In African Forest and Jungle by Paul B Du Chaillu

Author:Paul B Du Chaillu [Chaillu, Paul B Du]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

Rogala and his idol.

Soon after he entered the little house he had built, taking his bag with him, and shut the door behind him. I heard him speak to his idol. When he came out, his body was painted here and there. In the hollow of his chest was a white spot, in the middle of his forehead a white line between his eyes, and there were long white stripes along his arms. He wore all the mondahs his bag contained. He came towards me, and looking at me, said: "Oguizi, sunset is soon coming, and I must go into the little house, and I shall remain there until after sunrise. You have plenty of firewood. You have meat. There is plenty of water in the spring, so you will be neither thirsty nor hungry."

Before entering the house, he called aloud on the spirits of his ancestors to watch over him, said good-night to me, then disappeared into his little hut, and shut the door so that the new moon could not possibly see him.

I found myself alone in the camp. Ndova and Andekko were my companions. Ndova entered his house and soon after was asleep. Andekko stretched himself by the fire. I wondered at all I had seen and the wonderful animals I had killed since I had been in that great forest; then putting lots of wood on the fires, I lay down to sleep. In the middle of the night Ndova uttered several shrill cries of fear which resounded strangely. I jumped out of my bed, revolver in hand, lighted a torch quickly, and went to his house, followed by Andekko, who had been lying by my side. Ndova's eyes glared, his hair stood erect. He gave several grunts, and jumped from one part of his house to the other. Something had evidently disturbed him. Looking carefully on the ground, I saw the trail of a huge snake.

While all this was going on within his hearing, Rogala did not dare to say a word. All was perfectly silent in his little house. When he came out in the morning, he said to me: "The new moon did not see me."

In the afternoon Shinshooko and Alapai made their appearance. They had gone into the forest to hide, fearing that the moon would mark them also for destruction.

The following day Rogala went hunting and returned with a very high fever. He had had a sudden chill on the way. His skin was very hot, and he had a very violent headache. I made him lie down, and lighted several fires round him to act as blankets. I was afraid he had an attack of malignant fever, which carries off people very quickly, sometimes in less than twelve hours. I gave him a very large dose of quinine, and bathed his burning head with cool water from the spring. I watched over him all night.

He was better the next day, and said to me: "Oguizi, some persons have bewitched me;

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