-fledged thing with no tail, sitting on the coarse black finger of a savage from the upper Lindi. Her disposition was the sweetest from the very first day, and her appetite positively astonishing. She could eat for hours without stopping. The reason for this was that she had been brought up on native mush, a very " filling " food, and, as we had not found out her liking for this diet until some time after she came into our possession, she doubtless thought that the boiled rice and banana we gave her poor stuff by comparison and hard to fill-up on. Polly had been taken from a hollow tree in a forest that grew in a deep gorge—a well-known spot for nesting parrots—where, instead of climbing up the trees, the parrot-catchers are let down to them by a rope from the cliffs above. It is a well-known fact that Grey Parrots protect their young with great fierceness, hurling themselves beak and claw at anyone bold enough to approach their nests, and for this reason " Pollypops " was not kid- * As the Grey Parrot is a bird which is in the process of forming a new species—e.g., the " King Parrot," with a pink plumage— ornithologists may be interested to know that the variety to be found on Kwidgwe Island in Lake Kivu is to be distinguished from the Western Congo form by its neutral tinted eyes in place of the bright golden eyes of the commoner form; the plumage is also much lighter in colour. 99OUR PETS napped from home without trouble, and the man who did the deed required a bandage to protect his eyes. So much for the bird—she was my pet! As to the monkey, a liking for water (more common amongst monkeys than is supposed) by " Ticky's " mother was the cause of our other pet's capture. One day I spied a man running towards me swinging a dead animal by the tail. On reaching me he laid at my feet a beautifully coloured monkey—grey, with a bright brown and black mark over the eyes and a little pure white beard below. This was " Ticky's " mother. " Ticky " herself was so small—not more than a week old—that I scarcely noticed the little ugly rat of a thing that the man carried in his paw. " How did you get them ?" I asked. " I shot the big one," he replied, " with an arrow whilst it was bathing in the river, and when I went to pick it up I found the toto (child) clinging to it." I paid ten francs for the lot—dead and alive. The toto became my wife's con- cern at six spoonfuls of milk and water a day, and at first it lived in a bottle-straw, afterwards mostly in the crook of my wife's arm. The mother monkey can be seen in the South Kensington Museum. " Ticky " will be found in the Monkey House at the Zoo, no longer drab-coloured as she used to be, but with a fur coat that is the envy of all her lady com- panions. But the brown eyes that gaze out at you through the bars have seen things. They have seen all the wonders of the great Congo Forest; the steaming crater of Namlagira; Lake Kivu; the giant gorilla skins being brought into camp; Watusi chieftains and Watwa dwarfs; elephant tusks still smelling of blood; the wind-swept moors of the Marungu Plateau with a taint of lions on the breeze; a tornado on Mweru Lake; 100IN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " men and things along Africa's " Iron Spine"; ships and the wide sea. All this and more besides has " Tieky " seen ! Her rival " Pollypops " has seen it all, too, and talks about it when she thinks she will— Swahili words of greeting, French words caught from Belgian friends she has made ! After all these wild things which we collected about us I must not forget to mention the monstrosities. They came up to show themselves under d'Aout's orders, as he thought I should like to photograph them. There was the man with two thumbs; the man with a pendulous goitre who looked like a Marabout stork; the man with elephantiasis of the lower regions whom the women joked about, and many more besides. Life at Bafwasende was not without interest. The settlement was on the main track to the Kilo Mines, to Irumu and the East. Heavy boxes of gold swung by in charge of native soldiers, en route to the Banque du Congo Beige at Stanleyville from the Kilo " fields." People—both black, white, and yellow—passed, giving us news from the Congo River and the outer world. Pale officials homeward bound on leave after sticking it out—perhaps too long—with rich banking accounts but poor health. Other Government men newly out from their little Belgian homes, going to wild up- country stations, wondering fearfully what life had in store for them. Down-country soldiers relieving up- country garrisons, reinforcements, disbanded askari. Traders—white, black, Indian, and Arab—in search of ivory. Rubber caravans. An African kaleidoscope of ever-changing pictures, deep with interest and gay with colour. Some of the Europeans stayed a day or two waiting for fresh carriers; then we would have a merry evening IOIHUMAN LEOPARDS and a sing-song and gramophone concert, when either Monsieur d'Aout would tickle our appetites with a culinary masterpiece of stuffed wild sucking-pig or Monsieur Segers would thrill us with his charming tenor voice by singing snatches from Italian opera. Boiled banana flowers, mixed with ground pea-nuts and chou-de-palme, were other delicacies that we used to indulge in, but the latter not often, as the palm tree died after the operation of cutting out its tender heart, and this was forbidden by law. One day a great row started in front of d'Aout's court-house. Two women and the native police sergeant were the cause of it. The sergeant had been " carrying on " with another woman, and his wife objecting, she started to beat her, with the result that she had the end of her nose bitten off in the ensuing conflict. Nothing daunted, the woman picked up the piece and, after stating her grievance to d'Aout, implored him to help her stitch it on again, which he promptly did, the husband finishing off the job after- wards by plastering it with liquid rubber to keep it in position. Luckily for the sergeant's wife this rough surgery was successful, and her nose regained its former snub position. Later, to interest us, came a murder perpetrated by the anioto or Society of Human Leopards. A young girl had been found torn to death by these ghouls not six hours' march away from the station. The hue and cry was raised and our Belgian friend, with his district assistant, accompanied by a squad of police, went out to investigate, bringing back with them a string of savages implicated in the case. A week or more went by in hearing the evidence and in an attempt to confound the witnesses into telling 102IN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " the truth. The supposed culprits were eventually sent in chains to Stanleyville to be retried. This Human Leopard Sect {anioto is the Wabali term for them) are to be found in many districts of West Africa, from Liberia to the Belgian Congo, although their practices have been stamped out in the British colonies. Briefly, they are a sect addicted to eating human flesh as a ceremonial rite, which must be obtained by killing their victim as a leopard kills, with teeth and claw.* For this purpose they bind to their wrists, when at their horrible work, steel knives fashioned like claws with which they rend their victims to death. Hardly believable, but perfectly true never- theless ! About these anioto there is a tale told of a Belgian magistrate who was sent out into the Ituri district to enquire into certain outrages that had occurred, and which it was reported had been caused by the Leopard Society. Arriving some time after they had taken place and finding no actual evidence of this, he dis- believed the stories he had been told, placing the crimes in the category of ordinary murders. Before he returned home, however, this idea was rudely shattered, for one dark night, in the early hours, his camp being awakened by shrieks, it was found that his black servant was missing. In the morning the dead body of the " boy " was found a short distance from the camp, horribly mutilated as if by a leopard. Closer inspec- tion revealed the fact that it was without doubt the work of the anioto. That magistrate never forgot the experience, and some while afterwards an ordered # For further information about the anioto, see my book, " The Wonderland of the Eastern Congo," and " George Grenfell and the Congo," by Sir H. H. Johnston. 103DEPARTURE FROM BAFWASENDE attempt was made to try and stamp out these pests, but with little success it would appear, as during our stay at Bafwasende there was a considerable recru- descence of such crimes. " Quel vie!"—as the Belgians say. Yes, Bafwa- sende and the Ituri Forest produced some strange things—insects and animals and strange men—but the " Antizox," unhappily, was not amongst them. That elusive insect was not on the Lindi, so I de- cided to go farther afield, and whilst making my way to the Western Kivu region beat up the country between. Dear old " Kitwabunga " and our friend Segers were quite sorry that we were going, and I, for my part, will not readily forget the pleasant talks and songs we used to have in the cool of the evening after-glow. Like all Belgians, our friends liked companionship and conviviality, and I must add that I have never ex- perienced a dull moment at any Belgian party yet; such affairs are the prerogative of we stolid English. So the last days of July saw us packing a whole host of specimens for dispatch to England. Then afterwards our camp kit had to be overhauled, food requirements attended to, stores ordered, headmen and porters engaged, and a route had to be mapped out. After these and many other preparations had been completed—not forgetting the parrot's cage, which was a work of art of a local black carpenter and was a man's load in itself—on August ist we entered on another stage of our restless wandering which was to take us south across the Equator, through the heart of the continent, and eventually to the far distant port of Cape Town. 104IN QUEST OF THE " ANTIZOX " Truth to tell, what with the frequent tropical thunderstorms and damp miasma that clung so per- sistently to the river banks on which we had been living, I rather welcomed the thought of leaving Bafwa- sende, if only to give myself the chance of shaking off, on the highlands, the rheumatism and sciatica that had crept into my bones. i°5CHAPTER VI in touch with the primeval—roaming through the congo forest and exploring the mokoto lakes The route I mapped out for myself, and the one I thought most interesting entomologically and that might yet retrieve my lost fortunes so far as the " Anti- zox " was concerned, was to take us south across the upper waters of the Tschopo and Maiko Rivers to the poste of Lubutu, in the Lowa Valley. I found out there was a more or less defined track to a small out- station called Babagulu, five days away, but beyond this was virgin forest for at least seven days, through which we had to take our chances of finding a path. One of those uninhabited belts of country one comes across frequently in remote parts of Africa, caused probably through intertribal warfare in the old days, when chiefs or tribes did not feel safe unless they put as much country as they could between themselves and their next-door neighbour. At first the path took us up the east bank of the Lindi for some distance; then, crossing this river by canoe, we made our way southward through the forest, out of the Wabali country and into the territory of the Bakumu and lawless Barumbi, where we presently reached the uninhabited country I have mentioned. As a last legacy from my friend Monsieur d'Aout, I now began to find that the Bakumu porters he had supplied me with were an exceptionally strong and 106IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL sturdy lot and, which is more, they were unspoilt savages, ready to go anywhere and do anything that offered a little adventure. This was a great con- solation, for when you come down to it, successful African exploration depends entirely on the lowly black man. Feeling sure of our men, I tackled the " bad country " with a light heart. It proved no easy task, however, for we found the country cut up into steep-sided valleys, the general trend of which was east and west, and as our route lay north and south, it made the journey excessively trying for everybody. Most days we were floundering up deeply eroded water-courses. Up one, over the ridge, and down another the other side ! It struck me as being a highly mineralised country, with seams of yellow-brown quartz showing in the water-worn cuttings. I am told that all these rivers (the Lindi, Tschopo, Maiko, and Lowa) " show a colour," and I can well believe it. We were probably on the reef itself, which is said to lie in this part of the country. From what I know of the Eastern Congo, I visualise in the future a chain of rich gold-fields, extending from Kilo southward into this west Lake Edward area. So the going was difficult to say the least of it! Those without loads were all right and could scramble underneath or through the branches, but with a heavy load to carry it was quite a different thing; the general progress, therefore, was slow. It was a country for elephants or pygmies—the elephants could push through and the pygmies walk under the branches— but for anything between these two it was a back- aching job. The tropical vegetation was quite wonderful, es- 107BAKUMU FETISH pecially the ferns. One made close acquaintance with all species of plants, as they were mostly hitting you in the eye, digging you in the ribs, jabbing you under the knee-cap, or playing tricks with your ankles. One got to know that wonderful and graceful climbing palm, the calamus (Calamus laurentii)—the Bakumu call it hao or ngunga—quite well, and avoid its grapnel- headed leaves. One saw at close quarters that it was these spiked leaves that hooked themselves on to any- thing within reach, and that helped the plant to climb to the tops of the highest trees. In this part of the forest this palm grows to its greatest luxuriance. I saw specimens that had climbed up and over several trees, and must have been at least 300 feet long, and still climbing. I was always on the look-out for its fruit, but never saw any. The natives said it was in the form of small berries, and they also told me that they eat the inner part of the stem, after cutting off the sharp hair-like spines that grow thickly around it. When we did eventually reach habitations, we found them of a very inferior structure and the natives in them of a debased and repulsive type, who looked at us with lowered eyes as we passed by. All through the forest, right up to Lake Kivu, these Bakumu and Barumbi are hide-bound with super- stition. Drawings and signs by the dozen to keep off the " evil eye " are seen round every village and along every path. Fetishism and fat witch-doctors rule the land, the latter abounding in every village, dressed up in dangling skins and coloured fibres. The Ba- kumu of the Lowa Valley differ strikingly from those to be found in the Bafwasende district, the former being very poor in physique and more degraded and cowed, as it would seem, by superstition. 108By permission of Messrs. Putnam's Sons, Ltd. Fig. 40.—*' BREEDING THE DARK GERM OF CANNIBALISM." The heart of the Congo Forest.he library of m university of ILLINOISIN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL The great forest in which these people live unhinges their half-human minds, breeding there a fear of the gloom about them, until every tree, for them, hides a spectre (so they carve symbols on the tree trunks) and every forest arch and aisle a troop of spirits (so they build spirit houses and grotesque animal shapes, fashioned in wood or grass, or set up curious crooked sticks, giving vent to their morbid imaginings). Another curious custom of theirs is that they are not allowed to carry raw meat ; they can eat as much as they like, but are not allowed to carry it with them from one village to another. I found this out when I shot three red colobus monkeys (Colobus ellioti) and wished to carry some of the meat with me to feed a puppy we had with us—the gift of a Belgian officer. The meat had to be cooked eventually ! Still another custom is to barricade the doors of a house in which the owner has died with a kind of altar of white and red painted trellis-work, in front of which, sitting in a row on a fixed bar, are several painted wooden birds facing inwards towards the door. What it means they hardly know themselves ! Then, again, the bark of big trees at the entrance to a dark portion of the forest will be seen smoothed down at different altitudes (as much as 12 feet up sometimes), and painted with disks, squares, knife-like shapes, and a symbol resembling a tennis racquet, with the head and shoulders of a man as handle, all carefully picked out in red, white, and black. Then a picture of a crocodile is another common symbol to be seen on the trees, painted in black and dotted with white spots. After a hard trek lasting nineteen days we reached Lubutu, at the junction of the Lubutu and Lubilinga Rivers, to find only a black clerk in charge of the 109LUBUTU AND THE LOWA VALLEY station. The Belgian Administrates was on safari towards Ponthierville to meet the Commissaire du District. The station is well laid out, with a wide out- look from a ridge on which it is built. We gave ourselves four days' rest here whilst awaiting a new lot of carriers, and then pushed on eastward into the high country that lies between the Loso and Lowa Valleys. As I found this region rich in insects, we dawdled along, stopping a day or two here and there to collect, eventually arriving at an outlandish place called Walikale on September 8th. Stanleyville being very short of fresh meat, an attempt was then being made to bring cattle down this way from Lake Kivu to the railway at Ponthier- ville, and for this purpose kraals were being made and the forest cleared round about them by a Govern- ment agent, at intervals of fifteen kilometres, to be used by the cattle on their journey. But I heard that, what with the difficulty of getting the native owners to sell their precious cattle (they would come up to the local Belgian official with tears in their eyes, imploring his help to save some old pet bullock when the buying agent went round), and the " fly," and the long journey, and the disability these upland cattle have of not being able to live at low elevations, the experiment was rather a costly failure. Talking about our two pets (I don't count the pup, as I had soon to give him away or he would merely have died from " fly "), they did keep us amused. The monkey and the parrot were infernally jealous of each other, and there was a never-ending feud between them. Neither would give ground when they met, or when one invaded what was thought to be the other's territory. My wife would on some occasions noIN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL give " Ticky " an empty cotton-reel to play with, or maybe some nuts or a corn cob. " Pollypops " would spy these from her perch, which was either one of the tent ropes or a chair back, and would then come down and waddle across to " Ticky's " playground. The attack would then commence by the monkey getting a nip on its long tail from the parrot, followed by a back kick in return. Sometimes " Ticky " would give way, leaving Polly to examine her "treasures"; at others, the bird would retire in disgust, having been toppled over in the fray, and would then hang by one toe to the tent ropes and squawk as if she was being killed. The cage containing " Pollypops" was usually carried on a native's head (not the least restful place) when we were travelling, from which position she would whistle gaily as the cage swayed precariously along. Nothing daunted, this priceless bird had the happy way, when we were all dog-tired or other- wise crestfallen, or when a heavy thunderstorm was approaching, of cheering us up with her lively chatter and whistling. Her vocabulary was limited at this time, but she often came in with her one sentence of " What are you doing ?" which ended with " Oh—oh— oh 1"—at such opportune (or inopportune) or em- barrassing moments, that we were fairly " tickled to death," to use an Americanism. " Kasuku" and " the cough " came later, about which I will tell as we go along. Thus it was, with the help of our two playmates and a portable gramophone we carried, that we sand- wiched in between the hard work and excitements of travel and collecting, something of pleasure and amusement. hiEASTWARD TO KIVU It is seldom one sees toys being used by natives. The only ones I can remember are the little dolls (I can't say they were human-looking dolls, as they were usually made from a bunch of reeds with a hollow gourd stuck on to the end of them) sometimes carried by the women and children, and the quaint plaything I saw in use by two full-grown natives as I approached Walikale. The latter was made from two square pieces of light wood in the form shown in the sketch —Fig. 57. Each piece had two legsi, and was em- bellished with white feathers. The toy was sus- pended by two strings to a thin reed, which was held by one native, who beat on it with a small stick as it rested across his knee, whilst a companion played an accompaniment on a musical instrument. The four legs of the toy just rested on the ground, dancing, bobbing, and bowing in the drollest and most human- like manner as the vibrating reed was struck by the man who held it. We found a very genial Belgian soul at Walikale: he was called " The Leopard " by the natives. From the little we saw of him, he certainly exacted implicit obedience from the wild tribesmen around him, so doubtless there was cause for his nickname. He was, however, kindness itself to us. Walikale is only remarkable for the fact that near the place—at a village called Makubuli, on the path to Shabunda—gorillas are found, the next nearest habitat of these great apes—so far as is known—to the sup- posedly isolated patch of country where they occur, on the slopes of the great Birunga Range of volcanoes which we were approaching. From Walikale we wandered on to Masisi, past the military camp at Penekelengi, where we were most 112IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL hospitably received by Commandant and Madame Lagneau. The camp, although highly elevated, was built in a cup in the hills (the bain de bruylre the Commandant called it) where a continual mist and rain fell, and on this account was to be abandoned as being very unhealthy. A site for a new camp was being sought along the western shores of Lake Kivu, a seven days' journey away. Two days after leaving Penekelengi we reached Masisi, a Belgian outpost, with nothing to recommend it. It lies south-east from Walikali (not north-east as some maps have it), and stands on one of the highest ridges between the Lowa and Loso Valley systems, at an elevation of over 6,000 feet. It is a bit- terly cold spot, and exposed to the terrific storms that are of almost daily occurrence in this neighbourhood. We were now only a week's march from Lake Kivu and its wonderful volcanoes. If this had been our first visit to this remarkable region we should have been thrilled at the prospect of what was before us, but now we were only pleasantly excited at renewing acquaint- ance with familiar scenes. Lying north of Lake Kivu and to the west and north-north-west of the Namlagira Volcano are a chain of small lakes, known as Mokoto or Moho. There has long been a doubt as to the exact position of these small lakes, so I now decided to explore them. I certainly had grave doubts as to my being capable of undertaking what I knew to be a very arduous task, for day and night I had little rest from my old enemy, the sciatica, but then I knew that if this opportunity was not grasped there was little chance of its recurring again. I may say here, that without the help of my intrepid spouse, I should have abandoned the idea. 113 HTHE WEST KIVU REGION African travellers seem to have missed the region of which I speak, doubtless much to the annoyance of geographers and cartographers at home, who have had to fill in this part of the map, very sketchily, to say the least of it. This is due, no doubt, to the inaccessibility of such a mountainous district, and to the fact that to the east of Namlagira extends the great chain of the Birungu Volcanoes, at once rousing and holding the interest of the passing traveller. It was, however, from the west that we approached this section of the Central African Rift Valley Mountains, from the valley of the Lowa, and across the Loashi and Loso Rivers. The entire country eastward from Walikale, to the escarpment overlooking the Great Rift Valley, is a succession of ridges and ravines, where the rise and fall of i ,000 feet and more has to be negotiated several times in the course of the day's march. To add to the fatiguing nature of the terrain, the soil is composed of slippery yellow clay, giving the most in- secure foothold. The vegetation on the heights of the Lowa-Loso Watershed is remarkable, in that forests of tree-fern predominate, intermixed with wild bananas and lobelias, giving a wonderful scenic effect. It is down in these deep ravines and on these high ridges that the highland and lowland flora and fauna may be said to meet. The steppes of the east with the forests of the west ; the tropical calamus palm with the highland tree-fern; the giant heat-loving Antimachus swallow-tail with the cold-loving, Cloudy-yellow butter- fly.* It is here the naturalist may search for new # The writer took specimens of both these insects on the same day thirty-five miles north-west of Lake Kivu. 114Fig. 41.—APPROACHING THE MOKOTO LAKES. A Washali village of "boat-shaped" houses thatched with banana leaves.ilf I.IBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILUHOlSIN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL forms of plant and animal life, with some hope of finding them. The black mountaineers inhabiting this district are known as the Wanianga and Watembo. The form and structure of their houses, similar to those of the Washali of the Mokoto Lakes, are probably unique in Africa; they may be said to resemble boats " turned turtle," with two entrances at either end. They are usually thatched with banana or other leaves, although the Washali, who live outside the forest area, thatch theirs with grass as well, also in some cases putting two entrances at one, instead of at either end. The " spirit houses " of the Wanianga are also of like shape, but unthatched, a mere framework, to one end of which is attached, in some cases, two pieces of white wood pointed to resemble elephants' tusks. The Wanianga, like the Wakumu farther west, look after their spirits well, for they provide them with model chairs, wooden knives, spears and axes, which are placed within these structures. It is also very evident that the spirits themselves are a lively lot and fond of gadding about, for, literally, tablesful of food and small pots of beer are provided for them in likely spots, such as a place where two paths intersect or in a small forest glade. Then, again, in other places bunches of the finest and ripest bananas may be seen hanging from a branch or a sapling stuck in the ground. The Wanianga feed mostly on dried banana flour, which they cook into a stiff glutinous paste, using certain red berries of the nightshade variety as an appetiser, which are not, however, eaten, but only tasted and then expectorated. They are clever at making cord bags and plaited bangles; the latter are used as an article of barter, twenty being equivalent "5BREAKING TRAIL to five centimes. These bangles they sell in large quantities to the Watusi and Wahutu women, who encase their legs with thousands of them, from knee to ankle in some cases. The Mokoto Lakes, whither we were bound on a voyage of exploration, lie a little south of the first degree south of the Equator, and belong to what is known as the Kitofu division of the Kivu District with its central executive at Rutshuru. Masisi is the sub-station of this district under which the lake region of Mokoto falls. The lakes, however, are very little known and seldom visited by the Belgian Chef de Poste, who relies principally on native headmen to collect such taxes as he can. At Masisi, therefore, information about them was scanty, and the local map so sketchy as to be useless. This map, for instance, certainly told us that the inhabitants were known as the Washali, which was right, but also had it that there were a chain of four lakes, which was wrong.* We gathered this much, however, that the lakes were five days to the north-east, that the track was very much overgrown with elephant grass, that the grass was very much overrun with elephants, and that the route had to be abandoned as a mail route to Ruts- huru as so many of the mail carriers had been eaten by man-eating leopards. As all other details were lacking we set out from Masisi with the greatest zest, for the unknown, or even the little known, makes a strong appeal to the present- * That this error has been persisted in for so long is due to the fact that there is a fourth lake in this region—i.e.. Lake Magera— but this lake lies in the rift valley, whereas the Mokoto Lakes are above and outside it. By cartographers the Mokoto Lakes have also been placed too far to the west. 116IN TOUGH WITH THE PRIMEVAL day explorer, who, to put it in the vernacular, " has very nearly worked himself out of a job." The principal questions that still remained un- answered regarding the Mokoto Lakes are perhaps worth tabulating; they were: (a) Their exact position and elevation above sea- level. (b) Their numbers and their local names. (c) To which side of the Congo-Nile watershed were their waters carried, and, if at all, by what river. (d) Was there a break of any considerable dimen- sions in this section of the western wall of the Great Rift Valley, through which lava or water from the Namlagira Volcano had flowed or still flowed into these lakes. A journey of three hours from Masisi took us down into the Loashi Valley, out of the region of forest into a country where the long grass held sway. We followed the latter river down for some miles, eventu- ally crossing it near its junction with the Loso. The latter river forms the southern boundary of the Wa- shali country, and after crossing it we found ourselves taking a more easterly direction than hitherto and skirting the high, and, in places, almost perpendicular, mountains that form the watershed between the Loso and Mweso valley systems. The country here would appear to be volcanic in origin, although of an exceedingly remote period, now only discernible by the ruins of crater rings dotted here and there across the landscape. Another feature of the Loso Valley is the numerous cone-shaped mountains with trun- cated tops, and so exactly resembling extinct volcanoes that anyone not a geologist is left in doubt as to whether they are so or not. 117EXPLORATION OF MOKOTO Leaving this valley on the fifth day, we then nego- tiated the formidable mountains beneath which we had been journeying for the past two days. The climb was an exceedingly stiff one and seemed to be never- ending. The scenery and alpine flora on the higher levels were, however, of surpassing beauty, the latter characterised by that luxuriance of growth and colour to be found only on the tropical highlands of Africa. We camped eventually at an elevation of 7,370 feet, just beneath the highest peaks of the range, which are here topped with bamboo forest. Obtaining from this commanding position our first and most extensive view of the two southernmost lakes and the Birunga Volcanoes beyond, I decided to stay here the following day to photograph and sketch the magnificent panorama set before us, in the centre of which and like a giant smoking smelter stood Namlagira, in the daytime covering all with its blue vapour, and during the night lighting up the sky with clouds of glowing smoke. It rained heavily during the night, but the following morning broke clear and fine, proving to be an excep- tionally good day for my purppse. From observa- tions it was possible to make from this camp, coupled with all the local information I could obtain from the Washali, it was evident that there were only three lakes, not four as the maps have it. That there was comparatively little marsh surrounding them. That their shores were characteristically steep, like all the small lakes of this volcanic region, with practically no foreshore. That the three lakes, taking them from south to north, were named respectively Ndalala, Lukulu, and Bita, and that they formed, in their elongated basin, the source of the Mweso River, which 118IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL joins the Loso, eventually reaching the Lowa and Congo Rivers. Lake Ndalala, the longest of the Mo- koto Lakes—it is about five miles long—runs into Lake Lukulu by a narrow channel, this lake in turn draining into the Lukulu River, the latter river then flowing into Lake Bita. The waters of Lake Bita, flowing out at its western extremity, is then termed the Mweso River. Looking south-east across Lake Ndalala, towards the Birunga Volcanoes, the whole range can be seen to great advantage, although distant. In the middle distance, some fourteen miles away, stands Namlagira, with Ninagongo showing above its southern, and Karisimbi, Mikeno, and Visoke over its northern slope; then letting the eyes roam along the horizon, the connecting plateau, between the central and far eastern group of volcanoes, is observed as a long ridge ending in the three distant peaks of Sabinio, Mga- hinga, and Muhavura. These lakes of Mokoto, so named from a former chief of the Washali, are of quite recent formation geologic- ally speaking, their steep and deeply indented shores giving the impression of a dammed and flooded or submerged valley. There can be little doubt that their formation is due to the volcanic debris shot out by successive eruptions of Namlagira and its parasitic craters, for although the lava from this volcano has never flowed beyond the original wall of the rift valley, enormous volumes of scoria, ash, dust, and bombs have been deposited on this side, owing in part to the prevailing wind being from the south-east, but also to the " tilt" to the west that this volcano may be said to have. The soil in many places round these lakes is so highly chemicalised that little can be grown 119THE MOKOTO LAKES except beans, and yet on the eastern side, and still nearer to Namlagira, crops of all kinds are produced and the vegetation is of tropical luxuriance. Mokoto's wife is still alive, by name Mulisi; she now reigns in his stead as chieftainess. Her village closely overlooks from the west the two lakes of Ndalala and Lukulu, so from our camp above we wended our way to her village. She proved to be a fat and not un- pleasant old lady, although very unwilling to impart any information about her country. Her failing seemed to be banana beer, which was brought in to her from outlying villages; the food also for her entire village came from a distance, owing to the fact previously stated that nothing would grow on the black and lifeless soil save the interminable elephant grass and rank weeds. We found these Washali a poor lot, the men at any rate, dressed in ragged and poorly prepared skins and worse bark-cloth. Their only ornaments were strings of wild banana seeds and pig-tusk charms. Many of their women were, however, of quite exceptional physique, and those better off than the rest wore many copper bangles and anklets; but these were the exception—the majority were just beasts of burden and tillers of the field. The only things they seemed to make were rather well-woven rush baskets and a poor kind of rush mat. The men work the local iron-stone into spears and axes, using a primitive kind of hammer formed of a slug of iron. They have a specially shaped one for hammering out spear blades, with four ridges or " leaves " running down it lengthwise. Lake Ndalala has no great depth, and I found the water passable to drink. My aneroid showed the elevation to be 5,480 feet above sea-level, or 600 feet 120IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL above that of Lake Kivu.* There are but few water- fowl to be seen on the lakes, and the fish never exceed 3 or 4 inches in length. There appear to be no small mammals of any kind. The natives possess a few rickety dug-out canoes. At certain times of the year elephants are fairly numerous in the hills around; their ivory, however, is reported to be small,but,in my idea, elephant hunting in such grass is mere madness. I got up to a small bull which I wounded, whereupon he went a few hundred yards into the thickest 15-foot grass he could find and defied me by screaming and making short rushes in my direction, and, as I could still only hobble, there I had to leave him. Food being short for our porters and the district neither interesting entomologically nor zoologically, we moved off after a few days, past the south end of Lake Ndalala, bound for Lake Kivu and the land of the gorillas. Having descended to the lake level and traversed the papyrus swamps terminating the many long and narrow inlets at this end, we at once found ourselves climbing a steep mountain range, a spur of which blocks up this end of the lake valley. In less than an hour after leaving the lake we had mounted more than 1,000 feet, and we camped on a shoulder of the range that overlooks, on the one hand, these lakes that form the source of the Mweso River, and, on the other, a wide and altogether charming valley, losing itself in the blue hills of the Loso River. The head of this valley, being well protected from the emana- tions of Namlagira by the range mentioned, is well populated and, besides growing good crops, the plant # The elevation of these lakes was previously thought to be much higher than this, which is incorrect. 121BIRUNGA VOLCANOES FROM THE WEST life assumes a normal look, in striking contrast to the valley of the lakes close-to, which lacks this protection, for these mountains suddenly fall away on reaching Lake Ndalala, there terminating in what is almost a bluff. On crossing the range and coming again into view of the volcanoes, the vegetation again suddenly changes. The country here bears the unmistakable stamp of incompleteness and newness, and the effect of the sulphurous fumes from the volcanoes became immediately apparent, as we crossed over, in smarting eyes and fits of sneezing. Less than a century ago, judging by the vegetation, this region of blind valleys and crumbling ridges was a barren waste of cinders; now, however, it is clothed in a forest of saplings and that peculiar willow-like draccena which is almost always to be found growing on such volcanic lands. From the papyrus that has collected in the valley bottoms to the ferns and short cotton grass of the hill-sides, all was yellow-green in colour—no dark shades of old trees, but all fresh as if the entire vegeta- tion had sprung up in a night. With the exception of certain trees, shrubs, and grasses, the different species of plants were represented by individual plants only instead of the usual clumps or patches. The ground, where exposed to the weather, was of fine scoria, but what was the nature of the underlying rock it was impossible to determine, as none was ex- posed to view, either on the hill-sides or in the water- ways. That there is a break here in the western wall of the rift valley is abundantly evident by the two steep bluffs which terminate its southern extension. The question, whether the depth of the fissure reaches down to the level of the Mokoto Lakes, or whether, 122IN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL as is possible, it reaches to the level of Lake Kivu itself, is a hard one to answer, and the knowledge is likely to be for ever hidden neath the piling mass of lava and scoria in which it now lies buried. No recent flow of lava, however, reaches the Mokoto Lakes—although there are evidences of old lava (probably from one of the small craters in the vicinity) near the eastern shore of Lake Lukulu—neither does the storm water from this side of Namlagira; both are lost in the scoria hills and blind valleys that lie between the two. We camped on a desolate scoria hill, and were woken up in the night by a severe earthquake—the third in a fortnight—and in the morning by violent fits of sneezing. These fumes which affected us came as much from the Ninagongo Volcano, I think, as from Namlagira, for in the course of the last two years the activity of the former has increased, whereas the latter is nothing like so active as it was. From the camping-place which is named by the natives Ganchi we slowly made our way south along the top of the great rift valley escarpment, the track at first taking us through a large area of poor grassland inhabited by the pastoral Washali under their chief Kyembe. We saw a few of the men, who seemed a wild lot; their cattle, however, they kept discreetly hidden over the rise. For several miles we kept along the very topmost edge of this precipitous escarpment, which in places reaches an elevation of over 8,000 feet, the vegetation being of the usual alpine variety to be found at this height and the scenery of surpassing magnificence. From one place, we seemed to be looking right into the great " caldron" of Namlagira—due, as has been ex- plained, to its " tilt " to the west—and from another, 123A BREAK IN THE GREAT RIFT we obtained a close bird's-eye view of Lake Magera in its lava-bed. This lake is unrecorded, curiously enough, on the most modern maps, in spite of its considerable size—for it is a mile and a half in length and about half as broad—and in spite of the fact that it lies in the rift valley, proving, if proof were needed, how casually this section of the Great Rift has been explored. The deep and narrow gorges that break into the escarpment at frequent intervals we found very trying both for our porters and ourselves, for they were of a precipitous nature, many hundreds of feet deep, and overgrown in tropical forest. It was in this forest that I was greatly interested to observe the " plat- forms" of the Kivu chimpanzi, for this animal, which is a yellow-grey (when fully adult), heavily furred species (called the tschego by some naturalists), and differing entirely from the more common pink-faced form, has never before been reported to exist to the west of the Birunga Volcanoes. The day's trek that took us over this difficult country, and eventually brought us to the village of Meruti, was a long and trying one, and as it rained heavily towards the end of the day we were more than glad to get into camp. How our porters managed to accomplish such a feat of endurance as that day's march demanded was a source of wonder to both of us; they are a wonderful people, these black mountaineers, and in the words of the poet, " fashioned from sterner stuff to bear a sterner hell." From the village of Meruti (elevation 6,380 feet) we were already overlooking the Mbusi Bay, the following day taking us down over the lava fields to Kivu itself. The mail route from Stanleyville and the lower Congo 12429 Crate n. tpO. ira 10,0 46 l*3o' -| 0 ' 1 ?>o ha Nina Gon£< I I ° _Shove Rest Hohse Volcano Lake Kiv u Scale 1/400,000 Heights in feet____7370 (appro*.) 2,9' Block lent by Royal Geographical Society. T. A. Barns {Copyright). Fig. 42.—SKETCH-MAP OF THE MOKOTO LAKES. Showing- the author's route.fHF ! IBMH? Of 1 HE ISMIVEBSIfY Or II.-L1H(USIN TOUCH WITH THE PRIMEVAL to Rutshuru, the headquarters of the Kivu District, passes over this lava plain, and the Government have lately placed a rest-house half-way across it, on an extinct volcano named Shove, which we managed to reach late in the day. It overlooks at a distance of two miles a newly formed (1912-13), but apparently now dormant, volcano which still lacks a satisfactory name—Belgian geographers please note. We reached Kisenyies from here in two days, and for the second time in two years—the first time from the south-east, now we came in from the west. As our old Belgian friends had all left, the houses were dilapidated, and all the flowers had been cut down, we felt an unex- pected sense of disappointment on reaching it. This beautiful place now lacked its former " life," and, like Kigoma, seemed to have taken a backward step. 12$CHAPTER VII AFRICAN APES—GORILLA AND CHIMPANZI HUNTING ON THE KIVU VOLCANOES As my chief object in revisiting the north Kivu region was to obtain further specimens of both Ber- inge's gorilla and the rare Kivu chimpanzi, and as I have already described in a previous work the interest- ing country these animals inhabit, as well as many of the customs of the natives to be found there, I will, in this chapter, depart from the narrative form of my writing in an attempt to make a short study of the African apes, and the gorilla in particular, at the same time bringing in some of the experiences that fell to my lot whilst in search of these interesting animals. As the writer thinks the Kivu apes more interesting than the West African species, this chapter will deal to a great extent with the former variety of these animals. Doubtless, either hunting them or observing their habits in the wild state is equally difficult—east or west—down on the Congo River or up on the high- lands of Kivu. To begin with, it may be said that, in these days of popular science, the absorbing study of the evolution of man engages the attention of most of us. Playing the most important part in that study are the anthro- poid apes, amongst which is the gorilla, the largest, and in many ways the most interesting, as he—I use the masculine in place of the neuter gender, as I 136Figs. 43, 44.—. A MALE AND A FEMALE GORILLA IN PROFILE. {Gorilla beringei.)AFRICAN APES think of these apes as almost human—is the least known of the Simiidce. There are three closely allied species of gorillas: two West African lowland species of the north Congo Forest, the Cameroons and the Gaboon (Gorilla gorilla and Gorilla matschiei), the third a highland eastern Congo form of north-west Tanganyika and the moun- tains and volcanoes of Kivu (Gorilla beringei). These species differ principally in the measurements and respective broad and narrow formation of the top of the cranium, also in their dentition, and externally in coloration and pelage. A noticeable feature of the Kivu or eastern Congo species, which has only been brought to the notice of zoologists quite lately through the examination of a specimen of an extremely old male that the writer recently obtained, is the remark- able elongated crown, or rather cranial callosity, possessed by this gorilla {Gorilla beringei), and, in a similar way, to the facial callosities of the urang-utan, indicating the fully adult male. The gorilla, like the chimpanzi, is peculiar to Africa, and, as regards his range, the Congo River has proved an impassable barrier to this giant ape, and none are found in the forests on the south side of this river. To the east their habitat extends as far as the Ufumbiro or Birunga Volcanoes and the Nile sources near by (the farthest east being the Kayonsa Forest in south-west Uganda), and then south again along the western marginal mountains of Lake Kivu and north-west Tanganyika as far as the vicinity of Baraka. The gorilla is, therefore, essentially a tropical animal, preferring the slopes and ravines of high mountain ranges, and, it may be said, is never found outside the evergreen equatorial forest, although in the remote 127EARLY INFORMATION AND HABITAT OF past it was otherwise, for there are evidences that go to prove that the archaic gorilla, as well as man himself, came into Africa from Asia. The West African gorilla was originally discovered by American missionaries in the late forties, and afterwards became more generally known by the accounts and descriptions of the French naturalist Paul du Chaillu, which made such a furore in the sixties. It was not, however, until many years afterwards (1902 to be exact) that the Eastern Congo species was brought to light by a German traveller, Oscar von Beringe by name, who made a journey into the north Kivu region, and there shot the first specimen, which is to be seen in the British Museum of Natural History in Crom- well Road. The two West African races doubtless intermingle, and may even be found in the same forest, but it seems almost certain, although not actually proved yet, that the eastern and western or highland and lowland forms do not do so. The former species prefers, and has apparently become accustomed to, such an alpine climate as is found on the high Kivu and north Tanganyika Rift Valley Mountains at from 7,000 to 10,000 feet above the sea. As the equatorial forest extends all the way between the habitat of both species, there is, therefore, only a barrier of elevation and lack of certain foods—bamboo shoots being the staple food of the highland gorilla, and bamboo only grows at high eleva- tions in this part of Africa. In my own opinion—and Ihave spent many months there—no gorillas are to be found to-day anywhere in the Aruwimi or Ituri Valleys, although the very large lowland Congo chimpanzi may be mistaken for such even in photographs of dead animals and from descriptions given by natives. I 128Profile. Full face. Figs. 45, 46.-A WEST AFRICAN GORILLA FROM THE FRENCH CAMEROONS. (i Gorilla gorilla.)lift HMMY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN APES have examined many dozens of ape skulls in the villages of the Aruwimi and Ituri regions, but all were of chimpanzis. As regards his food the gorilla is very conservative, and never so happy as when in his favourite haunt of a forest of bamboos munching the succulent ground shoots or climbing over the bamboo stems, upon which he is in the habit of making a platform to take a sun bath. Speaking from a special knowledge of the eastern Congo gorilla, it may be said that its food consists, apart from bamboo shoots, entirely of herb- age—docks, sorrels, hemlocks, etc.—although honey may be part of the menu. He does not grub for roots, neither does he eat fruit as a general rule (although the West African species seems to be rather more omnivorous). These facts concerning his diet are borne out by my examination of the stomachs of the several animals I have shot and accumulated " drop- pings." The latter resemble those of a horse. Non-arboreal in habit, this monster ape seldom climbs trees, his hands, but especially his feet, not being formed for this purpose. He can, however, walk over—a curious feat—a bamboo forest as if it were an aerial meadow. This effect is given when the hunter looks out from some high vantage point across a flat sea of waving bamboo tops in search of his quarry, and, if he is lucky, sees it in bobbing black heads and huge arms stretching out amidst the greenery. As a fully grown gorilla is an animal of enormous strength and herculean proportions, he is a match for any enemy; he could, for instance, break a lion's neck or forearm with the greatest ease, and such small fry as leopards he treats with the utmost scorn. Savage man, through superstition as much as anything else, 129 1FOOD AND HABITS OF GORILLAS but also on account of the inaccessibility of the gorilla's mountain home, has left this ape unmolested; we therefore find him and his family habitually and fear- lessly sleeping on the ground. In the densely forested mountains of the equatorial forests rain-storms are of almost daily occurrence, so that unless sleeping quarters are selected with some care the gorilla finds himself lying in a puddle from the water draining off his thick coat of fur. Thus it is we find this very human animal, if there is no hollow or overhanging tree handy, either scraping a hole for himself which he lines with ferns or twigs, and over which he sits, or forming a similar " nest " in the middle of a clump of bamboo, so that in either case he will not be sleeping in a puddle. A solitary male or " old-man " gorilla may sometimes be found alone, having been beaten and thrown out by a younger and stronger rival, but more often than not gorillas go about in small family parties of six or eight. Father and mother gorilla only will then make " nests " for themselves, whilst the others—young ones of dif- ferent ages—will huddle around them to keep warm, the youngest of all sitting close to its mother's breast. I have never seen more than one fully adult male in a troop, but what appeared to be several fully grown females were usually present. The illustrations I am giving with this chapter give many details regarding pelage and proportions, making it unnecessary for me to go further into these matters. Suffice it to say that the large patch of silver-grey fur covering the back of the adult male gorilla is the most remarkable part of his coloration ; the female is en- tirely black, and very much smaller than her mate. This greyness extends in a less pronounced fashion 130Fig. 47.—BAMBOO GROUND SHOOTS. The staple food of the gorilla. Fig. 48.—A BAHUTU BEEHIVE IN THE RUGEGE FOREST. Bound round with lianas against theft of the honey by chimpanzis and baboons.fHf LIBRARY Qf T||[ (3»lVEfiSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN APES along the back of the legs and the head, which show—■ in the West African races, at any rate—a red-brown coloration intermixed with the grey, and which may have a connection with red hair in man. In spite of exaggerated accounts which I have before me of Mr. Howard Ross's supposed discoveries in Sierra Leone of a 9-foot gorilla, I am quite certain that these splendid apes never attain a standing height of more than 7 feet—if that I The largest one shot by the writer measured 6 feet 2 inches from heel to crown, and I believe it to be a record measurement. The girth of chest sometimes reaches to a little over 60 inches. The span (and reach) of the tremendous arms is very great, 8 feet being quite usual in a fine male, whilst the forearm and biceps may reach to 19 inches. The gorilla, shunning observation at all times, is of a silent, morose, and even phlegmatic disposition. He seldom utters a sound unless thoroughly alarmed, and then his screaming roar is quite terrifying. When interested and curious he utters a loud whine like a great dog, following this by a resonant " clopping " made by beating the closed hand on the bare chest below the nipples. Apart from using this beating of the chest to frighten away an intruder, it seems to be made both as a danger signal and to locate each other's whereabouts, and also, I think, to " hearten " them- selves, for I have heard it when there was no possibility of the animals being alarmed. In the course of many weeks spent in observing these apes in the forest, I have never heard them utter a sound at night, and not often in the daytime, by which I judge they are not quarrelsome—the exact opposite to chimpanzis or the baboons. I found open wounds from fighting on the 131CHARACTERISTICS OF GORILLAS crest of only one of the old males I shot; they were apparently teeth marks, and this same animal, by the way, had several big boils in different parts of its body, especially on the glands of one armpit. A post-mortem examination I made on several animals revealed the body as entirely free from visible internal parasites* (there were none externally; in fact, the skin was remarkably clean). The vermiform appendix I found to be of remarkable length and size. The genitalia exceedingly small for such a large animal, almost, one might say, atrophied, and in this respect differing largely from the chimpanzi, which has well- developed generative organs, and which may bear on the fact that the rate of increase with gorillas is slow as compared to the chimpanzi. The eyes of the younger Kivu gorillas have a yellow iris, and are very noticeable in the black and wrinkled visage. These younger ones have also very little sense of danger. I have, for instance, looked at a group of them (looking for all the world like a lot of pot-bellied teddy bears), when the older ones were absent, for the space of quite half a minute at a distance of only a few yards before they would turn and run to their parents. The whole troop never went far when alarmed, or even when fired at. Neither their sense of smell, their hearing, nor their sight seems strongly developed. As regards longevity, gorillas, on account of their life free from molestation, famine, or disease, and also judging by the worn teeth of one animal I secured, live, in my opinion, to be a much greater age than man. * A post-mortem examination made on a gorilla which had been in captivity in England for several weeks revealed hook-worm parasites in the blood and thread-worms in the bowels. 13aFig. 49—A MALE GORILLA LAID OUT FOR SKINNING. The enormous bulk and power of this great ape is well shown in comparison with the ten Bahutu natives sitting- behind.fHF LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN APES Of the great apes, the chimpanzi, the urang-utan, and the gorilla, the latter is thought to be the least intelligent of the three so far as the study of the live animal goes. The study of live gorillas, however, is far from being complete, as, in my opinion, merely through faulty treatment by the zoos and through uncongenial environment, none of these animals have ever survived long in captivity, but to this there is one notable exception. This exception, as it happens, places an entirely new light on our estimate of the mind of the gorilla, for it deals with the most interesting animal I have ever known or seen inside or outside a menagerie. He was John Daniel, gentleman gorilla, of Sloane Street, London, and Major R. Penny and Miss Cunningham his master and mistress, as well as his playmates and trainers. His record is quite a remarkable one, and is, in fact, well known to many Londoners. Purchased originally for £60, I believe, by Hamlin from a Frenchman in West Africa, Derry and Toms bought him for £300 as an attraction at their Kensing- ton shop. Not doing well and becoming sick, he was offered for sale, and my friend Major Penny bought him for the same figure. Under the Major's tuition and sympathy and that of his aunt, Miss Cunningham, this young two-year-old gorilla speedily became an extraordinarily interesting inmate of the household, and developed an intelligence of the first rank and every bit equal to that of a chimpanzi or urang-utan. When I had the pleasure of making John's acquaint- ance in 1920, he was sleeping on a camp-bed in Penny's room beneath blankets that he put over or took off himself just the same as you or I. He was scrupu- lously clean in his habits, and acted in this respect in *33INTELLIGENCE OF GORILLAS the same manner as the other members of Major Penny's family. He could unhasp and open the window, open the door or shut it when told to, and put on the electric light. He could drink out of teacups and put them back carefully on the tray, and many other intelligent things besides. But sympathy and friendship were as life to John Daniel, and in the end his eventual purchasers, Messrs. Barnum and Bailey, lost him through a broken heart, for his friends had to leave him after he was sold, and, considering him- self deserted and friendless, he pined and died a few weeks after his delivery at the menagerie in America. Going on to describe the hunting of gorillas. If this form of sport lacks anything, it is not originality. Very few Europeans have shot these rare animals, and before my visit to Kivu in 1919, fewer still had shot them on the Birunga Volcanoes, where their existence was only confirmed within the last few years. With the opening up of Africa, however, these days are passing. The search for novelty is now bringing the personally conducted shooting party to the recesses of Lake Kivu, and the unsuspicious gorilla will be the first to go, if strict game laws are not enforced for his protection. To-day, however, gorilla hunting still remains the sport of the favoured few, who, it is to be hoped, will use more discretion than the Scandinavian prince who visited Kivu the year following my first visit, for it is known that this gentleman and his suite were responsible for shooting no less than fourteen gorillas—many more than were necessary for scientific purposes. Another expedition sent out in search of gorillas was that of Mr. Carl Akeley of the New York Natural i34NO HEEL-TAPS. Fig. 51.—JOHN DANIEL AND HIS PLAYMATE, MISS ESME PENNY. "John Daniel, Gentleman Gorilla, of 14, Sloane Street, London." (Specially photographed by Cinechrome Instruments, Ltd., Long- Acre, London.)fffE I.fBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN APES History Museum.* It reached Kisenyies shortly after I did, and was organised for the purpose of obtaining a museum group of these animals, and, in the thorough American fashion, to undertake research work in connection with their brain development, physical anatomy, parasites, etc. When hunting these great apes, no one with a spark of feeling can free himself from the thought that killing them is akin to murder. They are so very human and interesting, the young ones so unsuspicious of danger, the older ones so full of curiosity, that hunt- ing them can hardly be called sport. Owing, however, to the native tales one hears of their ferocity, and even carnivorous habits, the tyro approaches them with caution, his imagination alight at the thought that they will attack him on the slightest provocation. Adding to this the undoubted menacing look of the older animals, their gigantic size and strength, the hunter is perhaps to be pardoned if he exaggerates the danger their chase entails. Truth to tell, however, he is in more danger when crossing a London " death trap " or taking a ride in an aeroplane. The gorilla is a great bluffer, and if he can't frighten you away by his uncanny screaming roars or by the beating of his great chest, he leaves it at that—he is certainly not looking for trouble. Native superstition, so easily aroused, is accountable for the bad name the ngaghi (Kinyaruanda) or the nghira\ (Wanianga)—as the gorilla is called locally— * Mr. Akeley, since his return to America, has, I believe, set afoot a scheme, in conjunction with the Belgian Government, to not only make a sanctuary for gorillas on the Kivu Volcanoes, but to establish an experimental and breeding station there as well. f Du Chaillu in his books gives the name rCgilla or rfgina as the word used for the gorilla by the Ashango natives of the West Coast, which is practically the same word. 135GORILLA HUNTING possesses. All kinds of horrible practices are attributed to this inoffensive giant. To mention two of them: the natives will tell you, for instance, that the gorilla lies in wait along forest tracks, and will pounce on the unsuspecting wayfarer, first breaking his arms and legs, and, having killed him, will then bury the body for some days before eating it. Then, again, they have been credited with carrying off women and children from the fields and mutilating them in a horrible manner. Authenticated cases of gorillas attacking man are exceedingly rare. I mention three instances, however, for, like a tame bull who one day takes it into his head to attack his keeper, or like an elephant going must, gorillas will become dangerous at times, probably through wounds or old age, or, as occurred in one instance which I will relate, through being themselves attacked. Calling to mind two cases that came to my own knowledge, I will first relate the account of two natives who were out collecting wood in the forest near Walikale, west of Lake Kivu. In this case, an old male gorilla suddenly made an unprovoked attack on one of these men, catching him by the arm and leg, whereupon his companion went to his assistance armed with a small axe. The gorilla then let go his hold of the first native and jumped at the second, who succeeded in escaping with a broken arm. Their wounds were afterwards dressed by the Belgian official at Walikale, and, as the animal had not used his teeth, these con- sisted of deep holes made by the mere grip of the formidable fingers. The second instance was a much more exciting and deadly affair, ending in the death of one native and the mauling of three others. It occurred during my 136AFRICAN APES recent visit to Lake Kivu, and curiously enough at a place called Katana, near the western shore of the lake, where gorillas had never before been encountered, as far as is known, either by white men or by the Bahavu natives inhabiting the region. It appears that a heavily forested spur of the western rift valley mountains runs down towards Lake Kivu, behind the mission station of the White Fathers at Katana, cutting into a grove of bananas planted there, which place, early one morning, became the scene of a terrific fight between an enormous " old-man" gorilla and half a dozen natives. The account given me by the Father Superior of the mission, to whose hospital the three wounded men were afterwards brought, relates that the owner of the banana grove, greatly to his astonishment, surprised a small band of gorillas, headed by the huge beast in question, raiding the plantation. Not realising the danger, but intent on saving his crops, he quickly collected a few friends, and arming themselves only with heavy sticks, they attempted to drive out the marauders. When attacked, the troop scattered with the exception of the big male, who stood his ground, and, as the natives by this time had their blood up, a terrific fight ensued. The big gorilla caught one of the natives, and, it seems, fairly pulled him to pieces, and the others, hoping to save him, were in turn badly bitten. When it was too late reinforcements arrived in the shape of a man who owned a spear, and with this they managed between them to dispatch the infuriated beast. Another authentic case is related by the German zoologist Dr. A. Schultze, of the Duke of Mecklen- burg's Congo-Nile Expedition, and is as follows: " A native of Gaboon, named Undene, who was i37ADVENTURES WITH GORILLAS at one time my orderly, related to me the following adventure which befell him when he was in charge of the little station of N'gato, in the jungle north of Mo- lundu. On the main road he twice shot two large male gorillas, and it was in connection with the first of these adventures that he related to me the following story: " He found the animal, a powerful male, leaning against a tree trunk, sound asleep, and shot it without killing it. The gorilla charged his assailant with lightning speed, and seizing his gun with one hand endeavoured to carry it to its mouth in order to bite it up. With the other hand it grasped its opponent's leg so as to throw him down. With great difficulty Undene managed to reload, but in his terror he missed the ape, who was still holding on to the muzzle of the gun. At last he succeeded in reloading once more, and this time shot the animal in the breast and killed it. During the struggle the animal kept up a mighty roar. One thing is evident: gorilla hunting takes place at close quarters, and calls for rapid action, combined with the utmost coolness." I will now give my own first-hand experiences with these great apes, in one of which I nearly met the same fate as the two Walikale natives, and in others, the more usual, in which actual sport played but little part. In October, 1921, I left Kisenyies on Lake Kivu with the usual complement of Wahutu porters to obtain a group of gorillas for a well-known English museum. As on my previous visit to the Birunga Volcanoes in search of these animals, my objective was the saddle between Mikeno and Karisimbi, a romantic spot x0,000 feet above the level of the sea, where an alpine 138AFRICAN APES vegetation exists that is probably unique in the whole of Africa. I was fortunate in that I reached the place at an intermediate season between the little and the big rains, when the nights were intensely cold, but clear and starlit, and the days, although almost always misty at this elevation, free from rain. At a village called Burunga I was also fortunate in picking up my old guide Magulu, a stalwart Mhutu who had been the first to accompany me on my former expedition. We mounted the imposing pile of Mikeno up the throat of one of the deep and impassable clefts that are one of the features of this volcano, and the sides of which afford a home as well as such a secure stronghold for the shaggy residents. Following up the right side of this ravine and approaching the higher part of the bamboo zone it became evident, through the many fresh tracks and broken bamboo shoots, that fortune once more favoured me, and that I was again to have the chance of obtaining some of these rare animals. They were " at home " without a doubt, and as for the rest it would now be due to my own lack of skill and judgment if I did not secure the required specimens. I made my camp overlooking this belt of bamboo and on the borderland of the alpine hagenia forest that I have already mentioned. Gorillas are usually found in the thickest bamboo forest, but on the occasion of which I write I had driven them out of their usual haunts below camp, and they had, as I foresaw, taken to the open forest above me, taking refuge in the kloofs that run down from the peak of the Karisimbi Volcano. These are covered with an extraordinary tangle of succulent herbage, thigh deep with nettles, docks, sorrels, hemlocks, and i39A GORILLA FOREST blackberries, as well as larger growths of vernonias, balsams, lobelias, and senecios. Above this wonderland the magnificent pink-boled hagenia trees spread their fairy foliage, their low hanging branches thick with green moss-pads resembling great velvet cushions— veritable seats for the mighty, for y6ung gorillas may sometimes be seen squatting on the lowest of them, or the older ones making use of the often hollow and bent trunks for their sleeping quarters. Thither, early one morning, I followed the gorillas, hoping that this time in the more open forest I should meet with the immense silver-backed old male that I knew to be amongst them, for I had seen him two days previously, but, alas ! from across a gully that was too wide to allow of a sure shot. We had not far to go, for it soon became evident by the litter of dock and hemlock stems that the troop intended to make the Karisimbi kloofs their residence for the time being, and being voracious feeders and quite unsuspicious of danger, we soon came up with them. The tail end of the troop consisted of a mother gorilla with its young one; both held hemlock stems in their two hands, which they were stripping neatly of its tough bark and chewing up the soft inner pith with great gusto. These two were feeding on the far side of a steep ravine, which we overlooked from our position; the remainder, I guessed, were on the top or just over the opposing ridge facing us—they were, at any rate, out of sight. The two stragglers, therefore, being between us and the rest of the troop, we could only sit ourselves down to watch and wait, hoping that presently they would rejoin their comrades. This they did after a time, and giving me the chance for which I was waiting, I and Magulu slid down into 140AFRICAN APES the ravine and commenced to crawl up the other side. On reaching the spot where we had last seen the two laggards, we had another wait; this time it was a young one mounting a branch above us for a look round. When it had disappeared we again crept on, eventually surprising the whole family party of ten or more, squatting about near the top of the bank, for all the world like a lot of solemn pot-bellied black bears; the " old-man " gorilla, however, sad to relate, was nowhere to be seen. As I advanced, I was greeted by an angry chorus of screaming roars, but being by now used to this kind of thing, I kept on and the troop scattered over the ridge in front of me, down into a second ravine on the other side. On this occasion I was out for a " silver-back "* "old-man" gorilla and nothing else would satisfy me, so the squatting troop of females and young being of no further interest, I walked along the ridge, hoping to run across the big male that I felt sure was somewhere about, and as I will now relate, it was not long before he made me aware of the fact. Continuing my search along the ridge, I was approaching a mass of lobelia, within which I suddenly became aware of a violent commotion, and the foliage parting, out stepped the most magnificent " old-man " gorilla it has ever been my luck to see, and stood listen- ing, not fifteen paces from where I stood. A second afterwards, it seemed, this astonishing apparition caught sight of me and the transformation was surpris- * The writer calls the " old-man " gorillas " silver-backs " by reason of the large patch of silver-grey hair that forms, with age, on the backs of these animals, and which, when seen in certain lights or when the animal moves in the sun, gleams a silver-grey in colour. 141AN EXCITING MOMENT ing, for with a suddenness born of intent, and just balancing himself with his huge arms thrust forward, his body half raised, his hair fairly bristling and his ugly fangs bared, he ripped out a roar of malediction and hatred and with this leapt towards me. I must say I scarcely expected such an onslaught; raising my rifle, however, I took aim and pressed the trigger, but the only sound that came to my waiting ears at that moment was the metallic click of a missfire, unhappily not the reassuring crack of a good charge of cordite. Throwing out the offending cartridge, the next thing I realised was that the big ape was turning a complete somersault in front of me, for in his rage at being disturbed and in his haste to rid both himself and the ridge of my company, he had tripped on a stout liana or root, and the last I saw of him was a grey and black mass rolling down the side of the ravine. This exciting incident was a matter of seconds only, it passed so swiftly in fact that I stood annoyed and dumbfounded, rifle in hand, looking down the steep bank beside me to where Tarzan had disappeared so ingloriously, hardly able to believe my eyes. I was soon reassured, however, for beating forth from a thick clump of bushes in the ravine below echoed the challenge of my adversary. I caught a glimpse of him as he stood up for a second to have a last look at me before ambling off, a large female and a half-grown gorilla following in his wake. I then thought, " Well, that's the end of it." If the day had ended there I should have been quite satisfied with such a unique experience, even if only the outlines of the picture it left in my mind's eye remained. However, there is more to tell, for this gorilla now forms an attraction in one of our most famous museums. 142AFRICAN APES The tangle of herbage in these alpine regions, amongst which are numberless poisonous nettles, fallen trees, and long roots, is exasperating to walk through. Our long legs, however, gave us a consider- able advantage over our quarry in respect to speed, although in respect to comfort the gorillas had it all their own way, for very shortly after taking up the spoor, my knees, hands, and in a smaller measure my face, smarted so violently with nettle stings that it was only the hope of bagging the big ape that kept me going. My naked black companion must have had a skin like a rhinoceros, for he appeared to suffer little from the stings. After going some distance through this description of bush, we presently arrived at a thick clump of trees—three or four growing together—and some brushwood surrounding them, from within which came the sound of laboured breath- ing. Thinking this a great piece of luck, and stepping round the bushes, I had the disappointment of my life, for there were the same old mother gorilla and its young one that had been our betes noires earlier in the day. With a shuffling gait and clumsy at all times, these poor beasts were so done up with their efforts to escape over such unaccustomed ground that I could have caught both with the greatest ease had I had a lassoo. Thus I had another set-back and again the old gorilla had given me the slip, this time through his cunning method of going off alone. The chase, as far as it went, being now ended, my tracker and J sat down for a breather and, as we watched the two departing gorillas, started to argue the point as to which direction " silver back " had taken. As we argued, Luck, the fickle jade, was preparing a surprise packet right there behind us. *43BAGGING A GIANT To draw a long story short I must now explain that back in the ravine I had left six natives carrying food and other things, with instructions to follow slowly; they, it turned out, had missed our track, following instead the spoor of the big gorilla, and were unwittingly driving him straight in our direction. Having rested, the first I knew of this was the snapping of herbage on the hillside to my right, which had the immediate effect of galvanising into life both Mabulu and myself, nettles and stiff legs forgotten, in the one hope of seeing the crested head, the great ruff, and the silver back of Tarzan of the Volcanoes. This time it was to be, for looking across on to the hill slope opposite, there stalked, unconscious of our presence, my great ac- quaintance of the morning, crested and bearded head, ruff, silver back and all. A grand sight and a gallant beast, surely ! Good for me, I made a bull's-eye at 200 yards and brought him rolling down the slope— dead. Owing to the gorilla's great weight and to the fact that a track had to be cut through the forest for the carriers to pass with their load, it took twenty- five men five hours to get the carcase into camp, where it arrived in the rain, and with the aid of lamps, at nine o'clock at night. The great size of this fine animal may best be judged by the photographs I took on the spot, and which will be found reproduced in this volume. I will next recount an experience I had with a female gorilla, which was more amusing than the last incident related, if not so exciting. On this occasion I was hunting on the north side of Mikeno, a more difficult country by far than the southern " saddle "—damper, denser and more over- grown in moss, lichen, and trailing lianas, and inter- 144Fig. 52.—A GIANT GORILLA FROM THE KARISIMBI VOLCANO. " ... My acquaintance of the morning-—crested and bearded^head, ruff, silver back and all. A grand sight and a gallant beast, surely?"the iimn Of THE UHIVERSITY OF ILLIKOISAFRICAN APES sected at short intervals with all but impassable ravines. Above this primeval forest the volcano rises a sheer 6,000 feet, a vast cliff in fact, its sloping western edge being put to serviceable use by the gorillas, as a very formidable stronghold indeed. Although it was left to the writer to be the first to penetrate to the " saddle " of Mikeno in search of gorillas, it was in this northern forest that Com- mandant Powells of the Belgian Army shot the first Kivu specimen (now in the Belgian Congo Museum near Brussels) in 1916. Now, however, since my first visit in 1919, several of these animals have been shot in this forest and, in consequence, the gorillas are not so easily met with as formerly, and when shot at immediately retreat into the mountain fastness referred to. The northern forest, therefore, which was at one time the sole domain of this giant ape, is fast becoming a " port of call " for every passing sportsman who can wheedle a licence out of the Belgian Government. On this account I should have preferred to confine my energies to the south, but wishing to visit the White Fathers at the Lulenga Mission close by, I reluctantly decided to give the district a trial. So, one morning, after procuring two guides from the mission we set out, and finding a suitable spot near where the gorillas were reported to be, I pitched my tent amongst the bamboos and facing the towering crags of Mikeno. As luck would have it, the next morning turned out damp and dismal, but matters being mended by the finding of fresh spoor, we soon found ourselves crawling through the undergrowth in the wake of what appeared to be a large family party of gorillas. Due to the damp ground and the litter of chewed and broken bamboo H5 kA CHANCE MEETING shoots with which the animals had strewn their track paper-chase fashion, we had little difficulty in following —a distant clop-clop-clop presently warning us to go cautiously. Leaving the guide behind, I took my rifle and approached up-wind—carefully avoiding the gorilla hunter's snare, the dry and fallen bamboos, which have such a disgusting habit of going off like a gun when trodden on—and crawled to within 15 yards of the feeding animals. Nothing to see at first in such dense cover but plenty to hear, beating of heavy chests, heavy breathing, grunts, breaking and munching of bamboos ! In such thick undergrowth there was little to do but wait and hope that the gorillas would move on into more open bush. I took up a position, there- fore, where the foliage was a little less thick and sat down with what patience I could muster. Watching thus for awhile, I presently became aware of a big bamboo shaking and quivering, and then a black and hairy arm appeared to grab a bunch of leaves; following this—the head and body of a half-grown gorilla, about the size of a chimpanzi, climbing clumsily up the stem. He was interesting to watch but no use to me, and, fearful lest the wind should give me away, I decided to try and get round another way with the hope of seeing some others. Off I went, therefore, on hands and knees to reconnoitre, but finding the other direc- tion thicker than ever, I turned and started crawling back to take up my former position. I was, however, counting without my tailless friends ! With the utmost caution and thinking how careful I had been, I was approaching the spot and shoving my head through the last tunnel of leaves, when I got the shock of my life, for there, facing me in the track, 146AFRICAN APES at about 3 yards range, was the decidedly disconcerting visage of a gorilla, evidently having just completed a close inspection of my former resting-place. The immediate effect of this rencontre was lu- dicrous, for neither of us liked the look of the other at that moment. Of the two of us the gorilla was possibly the more pleasing, for the look of curiosity on that face would have done justice to a waggon-load of monkeys when passing a fruit shop—it was posi- tively attractive—whereas I was not to be mistaken for a sunbeam exactly—my dirty and unshaven face and old hat were scarcely bright enough ! We both jumped, we both roared, and there was an answering chorus from the whole troop close at hand ! Like a flash my curious vis-d-vis had done a back somersault, and I had fired and missed I Thus ended my one and only excursion into the northern forests of Mikeno, for the following day I found the gorillas had repaired to their mountain stronghold, so I gave up the chase, shifting camp to my old hunting-ground to the south. By comparison, gorilla hunting is an easy task to the pursuit of the cunning chimpanzi, for the latter has all those attributes—quick hearing, good nose, keen sight, and a general monkey alertness—which its clumsy cousin lacks. True, one can find natives, such as the Bambuti Pygmies or the Bakumu of the Ituri, who are adepts at " calling " these animals—and I never heard of a gorilla being " called "■—also, there is the fact that chimpanzis, like the baboons, can sometimes be caught raiding the native gardens, a thing that the gorilla hardly ever does; but these facts notwithstanding, the white collector has a difficult task before him if his bag is to include specimens of chimpanzis—the Kivu variety at any rate. i47CHIMPANZIS The Batwa, the dwarfs inhabiting the eastern Kivu forests, where chimpanzis are to be found, can rarely be induced to accompany a white man when in search of these animals, much less " call " them for him, for it happens that to the Batwa the killing or hunting of this man-ape is taboo, it being their totem or sacred animal. These Pygmies, however, like the Bambuti and Congo forest natives, can " call" chimpanzis, and use the same methods—i.e., by pressing the nose flat and making a kind of nasal grunt, also by blowing over a hole bored in a calabash or gourd, producing a sound not unlike the yowl of a lost dog. The Bakumu of the Ituri Forest are the best natives I know at" calling " chimps (short for chimpanzis) and bearing witness to their prowess in this respect, bunches of skulls may be seen strung up in almost every Ba- kumu village one passes. These natives are, of course, very fond of monkey meat, which accounts for it. A tale was told me of two Bakumu who were both out " calling" chimps in the same patch of forest, although neither was aware of the fact. Both men naturally made for the most likely place and started " calling." Under these circumstances it was not long before both heard an answering call and soon found themselves closing up towards each other, poisoned arrows fitted and ready for the shot. Native hunters being of a careless and excitable nature, one of these men received a shaft in his side which, of course, killed him, as the poison used is of a very deadly nature. It was a Bakumu native—-a light-coloured, strapping, fine man he was, too, like so many of his rape— who first initiated me into the art, when I had the satisfaction of obtaining two of the largest male chim- panzis I have ever seen in or out of a museum—one 148AFRICAN APES was of the black-faced and one of the pink-faced species, and both were in the same forest. As the one thing to avoid, is letting the quarry see you (for a chimp sees intelligently, he will know you for what you are, never mistaking you for an inanimate object as an antelope might, however well you " freeze," and once having seen you he is gone like a shadow), we used to take up our position behind a fallen log when the rustling of the foliage told us an animal was approaching. Both those that I shot climbed trees to inspect their surroundings before coming forward through the undergrowth, and as the females, as far as I know, never answer the call, both were adult males. One may say that chimpanzi hunting in the marginal mountains of Lake Kivu is scarcely a white man's job. The ranges are so steep and the trackless forests clothing them so thick, that it is little wonder that few specimens from this region are to be seen in our museums. It is no exaggeration to say that it necessi- tates crawling on hands and knees half the time— always a very undignified proceeding—making one realise, as one worms in and out the bamboo stems, that man is, after all, a typical savage animal, only living under a vast variety of conditions that have altered his nature. After a few days' gorilla and chimp hunting one finds the easiest way to walk on all fours is with the fingers doubled under so that the knuckles are in contact with the ground, and it is natural for them to assume that position, like the position of the ape hand when walking. After getting to know the country and the favourite haunts of my quarry, my method of hunting resolved itself into posting natives on hill-tops and valley-heads 149CHIMPANZI HUNTING to listen for their calls. They howl in chorus, as a rule, one starting it. It is absurdly like the shouting of the Wambuti Pygmies when excited, and seems to be uttered, as one might say, to hearten themselves, usually in the early morning or evening. Having heard the noise, the difficulty was to locate it. As it comes ringing up from the valley, it seems to take on a ventriloquial effect; thus, the following dialogue would often occur with my boys: " Hark! Where was that now? Over there, what ? No, over there to the left!" Having crossed a valley to get there, we would hear, " Yow-ow-ow, Wao-ao-ao," farther up the side of the valley we had just left, and would have to clamber back again forthwith. When hunting the Kivu chimpanzis I had a wonder- ful camp at 8,500 feet elevation overlooking the lake and its eastern shore. More than a fortnight was spent at this place, and although I could get up to the animals almost every other day, I only succeeded in shooting three. In the end I had to give up trying for more, as not only was the strain of such arduous' work beginning to tell on my system, but the chimps got an attack of nerves from being continually hunted, and abandoned the district. The shooting was always at close quarters, from 6 to 15 yards range, the animals usually feeding squatting on the ground. On occasions, however, as occurred to me more than once, an old male would take a running jump, when suspicious of danger, off the steep hill- side on which they were always found, and, landing on the nearest bamboo, would swing himself, like an acrobat, from stem to stem in a wonderful way, eventu- ally dropping to the ground—at the end of his impetus, so to speak—as suddenly as he had appeared. One 150Fig. 53.—A WAMBUTI PYGMY. The real forest dwarf. Fig. 54.—A SEMI-PYGMY BUSHMAN. From the Luvua Valley, Mweru-Tang-anyika District. He wears dried beetles and ant-bear teeth round his neck as charmsTIE UBMif * 'of IlE^ 3S!TY 05 JUJK0JSAFRICAN APES I shot this way—a lucky snap through the intervening bamboos. Gorillas and chimpanzis are never found in the same stretch of forest, although inhabiting the same district, the reason for which is not quite clear. Their boundaries seem to be well defined, and neither animal wanders far. Given time (which I never seem to have, so my efforts in this respect were unsuccessful) it would be quite possible to film and photograph live gorillas in their natural surroundings, but not chimpanzis. In my opinion, however, the results would hardly justify the expenditure for a private individual. To the observer of nature and the zoologist, moving pictures of these animals would be of great interest, and doubt- less in America or France they would be appreciated; but the English public and film factors can only en- thuse over lurid drama or sensual love scenes, and turn down the nature pictures. In conclusion, let me add that the great apes now living are of little use to-day except for the sole purpose of science, and for this reason it is well they should be rigorously protected. The last word has by no means been written concerning them; their lives may still hide clues to our past. The science of genetics or somatogenics with regard to them has scarcely been touched on, and some great medical specialist may yet evolve a cross-bred man-ape from a pygmy-chim- panzi strain—a real Tarzan of the Apes ! 151CHAPTER VIII round lake kivu—rakwataraka and the fairy forest of rugege I spent six weeks of really hard work hunting gorillas between the twin volcanoes of Mikeno and Karisimbi and chasing chimpanzis in the bamboo-covered ravines of the Bugoie Forest, after which I was glad enough to rejoin my wife, whom I had left at Kisenyies. As this place is one of the loveliest spots in Africa, both as regards climate and scenery, where the " lotus life " is really possible, I found my wife had been really enjoying herself in my absence. She had no lack of entertainment, moreover, for during her stay there Mr. Carl Akeley's party arrived, consisting of, besides himself, Mr. and Mrs. Bradley of Chicago with their little five - year - old daughter, Miss Miller (Akeley's secretary), and Miss Hall, a nurse. As it happened, I had just at that time shot three gorillas, and as Akeley's expedition had been organised to obtain speci- mens of these animals, naturally our experiences, as well as our gorilla skins, interested them tremendously. When they reached Kisenyies I was already camped in the gorilla forest, and missed meeting Mr. Akeley. Mr. and Mrs. Bradley, however, rode out to the Nyundo Mission near where I happened to be, and we spent a very pleasant day together. These two interesting people were having the time of their lives and were cramming full every moment of it. !53Fig. 55.—WHISTLING THE RAIN AWAY. A Muhutu native using- his whistle to charm away an approaching- rain-storm. Some of these rain-makers (for their services are soug-ht to bring- rain as well as to send it away) play an important part in the life of the community, and their favour is much sought after by their over-lords, the Watusi. This one has the usual cord bag* slung- round his head.lii Mi's ;„;k Of fHE □n/EBSUV Or MjKiiltROUND LAKE KIVU Mr. Akeley was not only successful in shooting six gorillas, but took some very good cinematographs of them alive in the unique surroundings of their alpine forest home. As I say, life at Kisenyies is more than ordinarily pleasant, but with a bevy of fair women, and gorillas to talk about, it must have been quite enthralling. I missed all this delightful sociability, or, rather, came in at the tail end of it, for when I arrived the Americans had left. However, although I am assured the place seemed dull after they had gone, all this was not without its effect, for not only had my wife got a new dress pattern (Buttericks, I think she said it was!) for something or another, but the pretty wife of the Belgian veterinary surgeon decided to have her raven tresses " bobbed," and, if you please, gave me the task of doing it! ... so I was not quite left out after all. Thinking it over afterwards, I see that this act was my eventual undoing, for it seems I accomplished the feat to the fair lady's liking (and without clipping off her shell-like ear), and the fashion of bobbing hair in the Belgian Congo catching-on, my services came into request afterwards on more than one occasion. Then there was another " aftermath " (no end to it once the ladies started !), and this had to do with poor Rakidegi — the local Watusi sultan and uncle to Musinga, the great Ruanda chieftain. He also fell for the feminine invasion. It so happened that he made my wife his confidante—so I know. Now Rakidegi is a dirty old grey-headed man, very fond of banana beer —usually drunk on it every day, in fact—and is in the unhappy position of having forty-three wives. But, he said, after a little preliminary conversation, and when on a special visit to my wife: " I will divorce !S3LIFE AT KISENYIES the lot if you will get me a white wife out from England. I have thousands of cattle and thousands of acres of land, and will build her a large house and give her everything she wants." To try and seal the bargain, he presented my wife with some two dozen civet cat skins. When I came down from the mountains after my ape hunting, I passed on my way two sick cows lying by the path. They were breathing heavily with a slight foam showing at the mouth. This was rinder- pest, and I was the first to report the outbreak of this deadly disease in the Kisenyies district. Dr. Van Saceghem, the principal veterinary officer, had hopes that it might not reach the lava plains, but these were soon shattered, for two days after fifty or more cases were reported amongst the local herds. The disease had been rife for many months over on the Uganda side, as well as in the interior of Ruanda, but this was the first time it had reached Kivu. (It had been carried, presumably, by the small herds of buffalo that frequent the bamboo forests in which I had been hunting, or, as some think, by vultures on whose feet the living germ may find lodgment after feasting on an animal that has died from the disease.) Dr. Van Saceghem and his staff (they have an expensively fitted laboratory at Kisenyies, where, amongst other things, lymph for vaccination against smallpox is manufactured) have a hard task before them, as, for one thing, both the Watusi chiefs and the Wahutu peasantry are adverse, through superstition and suspicion, to inoculation; but, nevertheless, his staff seem to carry out their duties with both vigour and foresight. The Ruanda cattle, Van Saceghem tells me, are immune from East Goast fever, which J54ROUND LAKE KIVU fact will be thoroughly appreciated by many African farmers who have lost every head they possessed by this epidemic. Then again, he says," he disbelieves the idea that the Ruanda cattle will not travel well or live when transported to another country." He thinks " the cause of these cattle dying when taken out of the Ruanda is due to nagana or tsetse fly disease alone, not to mere change of food or elevation." When in Brussels, and after giving a lecture there on the Kivu regions, I had the pleasure of meeting the famous Belgian oculist, Dr. de Ridder and his wife, who were then contemplating visiting Africa to shoot big game. In fact, to a large extent, I influenced them in their choice of an itinerary. And as it was at Kisenyies that I again met Mrs. de Ridder, I must, before going on to describe my subsequent journeyings, put on record an account of this ill-fated expedition and the encounter this plucky woman had with a troop of lions on the Ruindi plains. Dr. de Ridder, accompanied by his wife, first went to Niansa, the capital of Ruanda, to examine Sultan Musinga's eyes and prescribe a remedy for his pro- nounced myopia (with the result, I believe, that this black potentate now wears glasses), after that gradu- ally making his way by easy stages to the south end of Lake Edward, where he contracted Spirillum (Tick) fever and from which he died. Whilst he was sick in his tent, Mrs. de Ridder—being a very keen sports- woman—was in the habit of going out shooting, accompanied by her gunbearer, when the following terrible adventure befell her: She left her camp one morning to look for buffaloes, which were common in the vicinity, and having walked for about an hour saw two lions in the distance and on approaching close i55MRS. DE RIDDER'S EXPERIENCE to them fired first at one and then at the other, killing one and wounding one. The noise of the firing put up eight or nine more lions which were either lying down or in hiding in a depression in the ground. At these she also pluckily fired, wounding, she thinks, two others. As there were now several wounded lions about, Mrs. de Ridder—having only one " boy " with her at the time—decided to make for camp to obtain assistance to track them up, and had proceeded only a short distance in the direction of camp when she noticed beneath her feet a trail of blood from one of the wounded animals. Going on a little farther, the next thing she saw was a small patch of grass agitated by what was evidently a crouching lion, although hidden from view. Mrs. de Ridder now fired into the grass, with the immediate effect that a lioness sprang out and in one bound was upon her, giving her a fearful bite in one groin whilst clawing her other leg, at the same time knocking her over backwards. For- tunately, the lady's screams frightened the lioness, which then left her, and being severely injured lay down near-by to lick its wound. During this onslaught Mrs. de Ridder's gun-boy had at first deserted her, but, presently returning, fired at the lioness with the gun he was carrying, missing his mark, however, but without disturbing the crouching beast. Then this plucky Belgian woman, having sufficiently recovered her senses—with diffi- culty, on account of her wounds—reloaded her rifle and fired at the lioness, killing it dead. The difficulty now presenting itself to Mrs. de Ridder was how to get back to the camp badly wounded as she was. Fearing an attack by other lions, her native companion at first refused to leave her, but finding it 156Fig. .56.—MRS. DE RIDDER, AT KISENYIES, RECOVERING FROM A MAULING BY A LION. & nat. size. Fig. 57.— AN IDEA FOR TOY-MAKERS! J he Bakumu toy described in Chapter VI. The suspended rod, to which the toy is attached, is tapped by the stick to the accompaniment of a musical instrument. The resulting human-like dance of the two toys is extremely laughter-provoking" to the natives {seep. 112).!'f f IBFIABlf l)f THF C3!V£8Siry OF*IUMOISROUND LAKE KIVU impossible to make any progress with the help of only this one man, she decided he must go back to the camp to fetch other carriers whilst she remained alone. The gun-boy then went, and by calling from a distance succeeded in attracting the attention of the camp, with the result that she was carried in. Her husband being very sick indeed and scarcely able to help her dress her wounds, a note was sent off to a Belgian official three days distant. When this man arrived he found Dr. de Ridder dead in his bed and his wife in a very dangerous state from blood - poisoning. Mrs. de Ridder was taken in to the Belgian doctor at Ruchuru with all speed, where she eventually re- covered, the remedy of the well-known drug " 606 " proving, as she told me, of the greatest use in counter- acting the dreaded blood-poisoning of a lion bite. Thus interesting events went on about us—happen- ings that are only dreamt of by ordinary mortals. During my stay at Kisenyies and whilst waiting for the boat that was to take us down the lake, my time, as usual, was occupied in packing and sorting specimens. It then occurred to me that the museums at home would be interested to have some specimens of the rare three-horned chameleon (Chameleon johnstonii) that is to be found in this region. I passed the word, therefore, to my collecting boys that I would give one franc for each one brought in, with the result that within two days I had chameleons crawling all round the house and many more than I could possibly preserve. This reminds me of the experience that another collector underwent at Kitega in the Ruanda. At this place there is a certain rare (?) lizard, and this man giving out that he would pay a good price for some of these little animals, soon had every native 157SOUTHWARD boy in the district searching for them, with the result that early one morning, when he jumped out of bed, he found, lined up outside his tent, no less than twenty odd little black boys each standing before a packet (done up in leaves) of the lizards he had asked for and the ground covered with those that had escaped. It is all or nothing in Africa—a plague of lizards in Kitega was the result! The first week of December, 1921, saw us leaving Kisenyies aboard a Government motor-barge kindly placed at our disposal by Dr. Van Saceghem, and chugging our way southward past the island of Kwid- gwe to Cha-ngugu, a small lake-side station at the head of the Rusisi River. There was a drought in the land of Kivu at this time, so the weather was ideal for travellers, although, doubtless, the inhabitants had other views on the subject. Our boat took us along the western coast, first between innumerable reed-covered islets and the rocky verdure-clad shore, which rose steeply to the great peaks of the Rift Mountains, and then, afterwards, in and out the tiny bays that so much resemble Scottish lochs—one of the principal features of Lake Kivus A voyage this, such as few people have the luck to make ! The first night we slept at Sake in a corner of the Mbusi Bay, the next night at Kale and then at Bukavu, being treated at each place in turn with the utmost courtesy by the Belgian officials in charge. From Bukavu, which is in the Belgian Congo and lies at the south-western extremity of the lake, we crossed over in one hour to Cha-ngugu, a small administrative post in Belgian ex-German Ruanda. Back of Cha-ngugu, about twenty miles away, runs a range of mountains, its highest peaks reaching to 158Fig. 58.—a-CRATER-ISLAND AT THE NORTH END OF LAKE K1VU.HE LIBRARY Of IK USiVESSITY OF ILLINOISROUND LAKE KIVU about 9,000 feet, and forming part of what has been termed the roof, or backbone, of Africa. Paths run through it at intervals from Lake Kivu to the interior of the Ruanda, but as the range is covered with thick primeval forest and its slopes are abrupt and even precipitous, it remains to-day unexplored and harbour- ing much that is new and interesting in plant and animal life. This primeval mountain forest extends from about two degrees south of the Equator to a point some sixty miles north of Usumbura on Lake Tan- ganyika. The northward extension of this forest is known as the Bugoie, then farther southward as Kisiba, and near Cha-ngugu as the Rugege Forest (from a central peak of this name). The Rugege, in which I was especially interested, is a long and narrow belt of forest clothing the ridges of the Kivu-Nile watershed, and its width to-day— owing to the continual burning and cutting by Bahutu agriculturists who attack it from either side—is not more than fifteen to twenty miles. In fact, another generation is likely to see a complete destruction of this interesting forest unless legislation is enforced to protect it. Members of the Duke of Mecklenburg's Trans- African Expedition, as well as the well-known German entomologist and collector, Dr. Grauer, passed through the Rugege in the year 1908. Since that time no scientific expedition has, as far as I know, visited the region. The following is what the Duke of Mecklen- burg has to say about it in his book " The Heart of Africa " The forest received us into its arms, the mountain forest of Rugege, as beautiful as any in Usambara, or on the Uganda railway, or on the Mau plateau; x59FAIRY FOREST OF RUGEGE glorious in its splendour and its exuberance, yet almost oppressive in consequence of its profusion of vegetation entirely new to us, which we at first nearly despaired of mastering. . . . Incomparably rich and luxuriant as this forest is, it would yet have something oppressive about it if it covered all the hills and valleys. The chief charm of the Rugege land- scape consists rather in its variations of wood and glade, its grassy slopes which clothe the lower valleys, its dells and dales, and the well-watered fens and meadows which lie alongside the brooks and streams. The vales and meadows as Kandt saw them must have had an indescribable charm: when thousands of stemmed lobelias spring up from the grass, like gigantic candles, and the green valley is buried for miles under the heads of millions of white or silvery rose-coloured immortelles." Then to quote a missionary about the deforestation that is going on in this part of the Ruanda: " They (the Bahutu) fell the best trees, hew down the bamboo cane, and burn away the undergrowth, consequently the few trees that are left standing perish also. Then they till the land and sow it with peas, and proceed to impoverish Ruanda by treating further tracts of forest in the same fashion. If the people settled on this land thus made arable and fit for tillage, there would be some sense in it; but simply to burn a bit of forest away to plant a few peas, and then destroy it further bit by bit, causes everyone regret, even though they be not experts on afforestation or sylviculture, more especially in a country so lacking in trees as the Ruanda." This forest is quite uninhabited if one excepts the few semi-pygmy Batwa who hunt there. Of animals 160Fig. sg.—A GLEN IN THE RUGEGE FOREST. To the left of the picture is a native beehive covered with grass near a specimen of the Lobelia wollastoni; heather is in bloom in the foreground.ilf MBffARV OF THE BHIVERSITY- PF IHmtSROUND LAKE KIVU there are the elephant, buffalo, leopard, hyena, bush- buck, yellow-backed duiker, red duiker, forest hog, and wild pig. Then there are chimpanzis (Schwein- furthi ?) and many rare species of monkey (I obtained two Colobus palliatus cottoni and a Cercopithecus doggetti), besides the smaller mammals, amongst which I noticed three kinds of squirrels and the tree hyrax, as well as any number of interesting and rare birds. I, as an entomologist, was especially attracted to the place by the fact that Dr. Grauer had brought to Europe (many years ago now) some wonderful insects from this part (including the rare Papilio leucotcenia) determining me in my wish to visit it. Cha-ngugu, therefore, was to be my base camp for the time, where I could leave Mrs. Barns whilst I made an excursion into the forest. It was fortunate that we found in Monsieur Keyser, the official in charge of the station, a pleasant com- panion, sympathetic towards my plans, and one who was willing to do everything possible to help me with my arrangements for this Rugege excursion into the forest. Moreover, his wife was a delightful person- ality, which made things still more agreeable. The first thing Monsieur Keyser did was to send for the district chieftain—a Matusi and closely related to Sultan Musinga—one named Rakwataraka, who would make himself responsible for my safety and supply the necessary carriers and food. When I met this gentleman and got to know him a bit, I at once became his friend as well as his great admirer. He was a prince amongst black peoples. Tall—he is six foot seven—broad-shouldered, yet slim and graceful with the pride of race stamped indelibly upon him, albeit, a touch of wildness and savagery as well. His 161 LLIFE AT CHA-NGUGU face was refined to a point of womanliness, yet frank- ness and honesty were written there—no guile. When the man smiled he was captivating, for his teeth were white and even and the whole face seemed to shine and the eyes to sparkle-—an effect of his brown-black satiny skin. He wore a slight beard and his hair combed up high on his head. He would certainly make a sensation if he came to London with his appearance alone. Afterwards I paid a visit to his home and village, which occupies a fine site on the side of a hill, closely overlooking Lake Kivu. The place is called Ischara and is two days' journey north of Cha-ngugu. Later on, I made the acquaintance of his two sons, aged about nine and seven. I was assured that they never drank or ate anything but fresh or curdled milk—this however, in great quantities— with the result that they looked like two over fat brown pigs and were otherwise very big for their age. Cha-ngugu is a noted market place, where all kinds of produce is brought for sale from miles around. On the weekly market day, at the very least, 2,000 men and women would gather on the shore of the lake to barter and sell their wares. A veritable fleet of canoes would collect from all parts of the lake. An ox or two, goats and sheep, would be slaughtered on the spot, the meat cut up and sold or exchanged. Then there was the usual heterogeneous collection of all kinds of native articles and foodstuffs: baskets, skins, mats, rope, bags, pots, fowls, Muscovy ducks, butter, bananas, beans, beer, peas, cassava, flour, fish, potatoes, fruit, honey, spears, axes and hoes. As many things could be bought absurdly cheap and small change in money not always being available, 162Fig. 60.—MY FRIEND—RAKWATARAKA. Fig. 6i.—RAKYVATARAKA OF ISCHARA. The Mutusi chieftain of South-East Kivu who helped the author on his excursion to the Rugege Forest.fllf Of THE CBivsnsmr o? pijwisROUND LAKE KIVU plaited fibre bracelets took the place of currency, twenty bracelets being equivalent to five centimes. It was at this market that I bought up a certain amount of native food, such as flour and beans, etc., in preparation for my coming excursion to the Rugege Forest. Having completed the necessary preparations, and my porters—a wild lot clad only in goat skins—having turned up, I set out one morning to reach Rakwata- raka's kraal (Ischara), where I was to obtain new men and guides. When I arrived the chief greeted me pleasantly outside his house, which was built with grass in the usual domed style of the Watusi, without windows and lined with finely woven mats. Whilst my tent was being pitched we talked in Swahili about' all kinds of things. Having myself met Sultan Mu- singa, and knowing Niansa where he lived, we had that subject to enlarge upon. Then the Germans, English, and Belgians were compared as men and rulers. Rakwataraka seemed to have taken a great liking to Judge Mazaratti, the Belgian Governor of Ruanda, as he had also done to Monsieur Ryckmans, the resident. Then there was the Volcanic eruption of 1912-13 which he had seen from afar and, lastly, came men, food, and guides for my sojourn in the Rugege Forest. As our boat came down the lake I had already had a distant view of the mountains along which the forest lies, but here, from my camp, I could almost make out the trees that tipped their distant peaks. The whole Kivu region is of vast interest to the naturalist, for here the two animal and plant kingdoms of east and west meet and mingle. Especially these alpine forests have a tremendous fascination; their fairy glades, a 163RAKWATARAKA witchery and seductiveness that beggars description— a magic charm that lingers in the memory for long years. As I stood at my tent door gazing up at the mist-clad mountains, the thought of these beautiful places filled my mind and I longed impatiently to be off. Time went too slowly—night was too long ! I wanted to start there and then to see what new thrills those purple-shadowed ravines held for me. What new butterflies flashed across the glades ? What giant moths might not I encounter, fluttering ghost-like at dusk out of the forest ? Just imaginings of a mere collector, but, perhaps, containing, the spirit of adventure that leads to achievement. With many handshakes and brilliant (this is the only word that describes them) smiles from my friend Rakwataraka, I set out the next morning with my new Bahutu porters, a young oxen—the chief's present to me—leading the way. Almost immediately after leaving Ischara the path takes an upward grade—over grassy slopes and then past little homesteads and banana patches, so typical of the Ruanda. Then after a few miles the steepness increases until climbing becomes continuous. The first night was spent at a hill village called Luhinga, overlooking a rushing mountain stream called the Karundura, the following day bringing me to the villages of a Watusi sub-chief called Nyamigow— a thin spare man, weak and vacillating in manner. It was on this man that I had to rely for my food supply, and I did not like the prospect. We were, however, close to the forest, which could now be seen com- pletely covering the towering mountains which over- shadowed the camp. It certainly looked interesting, if difficult of approach, as I gazed at its steep crags 164Fig. 62.—A MARKET IN PROGRESS AT CHA-NGUGU ON THE SHORES OF LAKE KIVU.SHE SJOftM! Of THE BBlYEBStTY OF H.UNOISROUND LAKE KIVU and ridges clothed in giant trees and clinging under- growth. A blue-white mist enshrouded the entire range as if from the smoke of a forest fire, but caused, as I was told by the natives, by the effect of the drought (and the unusually dry atmosphere) on the still moist undergrowth and rotting leaf mould. The night passed uneventfully, but in the morning I found that all my carriers had deserted me, mainly, I think, on account of their superstitious fear of the forest—to them all dark forests are haunted with ghosts I It was now time to put the screw on Nyamigow, and I did so, telling him that he would have to go into Monsieur Keyser if he did not produce more carriers and plenty of food for them. After a time, and with the help of my headmen and gun-boys, and much swearing and shouting across the valleys and ravines to the other villages, this was accomplished, and towards evening, and after a stiff climb, I found myself within the Rugege Forest, where I pitched my camp for the night. This forest differs from any other that I know. It has a quality entirely its own. I have described it in my diary as a " forest nursery," and then again, I have used the description "mixed vegetation." Whereas, in other forests, one sees groves and masses of certain species of trees, in this one, single specimens of many kinds are encountered and at varying intervals* as if some master-gardener had been at work planting them out. Here the two lobelias, the giberroa and the wollastoni, grow in the thick forest as well as in the open glades. Bamboos are met with in isolated clumps in the woods and not in their usual massed formation (except on the mountain tops). So my 165THE RUGEGE FOREST impression of the Rugege Forest is a collection of all the rarest tropical trees and bushes brought together and planted out on a mountain range. Owing to the drought, butterflies were not plentiful? in spite of the fact that the swamps and glades were full of alpine flowers—ground orchids, gladioli, poker plants and tiny blue irises. The arborescent heather was especially beautiful with its pink masses of bloom. I camped in many places; all had their own special charm, but more perhaps than others, the lonely bracken-covered glens that formed the source of the eastward-flowing Rukarara River. After a two weeks' stay in the forest, Christmas Day came round, and, as my carriers were beginning to grouse about shortness of food, much against my will I was forced to shoot the bullock, which by this time had made friends with everyone in camp. Cold- blooded murder—nothing short of it—but my own food supplies were low, and one cannot well live on monkey meat and green bananas ! The fact was my porters had not enough to do ! I shifted my camp every day or two, and then only a short distance. For the rest of the time they were idle. They had been grousing for some days about the poor food, and the cold, and what-not. The meat kept them quiet for a day or two, but after that they began to desert in twos and threes. Then a lot went, leaving me no alternative but to think about retracing my steps. Nyamigow, much to my astonishment, eventually came to my rescue with more men and food. However, as I had worked this portion of the forest pretty well, I decided to go down to his village, stay there the night, and then try another section of the forest farther to the south. 166Fig. 63.—THE BUREAU DE CHANGE AT THE CHA-NGUGU MARKET. Twenty fibre bracelets equals five centimes.fHE UiMfilf OF IHE UNIVERSITY OF lillftOISROUND LAKE KIVU It was on my return journey that I struck the Valley of Bees. I had been skirting the forest and had left the Karundura Valley and Nyamigow's, and had got into an intricate maze of small ravines and valleys that lie near the headwaters of a river called the Margha. Here I found myself in an enclosed and narrow valley, about 2 miles long and 500 yards broad. A cleft in the mountains at the bottom of which ran a crystal- clear stream. If was a beautiful place. The sun poured into it! It was lined with flowers and ferns, and patches of tangled evergreen forests grew in the kloofs on either side. As I looked over this peaceful spot, I saw in the distance some small huts and fields at its far end, which decided me to climb down there and pitch my tent. On reaching them I found that they were inhabited by a family of Batwa bee-keepers, and the entire valley bottom and parts of the steep sides as well were dotted with dozens of wooden bee-hives, resembling long barrels and hewn out of short sections of timber. When my men and I saw the place from afar we had made out moving figures, but when we got there it seemed quite deserted. After a time, however, and after a good deal of shouting, a grimy little semi- pygmy man showed up with his woman, carrying a child on her back. The first thing, of coui'se, I de- manded was honey. Some real honey in the yellow comb that the bee-hives, and the thousands of bees around, so eloquently suggested ! The honey that I did get was a wonder, both in its flavour and on account of the large size of the comb itself as well as the cells composing it. It was brought to me in a long section of tree bark which, when emptied, 167MOTHS IN THE VALLEY OF BEES filled two large wash basins to overflowing. After that, everything I possessed—knives, forks, dishes, tables, chairs, tent poles, even my blankets, became sticky with honey. My " boys " could not keep their fingers out of it, and, in the way youth has, all the world over, they licked their hands afterwards instead of washing them. Another result of the arrival of all this honey was that my tent, and the kitchen huts behind, were rapidly being turned into prospective bee-hives by swarms of busy bees. Enquiry from the Mutwa bee-keeper elicited the fact that the valley was one of the special sources of the honey and mead supply for King Musinga at Niansa. The entomologist-collector has his triumphs as well as his disappointments ! The Valley of Bees and the insects I collected there come under the former category, for I had wandered, unknowingly, into a veritable collector's paradise. I pitched my tent on a small platform of land jutting out from the side of the valley, and when dusk came, as was my wont, I slung two 300 candle - power lanterns below its canvas verandah. Like all other living things moths have moods. Their lives are swayed by nature around them—the moon, the winds, the weather, heat and cold, as well as by the actions of other insects. Like the elvers of the Atlantic deeps in their eastward migration, or like migrating birds, the spirit moves them to do something and to do it at once and altogether. What- ever the cause—in this case I don't know, it might have been the bees, or the honey, or the flowers, or the moon, or the weather, or a combination of all these —but it is a fact that I have seldom seen such a collection 168By permission of Messrs. Putnam's Sons, Ltd. Fig. 64.—"FAIRYLAND." Where the lobelias and giant groundsels grow.Hi: fJ^KV (I i! i H t BBiVERSITY Of ILUS9I8ROUND LAKE KIVU of moths as came to my lamps on this occasion. The moths were out and nothing would stop them, so I went on night-shift and slept during the day. There was a ceaseless stream—every kind of species; all kinds and all colours. The canvas verandah and the table at which I sat were crowded with them. Eyes glowing in the light of the lamps, with diamonds and gold and silver rainbows in their wings. The great-eyed Emperors (Saturnids), some of them eight inches across the wings—could be seen coming from a distance along the beams of light, looking like large bats against the darkness. Then there were the restless hawk moths—the Dovania poecila, one of the very few moths of this species that is attracted by light; flying like torpedoes, they pinged on the stretched canvas of the tent. A huge Longicorn beetle, too, broke the stillness of the night with a loud booming noise and several times nearly knocked down one of the lamps, and to avoid this catastrophe I had eventually to put him in the killing bottle too. The rarest insects came along in the early hours of the morning. I left the Valley of Bees well satisfied. I spent three days there and would have spent longer, only, again the food ran out. There was certainly game in the forest, but so difficult to find and hard to hunt that I shirked the task. A giant species of yellow-backed duiker frequents these mountains—the natives called it chiduyu. They brought me a skin, the hair of which was not only much blacker than any others I have seen, but the skin itself much larger and thicker. They are common in the forest, as I saw two other skins of these curious antelopes, which had been shot by a native soldier two days north of Usumbura. Passing on my way the beautiful inlet of Ischangi, I 169THE NEW YEAR AND FAREWELL TO KIVU reached Cha-ngugu on New Year's Day (coincidently I had spent Christmas day on the top of the Ruwenzori Mountains two years ago, and had reached my base camp on this fete day), to find the place quite deserted of its white inhabitants, and my wife, again, thoroughly enjoying herself, having, with Monsieur and Madame Keyser, joined a New Year's party, given by a hospit- able Belgian trader named Dierkx, at his comfortable house on the peninsula of Ikamba. Mrs. de Ridder was there too, convalescing after her mauling by the lion. My wife was, however, expecting me, and had left instructions with a " boy," placed in charge of the camp, to wave a white cloth as soon as my safari was in sight. This signal could be seen across the water from Ikamba, with the result that shortly after I arrived, and when I was enjoying a warm tub, my spouse burst in on me wanting to carry me off there and then across the ferry, as she said " the feast was about to begin." The thought of a really good " blow- out " after the rigors of starvation in the Rugege Forest, held for me an irresistible appeal, so we were soon into the canoe and across, and undergoing the good- natured banter of our Belgian friends. " Mrs. Barns," they said, " had been watching for the white flag with the glasses all the morning." She, however, woman- like, flouted the idea. Before passing on to describe our other journeys I will close this chapter with a reference to some interest- ing people we met both at Cha-ngugu and in their camp on the Rusisi River. At the time of our visit to the Ruanda, the Belgians were just beginning to take a commercial interest in their new colonial acquisition. Like wise people, the first expedition they organised was a geological 170Fig. 65.—THE SEMI-PYGMY BATWA OF THE LAKE KIVU REGION. By permission of Messrs, Putnam's Sons, Ltd. Fig. 66.—PYGMY WOMEN OF THE CONGO FOREST.m LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISROUND LAKE KIVU and prospecting one, sent out by a group of bankers in Brussels. The personnel consisted of the geologist, Dr. Fernand Delhaye (the leader of the expedition), his assistant, Dr. M. Grenouillet, and a palaeonto- logist, Professor Salee of Louvain University. We met them all and were able to compare notes about the large extent of country they had been through- Not only were they prospecting and collecting a vast store of specimens, but were doing a good deal of useful surveying as well. They were, of course, like every- one else, vastly interested in Ngorongoro and the land of the Great Craters, especially when I told the Pro- fessor of the fossilised animal remains that the Germans found there. We should have liked to have seen more of Professor Salee, as he entertained us hugely with his droll stories. Very apt was his reference to the cosmo- politan population of the Belgian Congo ! Referring to the work of his expedition being con- fined to the Belgian Mandated Territory, he told us " he had only been over in the Belgian Congo for three hours," and speaking of those whom he met there, he said: " One was an Englishman, one a Greek, and one a Portuguese !" 171CHAPTER IX southward along the great rift—the rusisi, and " looping the loop " on tanganyika Dr. Delhaye and Professor Sal£e may have something interesting to tell us one day about Kivu and the Rusisi Valley as they spent a considerable time examin- ing the geological formation of these regions. They may even tell us—as some think—that there is a sub- terranean connection between the waters of Lakes Edward and Kivu. It is now tolerably certain that the waters of Lake Kivu, during an age not long distant, were carried northward to the Nile, and then, after being dammed back by a great eruption in the bed of the Rift Valley, overflowed southward, forming the Rusisi. The river after its sudden fall over the edge of the Kivu Basin, so to speak, takes a headlong and tortuous course over foaming cascades and great waterfalls until it leaps into the great chasm of Tanganyika, 2,500 feet below. Our journey down the Rusisi Valley was uneventful. In these days there is comparatively little game there, as it was killed off during the war and during the German occupation; we therefore had resource to the ubiquitous fowl to replace the usual buck meat. It took us seven days to reach Usumbura, and we changed carriers once at the foot of the escarpment, for the reason that the Bahutu contract malarial fever if they stay for any length of time in the low-lying 17aSOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT country. Cattle were passed at different places after coming off the plateau, and fly belts were neither numerous nor extensive. It would doubtless be quite easy to pass cattle along this route if it were necessary. The scenery of the Rift Valley in general is very fine indeed, but along this part it is magnificent. On nearing Usumbura we crossed the Tanganyika section of the broad motor road that the Belgians are constructing between the two lakes. It had been well made, but we did not go along it as our carriers preferred the old path, which was much shorter. The old Arab town of Usumbura, which was occu- pied by the Belgians in June, 19x6, is now the capital of the Belgian Ruanda. As it is low-lying, and on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, it is hot and thought to be unhealthy, but not more so, I imagine, than other similar places. Like all towns in the tropics they should not be stayed in too long; then, if mosquito nets are used and quinine taken regularly with an evening peg of whisky, a man's health need not suffer if his constitution is good to start with. The European part of the town, which has been added to and considerably improved (there is electric light) by the Belgians, is built on high ground, overlooking the extensive Arab quarter which occupies the foreshore of the lake. Everywhere there are avenues of oil-palms and fruit and other trees—mangoes, oranges, lemons, cceur-de-boeuf, etc. If I remember rightly I was told that there were close on fifty whites in the place. We were most hospitably entertained by both Monsieur Ryckmans, the Acting Governor, and his charming wife, also by Commandant and Madame Hoier. More delightful people I do not wish to meet anywhere. Monsieur Ryckmans is a man of many attainments, mUSUMBURA TALES a great student of Africa, and can speak several of the local dialects fluently. He interested us a great deal with some of his experiences, amongst which was the tale of a fearful monster that had killed people in his district. It was said that it came in the dead of night and attacked people inside their houses, and, making scarcely a sound, fastened its teeth in its victim's neck, sucking the blood. It was also reported as walking on all fours and, moreover, was a female animal, without hair and very fierce. It had a name that was given as impungu. Very naturally Monsieur Ryckmans told the people they were to do their best and kill the beast. The result of this was rather unexpected, for one day a fearful bloated object arrived in front of his office, slung on a pole and carried by two natives. " It was the impungu," they said, " and they had run it to earth and killed it at last." The object that had been carried in was an old mad hag with a face of terror and long matted hair ! This story reminds me of one Dan Crawford tells in his book " Thinking Black," and, as he describes it, " a sort of glimpse away back at prehistoric man." It is the tale of a mad woman who lived stark naked amongst the trees and who sprang from branch to branch at his approach, twisting her face in a terrible manner, and having lost power of speech, gibbering and screeching as she hid away amongst the leaves. This poor woman had lived all her life in the wilds, her bony fingers, with long talons, being her only weapon of defence. She passed the wild weather in a disused ant-bear hole, and, curiously enough, had by some means caught a young jackal, which she was in the habit of tying outside her wet-weather retreat as a sort of sentry. i74SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT Another more amusing story told us by Ryckmans relates to his attempt to trap a leopard that had been killing his goats. He instructed a native in his employ to build a small enclosure (usually a circle of stout thorn bushes stuck in the ground some 6 feet in diameter) in a likely spot outside his garden and to place a trap- gun in such a position that any animal going into the place would set it off by touching a string stretched across the one entrance. The idea was to bait the trap with a live goat tied to a stake in the centre of the en- closure. Towards evening all was in readiness, Ryck- mans going out especially to see that everything was adjusted according to his wishes. Yes, goat was in position tied to stake; string was across entrance connecting with trigger of gun ! All was ready for Spots should he deign to put in an appearance ! The goat baa-ed incessantly during the night, which was disturbing to anyone wishing to sleep, but this, as Ryckmans thought, would be an added attraction to the leopard. Then in the early hours of the morning, just as the would-be trapper was beginning to doze- off for the first time, b—a—n—g went the gun ! " Good," my friend thought, " now we shall have peace." Shortly after this, however, and just as Ryckmans was settling down for his beauty sleep, baa-—baa—a—baa—a—a ! it went again. This was too much! Up Ryckmans got, shouting to the watchman to go to the trap and kill the goat or do something to stop the noise ! After an interval back came the watchman, reporting that there were two animals moving about in the trap, and that he was afraid to investigate further without assistance as one of them might be the leopard. Wish- ing to settle the matter and to get to bed again as soon I7SWE EMBARK ON TANGANYIKA as possible, my friend thought it best to go and look into things himself, so taking a shot-gun he followed the watchman out. Approaching the spot with two lanterns, and with the utmost caution and rifles at the ready, it was discovered that not only had the leopard come and fired off the gun, but in the excitement of the moment the goat had become a mother, and a sturdy kid stood beside her regarding the visitors. In the morning investigations proved that the trap-gun had been faultily set too high, the bullet having passed over the leopard, although frightening it before it reached the goat. The Belgian steamer the Baron Dhanis, which was to take us southward, reached Usumbura seven days after we did. The interval of waiting for her was, however, no holiday for me, for my time was occupied in packing specimens and nailing down crates. Some of the packages were fairly bulky, as I had no less than six skeletons of large apes besides heavy skins such as gorilla, chimpanzi and forest hog. In preserving these specimens I found the arsenic bath, used by the local dealers in hides, very useful, as the African bacon beetle, in more senses than one, is the collector's bugbear. My original intention on leaving Usumbura was to spend a month or two in the mountain region to the west of the Rusisi, as it holds out great attractions to the zoologist, but finding this impracticable, owing to lack of time, I hoped, at least, to carry out the other part of my programme and cross the Tanganyika- Mweru Plateau and pay another visit to the Katanga ; and even to go right across Angolaland to Benguella if circumstances, and the health of Mrs. Barns and myself, permitted. Therefore, when the Baron Dhanis 176SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT turned up we were bound for the south-west coast of the lake, where I proposed to organise a safari to take us across to the north end of Lake Mweru. The Dhanis is a comfortable boat of about 500 tons. She took us first to Uvira on the Belgian Congo side. Here we took aboard Lieutenant Lescrauwaet, the Administrateur of the district, bound for the coast on a month's leave to meet and marry his fiancee. As he proved to be quite a charming companion he soon won our friendship, but I regret to record not the friendship of the other members of our party, for " Pollypops " and " Ticky " would have none of him. It may be that our two intelligent pets were instinctively jealous, or, again, it might be that they did not like our friend's penchant for practical joking, and, at least, it was so with the monkey, his giving her play- things and tit-bits which he immediately took away again (or, I should say, tried to)—in any case, there it was, they both hated him with an undying and bitter hatred from almost the first moment. " Pollypops " would sound her war-whoop at him and " Ticky " her battle-cry of " monkey curses." The monkey, if she could get hold of his sleeve in her teeth, would shake it like a terrier shaking a rat. More, she would wait for him, and when he least expected it Lescrau- waet would find himself suddenly attacked in the rear, sending us all into fits of laughter. Although the monkey was a tiny thing it could nip really hard and was exceedingly persistent in following up an advan- tage, with the result that our Belgian friend had, at times, to decamp. One day in particular, I remember, Lescrauwaet sat in the saloon quietly reading his paper, when he caught sight of Miss Ticky on the opposite side of the 177 MINCIDENTS ON VOYAGE table and, in his usual joking way, shook his paper at her. The result was as unexpected as it was surpris- ing, for the little animal took a running jump at the paper, and tearing it aside landed on our friend's chest. The chairs of the Baron Dhanis were a relic of the Congo Free State days (had, I believe, been taken off a superannuated yacht of a former Governor), and were, therefore, somewhat shaky about their backs; at any rate, the chair that Lescrauwaet occupied gave way suddenly as he jerked backwards to avoid " Ticky's " onslaught, causing his sudden disappearance below the table and leaving " Ticky " mistress of the field. After Uvira we put in at Nyansa and then at a wooding station some miles farther south, where, a storm blowing up, we anchored for the night. It was a bad storm and we got little sleep, for the rudder banged and rattled unceasingly. The following day brought us back to Kigoma nearly ten months after we had left it. Following our fortunes during these months we had with us a pleasant-mannered native named Stephan. My wife had engaged him at Kigoma during our previous visit, and so, very naturally, he was in the highest spirits at the thought of returning to his home, and, moreover, with quite a good number of rupees due to him for wages. What happened to him we never knew, but he went ashore, " to buy food " so he said, at a small place thirty miles up the coast, and that was the last we saw of him. As he had been such a faithful servant I reported the matter to the Father Superior of the Roman Catholic Mission at Kigoma, at the same time leaving his boxes and money there. I like to think that he got all his things, for he was a nice lad. 178SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT Our boat stayed three days at Kigoma waiting for cargo from Dar-es-Salaam. During that time the Vengeur brought over Radcliff Holmes, manager of the Lecture Films, Ltd., Captain Reed, his second in com- mand, and Mr. Plowman, a cinematograph operator. From the account they gave us of their journey through the Belgian Congo, they had had no easy time of it, not the least of their misfortunes being a motor-car accident between Elisabethville and the Luapula, when Plowman was so badly cut about that he will take some years to completely recover. Like many thousands of people who have recently heard Holmes lecture at the Philharmonic Hall in London, we found him a most entertaining man. After Kigoma, again Albertville! We had " looped the loop," and from here were off on another tack, so to speak. Owing to lack of cargoes the Dhanis seldom went farther south than Albertville, so here, again, we had to tranship our goods and chattels to a little launch called the Tanganyika. This small boat has quite a history. I think I am right in saying that she was, in her youth, a canal tug-boat in Belgium, and after seeing service on the Lower Congo was put on Lake Tanganyika, where she has been doing yeo- man service for the Belgians for the past twenty years, and was, in fact, their first boat on this lake. Then, again, she has a war record with the Tanganyika Naval Expedition, and has, moreover, been nearly wrecked more than once. The last occasion was just before we reached Albertville, when her stout structure stood her in good stead. She ran full speed ahead one dark night on to a sunken rock and stuck there, being eventually hauled off with nothing more serious than sprung plates and the loss of a rivet or two. 179CROSSING OUR TRACKS Whilst waiting for the Tanganyika we slept and fed aboard the Dhanis, and " Pollypops," who was now friends with the entire ship's company, from the Captain down to the cook's boy, had the run of the ship—whereby hangs a tale. Periodically " Pollypops " had to have her wings cut, a fact that we had rather forgotten. Then " Ticky " had knocked her off the taffrail into the water, from which we had to rescue her with the help of an oar and the ship's boat. It may even be, that Polly, after her immersion, took a liking to water, or, again, " Ticky " and the bird might have had another scrap. The truth will never be known, as the after-end of the ship was deserted at the time. The first I knew about it all was a cry from the cook—" Kasuku nakwenda kutali/" I was forrard talking to the captain, and on looking up saw to my horror our one and only kasuku flying boldly out to sea! Seeing, immediately, that the very worst had happened, the captain and I, running to the ship's side, shouted below for the cook and the boat-boys. " Hi —you there! Mashua kidogo—upesi, upesi! Kasuku nakwenda ku tanganyikal" (The small boat, quick, quick; the parrot is going into the lake). "Five francs for the boy who rescues it!" (I had already paid two francs on the occasion of the previous rescue from the water) I yelled to the boatmen, who were soon under way and pulling round the ship preparatory to starting the pursuit. Having got the rescue party started, we now had time to look out in the direction our faithless bird had taken, and, with no little perturbation, were just in time to see her a quarter of a mile away, and, skimming the water with a last effort, fall, with a little splash, into the lake. 180SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT This was terrible, we thought, and gave up all hope of ever seeing our pet again. Both the ship's company and ourselves now hung over the rails in a cluster— watching. The question was, Would the bird float ? Looking hard, we could just make her out, a grey speck on the water. Yes, she was still there. " But she's coming back!" someone exclaimed. " Impossible, my dear man, parrots can't swim," I said disbelievingly. " But she is, I tell you—there she comes. Why, man, she's a positive sculler !" Scarcely able to believe our eyes, but sure enough, " Pollypops " was coming home. Splashing over the water at an amazing rate and using her wings as pro- pellers, she was more than half-way towards the ship before the astonished boatmen had scarce left its vicinity. We dried our priceless pet at the galley fire, where she soon recovered, and after that got to work with the scissors ! In other writings on Africa one frequently reads about the Kungu fly (Chironomidce) that swarms on some of the great African lakes in such vast numbers, that they form what looks like a cloud, a mile or more in length and hundreds of feet high. But there is the greater Kungu fly—a much larger insect—that abounds on Lake Tanganyika to such an extent at times that I have seen them shovelled up in basketsful by the hundredweight. It was the middle of the rainy season (February), so during our stay at Albertville insect life was exceedingly abundant, and at night the ship's electric lights attracted all kinds of insects and, amongst them, such vast numbers of this large fly that parts of the deck were cluttered up with them in drifts a foot deep or more. In the morning when the sweep- up occurred the water around the Dhanis was always 181SOUTH END OF TANGANYIKA swarming with fish feeding on the dead insects. Truly, the profligacy of nature on these lakes is astounding ! The Tanganyika behaved herself very well on our voyage down the coast, in spite of her age. The trip was one of the most delightful I have ever taken on the lake. The early mornings were especially attractive, for the coasts of this inland sea are exceptionally beautiful and clad with tall-stemmed graceful trees, beneath which grey and pink rocks peep out, and from whence the off-shore breeze brings a sweet scent of flowers. Between Tembwe and the Mission station of Impala, crowning a solitary peak some 1,500 feet or more above the lake and known as Zawa, is a patch of dense evergreen forest containing giant trees, the like of which is not to be found for hundreds of miles in any direction. The nearest primeval forest re- sembling it is found near Uvira, more than three hundred miles away. This isolated patch of primal vegetation is but a few acres in extent — a curious remnant of the past seemingly, even, maybe, of a time before the Great Rift was formed. The Government, realising the unique quality of this forest, have taken steps to preserve it and have now forbidden natives to go there. Formerly they were in the habit of felling the big trees, making them into canoes, and sliding them down the mountain-side into the lake below. We rested at Tembwe the first night out from Albertville, as a gale of wind was blowing when we reached the place. There we found two Belgian settlers and their wives (the Belgians all have their wives with them these days, which is a good thing, and the Government pays the passages of officials' wives, which is a good policy), one engaged in the manufacture of lime and bricks for the growing townSOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT of Albertville, the other in cotton planting with up-to- date machinery. Starting before dawn the following day, we made Impala shortly after sunrise. This is one of the largest of the White Fathers' mission stations, as well as being the first to be built on this side of the lake. The mission-house, which dates from the stormy Arab days, stands on a hill and is loopholed for musketry. It is one of the finest stations I have seen, and the Fathers are justly proud of it and the fine cathedral and beautiful fruit gardens below. One of the Fathers gave me a photograph he had taken of a collection of thirty-six different kinds of fruit taken from the latter. The following varieties were pictured, all being ripe at the same season—dates and the fruit of three other palms, mangoes, vanilla, pineapple, custard apple, melon, orange, lemon, mandarin, bananas of several kinds, mulberries, strawberries, cranberries, cceur-de- boeuf, pears, quinces, plums, jackfruit, pomegranates, figs, tamarinds, pau-paus, etc. Leaving Impala, we passed near Baudouinville, which lies a few miles inland. It is the apostolic centre of the Mission of the White Fathers in this part of Central Africa, and the place of residence of their Bishop. A wonderful cathedral has been built there. Near to Baudouinville also lives the famous Captain Joubert, who is eighty-one years old and played no mean part in the opening up of Africa. Sent out by the Pope thirty-five years ago to assist the White Fathers in their fighting against the Arabs, he, when more peaceful times came, married a native wife and settled down on Tanganyika. He has several children now grown up. One came aboard—a strapping big half-caste with a golden skin. Another of the sons 183 "PLANS TO CROSS THE MARUNGU has " taken religion " rather badly, to such an extent, in fact, that he has become a religious maniac, and has to be put under restraint as being dangerous and liable to injure people who won't come to church. There are very few inhabitants along the south- western shores of Lake Tanganyika, as a decade or more ago sleeping sickness ravaged these parts, and those escaping the disease left the vicinity. Now, however, since the tse-tse are not so numerous and no longer infectious, the natives are beginning to return to their old haunts along the shore. Zongwe came next! Tembwe, Impala, Baudouin- ville—Zongwe. We had arrived ! Here, again, we had to bundle out—it was the " jumping-off place " I had decided upon for our journey across . . . what ? We did not know, but the country—high plateau up to 8,000 feet, some of it—looked interesting on the map and nobody knew much about it. Every- body else I ever heard of as crossing over to Lake Mweru started from Moliro, near the Northern Rhodesian border, where a road was supposed to run across to Pweto; we, therefore, avoided this route. The road, too, only skirted the plateau and I wanted to cross it. It was known as the Marungu—marungu meaning, in the local dialect, something equivalent to " cold moorland." Nobody, as far as I know, had, up to this time, collected on this Tanganyika- Mweru Plateau. The Tanganyika-Nyasa Plateau to the south has a very interesting fauna. I had, therefore, every reason to think that the former would produce some rare " finds," standing as it does, by reason of its elevation, disconnected and isolated from the surrounding country. To those interested, a glimpse at the map will show 184SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT them the Marungu. Five or six rivers rise there, going north, south, east, and west—the Lufuko, the Lunangwa, the Kongwe, the Lufonso. I was for the central watershed, where they all rise, if it could be done, for Central African " bugs " become interesting when you get above 7,000 feet, and, for that matter, so do the plants, as all good botanists know. Rare plants and insects go together. Botanists and " bug-hunters" should go in pairs ! We could have brought home some rare plants and seeds from the Marungu, but then, there waS*so much else to occupy us ! To go back to Zongwe. There was nothing there bar a reed house and Monsieur Brenneau's store, with one native in charge. A lonely spot, standing in the long purple shadows cast by the towering outer bastions of the Marungu, over which the sun had long ago set. The fussy little Tanganyika courteously stayed the night, but, when we looked out of the reed hut next morning, she had apparently forgotten her manners overnight—liverish, I suppose !—leaving us without even a farewell hoot. The beach was abso- lutely deserted except for the palms and pau-pau trees, but, as a saving grace, our little " niche-in-the-hills " was flooded with golden sunlight. So here we were with our bags and baggage, the wide lake, the silent mountains that barred our path—seem- ingly impassable—and our three " boys." After some breakfast, though, we began to cheer up, and hope revived that Monsieur Brenneau, a squatter who lived somewhere atop of these mountains, would not fail us. A runner had been sent to him, informing him of our arrival and soliciting his aid in obtaining porters. Later on in the day, five men arrived with a bottle of fresh milk, some vegetables, and a note. 185ON THE EDGE OF THE MARUNGU It was all right. Brenneau " would get our loads up in sections "—he said " he was trading in potatoes and wheat which he sent down from time to time to his store on the beach to await the steamer—the carriers coming down were to return with our baggage." Thus was our advance assured. Brenneau was short of men, so it took us a week to do the first day, but what did that matter—who takes count of time in the heart of Africa ? We got everything up eventu- ally, and landed on the edge of the marungu. Monsieur Brenneau must be a man of no little energy and enterprise, for he had established himself, entirely by his own efforts, on the edge of this inhospit- able land where few white men had ever been. Not only so, but he had succeeded in transporting a herd of fifty bullocks and cows, as well as pigs, goats, and donkeys, from the Ruanda on the opposite side of the lake, in an Arab dau: the first Ruanda cattle, as far as I am aware, to reach the west side of the lake. Apart from stock-raising, Brenneau was buying European potatoes, wheat, and castor-oil seeds, all these products being of an exceptionally fine quality. This agricultural industry was originally started by the early missionaries giving out seeds, and the soil and climate proving suitable, it has now assumed con- siderable proportions, some thousands of tons of these products being grown annually. The price paid in the country for potatoes is ten centimes per kilo; for wheat, twenty-five to thirty centimes per kilo; and for crude castor oil seventy-five centimes to one franc per litre. The market for these things is at Elisabethville and the Copper Mines, which are reached by way of the railway from Albertville to the Lualaba, and then up that river to the railhead at Bukama. There is, 186SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT however, a growing market at Kigoma and along the Tanganyika Railway. There are certainly great possi- bilities in this Marungu country. Of course the route I have mentioned to Elisabethville is a roundabout one, but when we reached Lake Mweru active preparations were in progress to construct a road from the north end of this lake to Baudouinville on Tanganyika, which would bring the country in closer touch with its best market. To climb to Brenneau's farm is not easy, for it is more than 2,000 feet above the lake level, and the path is precipitous and rocky. Monsieur Lippens, when Governor of the Congo Colony, paid the place a visit accompanied by his daughter, and, I believe, through some misunderstanding as to distance, decided that they would walk there, dispensing with the usual hammock, with the result that they arrived in an exhausted condition. It is reported that the Governor's remarks were very pointed on this occasion ! Most of our loads having preceded us in relays, one day, our turn came. We were thankful to get away from Zongwe and quite enjoyed the morning's exercise. It took us six hours, the path taking us beneath overhanging cliffs and along deep ravines through which the Luluvia River roared on its mad career to the great lake below. The higher we went the more stunted the trees became, until reaching the edge of the marungu and Brenneau's house they ceased entirely, giving place to rolling downs and a country similar, in its aspect, to the Ruanda. Brenneau, when we met him, turned out to be a stocky dark man with spectacles, with a dogged look about him that gave one an insight into his character. He came out first as a surveyor on the Rhodesian- 187BACK O' BEYOND Katanga Boundary Commission, and after that became an administrateur at Pweto. There is a tale told of him that during the war, when food had to be found for the native troops at all costs, and when the local natives refused to bring it in, he, with the assistance of his police, rounded up the entire male inhabitants of a portion of the district—600 men or more—and gave each one a good hiding with a sjambok. After that there was no more difficulty about food ! This Belgian pioneer, who had his wife and child with him (the plucky Madame Brenneau had recently recovered from one of those terrible operations to which women are sometimes liable and which so often prove fatal in a wild country where doctors are not always as up-to-date as they might be) as well as a married assistant, had quite a thriving homestead to show us. A brick house, substantial cattle kraals, sheds and granaries, as well as quite a large acreage under potatoes, beans and castor oil. His livestock looked in great fettle and, as he said, " not a tick on them." There are no ticks on this plateau. As these are the first cattle to come there and as Brenneau had the animals well searched and all ticks carefully picked off before bringing them up, and was continuing to do this, perhaps they will manage to keep free from these pests. But one never knows, ticks may be useful to cattle in immunising and helping them to withstand certain diseases. Even putting cattle on to tick-free pasture is an experiment, so close is the inter-relation of animal and insect. A veterinary surgeon's remark on this subject is, perhaps, illuminating. " The Lord help the cattle," he said, " if an epidemic comes along or if other cattle are ever brought there from another district I" 188SOUTHWARD ALONG THE GREAT RIFT The inhabitants of the Marungu Plateau are a wild lot of people, poor of physique and little fitted to with- stand the cold climate in which they live. They are called the Batabwa (off the plateau to the north and north-west are the Batumbwe), and are a mixed race, for the most part descendants of runaway slaves and criminals—from Awembaland to the south, from Mushidi's old kingdom to the west and the Manyema country to the north—who found refuge in a barren country shunned by other tribes. As porters and labourers they are quite hopeless. We were beset with many difficulties when crossing the marungu, but without Brenneau's help at the start these would have been much greater. Before we could get sufficient carriers together for the second stage of our journey, another week had slipped by. With perseverance, however, and offers of good pay and presents to their chiefs, fifty-two men were eventually induced to take us three days farther into the wilder- ness to the village of a chief called Kitinta. One morning, therefore, saw a shivering line of men ready to start, but regarding their loads more as if they were some dangerous species of wild animal ready to bite them, than mere loads which they had perforce to carry. Speaking with an after-knowledge of the sinister conditions prevailing in that cold and wind- swept plateau, the wonder is we got any porters at all! Wending our way slowly out of the Luluvia Valley, we reached the central tableland of the plateau, and looking across its far-reaching expanse, wondered what was in store for us. Whilst far below us nestled the little homestead we had just left—Brenneau's Back o' Beyond ! 189CHAPTER X across the tanganyika-mweru moorland, and the man-eaters of the marungu The truth of the remark of a dietetic expert that " It is comfort that kills " is, in my humble opinion, amply proved. It is better to wear out than to rust out and takes longer. We suffered more real discomfort and hardship on this Marungu venture and on our subsequent voyage down Lake Mweru than on any other part of our expedition, yet we never felt better in our lives. It was, too, the very height of the rainy season (and it can rain in those latitudes) and we were, moreover, well into the second year of our travels. Hardiness is the natural concomitant of health. A gipsy tent life in Africa, such as we were then leading, stimulates the system to an unbelievable degree- stores up energy and staves off old age. The great thing, therefore, was that my wife and I were both fit and able to take all our troubles lightly. We needed to be ! But to continue my narrative: We found the central tableland of the Marungu Plateau an undulating, short grass country, with trees and bushes along the watercourses or anywhere where there was shelter from the cold wind. In its geo- logical structure it resembles the Tanganyika-Nyasa Plateau, ironstone with granite outcrops, but in its vegetation and insect fauna more closely allied to the Kivu region. Lobelia, wild banana, and other tropical 190ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND highland plants, for instance, were abundant, and the former, I believe, are not to be found on the Tan- ganyika-Nyasa Plateau. The inhabitants mostly lived in small communities, their huts hidden away in the folds of the hills. From one cause or another, fearing the white man, they usually fled at our approach. As we came towards their villages on one side they were usually to be seen leaving them by the other. The first day out from Brenneau's farm and before we had gone ten miles three men deserted, and the next day more went. Our objective was the village of an influential Batabwa chief called Kitinta, who lived three days south-west of Brenneau's place, and at first it looked as if we should never reach it. But we did reach it, although—delayed by incessant rain and thunder-storms, and our search for porters to replace the runaways—it took us seven days. A nasty ex- perience, but I had a foot in the country, so to speak, which was a long way towards getting across it. Although I had at this time never met " Bwana Ki- toko"—meaning in the native language " The Nut," or the " smartly dressed man," who was supposed to administer this remote region, I judged it fair to make liberal use of his name. " All is fair in love and war," so upon reaching Kitinta's and being confronted with the chief himself, I explained that, firstly, I required fifty men to take me to the Lufonso River to shoot elephant (this was a sprat to catch a whale, for natives will go anywhere on the chance of obtaining meat), and, secondly, that Bwana Kitoko was a great friend of mine, and that if carriers were not forthcoming he (the chief) would get into serious trouble. (Kitinta did eventually get into trouble on my account, as will 191THE TANG ANYIKA-M WERU PLATEAU appear later, but at the same time this threat was merely a " thrust in the dark.") To all this Kitinta replied that " he would do his best to get men, but that the lions were bad on the marungu and his people afraid to go far for fear they should be eaten." This, of course, I put down to the usual native's exaggeration in such cases, but I am bound to admit that the chief's statement was, if any- thing, less than the truth. I certainly had heard before that there were lions on the marungu, but that they were a menace to human life I had yet to find out. Again we had to wait. Three days this time. It was during these tedious waits that we found " Polly " and " Ticky " such great company. " Pollypops " was by way of being a great talker, not that we could understand anything she said, for she jumbled up her English, French and Swahili pretty considerably, but the idea was there all right and she kept us cheerful. " Ticky " sometimes got loose; she then ruled the camp and, monkey-like, wished to examine everything we possessed. The kitchen came under her special observation. " Bird's-eye " chillies had for her an unholy fascination, and, knowing they would burn her tongue if she ate them, still persisted in making sure that they would, meanwhile producing the quaintest grim- aces ever seen. A burning cigarette end was another of her playthings. After smelling it with the utmost diffidence, she usually tore it to pieces nonchalantly with her fingers, wiping the ground with the remnants. At sundown the gramophone came into play, attracting the entire village. It had, in fact, often been the means of bringing natives to our camp, who ended by joining our safari as carriers and coming, just to hear the music, I believe. A gramophone certainly promotes good 193ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND feeling between the white man and the savage, and I can verily believe that if, say, cannibals were about to kill and eat a man, and he suddenly produced a musical box and began to play it, they would at least postpone the feast. So my advice to travellers in the wilds is," Take a gramophone " ! Kitinta, induced by the franc-a-head offer I had made him, and just when we were giving him up in despair, rolled up with a cut-throat-looking crew (in reality, meek and mild as children, with all their ugly faces and monkey cunning) of forty-odd carriers. Of course, I quite understood that they would stay with us only just as long as it suited them—our wishes in the matter would not count one way or the other. That, however, was one of the little details which one has to put up with when travelling in Africa. Like the Followers of the Prophet, we said to ourselves, " To- morrow is another day "—starting forthwith to strike camp before the men had time to change their minds. We travelled slowly across those wild wind-swept moors. Here and there we passed clumps of heather and, at long intervals, dark patches of tall evergreen trees crowding densely together in some hollow, as if their very existence depended on their not advancing one inch beyond their own shade and shelter. Through marshes and across burns where forget-me-nots, marsh marigolds and alpine water-plants showed grotesquely familiar faces. Over long stretches of solid ironstone where footfalls sounded hollow to the tread and the carnivorous sundew grew in the water-logged moss. Little of bird or animal life was there—a few reedbuck; a herd of roan; now and again a pair of secretary birds. We went ten, sometimes twenty, miles without seeing human habitation. 193 nIN THE HEART OF THE MARUNGU My insect-collecting " boys "—with the idea firmly fixed in their minds that the only insects worth catching were the large (and common) and brilliant butter- flies—became discouraged at the insignificance of their captures, blues (Lyccenids and Liptenines), skippers (Hesperids) and diurnal moths composing the bulk of their takings. Saying to them one day, " Why don't you go into some of those dark patches of forest ?" and questioning them as to their reason for always staying so near the camp, they replied: " There are many lions, Bwana, we dare not go far away !" I scarcely believed them, for we had neither heard nor seen a lion; and then one also becomes very sceptical in Africa about lion stories, and your black man leaves Ananias quite in the shade, in fact truthful by com- parison, when it comes to making out a case for himself. It was on the third day out from Kitinta's that, early one morning, we marched into a tumble-down village. As we approached, a sound of wailing reached us. Coming across the sunlit downs, it struck a false note in nature's harmony ! " But, then," one thought, " was nature so harmonious on this marungu ?" What about the dark islands of forest that dotted the land- scape ? Were they not rather sinister, especially towards sunset, when they threw long shadows athwart the marshes, giving the country that forlorn look which we were beginning to associate with this region. Entering the village of which I have spoken, the cause of the wailing was soon apparent, for there sat a native woman, alternately sobbing convulsively and wailing shrilly with that weird intonation habitu- ally used by all negro races when mourning for the dead. Looking around the few huts that there were 194ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND we could find no one else. The place—excepting for the woman—was deserted. The tale we got from this woman, who was so grief-stricken that she seemed not to care whether we went or stayed, amounted to a few short sentences. She explained that during the night lions had come to the village, broken into two huts, and not only killed her husband and carried him off, but had killed two of her other relations as well. " There is nobody else here," came between her sobs; " there was my brother, but a lion killed him in the fields five days ago !" There is nothing quite so gruesome as human remains after a lion has fed on them. The insignifi- cance of man then seems appalling—" a rag, a bone, and a hank of hair " just describes it! Mere monkey meat, making one doubt after all these thousands of years if man is anything but a highly specialised ape. The search I instituted, not without considerable misgivings and my rifle ready cocked, revealed the remains of one of the men in the fields close by, hidden beneath some castor-oil bushes. The other bodies had apparently been dragged down the side of the stream into one of the thick clumps of trees I have previously referred to, and where I had perforce to abandon the chase. An examination of the two huts revealed a few claw-marks, but the doors were so flimsy that a lion had only to push its way in. As it was still early in the day and there was nothing to be gained by staying, and my men being most un- reliable, we pushed on to the next village, taking the woman with us. On reaching it, the first thing almost that we were greeted with was the news that " a man had just been killed and eaten by lions farther along the track, and it would, therefore, be best to sleep atMAN-EATERS OF THE MARUNGU the village and not go farther that day." As it was nearly sundown, we thought so too ! I have been in all kinds of lion-infested districts in many parts of Africa, and I am confirmed in the idea that man-eaters seldom roar. Certainly these Marungu man-eaters were as silent as the grave. We never heard them once the whole time we were there, and yet they were all about us. Positively uncanny and an added danger, for the poor frightened natives neither knew where the lions were, nor when they were going to be pounced upon by these dangerous brutes. Whilst we are on this subject, I well remember, in my young and foolish days, having a thrilling ex- perience with a man-eater—one of three—of the silent and deadly kind that had been raiding the villages near Fort Maguire on Lake Nyasa. I was elephant hunting, and had camped outside a certain village not knowing that there were lions about, for I had neither heard any roar, nor had the natives warned me about them. I owned two good dogs in those days which, although fond of baiting hyenas round my camp, had had no experience with lions up to that time. However, during dinner, these dogs started barking furiously at some animal they had located in the empty gardens (it was the dry season, when the shambas or fields are bare after the crops have been harvested) about a hundred yards from my tent. Whatever it was—and I thought it was a hyena, although it uttered no sound —the beast made several rushes at the dogs, for they came dashing back repeatedly to the protection of the tent, going back again, however, soon after. As there was a full moon and everything was as clear as day, I took my rifle, and with the two dogs on either side of me went out into the shamba> to obtain, I96ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND as I thought, a shot at the hyena. The two dogs, going somewhat in advance, showed plainly by their actions and their fierce barking that whatever animal was there was lying-up beneath the shadow of a few low bushes standing in the centre of the field—a shadow made more dense by the bright moonlight around, and which, as far as I could see, concealed nothing unusual. Owing your life to a pair of white trousers seems a funny statement to make, but I believe this to be true, for I had donned a pair of these garments after my bath that evening, and a lion—not a hyena— which crouched in that shadow let me come up to within two strides of his hiding-place. It took fright, I am firmly convinced, at the trousers at the last moment, and with a roar I shall never forget to my dying day, leapt out in front of me and bounded away across the moonlit field. I fired without putting my rifle to my shoulder, but, of course, missed. During the night a fearful hubbub arose in the next village, and in the morning my headman came to tell me that three lions had extracted a poor old woman from her hut, eating her on the spot. I shot one of these brutes the following day. To come back to the Marungu lions. After finding the woman alone in the raided village as I have de- scribed, and after hearing the news of still another tragedy close by, both we and the carriers tucked our- selves in our sleeping quarters rather more securely than usual that night. For a very good reason no carriers deserted us then; they were, however, very disinclined to go on. We started late the next morning, and were told that it was six hours' march to the next village. Over these monotonous downs it seemed to take us all day, but at last we got into the place, towards 197HAZARDS OF A COLLECTOR evening and just before a heavy thunderstorm, which had been threatening for some time, broke over us with great violence, blotting out the desolate landscape in a whirl of driving rain. As the cook came in last, instead of first, as he should have done, and as he had done this before and been warned what the consequences would be, and as I was cold and tired and wanting hot tea, I have to record that I set about the delinquent with a heavy stick and gave him a downright thrashing—we then got hot tea in record time. After the storm had abated somewhat, the tent was put up and we made ourselves as comfortable as the damp state of everything and the lack of firewood would allow. It rained hard until about 10 p.m., then cleared up and turned out a good night for moths. Collecting at night was ticklish work in those days, although, using as I did powerful petrol lamps, not so dangerous as might appear. I was, however, careful to keep well within the circle of light, and even then I quite ex- pected to see two glowing eyes regarding me, but none came. It was after one o'clock when I pinned the last moth,* put out the lights, and turned in, and, in consequence, my wife and myself slept late the following morning. On rising, the first thing that greeted our ears when we pushed back the tent flaps was a sound of shouting and yelling from the top of some low granite hills that overlooked our camp close by. The shouting # I was feeling very pleased with myself, as I had captured a specimen of the Dovania pcecila Hawk Moth and a new Emperor Moth that night. The former insect has never before been taken outside the Eivu region, proving my theory with regard to the affinity of the insects of this plateau with those of Kivu. 198ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND had already caused a stir in the village, and people, mostly women, were beginning to move out of it carrying heavy-looking sticks or bludgeons over their shoulders. Getting the glasses, we looked up at the figures above us. There was a cluster of them standing on the path that wound through the hills. Others were farther down shouting to the people in our village. Presently we caught the word simba and knew what was the matter—simba, in Swahili, means " lion "! Yes—man-eaters again ! Taking my rifle and cart- ridges I went up to look—followed by the women with the bludgeons. On an open stretch of sward, between the rocks and on a side track along which they had been passing, sprawled an old man and an old woman- husband and wife probably. Both were dead, bitten through the neck, with a few bleeding tears in odd places on their anatomy. They lay close together just where they had been struck down; near-by were a dirty old string of blue beads and a smashed calabash. The two lions that did the deed had no time to feed on their victims, for they had been frightened off by some people who had seen the occurrence from the hill above. I looked at the apathetic natives around me. The only weapon amongst them was an axe, for the rest they had bludgeons—just short poles. These seemed to be the only weapons of defence possessed by these poor people, and it was quite pathetic. They told me the lions had been doing this for years; they were afraid to go anywhere or do anything except in bands, and were, doubtless, utterly demoralised. As the grass round about was of that dry, feathery description that records every footmark, these man-eaters were easy to follow. One could even X99DESERTED see exactly where they sprang on to the dead couple and the great bounds they took in their retreat. Along the hills I found places where they had evidently lain down to watch and listen (probably for myself, following them), and deep pug marks where they had leapt the streams; but as they kept a cunning course down-wind all the time, I had little chance of coming up with them, and never did, although I spent several hours trying to. As I walked back to camp I thought what a grand country this was for lion hunting, especially if one had a horse and dogs. Lion coursing over these downs would be an attractive sport, but few, I imagine, will ever take it up on the marungu ! I returned to our tent tired and annoyed at the escape of these brutes, with ideas of sitting up that night to wait for them, but the prospect of a cold wet vigil with no moon rather damped my ardour and, I am not as young as I was ! Then, again, shortly after I got into camp the spokesman of Kitinta's people came up to say that " they all wished to return to their homes and would go no farther with me." This making me still more annoyed, I caught him a resounding box on the ears, telling him and his men to go to the devil, with the result that every man-jack of them fled and we never saw them again. They would have gone in any case, my rather high-handed treatment merely precipitating their desertion. With the exception of our three " boys " we were now alone, with forty odd loads to transport to the nearest white settlement (Pweto, eight days' journey away), in the worst lion country I know of, and surrounded by a lot of scared natives (mostly women; where the men were I don't know—possibly they had been killed 200ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND off by lions) who would not do a hand's turn even if they could. Fortunately for us, I had anticipated some such predicament as this by sending two reliable messengers from Kitinta's village to " Bwana Kitoko," otherwise known as Monsieur Odeyn (his station was Molilo on Lake Tanganyika, but he was out in his district seeing about this road the Government were proposing to make between Pweto and Baudouinville), telling him I was crossing the marungu, and asking him to send me fifty carriers from where he was, as I expected to have great difficulty in recruiting them without his aid. Although not knowing it at the time, when Kitinta's men ran away we were two days'journey from Monsieur Odeyn's camp, and receiving my note, he had immedi- ately sent out a policeman to collect carriers for me. As luck would have it, therefore, the day after the happenings I have described took place, both the policeman, my messengers, and more carriers turned up, at once relieving us from further anxiety. With our new porters we now trekked southward, the first day taking us off the plateau—which we were by no means sorry to leave—down the escarpment and into the basin of what is known as the Mweru Marsh. The day following we met Monsieur Odeyn, who was camped at the village of Manda, a Bazimba chief, and one of the old Sultan Mushidi's eastern outposts in years gone by. With Odeyn we found a Greek with an unpronounceable name (called Lucas for short) who was recruiting labour for the Katanga Mines. After so frequently hearing Odeyn's native nickname of " Bwana Kitoko," and, of course, associat- ing him in my mind with rather a dressy person, I was not a little surprised (and comforted) to find him 201THE MARUNGU BEHIND US in khaki slacks and open shirt, true pioneer style—in fact, as big a " savage " as I was. " He had just come up from Pweto," he said, following this with a reference to the boldness of the lions there and how they had come right into the township.* But we also had something to tell him about lions ! Our experiences interested Odeyn not a little, especially in regard to Kitinta's men deserting us. When he heard about this he immediately called up two policemen, sending them off on the spot with orders to bring in the runaways. Odeyn was looking for men to clear the Molilo-Pweto road. As it was in a bad state of repair, this was a good opportunity to obtain labour for the job. Whether he ever got the delinquents or not I never heard. This energetic young official soon had us fixed up with a good lot of porters and plenty of food, so the next day we set out for Lake Mweru and Pweto. We had six days' march before us along a road that was a road no longer—in places it was a watercourse or marsh and, elsewhere, a jungle of elephant grass. Like all African roads that are undrained and neglected for long periods, wild Nature puts them to her own uses by forming a drain where the road should be and a seed-bed where the drain should be—the road eventu- ally becoming a thicker tangle than the bush on either side. For the most part this was our " road," and diving through the high dew-laden grass in the early mornings was like walking beneath a very cold shower bath. * It was Monsieur Odeyn who told me the interesting fact that he had seen a chimpanzi in a forest near Molilo. This, I believe, would be the farthest point south of the equator where these animals have been recorded. 202ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND This track follows the Rhodesian border pretty closely and in places, where it rises on to the spurs of the Marungu Plateau, overlooks the northern part of the Mweru Marsh (which, by the way, has been a game reserve for many years now). On the fifth day after climbing down yet a second escarpment, and from which we obtained our first view of Mweru, we reached the Simkat Copper Mine in charge of Mr. Pillow, an Australian of the best type. As there were a Mrs. and a Master Pillow, we stayed a day to enjoy their society. This mine, which lies almost at the foot of the north-eastern escarpment of the Lake Mweru Basin, was discovered a good many years ago. It was worked by a Belgian manager for some years, who reported on it unfavourably, resulting in the place being closed down during the war. However, afterwards work was resumed there under Mr. Pillow's management, with the result that a very rich lode was struck below the old workings. It has now proved to be a very valuable mine indeed, and this fact is one of the determining causes that has induced the Belgian Congo Government to take an interest in the proposed construction of this new Mweru-Tanganyika road, the idea being to smelt the copper on the spot and transport it by motor trolley to Tanganyika and thence to Europe via Dar-es-Salaam. Two days after leaving the Pillows—the journey having taken twenty-seven days since leaving Tangan- yika—we found ourselves in Pweto listening to lion stories told us with great wealth of detail by Monsieur (and Madame) Tonglet, the administrateur of the district. Not only had lions been marching through the town at night, worrying the inhabitants, but ele- phants had been destroying their crops. 303ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MWERU The heroes of the day were two men. One of these had pluckily killed a lion single-handed with a small axe. (I sent for the man, saw the axe, the skin of the dead lion, and heard the story from his own lips.) The lion—a scarcely adult animal—had caught and killed this man's brother before his eyes. Enraged at the sight and armed only with his axe, he dashed in and hit at the beast, which then turned and sprang at him. In the fight that ensued the plucky fellow got some bad clawings, but managed to get a grip with his left arm round the lion's neck, killing it with a hit over its skull. The other hero was a native hunter who tackled the raiding elephants in the gardens, but going on the unsound principle, where muzzle-loaders are con- cerned, of the bigger the animal the bigger the charge, burst his gun with the amount of powder he put into it. Whether or no he hit the animal he shot at, history does not relate. We found Pweto a hot and not very inviting place, although it doubtless has its compensations from the point of view of a Government official. The lake is nice, of course, and there is wonderful fishing and boating; but when, with a drag net, you can catch three tons of fish a day, fishing rather loses its charm, and as for boating—well, the sun and its reflection off the water are uncomfortable and the crocs too numerous (whilst we were there a woman washing her baby had it snatched from her by a croc, and went partially mad at her loss). Then the little steamer that comes in twice a week causes a mild distraction, but, I think, Pweto is a place that I would sooner be out of than in. Owing to being hors de combat with sciatica during the earlier part of the expedition, I had not been able 204ACROSS TANGANYIKA-MWERU MOORLAND to indulge my liking for elephant hunting, with the exception of the poor attempt I made near the Mokoto Lakes. Having, by special favour of the Belgian Government, been granted leave to shoot four elephants, I decided that if I was to fill this valuable licence now was my opportunity, for the Luvua Valley, besides being of interest entomologically, is one of the finest elephant grounds in the Katanga. Moreover, I realised it was not long now before I should be leaving the hospitable bounds of the Belgian Congo, and such a chance as this would not occur again. The beginning of March, therefore, found me mak- ing preparations for a month's excursion down the Luvua River, and these having been completed I set out, accompanied by thirty-six ruga-ruga, abandoning my wife to the tender mercies of Monsieur and Madame Tonglet. I may here remark that my " intrepid spouse " has a great capacity for enjoying herself in my absence, so my conscience did not prick me and the stern reader need not dub me a heartless husband. Then, again, did she not have the other members of the party to look after her—" Ticky " and " Pollypops " ? 205CHAPTER XI african elephants—their pursuit, capture, and training On this elephant hunting excursion I shot three bull elephants, wounded one which I never found, and found one that had died and someone else had wounded. I will attempt to describe my experiences, avoiding as far as possible that pitfall which the narrator is so inclined to fall into, of referring to his own prowess, but adding, where I can, information that may prove of value, both to the would-be elephant hunter and to the mammalogist—a record, in fact, that may be found useful for reference. To start by exploding one fallacy, let me say that there is no immediate possibility of the African elephant being exterminated. On the contrary, their numbers have increased prodigiously of late years-—they are, in fact, becoming a menace to life and property in many places. The close preservation of these animals which has taken place throughout the continent has had its effect. Another contributing factor to this desirable state of affairs has been the establishment of sleeping-sickness areas, into which neither whites nor blacks have been permitted to go, and virtually amounting to immense game sanctuaries. Such, for instance, is the greater part of Northern Rhodesia, which lies north of the twelfth degree south of the Equator. Elephants are in great numbers there, ao6Fig-. 67.—TROPHIES FROM THE LUVUA VALLEY.THE IIBRM OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN ELEPHANTS especially in the Luangwa Valley, and in and around the Mweru Marsh. Then, again, the African elephant is very free from diseases of all kinds, can thrive at all elevations from the sea to 13,000 feet (the equatorial snow-line), and can obtain nourishment from a greater variety of vegetation than any other animal. He is found both in desert country, where other animals may die of thirst, and in marsh country, where only semi-aquatic animals can live. On these counts, and by reason of his intelligence, which is of a very high order, the African elephant (if not the Indian) will survive on our globe long after many other great game animals have gone. It is still true to-day, and likely to be so for many years to come, that one can, if one has a mind to, cross Africa from sea to sea, east to west, all the way along an elephant track. The Mweru Marsh Game Reserve is supposed to be one of the chief breeding grounds of the elephant (another is the eastern and north-eastern extension of the Ituri Forest) and as the district was declared a preserve twenty-three years ago, it will be under- stood that the vicinity of such a place is a good elephant hunting ground. As a matter of fact, the Mweru Marsh elephants range southward to the Mporokoso and Luwingu districts of Northern Rhodesia, and northward into the Belgian Congo along the Luvua Valley as far as the Lualaba River, and in the triangle formed by the junction of these two waterways. I left Pweto in high spirits, at the prospect of making a good bag—a feeling shared equally by my men. In these anti-everything days, life, to the average African savage, is dull in comparison with the old days of slave-raiding, and it was on this account that my men 207DOWN THE LUVUA VALLEY looked forward with no uncommon zest to the excursion before us. This was a happy adventure for them, and so nothing would, or did, damp their spirits. They were like a lot of big schoolboys, and, doubtless, liked to imagine they were back in the good old ruga-ruga days, when they would have started off on a raid, just as we did, by singing and shouting. The Luvua River, along the east bank of which I travelled on my way to the elephant country lower down, rather curiously, has formed a gap for its out- flow in what appears to be one of the highest portions of the mountains that flank the northern end of Lake Mweru. It travels in a series of rapids and cataracts, between imposing cliffs of pink rock (known as the Kwikuru Gorge), which gradually widen into a series of towering wooded bluffs until the river debouches from its rift-like confines into the great prairies of the Lualaba. The river itself, which is four to five hundred yards broad in places, is navigable only below the settlement of Kiambi. The first trek was a short one to Chongo's village, and then, following the river, I came to a place on the third day which is best described as a " stamping ground " of game. Such a place as one finds now and again on the banks of big rivers, where game of all kinds collect to feed and drink, and, in this case, to cross to the opposite bank as well. Amongst the litter of spoor was that of a very large bull elephant— the first I had seen since leaving Pweto, and not more than eight hours old. This decided me to camp, but I put my tent on a small hill overlooking the river, so as not to disturb the game around. The neighbourhood of a really big tropical African river, somehow, always gives me a feeling of satisfac- 208AFRICAN ELEPHANTS tion. Its wildness and savagery have an irresistible appeal. The mere smell of the place, with its sur- roundings of mimosa thorn, palms and feathery grass, is soothing. The flowing water, the wild fowl, the hippos' grunting, and the lions' moaning call are sounds that strike a sympathetic cord within one and, maybe, not unconnected with man's remote amphibian ancestry. I sometimes wish that I had never come under this spell, for its call is nothing short of dis- tracting, and will remain as long as life lasts. Some will say this is mere vapouring, of course; but there are others who will understand. With me, I admit, it is an obsession ! At nightfall, this camp was still more redolent with this Brooding Spirit of the River. From my tent on the hill I looked out into the darkness, speculating if the big bull would return and what part of the river, up or down, he would visit. As we were only on the fringe of the elephant country, I decided it would be down-river, and from the remarks of my followers, who argued the point around their camp fires, they thought so too. Morning brought the news that this solitary elephant had fed all along the river below camp and, in the early morning, during a rainstorm (elephants often choose the period of a heavy storm in which to lie down and sleep) had slept on the side of an ant-hill, close to the track that leads to Kiambi, and after that his trail led away into the hills. I am always a little afraid, when finding the track of a large solitary elephant, that the animal may be tuskless (an ntondo, as the natives call it), as I have been disappointed several times in this way. However, the old warrior on this occasion had a mighty big pair 209 9ELEPHANT HUNTING EXCURSION of tusks, for when I came to the ant-hill on which the great beast had lain down, the impression of his tusks— first one and then the other, for it had turned round and lain on both sides—were deeply imprinted on the wet clay. When elephant hunting in the rainy season, in a country I do not know well, I usually take my tent, bed, and plenty of food, both for my followers and myself. It is best to be quite independent of villages or food supplies, and so be ready for all contingencies. A wounded elephant may take one a long chase, and in the end may have to be abandond if the food runs out; and if it is a big tusker, this is a great loss, for they are getting scarce. When I started on the spoor it was about eleven o'clock in the morning. With me were five men—two trackers, and three others with my two rifles (a maga- zine *303 and ditto, *404), cartridges, etc. Behind were twelve men carrying my camp gear and food, in light thirty-five pound loads, with instructions to follow some distance in the rear, quietly and slowly. After an hour's sharp walk through the forest, the first thing of interest we came to was a large mud- hole, where the old gentleman we were following had first pounded its contents and then plastered himself with the mud until none remained. He had left this spot only a short while since, and in half an hour we were up with him. It was in an open bit of forest, bordering a stream, that I first sighted the great beast. I was in luck. The wind was good, and although the animal stood tail on, the surroundings were ideal for a successful shot. How- ever, as neither the head nor the shoulder shot was possible, I took the large bore rifle and, aiming at the 2x0AFRICAN ELEPHANTS elephant's spine, fired—getting in three or four more shots as the animal crashed down the bank and through the stream to my left. Following the spoor was easy enough—the rainy season being only just over—and few other tracks to mix one up, and then, after going a short distance, large quantities of blood began to show themselves, splashing the grass and leaves, making me very opti- mistic about eventually bagging my quarry. It took a very long time, however, for this elephant proved to be a very hard and tough nut to crack, and it was five o'clock in the evening—after hunting him all day in long grass—-before I brought him down with a shot through the brain—my fifteenth or sixteenth bullet. The reason for using this amount of ammunition, I think, was firstly due to the large size of the beast (it was more than an ordinary sized bull, and uncom- monly large of girth), and then, again, owing to the thick bush in which he took cover, it was only possible for me to get a snap shot where and when I could. It was a very exciting day's sport, with a fine pair of tusks as my reward at the end of it, which weighed 75 and 76 pounds apiece. This being my first, I counted myself lucky, especially as the local Baluba natives told me that, not only had several black hunters attempted to bag the beast for years past, but quite a few white men as well. There is nothing in the world of sport that will quite equal the intense feeling of gratification that comes over one after a long and successful chase of a big African tusker. I suppose it is again the primal instinct of the savage within us, added to which is a certain satisfaction at one's own prowess, and at the value and size of the trophy. To my followers, of 211BIG-TUSK HUNTING course, it meant full stomachs; the same instinct was theirs, only in a still more savage form ! Then, the hyenas and vultures were pleased — let alone the myriad and one other small animals and insects that were going to feast on the remains for months to come. Not one atom of that gigantic carcase was wasted. An elephant does not die in vain in Africa—it merely passes from one embodiment to another. Pain and pleasure mixed! Pain to the dying elephant, pleasure and nourishment to living man and beast! Besides a small herd of cows, there was only this one solitary bull in the vicinity of Kaseba's (the name of the nearest village), so I moved on down the Luvua to Kalamata—a place, so I was told, that had a great attraction for elephants by reason of the salt pans that exist there. On the way, however, I came into a village under a chief named Kasongo, where two elephants had been feeding in the gardens the night before, deciding me on staying a day or two to hunt them. The chief Kasongo turned out to be a disagreeable old rascal who would give me no help at all—in fact, seemed, for reasons of his own, to resent my staying near his village. Later on, as it happened, I turned the tables on him, for I believe the reason he disliked my presence was that he wished to hunt the elephants himself, and I am nearly sure that the dead elephant I found later was one that he had wounded. The morning after my arrival I went out into the forest, and, coming on the tracks of two elephants, followed them for miles through mountainous country, but was unsuccessful in coming up with them. I slept out, returning the next day to Kasongo not quite empty-handed, for I shot a sable antelope on the way home. 212AFRICAN ELEPHANTS I find that it is usually the younger bulls and the cows, amongst elephants, that are likely to charge, and are the most dangerous. I have seldom had much difficulty with a really old bull in this respect. I imagine that his years have taught him that discretion is the better part of valour, and so he usually avoids a battle. With the others, however, it is different, and it was a young bull with a very meagre pair of ivories that gave me an exciting chase, but a lot of trouble, when I next went out from Kasongo's. It was another all-day hunt, and not content with charg- ing me twice, the beast remained " frightful " to the very end by kicking me some yards, when, by rights, he should have been stone dead. It occurred like this: Leaving camp early, I and my trackers went out along the banks of the Luvua, and coming on the fresh spoor of a single elephant, had been following it for a few hundred yards only, when we saw the animal a short way ahead. I could not see its tusks, as it was moving away stern on; but with the idea of finding out what they were like, I ran after it, manoeuvring round to have a look at its head, but getting my wind, the animal soon outpaced me over the tangled grass and bush. How- ever, I stuck to it and kept the elephant in sight. Finding himself pestered in this way with, as he thought, such an insignificant " insect " as myself, with a resounding trumpet, he turned in his tracks and came thundering back in my direction. I now saw his tusks (perhaps a little too well) which were insignificant, but this was an unprovoked attack and, in any case, to save myself, I had to shoot, and so I planted a *404 bullet in the animal's face, fortunately turning him. 213KICKED BY AN ELEPHANT Now knowing that I was after a crusty and dangerous young elephant, the chase that followed in the thick bush was exciting enough for anybody. The second time we got up to our quarry, nothing daunted, it again charged us, scattering in all directions the natives who were with me. Whereas the animal was not seriously wounded and had, moreover, such a poor trophy to offer, I might have left it here, but that would have meant a blank and dull day, and, moreover, my men were in want of food, so I decided, if possible, to bring our ferocious friend to book, and, therefore, we carried on. It was a long chase, but fortunately for my legs, I rounded up the elephant in a swamp of 15-foot grass close to camp and, as I thought, finished it off with some random shots through intervening foliage. At any rate, the beast was down on its side, so thinking it safe to approach, cautiously I did so. Peering through the matted grass, I made out its back legs, and judging this a safe place, under the circumstances, I was in the act of stepping on to one of them to look over in the direction of the animal's head, when he let out a mighty kick and, catching me full in the stomach, sent me, rifle and all, flying back- wards, with the wind knocked right out of me. The animal then made an effort to rise. However, I managed to pull myself together sufficiently, and in time to put in another bullet, before giving way to that painful spasm of gasping so well known to the days of our youth. No, to get too near to an elephant's back leg is not to be recommended ! Many of my carriers having brought their women with them, all were soon at work cutting up the dead elephant and drying the meat to send back to their 214AFRICAN ELEPHANTS villages. " What you can't eat, take away with you," was the order of the day, and there was little left at the end of it. After this we left the mountains behind and moved out on to the plains around Kalamatato look for yet a third " phunt." I was lucky enough within a few days to pick up the spoor of a good bull round the salt pans, which I chased back into the hills, and shot in a deep ravine where he was lying up during the heat of the day. He had a fine pair of white straight tusks of beautiful ivory, long and heavy. It was after I shot this elephant that one of my porters was bitten in the ankle by a snake. Snakes are fairly numerous in Africa, but not often seen. I think I may say, I hardly know of a single case of a white man being bitten by a snake, although I have known men who were temporarily blinded by spitting ones. Owing, however, to the natives going about barefooted, they often sufFer from snake bite, but it is by no means always fatal. In this case, my carrier was bitten on the instep—two small punctures that bled slightly. As it happened, I was just behind, and having a box with me containing some permanganate, I went to work on him at once, by first fixing a tour- niquet above the knee and then making two fairly deep incisions over the place with a razor blade, into which I rubbed the pure crystals. His friends, mean- while, gave him some leaves and bark to chew from some species of forest tree and, afterwards, pounded the bark, rubbing it all over the leg. I fixed the man up in an impromptu hammock, and had him carried into the nearest village, where he was left in charge of the chief. When we came round that way again a week later, the man had (to the disappoint- 215SNAKE AND " FLY " BITE ment of everybody, for your native dearly loves both a sensation and a " wake ") recovered sufficiently to walk about slowly. On the plains around Kalamata, and up in the surrounding hills, were any quantity of elephants, but mostly cows. The big bulls wandered about from one herd to another in twos and threes, travelling great distances up and down the Luvua Valley and, as I said before, even as far as the Mweru Marsh in Northern Rhodesia. My wanderings in search of a fourth tusker presently took me across the Luvua River, over into the country on its west side, and up one of its western affluents called the Lukete. The old saying that "It's an ill wind that blows nobody good " may be sarcastically applied to my next brush with the " phunts." On tracking up a troop of four on the Lukete, the wind was so shifty—blowing first one way and then changing round to an exactly opposite direction—that instead of the taint on the wind giving the animals my position, it curled round, having exactly the opposite effect. The first thing I knew was that the four ele- phants, which I had been following and which I had just then caught sight of for the first time, were turning completely round in their tracks, and coming straight in my direction as if the devil was after them. There was only one worth shooting at, however, and although I put several bullets into it as it passed me, I never came up with it again. This elephant took me a long way into what is known as the Kalumenbali district, half-way between the Lukete and Lake Ka- bamba—a wonderful elephant country from what I saw of it, although " fly " infested. The prevalence of " fly " in most elephant districts, 216AFRICAN ELEPHANTS and the possibility of the hunter contracting sleeping sickness, is an added risk that he has to run, and this fact, as I have intimated before, is no mean factor in the preservation of elephants and big game in general. Although it is perhaps necessary to add that with the new German cure, " Beyer 205," this terrible scourge has lost something of its sting. (Whilst on the subject, it is worth noting that, in my own experience, some constitutions, both black and white, seem to be immune to the bite of " fly " infected with sleeping sickness, an observation that seems worth investigation.) From the Lukete camp, a herd of elephants I was following led me back to the neighbourhood of Ka- songo, and it was on the following day that I had the good fortune to find, lying dead in the bush, quite a big tusker, with a pair of ivories that went well over 40 pounds apiece. It is not everyone who has the good fortune to pick up a trophy of this kind, and it gave a pleasing ending to my hunting jaunt on the Luvua. On this occasion I had been out in the morning, but finding no fresh spoor of any kind, I and my trackers were returning to camp in the late afternoon, when we caught sight of several vultures, perched on some trees, close to a small marsh we were approaching. Knowing these to be a sure indication of a dead animal of some kind, both my natives and myself were at once alert and interested to know what animal it could be, not, however, dreaming that so big a prize awaited us. On getting closer, we made out a black and grey mass which, as a matter of fact, we first mistook for a block of grey granite stone, but which soon resolved itself into a hugely swollen dead elephant. Almost at the same moment that we realised what we had found, but offering no chance of a shot, two lionesses showed 217FINDING A DEAD TUSKER themselves beside the carcase, and taking a short stare in our direction, bounded away into the grass, followed almost immediately by a big-maned lion, who growled loudly at being thus disturbed. From an examination I made of the carcase, I judged the animal to have been dead four or five days. It had died from a bullet wound in the fore part of the stomach. The lions had torn pieces of skin and flesh from its lower parts and also from one fore leg, upon which they had been feeding. The end of the trunk had also been bitten away. The tusks were short and thick, which, after cutting away some of the hard skin around their sockets, pulled out easily. With these, and after collecting the hairs from the tail, we marched back triumphantly to camp, feeling not unlike successful bandits. Finding dead elephants puts me in mind of an un- known black robber who once found one I had shot. It was a cow with a beautiful long slender pair of tusks, which I had killed late one evening, and as it lay some distance from water in a remote part of the Luangwa Valley, I just left it where it was, going on to the river bank to pitch my camp, reckoning on cutting out the tusks in the morning. When my men went there, however, for this purpose, they found both tusks hacked off close to the lip with an axe and, the tail gone! On several occasions I have found lions feeding on elephants I have shot. Their method of ripping open the tough skin, to get at the flesh beneath, is peculiar. They appear to spring at the dead beast with their claws extended, landing on it with all their weight, and then, with a jerk, rip a piece out. Then, on yet another occasion, when I returned one 218AFRICAN ELEPHANTS morning to cut up an elephant that I had killed the night before, I found another elephant (possibly the dead one's brother) standing beside it and progging it with its tusks, as if to wake it up. This was so unexpected, and my rifle being behind, that the animal got our wind and went off without a shot being fired at it, which was unfortunate, as it carried a fine pair of ivories. Dead elephants remind me again of that myth about elephants' cemeteries, surely by this time dead and done with! There are no elephants' cemeteries, of course, as such, but there are places where animals will die when sick and wounded. The first thing a sick animal wants is water, and if there is a remote pool in an otherwise waterless stretch of country, frequented by elephants, naturally, in the course of time, many will die there, leaving their bones around it. Years ago elephants were far more numerous than now, and weapons in those days far less effective; conse- quently, many more wounded elephants escaped to die a lingering death near such a pool as I have pictured and, in this way, starting the elephant cemetery idea. I will not weary the reader with my return to Pweto. Suffice it to say, my carriers made an " occasion " of it, and with the negro's love of display, each man, of course, made himself out to be the hero of the day, if only to his credulous women folk. The study of the elephant, his ivory and his ances- tors, has proved attractive (and no wonder) to many scientists, so not much remains to be said on the subject. However, to this statement there is one excep- tion. Little has been written concerning the present- day attempts (we know that in ancient times they were trained and used in warfare) to train the African elephant, and what possibilities there may be in it! 219TRANSPORT ELEPHANTS FOR AFRICA In regarding this subject, we have to turn for information to the report issued by Monsieur E. Leplae, Directeur General of the Belgian Colonial Ministry. For it is to the Belgians that we are in- debted for the only serious effort ever made to train elephants in Africa. It was due to the interest and initiative of King Leopold, who bore the entire expense of the under- taking, that the first attempt was made. At that time East Africa was being opened up to civilisation, and, owing to the tse-tse fly killing off other transport animals, and also to the lack of sufficient porters, great difficulty was experienced by these early expeditions in reaching the interior. King Leopold decided to try and solve this transport problem with elephants. As a preliminary step, four Indian elephants were imported from Bombay, being landed on the main- land in June, 1879, at a small place called Masani, to the south of Dar-es-Salaam. An Englishman named Carter, then Consul at Bagdad, was engaged by the Belgian King to command the expedition, and accompanying him were thirteen Indian mahouts. Their objective was the early white settlement of Karema, on Lake Tanganyika, and the caravan, which had been joined by three Belgians, Popelin, Dutalis and a Dr. Van den Heuvel, as well as another Englishman named Stokes, reached the place on December 14th, with two elephants, the others having died on the way from sickness. As these were the first tame elephants ever seen in East Africa,* and as their howdahs and trappings, as well as the dress of the mahouts, were of a gaudy * Livingstone met a tame African elephant that was being sent to India. It had been caught young.—J. W. G. 220AFRICAN ELEPHANTS description, and, moreover, with them were some 600 porters, the spectacle of this wonderful caravan had an astonishing effect on the wild tribes of the interior. Knowing and fearing the wild elephant in the bush, they thought that verily the gods had come amongst them, when, as they thought, such great beasts would come out of the forest and do the white man's bidding. Although three elephants had died on this first attempt (for a third had died on reaching Karema), " their death," it was stated by the mahouts, " was due to a sickness to which these animals are prone in India," and not to the " fly " or other local causes, "and one," it was said, was " already sick before it left India." The two elephants which had survived the long journey to Lake Tanganyika, and undergone con- siderable hardships through lack of water and suitable food, proved that these animals could be a very con- siderable help in solving transport difficulties in Africa. Carter, the Englishman in charge of the undertaking, as well as a friend of his named Cadenhead and the thirteen faithful mahouts, on their return to the coast were attacked at a place called Pimboni by a mob of 3,000 ruga-ruga under two Arab chiefs named Mirambo and Simba, and being abandoned by their Zanzibari soldiers, were massacred almost to a man. Carter himself was the last to fall, but the fight he put up before he was eventually surrounded forms an epic in East African history that gives a remarkable termination to a singular venture. After this first attempt, King Leopold, retaining his interest and belief in the possible domestication and usefulness of the African elephant, searched for some other method of carrying out his project, and with the co-operation of that famous Congo pioneer, Com- 221BELGIAN EFFORTS TO TRAIN mandant Laplume, and his assistants, founded an elephant training establishment at a place called Api, situated in the Uele district of the Northern Belgian Congo. As this enterprise is of such outstanding interest and importance, I give a translation, era extenso, of a report on the work of the establishment, compiled by the late Belgian Veterinary Surgeon Willaert, who resided at Api for a long time, and learnt all the details of manage- ment from Commandant Laplume. The report is headed " Capture and Training of Elephants at Kira-Vungu and Api," and begins with " First Attempts at Capture " After a close study of native methods, Com- mandant Laplume decided in favour of traps—that is, digging big holes and covering them over with branches, into which the elephant falls heavily. When taken, it is at once bound, then a sloping exit is made, so that it can be led from its prison. " A party of a few hunters was got together, chosen among tried soldiers and good shots, with a famous native Nimrod at their head. The ground chosen by the Commandant for operations was a forest, abounding in elephants, situated in the angle formed by the Uele and the Bomokandi, on the territory of Azande-Avongura, the chief taking a delight in the projected sport. A first hunt was arranged, and it taught us that the elephants were numerous, but their capture difficult. No animal was shot, but both the Commandant and the native chief had narrow escapes. " After this expedition of discovery, it was decided to construct a long line of snares, and after two months' work a great row of ditches was dug, extending over more than a kilometre in length, westward, as far as 222Fig. 68 - BOWEN, THE ELEPHANT POACHER, WITH HIS RECORD COUP. A pair of tusks weighing- 173 and 176 lbs. respectively, and for which he obtained the price of 3^400. The emaciated trunk of this very old elephant is a noticeable feature. The gun-boy behind is looking at the animal's tail which has been cut off. The age of an old tusker such as this is probably well on to 120 years. Bowen was afterwards imprisoned by the Belgians for poaching and smuggling. Photo, E. Lefilac. FIG. 69.—A YOUNG ELEPHANT AT API TRAINED TO FELLING TREES BY PUSHING THEM OVER.HE U8fMRY Of SHE USSVERSITY OF MMtmAFRICAN ELEPHANTS Bomokandi, and ending eastward at the fringe of the forest. " Did the animals suspect the traps prepared for them, or did they scent the hunters ? At all events, they dispersed before reaching the danger spots, and broke through the line of scouts. All attempts at closing them in failed, so sentinels only were stationed on the line of pitfalls, by night as well as day. It was not long before a young elephant fell in, but a number of others came at once to its assistance, lifted it from the ditch by the trunk and set it free, under the eyes of the sentinels, who, being unarmed, could not prevent the escape. " Then the sentinels were armed, and two days later another capture was made. The elephants, who again came up with help, were driven away by gun-shots, and a solid fence hurriedly put up to receive the captive. It was an animal capable of making a formidable resistance, over six feet high, and with powerful tusks. Whilst the surrounding fence was being raised, a sloping path was made to allow it to leave its difficult position. When all was ready, and only a narrow strip of earth left to complete the slope, the prisoner was bound with strong bands, and the last obstacle in its way removed. But the animal would not stir. It was then forcibly dragged out, when it suddenly collapsed and died. This was an unex- pected outcome, as it had only been ten hours in the trap. Besides, the animal, being an adult, its lack of resisting power was all the more puzzling. However, the Commandant, who attributed the fate of the pachyderm to the compression caused by the pit, determined on another plan. " Inspired by the methods used in India for elephant- 223EARLY METHODS OF CAPTURING capture, he decided on the building of a keddah—a sort of big and strong enclosure, approached by a wide-mouthed funnel-shaped passage, into which the troops of elephants are driven by rounding up. Then the elephants began to desert the hunting-ground, and the field of operations was transferred to the north- east of Bambili, in the territory of another Azande chief, where elephants also abounded. A very solid enclosure was built in mid-forest, occupying about a quarter of an hectare, with two great inlets north and south, to catch the animals on their way to or from the river, where they would be caught in spite of them- selves, so to speak. " A round-up was organised, and this time proved very successful. Many elephants were penned in. But after great efforts to master them, it became obvious once more that the available means of constraint were wholly insufficient for taming such redoubtable adversaries, and had to be given up. Henceforth, only young elephants were to be captured, at least, for a start. A female and its young were rounded up to the keddah entrance, and both were taken prisoners. Then the mother, by opening a gate, was permitted to escape, and the juvenile, about four and a half feet high, remained captive, and began to dash wildly round the enclosure. The mother, deprived of her young, turned furiously on the hunters, and to avoid mishaps, had to be killed. The young one soon gave way to fretting and refused all food; it lay down and died in a few hours. "New attempts were made, during one of which the practical plan, which is still in use, was hit upon. During a round-up, a cow and her youngster were being driven towards the keddah, the latter being 234AFRICAN ELEPHANTS about three feet in height, when the adult turned round on its pursuers and was shot down. The young one, left to its own devices, made off, but the huntsmen, already experienced, caught it up and managed to capture it forcibly. It was bound and led in triumph to the enclosure. Many others were similarly caught "Then a new difficulty arose: How to keep the captives alive ? Many died off in a short time, though nothing was neglected to keep them alive, and the last tin of condensed milk was sacrificed for their nourish- ment. It was only after many experiments, by gradu- ally capturing bigger and bigger animals, that success was ensured. At last, means were found to keep the captives alive. After many delays, work in this direc- tion began in 1901, and bigger animals were caught, some of them six feet in height, and what is more, they have increased considerably since being confined." The next heading is entitled, " Present Method of Capture," and is as follows: " The following are the rules applied to elephant hunting: " The band of huntsmen is composed of from seven to ten men, armed with rifles of the Albini type, who constitute the body, with three or four armed assis- tants, who round up the animals and assist in binding those captured. A few servants are included, who provide the fibre for binding and to carry food, for very often the hunting takes place where food is quite unobtainable. Huntsmen are provided with axes and hatchets, so that, when necessary, they can erect a temporary enclosure for any capture, " It is during the dry seasons, from January to June, that captures are easiest; the grassy plains are then quite bare, owing to the yearly fire lighted by the natives 225 pPRESENT METHODS OF CAPTURING when the marshes are quite dry and the rivers low. During the months of September, October and November the state of the brushwood is such that a rest is imperative. The growth is so high that the huntsmen cannot perceive any animal which ap- proaches them, and the interlaced vegetation makes progress through the forest impossible. At the same time, if a big animal were captured, any wound on its body might be poisoned by contact with the vegetation, and cause its death. Elephants prefer the swampy parts of riversides, and there they must be sought. Some of these regions are crowded with females, such as the Bami and Beringani streams, to the north of Bambili both east to west, the neighbourhood of the Uele Rapids, and the land north of Uele and Uere, between Bima, Angu, Api and Bili. " These enormous plains, where grass grows to no great height, are uninhabited for miles and abound in elephants. From early dawn huntsmen are on the track, following the wooded banks of streams in the hope of captures. As soon as the tracks of elephants are discovered, they are followed up carefully. In this task the negro excels. As long as the animals follow the stream, leaving footprints in the swamp, there is little difficulty, but if they go out on the plain or into the woods, the case is different. Traces are lost or old ones followed up. The negro, however, is not long misled : the slightest indications lead him into the right path, a trampled plant, a scattered leaf or broken branch serve for guides, reminding one of the tales of Fenimore Cooper. " The chase at times is a long one, but when there are proofs that the quarry is close by, guns are loaded and caution is necessary. It requires considerable 226AFRICAN ELEPHANTS experience, strange as this may sound, to detect an elephant at close quarters, unless it be in open country. " As soon as a herd is perceived, the leader of the party, who must be a first-class shikari, creeps forward as closely as possible to determine if any of the number are worth capturing. In the negative case, the party withdraws, otherwise the leader gives a signal to his followers, who open fire on any cows with young, after which they rush into the bush and seize their quarry. The rest of the herd, startled by the gunshot and shouting, generally bolt straight ahead. If a female has been killed, or is too badly wounded to join the stampede, the young one is soon captured. But if only slightly wounded she will often enough turn on her attackers, and it is then a question of defending one's life. " The leading shikari, after the first shot, rushes forward and seizes the young one by the tail. Others grasp it by the trunk or the ears. The poor creature struggles vainly, but is eventually bound round the body and secured to a tree. At times it will break away, and then a chase ensues, and it sometimes happens that it gets clean away. Capture, in fact, is no easy matter. When it is stated that animals ranging about five feet in height can only be taken by sheer force, and that they have dangerous tusks about half a yard long and prodigious strength, it will be understood that their captors must not lack courage. " I have only described a simple hunt, conducted under favourable conditions. There are others less safe. At times big herds are met with, and hunting in such cases is likely to be very dangerous. During one round-up, which I headed in 1904, my three parties found themselves opposed to a herd of at least 227FIRST ATTEMPTS AT TAMING ioo animals. Two juveniles were captured, a third shot dead, and six adult elephants had to be slaughtered. The hunt degenerated into a real battle, during which, luckily, none of my men were wounded. This was the only time I was present at such a slaughter, and precautions were taken to prevent its recurrence. In round-ups of this sort the huntsmen are dispersed in the brushwood and rarely see each other; and to the danger of an attack from the elephants is added that of being struck by stray bullets from the rifles of other members of the party. " An animal, once captured, is confined in a hastily constructed enclosure made of wooden stakes, securely bound together, as, if it be left tied to a tree, its wild struggles might result in wounds difficult to heal, and it is also necessary to guard it from any attempt by its fellows to liberate it. After it has rested awhile, the young elephant is led to the taming station by short journeys of about a three hours' march." Then comes " Taming: (i) First Attempts " Commandant Laplume chose the village of the Azande chief, Kira-Vungu, as his first taming station. His initial attempts were made there with the able help of the chief himself. He remained there until August, 1904, when he transferred the establishment to Api. "The first buildings were rudimentary, consisting chiefly of an enclosure about two hundred yards square, solidly fenced, and sheltered by big trees. In this the young elephants were placed under the care of two natives, who were to qualify as keepers. Little by little, with the exercise of patience and kindness, the?animals showed confidence; they were even allowed to graze once a day outside the enclosure. They 228AFRICAN ELEPHANTS were let out at early dawn and brought back during the hot hours for shelter, returning to the bush again some time before sunset. Every evening, as an encouragement to docility, they were regaled with tasty morsels, such as bananas, manioc, or pieces of maize bread. " This much achieved, Laplume decided to try how the biggest elephants would carry one of their " boy " keepers. At first, they energetically refused, throwing their would-be riders, who, unused to the exercise, were soon dismounted. The animals had a special way of throwing them, by bringing all their weight to bear on the hind legs, jogging first to left, then to right, with the result that the rider went off without fail. However, little by little, they got used to their mount, and thus the possibility of their carry- ing heavy weights was demonstrated. " It remained to be seen if they could be made to perform draught-work. Attempts were made and, in spite of resistance at first, were completely successful, although at the start Laplume nearly paid for the trial with his life. One of the bigger elephants, ' Bama,' with tusks over thirty inches long, not liking a taste of the whip when obstinate, rushed upon his keeper, who rolled on the ground to escape him. Luckily, the assistants held the shafts of the cart firmly, and the onrush of the animal was checked, but it fell forward, piercing the ground with its ivories just a few inches away from the officer. This was the most serious of the mishaps. " After a little time, the pachyderms learnt to drag a tree-trunk, proving that they could yet be utilised for all kinds of work. Unhappily, these trials resulted in the loss of the finest of the young elephants, a little 229THE API TRAINING ESTABLISHMENT female, named ' Ligo,' which was very well-behaved. She was extremely familiar, and would go to the doors of dwellings and hold out her trunk for a ' taster.' She died a few days before my arrival, owing to attempts to make her draw a load. To avoid such accidents in future, the minimum of work was given them, and only when they reached full strength were they put to any hard task. " The chief obstacle encountered was the great mortality—all the more strange in that it was inexplic- able. I have frequently seen young elephants, who showed every sign of perfect health, lay down suddenly and expire in a few hours." Below the heading, " The Taming Establishment of Api," is the following: " The station for the capture and training of elephants in Uele is now established at Api. It is a former Government post, which was abandoned in 1896, and is situated on the left bank of the river Uele. " The situation of this post, as regards hunting, is excellent, and in a part where elephants abound. From east to south natives are found, but the northern bank of the Uele is all desert, and at first wild elephants would often wander up to the very outskirts of the station. Even now it happens that the hunters secure a few a mile or so from the dwellings. This is, of course, a great advantage, for the long journeys which formerly had to be made by the captured elephants were one of the great causes of mortality. " On arriving at the new locality, the first care was to erect an enclosure. It occupied more than a hectare superficially, to admit of a large open space for the elephants. The sides were provided with loose-boxes, completely separated from each other, to shelter the 230AFRICAN ELEPHANTS young animals during the night. These were covered with a thatch roof. The centre of the enclosure was occupied by a vast square shed, where the elephants were put during the heat of the day, to protect them from the fierce sun. The whole was constructed of stout logs, from twenty to thirty inches thick, bound together with fibre. " At first this precaution was not thought necessary, but, although the beams were sunk sixty inches in the earth, the young elephants overthrew them easily with their weight. They escaped over-night through the apertures thus made, despite careful watching of the keepers on guard, who were greatly astonished in the morning at seeing their charges roaming at large, without, however, making any attempt to get away. This detail proves that the keepers were on good terms with the animals, and fond of them. Another proof of this was shown by one young elephant, which, having strayed out, or escaped at grazing time, returned all alone at night, when all hopes of seeing it again were abandoned. The building of the enclosure took about two months (July-August, 1904), and towards the end of August the herd was brought to it. It was during the rainy season, at a time most unfavourable for the journey. Two great rivers had to be crossed—the Bomakandi, opposite Bambili, and the Uele, a day's canoe journey up-stream from Bima. For six days the road was passably good from Bambili to Bima, and only one noteworthy incident occurred. During the rest at Bima the elephants broke out of the temporary shelter during the night, and went roaming over an adjacent swamp. Their escape was noiseless, and the enclosure was emptied before it was discovered. However, a torchlight search followed, and the herd returned at 231THE TAME ELEPHANTS AT API the call of their keepers with remarkable docility to their sleeping places. For five days the journey had to be made along a difficult road, through grasses four or five yards high, close undergrowth, and bad swamp, and four of the elephants were lost. "Two of these perished in crossing the Uele. One of them, quite young, died on arriving at the northern bank—at this point the river was a kilometre wide. The other, one of the finest of the herd, a big, docile, and promising animal, escaped owing to the negligence of the natives in charge. Two others died of fatigue on reaching Api. The herd of sixteen was thus reduced to twelve, and towards the month of December, 1904, it numbered only ten. The dry hunting season had then set in. "We had it announced in the district that any natives who brought us in young elephants captured by themselves would be generously rewarded. This had the double advantage of familiarising the natives with the idea of taming elephants, and of urging them to hunt them without violence, a proceeding which makes capture impossible, and ends in dispersing and anni- hilating the herds. " As regards our own hunters. They started their rounding up at Bili, a post three days' march to the north of Api, where elephants were very numerous. At the end of a month many partly-grown animals were captured, but only one of suitable height; the others were set free again. A small elephant, about a yard high, was brought to us by an Azande chief who had caught it, and who was handsomely rewarded. " Our hunting in the Bili district was not without interesting results. We took out with us several of our finest tame elephants, which had suffered no ill effect 232AFRICAN ELEPHANTS from the forced journey in August, but had rather benefited by it. With their keepers on their backs, they bore up well during the travelling stages of three or four hours per day which they had to undertake. Two new elephants, captured during the excursion, found themselves at once in genial company, and after two or three days, followed with no other restraint than a collar, a precaution which was really quite unnecessary. This was a useful hint for the future, and now elephants who have been thoroughly tamed always accompany a hunting party. " After a short stay at Api we then made for the plains on the northern bank of the Uele, which are unin- habited and stocked with big game. We wished to reach the post of Bima by going northwards from Api, although no road had been formed. We reaped, however, a reward by this venture in the capture of five superb animals. Our two leading hunters brought us in five more, one after the other, but of these only two survived." After that comes " The Situation in 1907 " I have tried to show in the foregoing pages how the hunting took place. Whilst one of the Europeans acted as leader, others were engaged in the internal work of the training establishment. Although the chief care is the bringing up of the young animals, there is also plenty of other work to be done. The staff is at present made up of twenty-one hunters and thirty-six boy keepers, of which some are armed with rifles. Then must be counted the hunters' and boy keepers' wives, to the number of thirty. Masons, carpenters, etc., are chosen among the hunters and keepers, who take to their tools or guns as occasion demands. " Every morning at dawn, the trumpeting of the 233ROUTINE AT API young elephants announces their wish for liberty. The keepers for the day are appointed, and at once lead the herds to pasture. One man shows the way, and they follow very quietly, each animal carrying its keeper, who is armed with a rifle. For wild elephants come quite close to Api, and have to be driven off, as their presence near our herd might induce those recently captured to bolt away. " From noon to three o'clock the animals are brought back to the enclosure and kept in the shade. They are then taken out for a bathe in the river. At first they fought shy of this, but soon began to appreciate it, and now there is a competition as to which shall go the farthest out to receive a lump of salt from the keeper, who is close-by in a canoe. On leaving the river, true to their instincts, they roll on the sand and mud, so as to coat themselves with a protection against insects. In the evening at sunset, some little treat awaits their home-coming, and each animal, at the call of its keeper, is regaled with bananas, manioc, or maize. Then each one goes to its box for the night, and its keeper grooms it with a hard brush, a pro- ceeding which the young elephants thoroughly enjoy, and proves one of the best means of inducing them to wear harness. " Three guards are on night duty. They have to watch their charges and give them their fodder, for elephants eat during a part of the night instead of sleeping. This treatment suits them the best. " The young ones at Api now number twenty-five, varying in height from a metre and a half to a metre and three-quarters. One female, captured five years ago, is their recognised leader, although several are taller than she. There are friendships formed between 234AFRICAN ELEPHANTS members of the herd, and such elephants are always together, whilst others avoid and even threaten one another at times. "Now and then they have draught exercise on the roads, either towards Uele or the north. They be- have very well, allow their keepers to ride them, and will even carry the Europeans of the establishment. Besides this, they bear loads of food and clothing for the keepers and hunters. In these outings they pass the night in temporary shelters on the camping ground. They remain very quiet, and a sentinel is hardly neces- sary. On their journey they show the utmost agility and caution, being surer of foot than any other animal and safer to ride, owing to the great width of their backs. They cross swamps quite easily, where the best mule would hurt itself or sink in, and clear the road before them by picking up obstacles with their trunks and flinging them aside. When they come to a very steep bank, they get on their front knees and, with the help of trunk and tusks, surmount it. In descending they bend forwards and slide skilfully down. In short, with a little guidance they are ideal transport animals for the country. " The majority are now thoroughly trained, and work daily in the cool hours at carrying bricks for building. Rush work saddles, adapted to their bodies, receive the loads. Others carry materials in a waggon; others, again, draw ploughs, following the furrows like the best-trained oxen." Then the " Causes of Mortality " are exceptionally interesting: " The great mortality among captive elephants is certainly peculiar. If they can be kept during the first year, the danger of losing them is almost nil, or at least 235CAUSES OF MORTALITY greatly diminished. But before this period, whatever be their size, the percentage of deaths is alarming. They generally die at the beginning of their captivity, and without any apparent cause. It is nowise rare to see a young elephant, as soon as captured, lie down and expire in a few hours, sometimes in a few minutes ! This happened to my knowledge several times in two years. It seems to me that this can only be explained by a purely psychic reason—the agitation caused by the hunters' attack, and the violence used in assuring the capture. A post mortem only showed the ordinary congestion and derangement which occur to all animals who die stretched out sideways. " During the first weeks subsequent to capture, three causes of mortality are notable: firstly, that just men- tioned, which may not always be sudden, but, never- theless, is usually fatal; the animal remains melancholy, refuses food, becomes unconscious, and dies in a few days. A second cause is the bad treatment that new arrivals receive from elephants already more or less tame. I have seen the latter attack the new-comers mercilessly, and have to be forcibly dragged away to prevent them killing them or inflicting serious harm. Nine times out of ten these victims do not survive. The third cause of mortality is to be ascribed to the difficulty of curing any wounds, however slight, in young elephants. They are often wounded by cap- turing, especially in the joints and legs. Their treat- ment, owing to their wildness, is almost impossible, and in spite of antiseptics many die of their wounds, especially in the damp season, when, as I have previously remarked, they rub against any poisonous grasses.* * The causes of mortality, as given in the Congo, are very similar to those reported in India. 236AFRICAN ELEPHANTS " Some, again, will die after a captivity of several months. For this, many reasons may be advanced. Some, at certain times, will be affected by intestinal troubles, diarrhoea, depression, and fever. It is un- fortunately very difficult to administer drugs to them, when opposed by their defiant attitude and the danger of being tusked. Hygiene is the only means adoptable. I have seen a young elephant with an injured neck, which compelled it to hold its head constantly inclined to one side. It died when I happened to be away, and a post mortem was unable to prove if this strain, due probably to its capture, was really the cause of its death. " One reason for sickness which frequently occurred, which may at first seem strange in wild animals, was the sun. More than once, an examination after sudden death showed a congestion of the brain, and even haemorrhage, which left no doubt as to the cause of the fatality. " This can be easily understood when one remembers that in its wild state the elephant only passes a short while in any spot where the sun darts its rays during the hot hours of the day. A careful watch is kept in the taming establishment, that the elephants be kept cool when the sun is fierce, by confining them in the shelter or in a shady wood." And the report finishes with " Conclusion ": " I believe that I have shown by the foregoing that definite results have been attained in the taming of African elephants. Observations made at the Api establishment show that the elephant can live in a tame state, and that its good disposition permits it to do the work demanded of it, subject to kindly treatment. 237CONCLUSIONS "At present, the oldest animals in the establishment are doing all the carrying and draught-work required of them. None of these are as yet seven years old, and it is only at the age of fifteen, when it becomes adult, that the Indian elephant does any real work. "For the taming to be complete, it must be shown that the animals can reproduce in captivity. Although there are many cases of this in India to prove the possi- bility, no attempt to induce this has as yet been made. It is found more advantageous to continue the capture of the animal and to tame it, for reproduction (apart from the gestation period of eighteen to twenty months) would necessitate years of care for the infant, and would then not do away with the work of taming. If in Asia, where elephants have been captured from time immemorial, wild ones are still sufficiently numerous to replace the tame ones, it follows that, in the Congo Forests, where herds swarm, there is an inexhaustible supply. " In spite of railroads, steamboats, and motor roads, the Congo will always be a land of forests and swampy plains. Feeding the railways, and destined for trade purposes, are secondary roads used by native porters. The elephant is now requisitioned for this work." This finishes the most important part of this report, but the following extracts from a letter I have lately (July, 1923) received from Director-General Leplae, are worth giving : " The three officers in charge of the Api training station went out hunting in January this year, each with six trained elephants and three squads of ten men, all expert hunters. The catch has been splendid. Twenty-eight young elephants were captured; twenty- 238Photo, E. Leplae. Fig. 71.—MONSIEUR VERMEF:RSCH. One of the officers of the Api Training Station with his pet elephant " Djumbi." Photo, E. Leplac. Fic. 70.—FOUR TRAINED AFRICAN ELEPHANTS AT API.ffit iimrn OF THE UHIVEBSITY OF ILLINOISAFRICAN ELEPHANTS two were successfully brought into the station, and eighteen are now alive and doing well. This raises the total numbers to forty-four. The twenty-five adults are extremely well trained, and used for every kind of work, ploughing, carrying, etc. " Ten trained elephants were used last year for cotton transport on the Buta road, the pair of them pulling waggon loads of 6,000 to 7,000 pounds. " The Mission Fathers at Buta have bought three young elephants from native chiefs, and use them successfully on their farm. " The Agricultural Department now takes great interest in the training of buffaloes. Four red and grey buffaloes are now kept at Api with native cattle; they are perfectly tame and wholly resistant to every disease, including, of course, tsetse fly. The photos show how fat they are compared with the ordinary cattle. " Buffaloes are more difficult to catch alive than elephants, and are more dreaded, even when young, by the natives. One of the bulls now at the station has been in captivity for nine years. A young heifer has been caught two years ago. Every effort will be made to bring together a herd of twenty 01* thirty cows, and start a regular breeding test. We believe that buffalo breeding is the most interesting departure for Central Africa where tsetse fly prevails. "In 1918 the Api training station received eight mahouts from Burma, who stayed for a few months, and taught our officers many new ways of training. Their method is very hard, and sometimes cruel, but the animals learn much quicker than by the manner formerly adopted at Api." During the war the necessity of reducing expendi- 239SUCCESS IN VIEW ture imperilled the existence of the Api elephant- training establishment, but King Albert intervened in this case, undertaking its upkeep at his own expense, and bringing over these Hindoo keepers from Calcutta, who have introduced the Indian methods of training with remarkable results. In a short time the ele- phants became quite amenable to orders, and have this year transported cotton and cotton ginneries along the Buta road, covering a distance of over a thousand miles. It would appear, therefore, that the enterprise so obstinately persisted in for the past twenty years by the Belgians, or, one might say, by the Belgian Royal Family, is well on the high-road to success. 240[One grey Cape buffalo and two of the red Congo species with a calf at Api. The Belgians are paying particular attention to the breeding- of these animals, as they are immune from nagana, and so would prove of great use for transport purposes in "fly" areas. Fig. 72.—BUFFALOES. Photo, E. Lefilae. Photo, E. Leplae. Fig. 73.—TWO YOUNG LIONS THAT ROAM AT WILL ROUND THE API STATION.!V MRMBY Of THE UNIVERSITY 8F IUMH$CHAPTER XII storm and sunshine on the mweru lake—over the kundelungu tableland to the katanga. Like all African lakes, Mweru—the " Great White Lake," as the natives call it—is diminishing both in size and depth. Time was when its area reached out to twice its present size, and its depth was much greater than it is to-day. It then lay held back, as it were, on the north and west by the Tanganyika-Mweru and Kundelungu Plateaus. The swiftly flowing Luvua River, which forms its outlet at its northern extremity, has, in course of time, worn away great canyons for itself—a thousand feet and more deep—out of the argillaceous rock, gradually lessening by its ever- deepening bed the elevation and volume of the lake behind. The vast bulk of sediment brought down by the Luapula River to the south, as well as the great surface evaporation, is another contributing cause. Mweru is merely a widening of the Luapula, and as both this inflowing river and the outflowing Luvua have a swift current, the lake in between has a percept- ible flow as well. Its length to-day is about sixty- six miles, its breadth about twenty-four miles, and its elevation above sea-level 3,000 feet. On our trip down this lake we had no luck. First thing, the Government steamer was out of order— a portion of her engine had been mislaid or something ! Secondly, her captain was in still worse case; he had 241 QVOYAGING ON MWERU bad jaundice, besides other things, and the doctor from Luanza Mission was attending him. So we had to take the steamer's semi-enclosed barge as the next best thing. Our baggage piled in its centre just left room for our two beds and two " boys," with their wives. The paddlers, when they were not paddling, were perched monkey-like on a space perhaps eight feet by eight, at, what Sir Harry Lauder would call," the blunt end of the boat." The craft had a curved sheet-iron awning mounted on iron stanchions—a positive death trap in a high wind, and about which I shall have more to say later on. Saying good-bye to our kind Belgian friends the Tonglets, and with Dr. Tilsley, the mission doctor, aboard, we set out from Pweto towards midday on April the 4th. What with the lackadaisical methods of paddling, the wind, and the flow of the lake, we travelled at the rate of perhaps a mile an hour, reaching the Luanza Mission at midnight. The doctor went ashore, but my wife and I dossed it down on our mattresses in the bottom of the barge, experiencing a foretaste of the discomforts that were to be our lot for many days ahead. Dawn and sunrise on these African lakes have a magical quality to which Lake Mweru is no exception. Every night during this journey we would tie up amongst the reeds about eleven o'clock—sometimes we would travel all night. The sunrise and scenery compensated us—as much as these things can—for the uneasy nights of noise and restlessness. Every morning we awoke to a carnival of colour, and to that sense of detachment that wide spaces lend, as our old earth goes rolling on into the eye of the sun—from darkness and shadow into the slowly spreading light of a new day. 242Fig. 74.—MORNING ON THE LUVUA RIVER, SHOWING THE RIFT FORMATION OF THE VALLEY ABOVE THE RISING MIST.i'HE LIBRARY f!!: USE UfSiVERSlTY OF ILLINOISSTORM AND SUNSHINE We stand and watch, like steersmen entering a new harbour—a great port in space. The jakanas start to chatter as they dart over the pink water-lily leaves, their long toes splashing diamonds; the ducks and geese swing by noisily to the Luapula estuary; the cormorants and snake-birds cluster on dead and fallen trees—trees that are guano-painted with a million of digested fish—recovering from their last evening's gorge, and preparing for the next; wolves of the lake these ! The disdainful fish eagle sits with his mate pluming himself above his eerie of branches; the musty mugger mimicking a slimy log pushes his menacing head through the water weeds. All this we see as our boat slowly advances, whilst above us hang the great dull-pink cliffs that foot the Kundelgungu Plateau—verdure clad, with overhanging trees amongst which the monkeys curse out at us as we pass. Then with it all the Awemba boating songs ring out as the men lazily ply their paddles: Ya ley O! Ah! Say monay ley huhlonda ! Ah-ah-ah! Say monay ley huhlonda ! At Luanza we go up to visit Dan Crawford of undenominated mission fame, the pioneer missionary adventurer who has a tale to tell of Mushidi's mush- room kingdom equally as enthralling as any told of King Prempeh of Ashanti. We found him very busy with preparations for a missionary conference, and so with little time to spare. He is a sturdy Scotsman, with a neatly trimmed grey beard and blue eyes, some- what of a dreamer and philosopher these days, making native folklore and philosophy his hobby. Crawford, or as he is known to the natives "Konga Vantu," reached Mushidi's capital of Bunkeya from 243MUSHIDI'S MUSHROOM KINGDOM West Africa in the slave days more than thirty years ago, and his life is linked inextricably with the early history of the Mweru country. It is said that Mushidi once put Crawford in a cage, sending him round the country as an act of bravado, but about this Crawford rarely speaks. He, at any rate, played no mean part in the early days, and went through some hair-raising experiences about which he tells in his interesting books. The mere name of Mushidi in those days struck terror into many savage hearts, for he ruled a polyglot king- dom in the heart of Africa by bloodshed and cruelty. But then, in the words of the poet: Tyrant? . . . Yes, no doubt in measure—cruel, and greedy of his sway (Since his people scorn the chicken, but make gods of beasts of prey!) Had he faltered once, or wavered, passed he swiftly, stiff and cold, To the groves of sad Mwaruli, haunted by the Kings of old— He who rules a savage nation must a savage rule uphold. Mushidi's history is a curious one, and has, moreover, a political flavour. He was an east-coast native with Arab blood in his veins, who came across to the Sanga (Katanga) country, and through his crafty generalship and prowess in the field usurped the authority of the Sanga chiefs, building up for himself by extreme cruelty and cunning artifice a powerful negro cosmo- politan state into which he attracted, and used for his own ends, all that was worst in the savage tribes around him. Not only cut-throat coast Arabs and Swahili, but Baluba cannibals to the north,and Awemba mutilators to the south. The Sangas themselves he trained as elephant hunters. It was a kingdom built up on lives—human and animal—slaves and ivory. Mushidi, in spite of the fact that he had a harem of four or five hundred wives, bought, with ivory tusks, 244STORM AND SUNSHINE a Portuguese half-caste wife, who, being jealous of the others, and quite unscrupulous, out-Heroded Herod in her acts of revolting cruelty and wanton bloodshed. The " break-up " of this mushroom kingdom came when Britain and Belgium were seeking to extend their influence in Africa; the former from Lake Nyasa and the British sphere to the south under Cecil Rhodes and Sir Harry Johnston, the latter from the Congo River and the Belgian sphere in the north, under Stanley, acting for King Leopold II. One may say that the two interests met at Bunkeya, Mushidi's capital, where the old rascal, playing his cards badly, lost both his head and the country over which he ruled. Mushidi himself, it appears, had an undoubted preference for making an agreement with the English, but failing to grasp his opportunity when Sir Alfred Sharpe came to see him and make an offer from the British Government, the Belgians (who were well armed and accompanied by three hundred native soldiers with an Englishman, Captain Stairs, in command) annexed the country, hoisting their flag in the Katanga. Here, leaving the early history of the country through which we were passing and continuing our narrative, we also leave Luanza Mission and paddle down the coast some miles, to the administrative post of Lukon- zolwa and, passing the dilapidated homestead of two Dutch fish traders and hunters, reach a place called Kilwa. Athwart the western sky now stretches the long southward extension of the Kundelungu Plateau; its eastern spurs, which abut directly on to the nor- thern shore of Lake Mweru, have suddenly terminated, and behind the abandoned station of Kilwa lies an arid plain reaching back many miles before again touching the foot of the mountains. Wishing to reach 24sSOUTH END OF MWERU the Lufira Valley and the Katanga railway, it is this same southward branch of the Kundelungu that I have a mind to cross, and hopefully I go ashore at Kilwa to see a Greek trader there, and to enquire as to the possi- bilities of obtaining porters for the job. " Not a hope " is his reply—" the natives here are a confoundedly untrustworthy lot, and need licking into shape. You will never be able to cross the Kundelungu from here, for your porters will all desert you. You will have to go to Kasenga and try from there." So I return to our own cramped quarters and the creek where lies our ungallant craft. So far, we had had four nights of discomfort, sleeping on the boards of this dirty barge, surrounded by snoring or sweating boatmen, and it had been no picnic. But the worst was yet to come. Not that we had anything against Judge Salkin, on the contrary, we enjoyed his society ; but there are worse things than restless nights on the shores of Lake Mweru—for instance, a storm on the same lake is one of them, and another is sleeping out in the swamps of the Luapula River. We had met Judge Salkin at Luanza (he was the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeal at Elisabethville); he said then, " I may join you at Kilwa as I wish to go to Kasenga " —and he did. We were three, therefore, when we left Kilwa and put out on to the open lake to cross its south-western arm. Generally speaking, Mweru is not a stormy lake such as Tanganyika or Kivu, although its southern end, below Kilwa Island, has a bad reputation in this respect. Some years ago, in fact, two white men were drowned in this part, and innumerable canoes and their contents have been wrecked in this same spot. " White squalls," as they are known, accompanied by driving 246STORM AND SUNSHINE rain and whirlwinds, are of almost daily occurrence here, during the rainy season, especially in the after- noons. When we set out, however, the sun was shining, and the lake calm. Then—suddenly—almost before we were aware of it, a line of white mist and rain appeared ahead, driving straight on to us and engulfing us very shortly afterwards in a violent tornado, accompanied by an angry-looking sea. Unfortunately, just at that time, we were in the very widest and worst part of the crossing, between Kilwa Island and the mainland, where we received the full force of the storm. The only thing to do under the circumstances, we did, and that was to paddle for our lives to the island, which lay about two miles to our left. The old barge rocked and wallowed to such an extent that we all thought the next moment would be our last, especially as the iron awning had now become a dangerous kind of wind scoop that threatened every moment to turn us right over; we were, in fact, merely held down by the dead weight of the fourteen paddlers, who pluckily stuck to their very exposed posts on either side of us. It was a very nasty and anxious experience, and through our heads, I know—as we heeled over first this way and then that—went grim thoughts. What my wife thought then she would never tell me, but I here pay a tribute to her pluck on this occasion—why, she was not even seasick ! When we thankfully reached Kilwa Island, it was pitch dark, we were cramped, cold and hungry, but what did we care! After seeing through an ex- perience of that kind mere physical feeling " don't cut no ice," as the Americans say. The uppermost thought was, we had all escaped with our wretched 247WHITE SQUALLS little lives. True—I had lost my only presentable hat, which had cost me fifty shillings at Heath's, but that was only a detail ! Barging into trees and groping along the shore, we presently found a creek into which we put our craft, managing after a time to get some hot coffee and a bite, and afterwards some sleep. As it blew hard all that night and the next day as well, we decided to stay where we were. This ran us out of food. There were now—with Judge Salkin— three mouths to feed, which made a difference (the Judge had provisions, but they were in a canoe which was supposed to accompany us, but which we lost in the storm). The tinned stuff (we always avoided it as far as possible on our African expeditions) with which we started from Pweto was all finished, and then there were nineteen natives with us, who had to be provided for; we decided, therefore, that Kilwa Island— which is British by the way—had to produce something. This, however, was like getting blood from a stone. The natives whom we found there would not part up with a thing until we threatened violence, and then they only brought us up a tardy fowl or two, and some eggs and fish. In the end, with much perseverance and paying high prices, we succeeded in getting enough to carry us over the next day. We were, fortunately, well supplied with smokes, for I happened to have brought with me from Kisenyies on Lake Kivu a thousand native-made cigars—we called them " stinka- doras." Even " Polly " and " Ticky " went on short rations at this time. I know " Polly " would have laid an egg to help us if she could, and we always expected her to, but none arrived. During our journey down the lake she had made a cold-weather retreat for herself in a hole 248Fig. 75.—THE BARGE ON LAKE MWERU. In which the author and his wife spent twelve days and encountered a heavy storm. Owing- to the iron roof the boat nearly capsized.fHE HBRA8T Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOISSTORM AND SUNSHINE formed by the piling of our baggage, from which it was often difficult to entice her. However, when it was calm and the sun was out, she would climb labor- iously up the iron stanchions of the boat and talk to us from a favourite ledge she had under the awning. It was, by the way, a ledge also in use by one of the paddlers for stowing away odd pieces of dirty rag his pipe, and whatnot. The first thing " Polly " did when she got there was to start clearing these things out, from what, she supposed, was her reserved seat, and, as the table whereon we had our food stood below, this rubbish as often as not fell on to the African " dainties " with which we happened to be regaling ourselves at the time. Then, on another occasion, this naughty bird nearly went overboard again, but managed, at the last moment, when all our hearts were in our mouths, to hang on by one claw to a suspended loin cloth belonging to one of the boatmen. " Ticky " quite surpassed herself, too, at this trying time by jumping on to our only basket of precious eggs, tipping them over neatly, and smashing the lot. This little she-devil hated the boatmen, and would go for them on every possible occasion, giving them a nasty nip now and again. " Polly," too, disliked them; I suppose because they got in her way, and then she would also give them a nip. But those Awemba boatmen didn't mind—they would only laugh. Lord bless my soul, they were a cheery crowd; they would laugh, I believe, if they were being tortured on the rack. Give me an Awemba on safari, every time ! During this waiting on the weather it was Judge Salkin, as well as our pets, who kept us from being too bored. " He had just finished writing a romance," he told us, which he was thinking of entitling " Africa 249KIBANGISM One Hundred Years Hence." The gist of it was, that by that time the black races had a sort of a com- bination of Christianism with a negro nationalism, which was being expounded by a black prophet called Goya, giving himself out to be the black brother of Jesus, with the idea that the white man's Christianity was unsuit- able to the black mind. A kind of Kibangism.* There was, I think, a University by that time in a big town on the Lower Congo, which was to be formally opened for the first time by the eldest son of an ex-King of Belgium, who was at the time a Professor of Science. Then the son of an ex-King of England was also present repre- senting a big commercial company. The prophet Goya had a great vogue, all black Africa flocking to hear him. Then another terrible war breaks out in Europe, and the black people, headed by Goya, drive all the whites out of Central Africa, keeping only a few as advisers. The first real Emperor of Africa, Salkin makes out to be a Baluba chief, whom Goya nominates * This Kibangism may be a sign of the times. The following is an extract from The African World concerning it: "The current Tribune Congolaise publishes an interesting letter from Kinshasa on Kibangism, the native movement, which two years ago endangered our rule in the country alongside the Matadi- Leopoldville Railway, and which has not subsided. " According to the Tribune Congolaise, Kibangism is only begin- ning. It is a combine of a kind of Christianism with a negro Nationalism; and the correspondent indicated as a remedy the appointment of really Christian native priests. As a proof of the exactitude of his opinion, he reports that, feeling this would be the remedy, a missionary in the Lower Congo asked a native Roman Catholic priest from Angola to come into the country. The native priest came and had a triumphal welcome, being considered by the natives as 4 the Saviour/ and treated as such. As a result of this, reports the correspondent, the Scheut missionaries have recently opened seminaries for natives in the Mayumbe, and the Jesuit Fathers have opened one at Mlemfu." 250STORM AND SUNSHINE for the throne. This idea certainly interested us, and helped to pass the time. Towards midday of our second day's sojourn on Kilwa Island, the weather being propitious, we again put out to sea, reaching safely the mouth of the Luapula River, up which, against the current, we slowly make our way. Colle is the first place we reach, where we buy a fine lot of fresh fish, then on past the old town of Kazembi. After that Kashobwe, where we find a Persian (of all people) trader, and where Judge Salkin decides to leave us, as our old tub is too slow for him. We part with mutual regret, hoping to meet again in Brussels. Incidents on the voyage are many and varied. Crocs come up to look at us, whilst others splash off the bank. Hippos salute us with snorts, shaking their ears. We see a small land-rat swimming across the great river, and admire his pluck. One of our valued chickens scrambles out of its basket, falls into the water, and is seen no more. A Muscovy duck, belonging to one of the crew, also escapes, but it can fly well and does—we.hope, to form a new breed on the river. We pass the two Dutchmen whose homestead we saw away back—they have a funeral-like wooden barge of their own making, which is even harder to propel than ours, and so (astonishing fact) we pass it. Ya ley O ! Ah ! Say monay ley huhlonda ! Ah-ah-ah 1 Say monay ley huhlonda ! Our hardy pagayeurs paddle on and paddle ever—all day and mostly all night. Their endurance is astonish- ing. Just with a draw at their hubble-bubble, and a snack now and again, they go on for thirty hours at a stretch, changing over occasionally from one side to theUP THE LUAPULA TO KASENGA other. Past two mission stations of the Plymouth Brethren. Then, before we reach Kasenga, we meet a canoe-load of missionaries en route for the conference at Luanza. There are about a dozen of them—women and men—packed in one large canoe, some Americans amongst them. We pass the time of day, but do not envy them their voyage. Then—at long last—we reach Kasenga and, after twelve days of that awful barge, overjoyed at the prospect of a hot bath, a quiet rest, and a good night's sleep in our comfortable tent. There is something very attractive about this place. To start with, the station is built overlooking the river and the plains beyond, from high cliff-like banks of rich reddish soil, very pleasing to the eye. Then the forest and bush round about has a luxuriant full-of-game kind of look so often associated with the low veldt in Africa. Kasenga may be said to be the headquarters of the dried-fish industry, enormous quantities of this com- modity, from both the British and the Belgian side, passing through the place daily en route to the mines. The price of dried fish in Elisabethville is from 3 frs. 50 c. to 4 frs. a kilo, so not only do the white traders interest themselves in the industry (there is, in fact, great competition amongst them) by buying up all they can get hold of, but the native fishermen from both sides of the Luapula do a thriving trade, often organising their own caravans into the mines, and in the case of those from the British side, paying an import duty of 12 per cent, ad valorem. Something like eight hundred 6o-pound loads of fish pass through every month. The fishing season is from November to April, when the river and lake are loaded with big fish of all kinds, many of them so fat that a considerable amount 252STORM AND SUNSHINE of oil can be obtained from them when they are split and dried over the fires. We had a pleasant time at Kasenga. Firstly, Monsieur Delsa, the Government official in charge of the station, laid himself out to be nice. Then there were the brothers Renaud—old friends of ours; they were there to welcome us. These young fellows are working hard in an attempt to carve out a trading and transport business for themselves, and as they are abstemious and " straight," where so many are other- wise, they will probably win out. If the Government are looking for the right kind of settler, here they have it, and I hope that they may achieve the success they deserve. Their one great drawback, at this time, was the exceedingly bad state of the road to Elisabethville, along which they were running their cars, but surely the powers that be can see the importance of keeping this road in good repair, tapping as it does the rich lake district of Mweru. I am, however, a little afraid that the Administration of the Katanga, from what I have seen of it, needs toning up (I was in one group of villages, not a hundred miles from Elisabethville, that had not been visited for three years by a Belgian official, so it was said). In my opinion, it lacks organi- sation and is, at any rate, not half so competent as in the Lower and Eastern Congo provinces. It should be, if anything, the other way about, in a province that is so magnificently wealthy as the Katanga. I should say it is much under-staffed. This should be remedied, as it is a mistaken policy to overwork white men in tropical Africa. Croc shooting from the river banks is a great pas- time at Kasenga, as there are a number of these rep- tiles who have turned " man-eater," contracting the 253KASENGA TALES habit of snapping natives out of their canoes. The town, ailso, some months before we reached it, had a special man-eating lion of its own. Tales told about this lion were still thrilling everybody at sundown, when the drinks were handed round. It held up the township for a matter of three weeks before the Renauds killed it. The one habit that distinguished it from all others was its custom of entering huts that it found empty, and waiting there until the owner returned, pouncing on its victim as soon as he came in at the door. The wily natives were careful into what huts they entered in those days, for fear there should be this unwelcome visitor waiting for them inside. Every African settlement has its interesting items of local history—sometimes about a lion, or maybe a leopard, or a croc, or a buffalo, or even a murder, or some curious native superstition or custom. Whether it is usual for natives to make their last will and testa- ment few people know—perhaps not—not often, at any rate ! However, be that as it may, a Sanga chief, who died at Kasenga recently, did make one, and it was to the effect that, after he was dead, he was to be tied to a tree above the banks of the Luapula River, facing the rising sun, and there he was to be left and not to be buried at all. This chief, apart from making a will which was unusual, was, it appears, an original kind of a bloke, so in their love for the freakish and bizarre, that the black races invariably show in such cases, his kinsman caught on to the idea that to be quite in the vogue, and to possess a charm of untold potency, it was necessary to own a piece of his dead body (curio hunters beware !), with what result can better be imagined than described. 254STORM AND SUNSHINE These Kasenga tales would not be complete without a reference to the mystical white serpent of gigantic size—the pwimina or fwimina, as the natives call it— that they all firmly believe lives on the Kundelungu Plateau to which we were going. Its dried meat, of which there are said to be two pieces in existence, will make a pot of water boil over when put into it. Owing to the proximity of the famous Katanga Copper Mines, and the consequent high rates of wages in the vicinity, and the natural distaste of the native for carrying work, the ordinary individual, without the help of the Government, will find the very utmost difficulty in obtaining natives for a safari through the Katanga. We were, of course, fortunate in obtaining the co-operation of Administrateur Delsa, who, we were more than glad to know, had decided to accom- pany us to the foot of the Kundelungu Plateau. True, this was only three days away, but as the region which I wished to cross is quite uninhabited, obtaining suffi- cient food for the porters during our stay there pre- sented a difficulty that would, without Monsieur Delsa's help, become almost unsurmountable—at any rate, very costly. As will be gathered from the foregoing chapters, African travel is " punctuated " with the porter diffi- culty. If any reader would care to take the trouble to tabulate the various changes we had in our porters since leaving Arusha in Tanganyika Territory, until the time we reached Kambove, sixteen months after, their numbers, and the various tribes and races they belonged to, as well as the various modes and methods of travel, it would, I guarantee, astonish the most veteran globe-trotter. The African explorer of the future, I foresee, will have to take either a Citroen 255THE LAST SAFARI caterpillar tractor or an aeroplane, for it is quite cer- tain he will never be able to do his job with porters alone. As everybody knows, the Cape to Cairo Railway runs through the Katanga, and as this was our objective, I brought our loads down to the minimum by sending all superfluous baggage—including the ivory—by one of the Renauds' cars to Elisabethville. Our other preparations consisted, mostly, in replenishing our depleted stores and buying fowls for the road (the latter costing, in these parts, six francs each in place of the up-country price of one franc). Again, all being ready, one fine morning we say " good-bye" to the Luapula and Kasenga and au revoir to our old friends the Renauds, and with our new friend Monsieur Delsa we journey on to the " table mountains " of the Kundelungu. On this occasion, as I say, we had to condense our loads as much as possible, and for this reason our famous parrot travelled with his noisy compatriots, slung on a pole carried by a brawny native—" Polly " and her cage one end, and the crate of chickens (the compatriots) the other. It was on this journey that Our Bird completed her repertoire out of " Chanticleer." At the end of the day 's trek, when we let her out of her cage, she first had some food, and then, climbing on to the chicken crate, started to crow, astonishing not only her feathered friends below, but greatly perturbing any cocks there might be in the vicinity. She had learnt much, our parrot, during our voyage down Lake Mweru. Not a few bad words, perhaps, amongst them. She had, for instance, "contracted" a terrible cough from somewhere or someone—a regular " graveyard'' cough too—and, as she practised this in the very early 256Fig. 76.—PREPARATIONS FOR CROSSING THE UNINHABITED KUNDELUNGU PLATEAU. Cooked food for the native porters : sweet potatoes, mush, and fish.flff LIBRARY OF HE UNIVERSITY 0F ILMfifllSSTORM AND SUNSHINE mornings in our tent, one would really think she was doomed to consumption or something deadly like that. So realistic was it that we have often mistaken it for one of those coughs that natives are in the habit of indulging in when they wish to attract your atten- tion for some reason or another—a cash advance, medicine, and so forth! "Polly" had by this time also learnt her own name in Swahili—" Kasuku "— and in French—" Koko "—adding " bon jour " when she thought she would. A row between two village curs was (and is) also one of her " masterpieces," and she could mimic the pied wagtail's song (the African species of this bird sings beautifully) to the life. She had, moreover, learnt to copy the noises made by a person cleaning his teeth with astonishing clearness—gargling water in the mouth, and spitting it out afterwards, all complete! Jealousy, of course, is one of those things shared equally, and in a like degree, both by men and animals. Jealousy between " Polly " and " Ticky " never waned, but it reached its climax, one might say, when the monkey had to be put into the parrot's cage. It came about in this way: chigoes (the West Indian term) or chiggers—a microscopical burrowing flea, the female of which buries itself beneath or at the side of the toe- nails—are commonly met with all over the more arid and sandy parts of Central Africa. Animals as well as human beings are by no means free from them, and, one day, it was found that " Ticky's " thumb was much swollen and evidently contained a chigger and its bag of eggs. There was nothing else for it— the beastly insect had to be extracted or "Ticky " was going to lose her little thumb, that was evident. It was going to be rather a painful operation, too, and, 257 RTHE KUNDELUN GU PLATEAU as I said before, our monkey could bite. So how to do it, was the question. We thought of tying her up in a bag, at first, until someone hit on the brilliant idea of putting her into the parrot's cage. This plan was a good one, as when we got her in we could pull her hand out between the bars and operate on it without more ado. The cook performed the operation with great success, but " Polly," an interested spectator during this time, clearly showed by her actions that this invasion of her home was an indignity she would never forget. But our pets, so dear to our hearts, are taking up too much space (a way they have !) We must to the Kundelungu! Our wonderful and wild life across Africa draws to its close. We are on the fringe of civilisation, and, even now, the clang of the steam shovel and the shouts of sweating men find an echo along the far flung buttresses of the great tableland beneath which we pitch our tent. Close at hand lies the abandoned Mushipashi diamond mine, which Delsa has to visit, to take stock of iron scoops and Decauville trolleys before Nature hides them altogether beneath her green mantle. Abandoned, it is said, because the stones were not of good " water " and the lode of soil above them too deep and expensive to move. The Kundelungu Plateau has been pretty well prospected, but not, however, with much success. Copper is there, as it is everywhere along the Katanga Copper Belt, and there are these diamonds, but not much else. The Government at one time had an experimental agricultural station at the north-eastern corner of the plateau, but this has since also been abandoned. The northern portion is well stocked 258Fig. 77.—INTO THE LAKE MWERU RIFT. An unnamed waterfall off the Kundelungu Plateau.hie irnm Of THE DIVERSITY OF ILLINOISSTORM AND SUNSHINE with game—eland, zebra, and roan being the most common, and there are some rhino and elephant. An attempt was made, by a Belgian named Van den Heuvel, on the experimental farm, to catch and breed eland and zebra and even to cross them, but regarding the latter experiment, with a negative result. It has since been facetiously suggested that a better result might have been obtained if the eland had been painted with stripes to resemble the zebra (sic). Monsieur Delsa climbed up with us the 1,300 feet cliffs that form the escarpment of this portion of the plateau, and, after spending one night on the top, abandoned us to our fate to go about his tax- collecting business in the villages below. We had come up by, what is best termed, a goat track, and our first camp, actually on the plateau itself, we made beside the Luanza River, where it leaps over the edge of the cliffs. In our march across the plateau we followed this beautiful stream almost to its source in the green meadows of the central uplands, then, after that, part way down the Lofoie River on our journey to the settlement of Lukafu. The higher parts of these rivers are as near as anything I have ever seen to our own in the South of England. The water was like crystal, the river-beds being covered with flowing water weeds—an uncommon sight in most African streams. In places they again took on a tropical look, with overhanging pandanus palms (which were then, April, in fruit), where the water rushed between grey boulders or fell harmoniously over cascades of stratified slate. I am no kind of a geologist, but up here, on this comparatively narrow belt of tableland, it was evident to untrained eyes that we stood on an archaic section 259TO THE KATANGA RAILWAY of Africa from which the surrounding country had gradually sunk away, leaving behind it this massif, an orographic fault-block shorn by the mighty scythe of Time sheer away to the plains below. The central uplands are occupied by immense stretches of prairie, bounded by thick forests of the typical highland lichen-covered trees of the sub-continent. Entomo- logically I found the plateau disappointing. We spent four days there, descending its western side on the fifth day to the Benedictine Mission of Lukafu. Here we paid off our Kasenga porters, as the good Fathers promised to find us others to take us to the railway. I may have my weak moments—who does not ?—but it cannot be said that I ever shirked responsibility. Not content with a parrot and a monkey, at Lukafu I must needs go and saddle myself with an enormous bird. " Munombo " was his name in Kiluba-Sanga; in English, the Giant or Ground Hornbill; in Latin, Bucorax cafer. He fed on snakes, rats and locusts, and had, I believe, killed most of the mission kittens, whereby he came into my possession at the price of fifty francs. Doubtless the Fathers were glad to get rid of him, for not only the kittens, but the young chickens and ducklings as well, were " grist to his mill"—anything frail and furry, in fact! The Fathers had said nothing to us about their owning such a bird. Our first visit, therefore, from " Munombo " came as a surprise, and occurred when we were least expecting it, in the very early morning. We had just woken up, and, being still deshabille, were wandering about admiring the sunrise, when this great bird came into our line of vision round the corner of the tent, advancing in a stately yet determined 260Fig. 78.—- A RAFFIA PALM FOREST IN THE KATANGA.lIE .LIBRARY OF THE UHIVERSITY «F HMHQI&STORM AND SUNSHINE manner straight at our monkey. Realising that this was some semi-wild fowl belonging to the mission station, and that " Ticky " was in danger, I caught up a towel, flapping it at the intruder. If you think that towel frightened that bird in the slightest degree, you are wrong, but it certainly did draw its attention from the monkey to myself. But as I was only clad in pyjamas, this attention was, to say the least of it, unwelcome, as it was directed mainly towards my bare ankles, forcing me for the moment to make an undigni- fied retreat. Of course, later on, when I got to know " Munombo" better, I found him to be really a philanthropist amongst birds, for any particularly appetising morsel he happened to pick up, he would bring along and offer it to me in his huge beak with every sign of affection. It is, as a matter fact, a self- sacrificing trait that runs through all the hornbill species. In some instances, when a female bird is sitting plastered in its nest (as is the habit of some species), the male bird wears itself to skin and bone fetching food for its imprisoned mate, and often dies of starvation. " Munombo" reached the London Zoo safely, and, I hear, gives his keeper all he can do to supply him with chopped rat, his favourite food. On the long railway journey southward my spare time was pretty well occupied looking after him and his big crate. This he got out of once, when we were at sea, and marching along the saloon deck, cleared it of passengers until I was called in to the rescue. So much for " Munombo." When we left Lukafu he accompanied us in a big wickerwork cage. We trekked by easy stages across the Lufira Valley to Kam- bove on the Katanga Railway, passing the Koni Falls 261KAMBOVE on our way which the Union Miniere are proposing to use for a new power plant. Our mail had been accumulating at Kambove for three months, so there we found a sackful of letters and papers clutching us back into civilisation. Civil- isation, the Mesh of Man the Moneyspinner ! I had hoped to go west from here to Angolaland, but my letters said " south to the Cape "—to leave Africa once more, but, I know, only to return. 26aFig. 79.—" LAUGHING WATER." The Lufira River at Koni's, which is being- harnessed to yield copper from its own valleys.11!E LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF fl.UNOISCHAPTER XIII MIND PICTURES—ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL As soon as I reached Elisabethville and came in con- tact with our vaunted civilisation, I " went sick " with gastric 'flu, which lasted me until I reached England, twenty-five days later, my wife contracting the same complaint at Cape Town. With the long southward journey I will not bore you, dear reader, for although not lacking in interest for many, to a traveller who had just passed through the wonderful regions I have attempted to describe in the foregoing chapters it was a little tame and not a little tedious before we came to the end of it. Never- theless, this 2,500 miles of railway that rattled us southward day and night for ten days, gripped the imagination. There was plenty of time to think, too ; to let the imagination roam—even to weave vague fancies—as we drew up at the great mining and agricultural centres or, anon, flitted through the little dorps and homesteads in the moonlight. '' Let the imagination roam! Weave vague fancies''— that is it! I will conclude my book with a few " mind pictures "—dreams, if you like to call them so (shade of Judge Salkin!)—that came to me as we steamed our way southward. My mind may have been disordered by the 'flu, but you may judge for yourself, dear reader. To start with, I thought of heading this chapter " Retrospect 263PROPHECY and Prophecy," but truth to tell, it contains little of the former. I shun the backward glance at a road that is gloomy and along which many of my friends lie buried. Besides, what is there in the past ? Only savagery, slavery and ignorance, and later, a rush of money-grubbers and ruthless despoiling of nature. The Progress of Mammon, redeemed here and there by the unselfish work of a few Master Minds ! But a journey into the future Africa is worth while. Worth while if only to shake clear of the bonds of the present and the regrets of the past. Worth while if only to gaze into the crystal orb and project oneself forward if only for a moment and, it may be, mould other thoughts than one's own to regard the " Dark Continent " in bright perspective. I am an optimist. There are, as we all know, many depths to fathom and many heights to scale, but none so deep and none so high that 100 years or so, at the present rate of progress, won't help us to cross them to a bright and free land beyond. The future of Africa, for good or ill, is, and always will be, in the hands of the white races. The Black Peril, as such, is a fallacy, for the Ethiopian will never gain a secure footing in the realms of Science, and Science will hold the last card. Mere strength is no match for it, in small as well as in great things. Real Science, as it will be, is truth—truth is goodness, against which evil is of no avail. Science and scien- tists ioo years from now will have the world at their feet—Africa in the hollow of their hand. I can see, ioo years hence, the planetary system of the atom and its constituent electrons, or some other marvellous discovery, worked out and perfected, and an International Scientific Advisory Committee 264Fig. fo— NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS.(HE -LIBRARY OF THE !'fI!Vsf|S(TY flF M.UNi'liSMIND PICTURES to a reformed and live League of Nations bringing to their knees refractory Governments and States for fear that5 in a flash of cathode rays they will be " de-atomised " into mere dust and ashes. I can see Science as the Great Comocrat, co-ordinating races and Governments and administering a scheme of world reform. Doubtless, Egypt, in the interval of now and then, will have suffered a period of red ruin and pestilence, and famine after it, and having failed with a period of self-government, will have returned to the old protectorate regime ; her people, and Egypt herself, like the immutable Sphinx that so well embodies them, changeless and unchanging for all time. The Sudan will show immense progress. Under the wizard hand of great engineers and beneficent Mother Nile, it will have blossomed into one gigantic garden plantation. Abyssinia, under an enlightened black ruler, will have awakened from her long long sleep and set her house in order. From being the last bit of savage Africa, she will have become the happy hunting ground of the prospector and land speculator, and will be experiencing, possibly, the last great gold rush of those modern times. In Central Africa what do we see ? Do we see an Ethiopian Empire under a black ruler ? Do we see the white man driven to the sea ? Do we see, perhaps, the rise of another great Moslem State or an East Africa under the control of the Indian ? Some of these things will have been, but will have passed. Mad Mullahs from the Abyssinian frontier. Ghandis from the East. Savage Bangwala prophets from the West and, perhaps, a mushroom empire under 265PROGRESS a half-caste king. Great changes, seemingly perma- nent, and bloody battles, but all will have passed. Mother Africa will have moved her gilded chair and diamond-studded footstool from the South to the heart of her country. The Congo Basin will be out- shining anything previously known in the Old World or the New, in the extent of its mineral wealth and the variety of its products. A huge combine of Belgian and American interests will direct its affairs, and, beside it, a great Central African Commonwealth will have arisen, stretching from the Limpopo to the Abyssinian border, in which the educated Indian and Negro will bear their rightful part. The South will have advanced—will show enormous progress in agriculture, and come through more than one fiery ordeal—but her present status will be little changed. What of Islam, some will say ? Of that I say, both Christianity and Islam need regenerating, and by then this will have come to pass. The religion of Islam will have begun to merge into a world faith under the guiding hand of Science. One hundred years hence I foresee war as no longer possible, and so vast sums set free for economical expansion, speeding the pace of progress tenfold. As I forecast an all-powerful League of Nations with a vast amount of business to transact, let us accept an imagined invitation to join the world tour of the Scientific Advisory Committee on their journey of inspection from Cairo to the Cape, and thus get a bird's-eye view of this New Africa. Thus, in the year 2022 of the great Era of Transport, we stand in the saloon of the splendid electrically driven (possibly by wireless transmission) airship of 266Fig. 8I.—NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS.HE LIBRARY or- THE UHiVF,«$ITY OP ILUHOISMIND PICTURES the League of Nations, surrounded by the supermen of Science, accompanied by our attendant airplane, and moving easily along the Nile Valley with Cairo and the Pyramids in the haze behind us. Over the last pyramids of Lisht and Medum we go. But before we reach our first port of call, the great town of Khartoum, we pass several airships and numerous gigantic airplanes. We read the latest wireless messages in the saloon which tell us that the Prince of Wales has accepted the post of Chairman to the Board of the Central African Radium Syndicate, that the ex-Crown Prince of Italy is engaged to a waitress, and that the Chinese have been allowed to enter Petrograd. After a short stay at Khartoum we push on and land at Sennar Junction. Here begin the first ribs of Africa's Iron Spine. We inspect the latest type of American electric engines that run to the Congo, the Niger, and Adis Abbaba. The representatives of the League of Nations having transacted their business, we move forward to the forest city of Ituri—the junction of the Trans-Conti- nental Airship Line and the Stanleyville-Mombasa Connection. Here the Scientific Committee attend a conference of the Rift Valley Mineral Combine. Then southward again, past the marvellous snow peaks of Ruwenzori, along the Ituri-Lindi Gold Belt, Where Africa's Backbone is being laid bare and mining camps are springing up in all directions in the cleared forest. We hear, as we make our way to Kivu and Tanganyika, of the opening of the Ripon Falls Power Station, and of work on the new Abyssinian oil-fields, and of the latest discovery in Europe. Then passing slowly southward we have time to 267SCIENCE, THE COMOCRAT take note of the havoc wrought by the late eruption of the Birunga Volcanoes, and to see with our glasses that the railroad between the Lakes of Kivu and Edward has been buried, for the second time, under a mountain of lava, and that a tall and smoking crater has pushed its way up out of the depths of the Kivu Lake. Then turning slightly east we stay a night at Kitega, the highland capital of the Urundi on the Usumbura- Bukoba line. We see Kitega Station piled with cases of tinned meats, and refrigerating cars standing in the sidings. As we cross the southern Urundi we pass over many ranches, and a million head of fat stock are grazing on its rich pasture in charge of black herdsmen. Then, on southward, past the busy inland ports of Kigoma and Albertville to the El Dorado of the Katanga. Here are large towns, a network of railways, clusters of power stations, rushing rivers and leaping falls harnessed and reharnessed. Radium, diamonds, platinum, gold, silver, tin, copper, lead! We anchor on the great aerodrome on the outskirts of the overgrown metropolis of Elisabethville. We compare notes with airship passengers from Morocco, the Sahara, and West Africa, and airmen from the south. As the scientists have an urgent message from the Lower Congo to arbitrate in the dispute over the new pitchblende deposits discovered in the Kasai, we wait here several days until the return of their airplane. Then, leaving behind the stress and strain and sweat of mines, we sail, after passing the Zambezi Falls, over a more peaceful scene, for below us, now, are still some mines, but in a setting of beautiful farms and orchards, model dairies and piggeries, wide acres of 268Fig. 82.-NEW AND LITTLE-KNOWN BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS TAKEN BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS.ME IIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF II.UNQISMIND PICTURES wheat and lucerne, vines and tobacco. A peaceful land flowing with milk and honey, and pouring its agricultural wealth to the north, and so we reach Cape Town. " Yes," I can hear the reader say, " very nice, but you've said nothing about all those beautiful animals— the elephants, the elands, and the gorillas." " But," I reply, " they will have gone ; Science will be too busy saving the world to save the great game." 269APPENDICES APPENDIX I NOTES ON THE COLLECTION OF LEPIDOPTERA FORMED BY MR. AND MRS. BARNS. By G. Talbot, F.E.S. The specimens are of considerable interest, especially those obtained in the Rugege Forest, the West Kivu District, and the Marungu Plateau. These areas have yielded a good number of forms new to Science, besides adding much to our knowledge of distribution. The collection is being worked out at the Hill Museum, and a short preliminary paper has been published, giving descriptions of several new forms of butterflies, in the Bulletin of the Hill Museum, vol. i., part ii., p. 339,1922. A number of the species figured on the plates in this book are new, and descriptions are being prepared for publication. The number of different forms of butterflies collected is about 650, whilst of moths we have about 700. Some of those species discovered on the first expedition were taken again, and of these we may specially mention Acrcea eltringhami and Acrcea bettiana. The discovery of a form of Papilio mimeticus in the West Kivu District is also of interest, whilst in the Bugoie Forest, in this same region, at 8,500 feet elevation, was taken the Charaxes alticola, Grumb. This species had not been captured since its discovery on the Karisimbi Mountain by members 270APPENDIX II of the German Central African Expedition in 1907. In this district, also, at an elevation of between 4,500 and 6,000 feet, was taken a specimen of the Papilio anti- machus. This species is common in low hot forest country, but its occurrence here at such an elevation is quite extraordinary. APPENDIX II NOTES ON SPECIMENS COLLECTED BY MR. T. A. BARNS ON THE PLATEAU OF THE GREAT CRATERS. The concretions with cores of chalcedony described by Mr. Barns on the ancient shore of Lake Manyara have already been mentioned by Fritz Jaeger (1911) as occurring in the " Steppenkalk "—a recent limestone formation. In the crater of Ngorongoro the " trough " at acacia forest afforded an exposure of some 30 or 40 feet below the crater floor. The three uppermost " beds " here consist of volcanic tuff, the higher two rather fine-grained, the lowest slightly coarser and with many small lapilli. Below this tuff, Mr. Barns found a lava flow, a dense black rock with thin plate-like crystals of augite (5 by 0*5 mm.) and bright specks (0*5 to 0-25 mm.) of magnetite scattered through it.< Examination under the microscope showed this rock to be a basic lava, intermediate in composition between nephelinite and nepheline-tephrite. Augite and magnetite are the only porphyritic constituents. The ground mass, of very fine grain, consists of augite, magnetite, felspar, and much interstitial nepheline. It is very similar, except for its, content of felspar in the ground mass, to a nephelinite described by Dr. Felix Oswald from south of Homa Bay, Victoria Nyanza, but the nepheline is much better developed in Oswald's 271APPENDIX III rock; in the Ngorongoro lava it was only once observed as a phenocryst, and never shows its crystal outlines in the ground mass. Its presence in abundance was proved, however, by microchemical and staining tests. Nephelinites have been recorded previously from three localities in Tanganyika Territory by Herzen- burg (i). The only specimen collected on the slopes of the crater of Oldeani is an olivine-basalt with abundant phenocrysts of labradorite (4 mm. long), and, in the specimen collected, very vesicular. APPENDIX III BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GREAT CRATER REGION. 1. Herzenburg (R): Dr. E. Obst's " Gesteinsamm- lung aus dem abflusslosen Rumpfschollenland des nordostlichen Deutsch-rOstafrika." Anhang zu Mit- teilungen der Geographischen Gesellschaft in Ham- burg, 1915. 2. Oswald (F): " The Miocene Beds of the Victoria Nyanza and the Geology of the Country between the Lake and the Kisii Highlands." Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., 1914. 3. Jaeger (Fritz): " Das Hochland der Riesen- krater und die umliegenden Hochlander Deutsch- Ostafrika." Berlin, 1911. 4. Finckh (L): " Die von F. Jaeger in Deutsch- Ostafrika gesammelten Gesteine." 5. Struck (Bernhard): " Languages of the Tatoga and Iraku Peoples " (1911).* n'"r-V..-- %>»* • • V «C> / \ \j \ 5 w\, W ^— » / J/ .,-'' © ___^ \ / \VK^ ■^VnL fWf^LENDURbtO \N^ ^ """'1 C Wl N>\v^°Wa«! I j \l V7)js40LD^PILI-____o>\ ;&• A^ki / ^ / ERIGIRI NAIBOR IpiMotp- ?72f 1 Grass with trees 1 Si scattered bush . a <*1007 I? & JV ^93 >1020 c—1500----- r-^ NGABOBAG- •-----—^ \B~ THE PLATEAU OF THE GIANT CRATERS.THE LIBRARY OF THE UHIVIBIITY 0F IktlNQIS& #- T & .2^ LMbcr afwasende R,Co£j Equator__Stanle^vill. ..Stefanie V /-"N- UGANDA; -K £ N y A ..wg* S Porrthknvim Kirundd j:B E L C O G N G O ubuiu^ w^nk~'- * . . A JO \ f#Victor\« nM^KwV 1 itLnc/M ) NuaLukemb&& a/WmS J bLuvungii, hUsumbura R.Congpft \ • I. #*> Loanda^ I___ ANGOLA Mr JSanstodg. LaSamS^s KlbangaWl 'ortgpfo 7^3 Aa&a/or^-v, >„* V S-^b* __________________— AV/T A N G A N Y1K A ^Kijambo V^I.Rukwa errxtory -ukonzolwafWt^Sweru ^a« > p/PBuk LNafro Jr ylwe^ ombasa fCondosr Irangi 'tmatinda !^V .ak$ Tanganyika anzibar >ar-es-Salaam Ben<£ue!a 'if ^tliSa^thyjl Mossamedes s tambovf? ^^Lfcan&veuta ' " ' s KashitiS ^ ^ovurnc^ ake H^asa Broken Hi!fa - sA(yama "~"^o 1 ,»»*Sfe(( £&tm ^ x5j( Xhiuta LChilwa 'Mozambique SOUTH WE ST AFRICA Swakopmundx Liideritz 1 S OUTHERN i^o '^;RH01)ESIA S \ ^^>Buluwayo Ptumtre^T fJ , , _ gfyancistown .MacJouts/eoi B EC H U AN A LAN D # & I \ ) 1 \ ( J i * / / © a Chinde PROTECT 0 RATE Gaberonet. Lobats/i Mafekin; Vrybm *4 O f)R A N S W A A L * tyeaconsfieich^- (3 7^-—T Pudk BECHUANALAND Port Nollothv R ,A NGE^ arrenton y FREE <%■ eLourenco Marques Reference. Authors Route shown thus ■ Hallways » * Cape Town \ Hutchinson Jci CAPE O FJ {TO D HOPE jjj^beaufort West East London Port Elizabeth Scale. 300 200 i 4oo 500 Miles. i _l ROUTE OF THE EXPEDITION (1921-22).THE LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY 0f I'llNCiSINDEX Africa, future of, 263-269 Akeley, Carl, 152 gorilla expedition sent out by, 134 Albertville, 91, 179, 183 Andrews, Dr. C. W., volcanic formations, 23 Animals, various, 97-101, 161 Antelopes, 169 "Antizox," in quest of the, 88- 105 Apes: Gorillas, 112, 126-147, 151 " John Daniel," 133 Chimpanzis, 124, 126, 147- 151, 202 Api, North Belgian Congo, ele- phant training at, 222-240 Arusha, 36 tribe, 77 Bafwasende, 92-105 Bagnell, Major, 86 Bagshawe, J. B., 79-83 Bahutu tribe, 172 Bakumu tribe, 106, 108, 148 " Bao," African native game, 67 Barumbi tribe, 108 Barungi tribe, 76 Bassoda Lake. See Klani Lake Batabua tribe, 189 Batwa tribe, 148 Baudouinville, White Fathers' Mission at, 183 Baumann, Oscar, 13, 28 Birunga Volcanoes, 138 Bita Lake, 118 Bonga, 77 Bradley, Mr. and Mrs., 152 Brenneau, Monsieur, 185-189 Brown, Major, 33 Bukavu, 158 " Bwana Kitoko " (Monsieur Odeyn), 191, 201. Carter, Mr., Consul at Bagdad, 220, 221 Chameleons, 157 Cha-ngugu, 158 Crawford, Dan (" Konga Van- tu ") of Luanza Mission, 243 Crocodiles, 204, 253 d'Aout, Monsieur (" Kitwa- bunga "), 93-104 Dathyieni River, 40 Delhaye, Dr. Fernand, 171, 172 Delsa, administrateur, 253, 255- 259 de Ridder, Dr. and Mrs., 155- 157, 170 Dutton, C. E., volcanic forma- tions, 16, 17 Edward, Lake, 172 Elanairobi Crater, 53, 56, 57 Elephants, 121, 205-240 " cemeteries," 219 " Report on the Capture and T raining of Elephants," by Veterinary-Surgeon Wil- laert, 222-238 training of, methods of capture, etc., 24, 219-240 Engotiek Plateau (Highlands of the Great Craters), 29 Eyasi Lake, 27, 70 land of the Great Craters, # 27-32 Eye-sickness, 60 Fraas, Dr. E., 68 3 sINDEX Game, various, 42, 47-52, 60- 67, 70. See also names of animals German East Africa. See Tan- ganyika Territory Gigantosaurus africanus, 68 Grauer, Dr., 159, 161 Great Rift Valley, 41, 114, 172- 189 Grenouillet, Dr. M., 171 Hall, Miss, 152 Heawood, Mr., 26 Hinks, A. R., F.R.S., 28 Hoier, Commandant, 173 Holmes, Radcliff, 179 " Human Leopards' Society," 102-104 Impala, White Fathers' Mission at, 183 Ischara, 162 Ituri Forest, 207 Johnston, Sir Harry, 25, 28 Joicey, James J., 89 Jones, Dr. Jesse, 90 Joubert, Captain, 183 Kabamba Lake, 216 Kalamata, 212 Kale, 158 Kambove, 261 Karisimbi Volcano, 138 Kasenga, 246, 252 Kasongo, chief, 212 Katanga Copper Mines, 255 Province, 253 Katete River, 72 Kenya, British policy as to, etc., 85 Keyser, Monsieur, 161 " Kibangism," 250 Kigoma, 86, 178 Kilwa Island, 245 Kindega tribe, 75, 80 Kisenyies, 125, 152-158 Kitinta, chief, 189, 191, 193 Kivu Lake,. 113, 121, 124, 152- 171,172 Klaui Lake (Lake Bassoda), 77 Kondoa Irangi, 78-83 274 " Konga Vantu" (Dan Craw- ford), 243 Kundelgungu Plateau, 243, 245, 258 Kungu fly, 181 Labutu, 109 Lagneau, Commandant, 113 Lamborn, Dr. W. A. Laplume, Commandant, elephant training, etc., 222 et seq. Lecture Films, Ltd., 179 Leitokitok, 49 Lemunge River, 53, 55, 67 " Leopard, the," 112 Leopold, King, elephant training, 220, 221 Leplae, Director-General, ele- phant training at Api, 220, 238-240 Lescrauwaet, Lieutenant, 177 Lions, 61-66, 195-200, 203, 254 Lippens, Monsieur, 187 Lizards, 157 Loashi Valley, 117 Luangwa Valley, 207 Luanza Mission (Dan Craw- ford), 242-245, 250 River, 259 Luapula River, 241 Luhinga, 164 Lukafu Settlement, 259 Benedictine Mission at, 260 Lukete River, 216 Lukulu Lake, 118, 123 Luvua Valley and River, 205, 208-217, 241 Magad Lake, 47, 50, 52 Magera Lake, 124 Magulu, a guide, 139 Manda village, 201 Mangati tribe, 75 Margha River, 167 Marungu, the, 184-205 Masai tribe and characteristics, 29, 38, 39, 5i, 56-60, 80 Masisi, 113, 116 Mazaratti, Judge, 163 Mbulu country, 73 Mecklenburg, Duke of, " Heart of Africa," by, quoted, 159INDEX Meulemeester, Colonel de, 91 Mikeno Volcano, 138 Miller, Miss, 153 Mokoto, chieftain, 120 (or Moho) Lakes, 113, 116- 121 Moles, grey, 44 Mombas Mission map, 26 Moshi tribe, 33 Mosquitoes (elephant), 60 Moths in the Valley of the Bees, 168 on the Marungu, 198 " Mountain of God." See Ol- donyo Lengai (Donyo Ngai) Munge River, 42 " Munomb6 " (giant or ground hornbill), 260 Mushidi, chief, 243-245 Mushipashi diamond mine, 258 Musinga, Ruanda chieftain, 153, 155, 163 Mweru Lake, 184, 186, 241-252 Marsh, 201, 203, 207 game reserve, 207 Mweso River, 118, 121 Namlagiri Volcano, 119, 123 Native tribes and their practices. See also names of tribes, 112 Natron Lake, 59 Ndalala Lake, 118-122 Ngaboro Mountains, 72 Ngorongoro Crater, 30, 52, 69 Ninagongo Volcano, 123 Nyamigow, chief, 164, 165, 166 Odeyn, Monsieur (" Bwana Ki- toko "), 191, 201 01balbal,Losaiyaie, camping spot, 43 Oldeani Crater, 47, 53, 70 Oldonyo-lengai (Donyo Ngai), 26,53,57-59 Ololmoti Crater, 46, 53-55 Penny, Major, owner of " John Daniel," 133 Pillow, Mr., 203 Plowman, Mr., 179 Plymouth Brethren Mission, 252 " Pollypops," the parrot, 98- 101, no, 177, 180, 192, 248, 256 Porter difficulties, 255 Powells, Commandant, 145 Pweto, 203, 242 Rakidegi, Watusi chief, 153 Rakwataraka, chieftain, 161, 163 Reck, Dr. H., 31 Reed, Captain, 179 Renaud, the brothers, 253, 254 Rinderpest outbreak, 154 Ross, Sir Charles, 33 Howard, 131 Ruanda, the, 158-171 cattle immune from East Coast fever, 154 Rugege Forest, 159-169 Rukarara River, 166 Rusisi Valley, 172 Ryckmans, Monsieur, 163, 173 Sake, 158 Salee, Professor, 171, 172 Salkin, Judge, 246-251 Sandawi tribe, 80 Saranda station, 83 Schultze, Dr. A., gorilla adven- ture related by, 137 Sciatica, remedy for, recommen- ded by the White Fathers, 92 Segers, Monsieur, 102, 104 Sharpe, Sir Alfred, 245 Shove Volcano, 125 Siedentopf family, 30, 48, 51 Simkat Copper Mine, 203 Sleeping sickness areas, 206, 217 Snakes, 215 Stairs, Captain, 245 Stanleyville, 91, no Swahili tribe, 80 Tanganyika Territory (German East Africa), 27 Tatoga tribe, 76, 80 " Ticky," the monkey, 98-101, no, 177, 192, 248, 257 Tilsley, Dr., 242 Tonglet, Monsieur, 203, 242 Ufiome Volcano, 77 Usumbura, 173-176 275INDEX Vagweno or Wapare tribe, 35 Valley of the Bees, 167 Van den Heuvel, Dr., 220 Van Saceghem, Dr., 154, 158 Vegetation, 107-108, 114 Volcanic formations. See Intro- duction, 13-24 Wabali tribe, 93 Wafiome tribe, 77, 80 Wagogo tribe, 80, 84 Wakumu tribe, 115 Walikale, 110-112 Wambugwe tribe, 76 Wambulu tribe, 73-75, 80 Wanianga tribe, 115 Washali tribe, 116, 120, 123 Wassi tribe, 76, 80 Watembo tribe, 115 Watusi tribe, 163 White Fathers' Mission at Bau- doinville and Impala, 183 Willaert, Veterinary Surgeon, " Report on the Capture and Training of Elephants " by, 222-238 : Zongwe, 184, 185 276This book is a preservation facsimile produced for the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. It is made in compliance with copyright law and produced on acid-free archival 60# book weight paper which meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (permanence of paper). Preservation facsimile printing and binding by Northern Micrographics Brookhaven Bindery La Crosse, Wisconsin 2014