THROUGH ELEPHANT GRASS AND WATER 



so that it is impossible for the beast to get away. The 

 arrows these people use are generally made with a slender 

 head of soft iron, about six inches in length, and three- 

 eighths of an inch thick at the base, tapering to a very 

 line point. It is not barbed. I have often seen these 

 arrow-heads completely doubled up. They are shot 

 with such force that when they strike a bone the impact 

 is so great that the head is bent into a semi-circle. I 

 remember seeing many of them on a path up the Kibali 

 river doubled up in this way and covered with blood and 

 hair. 



Around the huts several young men were squatted 

 twanging away on curious stringed instruments, made of 

 bark, with skin stretched across the top : some were 

 constructed out of a piece of hard wood about sixteen 

 inches in length, hollowed out, in shape very similar to a 

 canoe, with strings stretched from end to end. I walked 

 up to one of these musicians who was huddled up under 

 the overhanging bee-hive-like roof of a hut, wherein I 

 presume his fiancee was sleeping. When I asked him in 

 Swahili to play he simply stared and grunted. I had 

 forgotten for the moment that these people did not all 

 understand the language in use across the river. When 

 I imitated his movements in playing he opened his huge 

 mouth, threw his head back and laughed loudly. In a 

 moment, however, he regained composure and began to 

 play. At first it sounded rather pretty, but a native 

 tune of four notes played with endless repetition for hours 

 on end becomes monotonous after a time. I stood 

 listening for about five minutes and began to wonder how 

 long it would last, but to my horror, the music seemed 

 to get more furious as he went on. At last calling my 

 headman I told him to bring me some beads, a few of which 

 I threw to the musician in token of my approval of his 

 efforts. He stopped for a moment to gather them up, 

 but as I walked away he followed me and began to play 



69 



