12 Byways of an Industrious Life
Chapter 12 BYWAYS OF AN INDUSTRIOUS LIFE NO one was well acquainted with Dr. Good who did not know of his fondness for pet animals and his keen delight in the outdoor world. He would chase a monkey with the zest of a boy. He had not been in Gaboon two weeks before a night-ape was sharing his chamber. Later there was an owl named " the Judge." A goat, gazelle, civet-cat, and nine monkeys at one time were among the domesticated pets in the Kangwe home. He once shot a leopard that was robbing the Baraka chicken-house, and he hunted elephants now and again as they crossed the track of his itineration; but although the true gorilla country was just behind his Ogowe field, and it would have been his joy and pride to shoot a gorilla, he never left his post to try it. His chief diversion in Africa was collecting moths and butterflies, of which he sent thousands of specimens to America. When weaker men would have been snatching a nap on the lounge, he was out in the air with his butterfly net, a recreation which contributed not a little towards keeping his mind healthy and his judgment sound. But the very Lepidoptera were made to fold their gauzy wings for the redemption of Africa; every dollar of remuneration for his specimens was conscientiously devoted to mission purposes.
Dr. Good’s ability was so versatile and his tastes ran in so many channels that the old phrase " an all-around man " was often applied to him. Had his life been prolonged to old age he would have been able to make valuable additions to the world’s knowledge of the natural history, geology, ethnology, and philology of Equatorial West Africa. This chapter is devoted to extracts upon miscellaneous subjects, taken verbatim, or slightly condensed, from his note-books and letters.
EARTHWORMS AND DRIVER-ANTS
" I saw to-day a curious sight. An army of drivers had spread themselves out to forage, and part of the path was black with them. They swarmed not only on the ground, but on bushes to a height of five or six feet, and there was the usual commotion in the insect world. When thus scattered about driver-ants make a noise on the leaves exactly like raindrops, and, misled by the noise, earthworms come out as they are wont to do when it rains. It is a mistake, however, which they usually atone for with their lives. To-day, in advance of the advancing swarm of ants, I saw two immense earthworms scurrying across the path. They had come out to enjoy a shower, but, happening near the edge of the ants, were making good their escape. One of them especially was of immense size, fully a foot long and a quarter of an inch thick. The extremities had a bluish cast. and about an inch and a half from the head was a raised ring nearly half an inch wide. When interfered with it squirmed violently. Happening to touch it with my finger, I noticed a spray striking my hand. Trying again and again, I found that from any part of its body it could send out, to a distance of six inches or more, a jet of spray thick enough to be distinctly visible and to make the hand quite wet. The jet seemed to come out just where the creature was touched and along a half -inch perhaps of its length ― a little difficult to determine exactly, for the spray did not become distinctly visible till it had left the body an inch or two. It came out apparently from a center or point, and spread like an inverted cone. I noticed no contraction of the skin or effort of any sort on the part of the worm when it sent out the jet, and it followed so quickly the touch that I should say it was involuntary. The ejection was not irritating to the skin, and had no odor except an earthy smell such as one notices when an earthworm is put on a fishhook." (April 21, 1891.)
"In New Nganda saw a young specimen of what I take to be an albino monkey. It was distinctly white, but that yellowing or reddish white peculiar to albinos." (1891.) VISIT TO THE CAVE BUDIA (SYEKI NAME)
"While spending a night at the Orungu town Nengawaga, about sixty miles below Kangwe, I learned of the existence of a remarkable cave a mile or two above. I at once asked the chief to give me some one to show me the way, and he promptly offered to go himself, and so did, accompanied by quite a large party of his people. We pulled up first about one and a half miles to Anyamhicawango, landed, and got a slave to agree to guide us for a small consideration. A number of boys and young men having joined us, we set out on foot for the cave. I found it a real curiosity. About a mile brought us to the orove mi tako (tobacco prairie), much of which is bare rock and of an unusual character for this country. All rocks in the region seem to be sedimentary, but vary greatly in hardness. This one, when wet, is covered with a slime as slippery as soap, which, where it was dried, formed a black, wrinkled scum not unlike tobacco in appearance, though utterly unlike in flavor. The people are said to use it as a substitute, however, when they are hard up for the weed.
" At last we reach one of the entrances to the cave. It is at the foot of a steep declivity, and looks like a big hole formed by a cave-in of surface rocks. Lighting our lamps, we are soon on the floor of the cavern, upon which still lay the rocks whose falling in made this entrance. To the north and south start galleries which soon come to an end; but a low one, leading in a westerly direction, intersects the main gallery at right angles. From there we start into the darkness nearly due north. The first thing that strikes me is a dull, peculiar roar like the noise of a powerful wind rushing through a rocky mountain gorge. You can hardly believe it is only bats, but soon you will; for as you go on you start them from their resting-place on the roof by thousands, and the air, as you look towards a light, appears full of their dark forms. The floor of the cave, where water has not cleared it away, is covered to a depth of four to six inches with a black mass which feels under the bare feet like accumulated soot. It is the excrement of myriads of bats. Through and over this crawl the larvae of two species of beetles, and everywhere may be seen hopping about a long-legged and rather feeble-looking cricket. These, with countless small flies, gnats, and mosquito-like insects, which did not appear to bite, make up the life of the cave. The bats were of two species. One was a little larger than the common American bat. This filled the whole interior of the cavern. A few of a larger species, their wings having a spread of more than a foot, were seen near the entrance.
"On one side usually ran the stream of water. The floor of the cave is a talcose clay or slate, so soft that it is difficult to say whether it is clay or rock; but it is sedimentary and in distinct strata. Above this are strata of rocks of a peculiar porous character. Much of it, I feel sure, would serve for dripstone. It seemed as light as chalk, and some of it looked as if formed of a mass of minute shells. It was certainly sedimentary, for it was full of water-worn pebbles of various colors, and in some pieces I brought away there are distinct fossils. The roof was of course a border rock, and the cave is simply the course of an underground stream which has hollowed out for itself a channel in this soft rock. The main gallery varies from ten feet in height and width to twenty or even thirty feet. A gallery about midway of the main one comes in from the east and, judging from the stream of water issuing from it, is quite long. Its entrance is only about two and a half feet high, and, owing to our company getting divided and frightened, I could not explore it far.
" In the north end of the main gallery our guide pointed to an entrance beyond which, he said, were leopards. He hurried away, pretending to be afraid. I called my boys to follow me on a tour of investigation. An examination of this supposed leopards’ den showed no tracks except of dogs and men, who had been there killing bats. The slaves eat these bats, which they knock down with clubs. Some one had found that in this particular cavern, which gradually became lower and narrower as we proceeded, the bats were driven before him until the air was thick with them and the bat-catcher could bag all the game he wanted. The leopard ’ was an invention to keep others from sharing his discovery. I went until I could see the end, and I saw nothing more dangerous than bats. How they did swarm! I had to hold my hand before my face as I advanced. Dozens of them struck me all over the body every moment, and a score or more were clinging to different parts of my person. A rough measurement of the cave gave a length of three hundred and fifty yards.
" Here I saw an amusing illustration of the African’s ignorance of arithmetic beyond addition and subtraction. A vine was taken into the cave to measure its length. The main gallery from north to south entrance was thirty-two lengths of our vine. After we came out, a native measured it by stretching his arms horizontally, thus giving the length of his two arms plus the width of his body. This gives one fathom, or six feet, with a fair degree of accuracy. I laid the vine on the ground and paced its length, making it eleven yards, agreeing with the natives measurement. Now,’ said I, our rope is five and a half fathoms long, and the cave was thirty-two times its length; how many fathoms long is the cave? ’ They could not see how it could be made out. When I told them at once three hundred and fifty-two yards, they thought I must be guessing. I said, Count it up and see if I am not right.’ They studied over it awhile, then one said he could do it. He picked up the vine and started to measure it off again in fathoms. When I found that he intended to pass that vine through his hands thirty-two times, counting up as he went along, I told him that his arithmetic was too slow for me, as I wanted to get back to my dinner before night." (November, 1890.) A HIDEOUS INCIDENT FROM THE OGOWE
" At Arevoma I was shown the evidence of a fiendish act of cruelty. A man belonging to a village just above Arevoma had married a woman of Afangananga’s tribe, so far as giving the dowry. The woman disliked him, however, and wanted the marriage broken. This gave the prospective husband an excuse for claiming several times as much back as he had paid. This was refused, and the woman was compelled to marry him. She went and, as far as I could learn, did nothing out of the way; but he caught her one morning, compelling a slave by threats of death to help him, and cut off her ears, nose, and lips clear around the mouth, leaving her horribly disfigured. Thus he sent her home. Her mother he struck a blow across the eyes that put her blind. And this human fiend was allowed to settle for all his cruelty by payment of a fine of five times the price of a slave. There would be some comfort in even this if the payment went to the injured women; but it all goes to the men of the family." (November, 1890.) AFRICAN IDEAS OF JUSTICE―TWO GABOON STORIES
" One night, some years ago, a leopard killed a very fine calf for Rev. William Walker, of the mission, but was discovered and driven off before it had time to eat or carry it away. The same night the chief man of one of the little towns that make up Gaboon had a very fine pig taken by a leopard, presumably the same one. Next morning the man came to Mr. W. and wanted him to pay him for his hog. Why? Because, as he argued, if the leopard had been allowed to eat the calf it would not have taken the hog. Mr. W. by driving it away from the calf became directly responsible for its taking the pig, and so ought to pay for it.
"When the explorer Cameron was either in Gaboon or somewhere on this part of the coast, a native of means was attracted by some of his goods and began to take measures to get them. He paid a man two hundred dollars to steal them for him. The man went and tried, but Mr. C. had perversely locked them up where it was impossible to get them; but he did not want to lose his two hundred dollars, so he ran off. The man who was two hundred dollars short by the transaction then came to Cameron and told him the whole story, and demanded of him, first, the two hundred dollars which he had caused the complainant to lose by locking up his goods, and, second, the price of the goods he had put out of the thief’s reach and which our cheeky native friend had thereby been made to lose."
VISIT TO THE DWARFS
[The publication of the following account fell under the eye of a Scotch lady, who was moved to provide the means for founding a mission to these " little people," and two men have undertaken the difficult experiment of giving them the gospel.]
" The second day from Batanga I struck a village of the famous dwarfs. As everybody knows, it is only by a rare chance that one ever gets a sight of these little people. They are found all over this part of Africa, but live much as the Gypsies do with us ― scattered among many tribes, belonging to none. Other peoples live by agriculture. Though much engaged in hunting and fishing, what they kill is a small part of their living; it is on their gardens that they mainly depend. "The dwarfs are not so. They live by the chase and on such wild fruits and edible leaves as are found in the forest; but they are as fond of cassava, plantains, etc., as other Africans. They want vegetable food, but do not wish to work for it. How are they to get it? I am happy to say they are not charged with stealing from their neighbors’ gardens. It is admitted on all hands that they are remarkably honest. Here is their mode of life: They attach themselves to some town of Fang, or Mabeya, or whatever tribe occupies the country. They are skillful hunters, and if there is game to be had they will get it. When hungry for vegetable food, they take their game to the town and exchange it for what they want. This arrangement seems so satisfactory to both parties that often a family of dwarfs will maintain such an alliance with a town of their stronger neighbors for generations. The dwarfs are themselves a timid, harmless people ― at least, those found in this part of Africa. I am assured they never pretend to fight for their rights. When people to whom they have attached themselves do them a wrong which they are disposed to resent, they simply move away and seek alliance with some other town. It is considered an advantage to have them as neighbors. Their towns are not permanent, merely rude sheds, which they occupy only while game lasts in the neighborhood, and so constantly move from place to place that even their friends hardly know sometimes where to find them.
" But if the stronger tribes do not rob or kill them, they certainly take advantage of their ignorance of the world. They supply them with cloth, guns, powder, spears, at such prices as they choose to ask, and they take good care that their dwarfs’ come in contact with no one who will tell them how they are being cheated. Here comes in the difficulty of seeing them. You ask to be shown a town of the dwarfs. The people pretend to be most willing, but they explain that the dwarfs have never seen a white man and will be afraid; they must go in advance and prepare them. Their real object is to see that they run away. If one comes upon a dwarf village in the forest himself, ― a most unlikely thing, ― the stories the dwarfs have been told about the dreadful white man will send them flying in all directions. Had I asked the Mabeya to show me their dwarfs,’ I would have asked in vain; they would have hit upon some scheme for keeping me away; but I happened to have a young guide who was very impetuous. As we were trudging through the forest, I noticed a newly beaten track leading off from the main path, and at the same moment heard voices at no great distance. I asked in surprise, Who made that path?’ Without taking time to think, he replied, There is a town of dwarfs there.’ Then I had him fast.... I found the dwarfs at home to the number of fifty or sixty, and not so badly frightened, after all, which I attribute to the fact that they had not been ’prepared ’ for my visit. The village was evidently newly built; the thatch was still comparatively fresh. The spot selected for their village was well chosen; the ground was high and well drained, and a fair-sized stream of beautifully clear water flowed close by. I could have enjoyed spending a few days in such a camp myself; but to spend one’s life in such encampments, ― no clearing, no open country, no sunlight, no outlook beyond the shadowy forest glades, ― the thought was enough for me. I have pictured only the reality. How can these people ever see clear sunlight? They can, of course, wade out into the middle of some stream wide enough not to be overshadowed by trees, or find a place where a large tree has fallen and carried down with it a number of its lesser neighbors, thus letting the ’sunlight through to earth; but practically these people only see the sun as they get dim glimpses of it through the trees. Their houses are simply sheds. Poles are placed with one end on the ground, the other resting on a horizontal pole supported on posts four or five feet from the ground. Across these poles small sticks are laid, like lath on a roof, and on these the large leaves that serve as shingles. You would imagine that such a roof would leak; but when well made it is really wonderful how it will turn water. These houses are ten to twelve feet from front to back, and anywhere from ten to twenty-five feet long. Sometimes the ends are partly closed by setting up branches of trees against the roof. The front is always open.
" I found a number of Mabeya in their encampment, exchanging cassava for game. They seemed rather put out at seeing me there, but the dwarfs appeared rather pleased. They gathered around and gazed in speechless wonder; but I doubt whether their curiosity was greater than mine. Could I talk to them? I tried Bulu on them; they replied modestly that they did not know Bulu, but as they spoke in a language very like the Fang of the Ogowe, I felt at home at once. A big and very consequential Mabeya came up and offered to interpret my Bulu into Mabeya; but I promptly declined his services, and I had no difficulty in making myself understood. They answered questions about themselves without hesitation. One little old man seemed especially intelligent and fearless. I put the question to him plainly, Why do you live here in the bush like this, and never come to see the white man I ’ He replied, with a side wink towards the Mabeya, ’ These people will not allow us to see the white man.’ I spent most of my time trying to solve a question, the answer to which I have been seeking for years, viz.: Do the dwarfs have a language of their own, or do they speak the language of the tribe with which they associate themselves? Other tribes answer the question both ways; but while I was among them I heard nothing but Mabeya and Fang.
’ These dwarfs did not fit any description I have ever read of African pygmies. Some of them must have been five feet or more in height; still, they were distinctly dwarfed in stature. They were a lighter tint than the surrounding tribes, but I could see no sign of the yellowish or reddish growth of hair on the body, of which some travelers have spoken. Certainly these dwarfs were the lowest specimens of the human race I have yet encountered. Their jaws were much too large; their foreheads and tops of their heads seemed irregular and rough, instead of smooth and rounded. The lowness of their foreheads was emphasized by the size of their eyes; the children especially seemed to have eyes like saucers. The eyebrows, which were heavy, seemed farther above the eye than in other races. You can imagine the result. The eyebrows seemed to be in the middle of the forehead, and, worst of all, the brows did not in cases appear to be set on straight; the two eyebrows on the same person did not, in some cases, seem to have the same slant. This must have been a mistake on my part, but it certainly seemed to me so. The upper part of their bodies was strong enough, but the abdomen was far too large for symmetry, and their legs were crooked and weak.
" On the whole, my visit to the dwarfs left on my mind a feeling of sadness. I tried to learn something of their religious ideas, but could not find that they differed from those of the Mabeya.
" I am told that far back of the Bulu there is a country occupied by dwarfs alone. Certainly there are in Africa a vast number of these weak, harmless people, and the Christian cannot but ask. How long will it take the slowly dawning light to reach these children of nature skulking with the beasts in the shades of these mighty forests?
" One more curious fact. It is freely admitted by other tribes that the sea was first discovered by the dwarfs, while the people now on the coast were still far back in the forest and did not know there was such a thing as the sea." (Batanga, July, 1893.) MISCELLANEOUS SAYINGS AMONG THE BULU
Proverbs. ― You set an ngomho (a basket for catching fish), you think of ghosts (because such baskets are set at night in lonely places). The dead trunk of the otunga (a species of tree) has broken down the trunk of the odu (a larger and stronger tree); (i.e., a man of small importance has caused the death of an important man). As you despise a stick (or log), it hurts or strikes your leg. The buffalo that catches you in the street of your fathers, is it not goats that are in the street of your fathers’ town? An Oath, ― Destruction! (A call to all the dead.) I swear by the dead. I swear by (my) father. I swear by (my) mother. Another form of oath is: I swear by the people who have perished (equivalent to, the dead).
Ideas of God. ― Bisi Zam ele ― The seats of God are there. (Said when calling attention to brilliant cloud effects.) Endi Zam ele ― The roof of God is there. (Used in the same way.) If Zam speaks, there is no longer any medicine that will avail. If Zam wishes to heal people, medicine is useless.
O Zam, thou hast made us; why, then, do you take away an only wife? (Such complaints common, but no one openly abuses Zam.) Had it not been for Zam, this would not have been accomplished (lit., arranged).
Zam ate nye ni, ane mone Zam ― God has saved him, he is a son of God. ( Said of one who has experienced some remarkable deliverance.)
I will not occupy the place of a king; I will occupy the place of Zam (i.e., the place Zam assigns me), because Zam, who has made us all, he says. Be so. (Language of one who has been disappointed in not being chosen chief.)
One who is hopelessly afflicted is called Ndenden. Of such an one it is said: God himself has afflicted him. (Said especially of a cripple.) A prayer: Zam, do not take me (i.e., by death) till I have first eaten that food. (Such a prayer is likely to be uttered by one who sees that his garden is going to give a good crop.) Other examples of petition: Zam, do not take me till I first see how my son will turn out (lit., how he will hunt). Zam, let me first marry, let me first have a child. When a boy curses an old man, or steals, or any man does wrong, he is often reproved by saying to him: Zam ayi yene wo ahe ― God will not like you, or, will be displeased with you. One who is wronged often says: God will revenge me on high. Not all will ’’ see " good in the world to come; some will live in " God’s town," which is regarded as a great good; but bad people will not be allowed to stop in God’s town, but will be compelled to pass to a place called Etotolen, a place of exile; as, when one is carried away over the sea to unknown countries from which he can never return, nor see his people again, he is said to have gone to Etotolen. Another version is that all must pass over a high, narrow bridge across a deep, wide stream. Over this the good successfully pass, but the bad fall into Etotolen. I heard this version only once. A bad man is told: You cannot live in the place where God lives. Of a cripple it is said: There remains for him only to go and meet Zam; he has become a person of " on high "; he no longer amounts to anything as a man. The rainbow at first lived in this world. When he went to Zam above, he went because he had caught people. Men cut him in two. The tail turned into the python. Black spots on the python’s skin are said to be skins of people he ate while still the rainbow. The rainbow, called the snake of Zam, is said to come to earth occasionally at waterfalls. When seen in such places, children are warned not to go near lest he eat them.
Fabulous Stories about Peoples in the Interior. ― Back somewhere east of the Bulu are said to be the Biyamos, a people who sleep by day and work and travel at night.
There are Ye-Mefap, a people said to have wings. There are Bemfamelede, called also Bilatata, a Siamese-twins sort of people, always in couples, joined together back to back. In Minjem, people spend most of the time by day scattered in the tree-tops. They come down to build, make gardens, etc., but as a rule only come to town at night. A full-sized, warlike people, who fight from their tree-tops. Said to be very black. The Bifaifai are a people whose heads are flattened both behind and before, hence called also Bibambam. As a specimen of the original ancestral tales from which the " Uncle Remus " stories have unquestionably descended, the following has a special literary value. A BULU FABLE―THE LEOPARD AND THE PYTHON
[Among the Bulu there is a custom that whoever has a palaver with one whom he fears may go to a third party and say, "Song’," which is equivalent to saying, "I put my palaver in your hands." This third party then presses his claim, not only collecting the debt or damages claimed by the aggrieved party, but enough more to pay himself.] The leopard said to the turtle, "All the animals of the forest I have caught, save only the python. Song ― catch him for me." " All right," said the turtle; "go to your town." When the leopard had gone, the python came and said to the turtle, " All the animals of the forest I have caught, save only one, the leopard. Song ― catch him for me." "All right," said the turtle; "go to your town." When the python was gone, the turtle thought the matter over, and dug a deep pit in the bushes near his house. This he covered over carefully and awaited the coming of his clients. The python came wriggling up and said, "Where is the leopard I asked you to catch for me? " The turtle whispered, " Don’t speak again. There is the leopard coming. Run and hide there " (pointing the way of the trap). Hurrying to hide himself in the bushes, crash! went the python into the pit. The turtle came and said, "Don’t dare to speak, lest the leopard hear you; you are in a safe place," and carefully covered the pit over again. Then the leopard came, to whom the turtle said, " Run! hide there quick! I see the python coming over there." He, too, running to hide himself, crashed through the treacherous cover into the pit. The python cried, "What’s that?" The leopard cried, "What’s that?" The python coiled for a spring; the leopard stood with opened jaws and paws uplifted, ready to meet the dreaded enemy. Then from the mouth of the pit came the mocking voice of the turtle: " Leopard, you asked me to catch the python for you. You, python, asked me to catch for you the leopard. I have caught you both. You are in the pit, both of you. Make the best of it." And at it they both went, and fought till they fell apart, both dead. Of course this is not a literal translation of the original; indeed, to translate the wonderfully concise and graphic style of these fables is impossible. But this is a sample of the stories which these people have told over, generation after generation, for who knows how many centuries? These childish tales, when well told, have a charm and fascination that no written story can ever have. The leopard does not simply come up ― his stately tread is imitated; so, too, the wriggling of the serpent, the crash as they fall into the pit; and when they fight, the story-teller’s teeth seem to become fangs, his fingers claws, his arms are the python’s deadly coils, and his voice growls and groans until one can almost fancy the creatures engaged in a death-struggle before his eyes. (Efulen, 1894.)