170 WILD LIFE UNDER THE EQUATOR. 
when I should feel tired. We had two little Bakalai 
boys to take care of our camp, to fetch fire-wood, and to 
cook our food. The only fear we had was that the Bak- 
alai of the interior might come upon us on the sly and 
shoot some of us, but then we were far away from them. 
We all swore that if any one of us was killed we would 
avenge him. 
The night came, the fires were kept bright, our meal 
of plantain was cooked, and I roasted on charcoal a piece 
of wild boar which friend Querlaouen had givenme. Our 
suns were as clean and bright as buttons, the powder was 
safe, the bullets were right, and we were to have a jolly 
time. I went to sleep, and dreamed of whole herds of 
elephants being slaughtered, of gigantic gorillas being 
killed, of new animals being discovered. 
Before daylight we were awake; my men cut their 
hands and made them bleed, in order, they said, to steady 
them. They also covered themselves with fetiches, to be 
protected from the evil spirits and to have luck in the 
chase. 
I blackened my face and hands with charcoal mixed 
with oil, so that I might look like them. We looked at 
our guns, unloaded them, and then reloaded, and saw ev- 
ery thing was right. It was daylight when we started, 
and for the first day it was agreed that we should go go- 
rilla hunting. 
We had come to a country where we knew that go- 
rillas were sure to be found, for there grew a pulpy pear- 
shaped fruit the tonda, of which the animal is very fond. 
It grows almost upon a level with the ground, and is of a 
splendid red color. Not only were gorillas fond of the 
tonda, but I myself liked it very much, as did also the ne- 
