St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-05-01
Du ChaiIIu's AdUentures in Af-
l'icQ,

by Du Chaillu, the African hunter and
explorer, is his first fight with 4 buffalo.
Here, as in subsequent extracts, we
,bridge more or less the descriptions Of
the author -
''Not far from our camp was beau
tiful little prairie. l had seen, during
my rambles there, several footprints of
wild uflaloeS, so | Immediately told
Andeke we must 90 in chase OF them.
Andeke, the son of the king, was Il very
nice fellow, and was, besides, Il good
hunter-just the very man L wanted.
So we went toward the little prairie, and
lay hidden on the borders of it, among
the trees. By-and-by spied huge
bull, who was perfectly unaware of my
presence, for the wind blew from him to
me. As it was, he came slowly toward
me. | raised my gun and fired. My
bullet struck a creepcr i'll its way, and
glanced aside, so l only wounded the
beast. Turning ficrcely, he rushed at me
in IL furious manner. with his head down.
| was scared for | was, at that time
but young hunter thought the in
turiated bull was too powerful for me, he
looked so biz. Just as | was about to
make my escape, | found my foot en-
tangled and hopelesSly caught in a tough
and thorncy creeper. The bull was
d;tShing toward me with head down and
eyes inflamed, tearing down brushwood
and crecperS that barred his progress.
Turning to meet the enemy. | felt my
nerves suddenly grow firm as rock. 1t
| missed the bull, all would be over with
me. lie would gore me TO death.
tack time To aim carefully and then fired
at his head. lie gave one loud, hoarsc
below, and tumbcd almost at my feet
In the mean time Andckc was coming TO
the Rescue. L must say felt very per-
vouS after all was over. But, being but
a lad. | thought had done pretty we'll.
Ii wl> the first direct attack Il wild beast
had ever made upon me. found after
ward that the bulls are generally very
dangerous when wounded"
Here Is a snake fight -
After resting little while, we con-
tinued our course till we reached the top
of "A very high mountain. whence | could
see all the country round. | was sittinL
unGyr Il very lar"c tree, when suddenly
iooNi"1 up. | saw an immense serpent
r,ii,I upon the branch of a tree Just
above me. rushed out. and takiug
good ann with my gun, shot my black
friend in the mead. lie let 90 hl~ hold,
tumblcd down with great force, and after
writing convul>vciy tor a time, he lay
before me, dead. He measured thirteen
feet in length. and his u@ly tangs provco
that he was venomou>. NV men cut of
the head of the snake. and divided tn,
body INTO as many pieces aS there wcr,
people. Then they lighted fire. anc
roasted and ate it on the spot. They
offered me 4 piece but, though very
hungry, declined. When the snak,
was eaten was the only individual @
the company that had an empty -tum
ach."
Du Chailu has been honored 10y inter
views with more than one royal person
a"c He has talked with Louis Napo
leon. Queen Victoria, and Prince Albert
Among his other royal friends he count,
King Bango. whose domnioEs lie some
where near Cape Lopez, about rs nca
the equator as one can get Here fol
lows an account OF the first meeting will
his sable majesty:
Il prepared myself for visit 10 KIM
Bango The royal palace Is set upon {;
tolcrably hi"h hill and fronts the -;
shore | found the royal palace sur
rounded by a little village OF huts. A
entered the village was met 10y tn,
mltongu. or officer of the king. who con
Quoted me TO the palace. 1t was an ugl,
looking house OF two stories, resting OF
pillars. The lower story consisted OF ;
dark hall, tiankcd on each side by row
, of small dark rooms, which looked lIk,
little cells. Al the end OF the hall was {;
: staircase, steep and dirty, up which TN
n4tt;,n,u pilotcd me. When | had Il,
ccnded the stairs | found myself in ;
large room, AT the end of which wa
seated the great King Bango, who claim
to be the greatest chief of this part o
Africa. lie was surrounded by abou
two hundred OF his wives.
: king Bango was tat, and seemed no
over clean. He wore shirt and an oil,
pair of pantaloonS. On his head was
crown, which had been presented to hin
10y some OF his friends, the PortugeS
slaves. Over his shoulders he wore
flaming yellow coat, with gilt embroid
, cry, the cast oil 9arment OF some ric
! mans lackey in Portugal or Brazil. Th
crown was shaped like those commonl
worn 10y actors on the stage, and WA
probably worth when new, about tc
1, dollars His majesty had put round it
circlet of pure gold, made with the doul
! looms he got in exchange for slaves ii
= sat ON IA sofa, for he was paralyzed an
in bis hand he held 4 cane, which als
. answered the purpose of sceptre.
: ,.Bango was the greatest slave king o
i that part of the coast. Though yer
proud, he received me kindly, for | haC
come recommended by his great frienc
Rompochombo. Il king of the Mpongw
tribe. He asked me how | liked hi
. wives | said, very well. He then sal
. there were hundred present, and tha
there were twice as many more, thre
hundred in all. He also claimed to hav
more than SIX hundred children
= '.The next night great ball was gi,
d en- in my honor by the king The roor
/ where | had been received was the ba
a room. l arrived there shortly after dar
d and found about one hundred and fift
Is of the kings wives, and | was told tn;
n the best dancers Of the country wei
II there. | wish you could have seen til
d room. 1t was ugly enough there wei