HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



eyes with one hand I made them out to be women with 

 earthen vessels on their heads, coming down to get water. 

 In spite of the existing dangers in the form of crocodiles, 

 etc., they walked calmly into the water until waist deep, 

 and frolicked about, splashing each other and clapping 

 their hands, taking not the least notice of us on the other 

 side, or the noise my party were creating, for I had 

 summoned the whole safari to join in and make as much 

 row as possible. The women filled their jars and returned 

 to the village. A short time after several figures lined the 

 banks, and when we made them understand that we had 

 presents for them, a canoe soon put out from a creek a 

 little lower down, manned by two men, who paddled up 

 the river alongside their bank in the direction of Lake 

 Rube. 



I began to fear that they did not intend coming over, 

 but when they had paddled for some 500 yards they 

 suddenly turned round and headed for midstream. On 

 reaching the centre of the river we could see that they 

 were working hard to get out of the strong current which 

 carried them down the river at a great pace. Eventually 

 they managed to come to the outgrowing papyrus that 

 stood out from us a hundred feet into the river almost 

 opposite to where they had started from. Experiencing 

 some difficulty in paddling through this, it was several 

 minutes before they beached their craft and came up the 

 slope to where I was sitting. 



By this time another canoe had shot out and was 

 coming across at a great pace. The first comers were 

 evidently afraid of my boys, for they started to retreat 

 towards their canoe and talked excitedly, my people were 

 laughing at them and they evidently did not know how 

 to take it. Calling for silence I beckoned to them to 

 come forward, but they waited for their friends to arrive, 

 and make sure that everything looked square before 

 venturing near us. The combined part} 7 numbered only 



64 



