FOREST FOLK 



was that he was very much frightened at the idea of go- 

 ing into this particular bush. He then went on to tell me 

 of all the people who had gone into this bush and who had 

 never returned. He got so much excited and talked so fast 

 that I could with difficulty follow him. He was trying to 

 convince me of the truth of some fantastic story about a 

 fierce troop of baboons, who shot men down with 

 poisoned arrows. For a while I thought that the poor 

 fellow had taken leave of his senses, but I managed to 

 calm him down, and told him that whatever kind of 

 monkey-man or man-monkey was in that bush, I in- 

 tended to walk through it on the following day, and that 

 he would have to come with me. 



Now that I was actually in the heart of the bush, I 

 was beginning to wish that I had let the fellow go and 

 see his imaginary brother. Again he repeated: "Si kitu 

 Bwana," to which I abruptly replied: "Makalele!" — shut 

 up. The next instant there was an unmistakable ripple 

 of laughter as from a tiny child. The sound came from 

 the dense bush, but could not have been twenty yards 

 away. I quickly cut my way through the undergrowth, 

 and came upon a small opening, where I saw an old man, 

 sitting in a crazy booth, while near by were two small 

 children, the elder not more than four years old. Upon 

 closer examination I found that the old man was unable 

 to move, for he appeared to be suffering from a damaged 

 knee. He showed no signs of fear, and awkward though 

 his position was, he possessed an air of dignity rarely met 

 with amongst the natives in these parts. 



