IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



him against witchcraft; another made him invulnerable 

 against bullets, spears, or poisoned arrows — in a word, 

 every one of them protected him against some evil or 

 other. 



Rotembo said to me : "I can trust Rogala more 

 than any other man in the country. I bought him 

 when he was quite young, and he has forgotten 

 the language of his tribe. He faces without fear the 

 ngina (gorilla), the elephant, the leopard, and the 

 fiercest bear of the country. He has killed during 

 his life more than one hundred elephants and he has 

 kept all their tails as proofs. The number of hippo- 

 potami that have fallen under his gun is very great ; 

 the necklace I wear round my neck is made of the 

 canines of some of the leopards he has killed." 



I counted forty-eight of them; so Rogala had killed 

 twelve leopards for the chief's necklace. He him- 

 self wore one with twenty-four canines ; so before 

 me were the witnesses of eighteen leopards that he 

 had killed. 



As I looked at Rogala, I said to myself: " He is 

 just the kind of man I should like to take into the 

 forest with me." 



" Rogala is one of the three gifts I have promised 

 you,** said Rotembo. 



I thanked the chief for the gift of Rogala, where- 



10 



