The Eastern Congo 



The carnival on the following day was literally a putting 

 away of flesh as the dictionary has it. The human vultures 

 and hyaenas, amongst which were many pygmies, gathered 

 to the feast from miles around and had only been waiting 

 for the word "go." Even before my men could reach the 

 carcases in the morning, the local savages had started cutting 

 away at them and had in fact been doing so most of the night. 

 It was only with difficulty and after a stand-up fight that 

 my carriers got any meat for themselves. When I arrived 

 on the scene what remained of the dead elephants was hidden 

 beneath a mass of shouting and swaying humanity, surrounded 

 by a ring of naked hags who stood to catch pieces of meat 

 thrown to them as it was cut off by their men-folk on the 

 carcase. I had grave doubts about ever seeing my tusks 

 again, and kind of wondered if these cannibals were in the 

 habit of eating ivory as well as skin and bone. 



Eventually, however, all was over, bar the everlasting 

 shouting of the African negro at his worst, when I was 

 thankful to get away with my ivory* and take the track to 

 Irumu followed by our, by now, bloated porters. 



On our way to this important Government centre we 

 passed the valley of the Loya which is also completely over- 

 run with elephants, but as we neared Irumu we found 

 ourselves in an upland pastoral country with the homely 

 sound of lowing cattle falling pleasantly on the ear after the 

 savagery of the Semliki. 



* These tusks were of the semi-forest type, having a section of black 

 " staining " running through the ivory, to which I have referred in Chapter XV, 

 and were long, without much of a curve to them. 



i8o 



