IN AFRICAN FOREST AND JUNGLE 



At daylight the following morning we loaded our 

 canoe with my outfit, Rogala carrying my " precious 

 box." Rotembo and his people followed us to the 

 shore, and when we were ready to start, in a loud 

 voice Rotembo invoked the spirits of his ancestors, 

 Kombe and others, to follow me. After we had left 

 I saw him seated on the ground before his little idol, 

 talking to it. The last words we heard from him 

 were : " Rogala, take good care of the Oguizi. Good- 

 bye, Oguizi ; " and after passing a bend of the river 

 we lost sight of the village. 



The prow of our canoe was a carved crocodile 

 head with an open mouth holding a man between 

 its jaws. 



Ndova and Andekko had been tied near it. Ndova 

 uttered the peculiar intonation meaning pleasure. 

 Andekko was wagging his tail and looking at Rogala. 

 Both seemed to know that they were going home. 



During the day we saw swimming in the stream a 

 number of elephants. They were playing and throwing 

 water high into the air with their trunks. They swam 

 hither and thither, and as we came nearer we saw that 

 each elephant had a little baby elephant apparently 

 standing on the back of its mother. Rogala was in a 

 state of great excitement ; he wanted to land and 

 walk along the banks of the river and have a shot at 



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