QC E 
Wi: (Pe <— se Ti ee Za 
a; iD 2) i= 
CHAPTER XVII. 
ON THE OFOUBOU RIVER.—ELEPHANTS BATHING.—PURSUIT 
THROUGH THE SWAMP.—ESCAPE OF THE ELEPHANTS. 
Ir you could have visited me, you would have found 
me on-the banks of the Ovenga River, at the village of 
my Bakalai friend Obindji. 
Numbers of canoes, made each from the trunk of a 
single tree, are on the river-bank. My friend Quengueza 
is giving his orders for the comfort of Ntangani: “ his 
friend Paul” is going away with him. 
We are going to leave, for there is nothing more to 
eat at friend Obindji’s. Game has become scarce, ele- 
phants and gorillas have destroyed their plantations, and 
disappeared. We are too kind-hearted, however, to tell 
good Obindji that we are obliged to leave his village be- 
cause we are hungry every day. 
We are going to ascend the Ofoubou River, which is 
one of the affluents of the Ovenga, and are bound for 
the village of Njali-Coudié. ‘This is a strange name to 
give to a town, but there are many’strange names in this 
country. I hope you will be able to pronounce them 
according to the African standard, and that yeu will 
remember them. 
Obindji is on the beach, beating his kendo (the royal 
sceptre) and invoking the spirits of his ancestors to pro- 
