In African Forest and Jungle. Du Chaillu Paul Belloni

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Rogala smiled at my question, and replied: "Andekko is a wide-awake dog, and seeing that we did not go into the forest with him, he has gone to hunt by himself, and I should not wonder if we heard his barking soon, telling us that he is pursuing game towards our little settlement and warning us to be ready for it."

      Rogala was right; a short time afterwards we heard the barking of Andekko. He was running after some animal and giving us warning. But the barking soon became fainter, then could not be heard at all.

      I said to Rogala, "The animal has escaped from Andekko."

      "It is perhaps so," he replied; "but the dog will not give up the chase so easily."

      A little while after we heard Andekko again far away; then the barking gradually became louder. We got ready with our guns. I had my smooth-bore loaded with buckshot. Soon after a gazelle passed by us, closely pursued by Andekko. We fired and killed the beautiful creature. We had great trouble in preventing Andekko from tearing the animal in pieces until I cut off the foreleg and threw it to him, exclaiming: "Great indeed is the gift of Chief Rotembo to me. We shall not starve while Andekko is with us."

      The following day we went again with Andekko into the forest. This time Shinshooko, Alapai, and Rogala were all with me. They had seen footmarks of a gorilla and of her baby. So we took a net with us to throw over the little one and capture him in case we succeeded in killing the mother.

      After a tramp of three hours we heard the fierce barking of Andekko on the right of the path, not very far from us. There followed loud, short yells of an ngina. We immediately left the path and entered the forest, being guided by the barking of Andekko and the yells of the ngina. We soon found ourselves in the presence of a mamma ngina on a tree, with a tiny baby holding to her and uttering sounds of fright. Andekko was in a perfect rage; his hair stood up, bristling like the quills of a porcupine.

      Rogala, Shinshooko, and Alapai were by my side. The ngina was looking fiercely at us. Her big black face, wrinkled all over, was savagely wicked. The little fellow was hiding his face against her breast. She uttered sharp, piercing yells of anger, then a shout of "Whoa, whoa." I aimed at her, and fired. She dropped, but held on for an instant to the branch upon which she was seated with a firm hand, while the little one clung fast to her shoulders. Then she let go and fell down some twenty feet to the ground with a great crash. She was dead, and before we had time to rescue the little ngina, Andekko had strangled him, to my infinite sorrow.

      Rogala and Shinshooko said: "We must look out for her mate; the big 'man ngina' may come upon us in a moment. Perhaps he is already coming silently to her rescue."

      We were glad we had Andekko with us, for we were sure to be warned by him of the approach of the big beast. We cut off the heads of the ngina and of the little one as trophies, and then retraced our steps towards Rogala's and Shinshooko's home.

      On our way back we heard, several miles away, the mighty voice of the male ngina calling upon his mate to let her know where he was; but no answer came back to him, and I found myself wondering what his feelings would be when he came to where she had been killed. We would have gone after him, but it was too late in the day.

      There was great excitement on our return. The following day Rogala warned me to take no other gun but "Bulldog" if I went into the forest, saying: "The 'man ngina' is probably around looking for the slayer of his wife." How I wished I could have been present when the big beast came before the dead body of his mate and saw her and her baby ngina headless! How he must have yelled and roared! How fiercely he would have come to the attack if some one had been near! How I wished I could face him with "Bulldog" in my hand! We expected to hear his roar that day, then go after him; but the forest was silent. He had gone wandering in search of another mate.