UNCANNY COOKERY 



nod being as good as a wink, I determined to get away 

 as soon as convenient. It was a severe test to my nerves, 

 but not a soul came near us after that. 



One day I was sitting on the bank of a stream fishing, 

 and noticed large numbers of Colobus monkeys gazing 

 down upon me from the lofty tree tops. Suddenly one 

 of them fell to the ground with a plaintive cry. A native, 

 coated from head to foot with red earth, his body covered 

 with cicatrised marks and naked but for a bunch of grass 

 that hung like an apron, stepped out of the grass close 

 by me. Without a word he waded through the water 

 to the opposite bank, picked up the dead monkey, and 

 strode away through the trees. Some people are inclined 

 to think that the bow and arrow even in the hands of the 

 natives is an unreliable weapon, carried more for show 

 than for use. Seeing is believing, this and other exhibi- 

 tions of skill I have witnessed, prove that a bow and 

 arrow in the hands of the average warrior in the Congo is 

 worthy of respect. 



In the village huge fires were lit at sundown and a 

 savage orgy was evidently taking place, singing and 

 dancing accompanied by a medley of unearthly noises. 

 My camp fires soon blazed away, and I had boys posted 

 at various points in the grass and up the trees. The 

 wind blowing from the direction of the village now and 

 again brought the noise more clearly to my ears, and 

 several times I fancied that I could hear the mob 

 approaching. About midnight, when the festivities 

 seemed to be at their height, the fires in my camp died 

 to thin columns of smoke rising from little piles of grey 

 ashes. Several of the boys had crawled close to the 

 village and scouted about to see if the coast was clear ; 

 at a pre-arranged whistle they returned to camp simul- 

 taneously and reported that everything was all right for 

 our departure, the natives were keeping up their singing 

 and dancing hammer and tongs. The trees all round the 



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