HUNTING AND HUNTED IN BELGIAN CONGO 



the border of our clearing, hundreds of others shot up 

 in the grass all round the large space on which we were 

 camped. It was now plain that we should have to be 

 firm, and if necessary give them a severe lesson. Having 

 several hundred rounds of ammunition and four good 

 guns in addition to an automatic Mauser pistol, we were 

 not afraid of them, for if they wished to reach us they 

 must come across the wide open space. There were one 

 or two trees that would afford us excellent shelter, and 

 the guns were got ready in case of need. Standing 

 on fairly high ground we commanded a pretty good view 

 of the country around, and could see long lines of women 

 and children walking in single file through the tall 

 grass, their heads just visible, carrying grain and other 

 stores from each bunch of huts, and taking them far 

 out of our reach in anticipation of our attacking the 

 villages. Taking care not to betray any undue excite- 

 ment we sat smoking in our chairs close to the table on 

 which lay the two '450's, a 405, and a 350. These were 

 covered up in order that we should not be to blame if a 

 panic arose. 



The long rows of women in Indian file worked until 

 sundown transporting the valuables from their huts to 

 a village further east, while the male inhabitants of the 

 surrounding country continued to yell and jeer at us 

 as they stood on the edge of the grass around the open 

 space flourishing knives, lances, spears, bows, and a host 

 of other weapons. 



Savarkaki, who could speak their language, if such 

 it could be called, for it seemed to consist chiefly of 

 such words as Pe, Te, Tu, shouted out to them that unless 

 the stolen property was returned, the village from which 

 the thieves came would be burnt down before we left 

 the next day. At this the people stood out from the 

 grass and hurled all sorts of imprecations at us, adding 

 that we were afraid — they had killed white men before. 



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