The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1883-11-22
Congo NaturAl History.

Inc elephant Is very abundant on the
Upper Congo; and every morning, as
you ascend the river, traces Of their
last nights devastations may be seen.
for they seem to have tendency toward
Wanton destruction and waste, being
like parrots and monkeys in only eating
about a quarter Of the food they pro.
cure, and scattering the rest right and
!eft with wanton caprice. So, on the
islands OF the upper river, where the
graceful borassus palms grow in their
thousands, each blue-green palm with
its cluster Of orange fruit, the elephant
Is TO be constantly seen-some times in
broad daylight, but more often towards
sunset-breaking his way through the
plllar-like clusters, destroying many O
beautiful palm for the sake Of those
orange colored stony dates Of which he
is SO strangely fond. You may also
SEQ them, as 1 have, in the short hour
OF tranquil twilight, when the sky as
sumes Il faint golden tone, when the
great smooth sheet of water IS Of the
same rich color, and stretches away to-
wards the horizon of the broad lake
like Congo, where it melts indistinguish-
ABLY into the warm sky, then you may
sec the elephants walking out in Indian
file from the sheltering forests into tho
shallow parts of the river, where they
disturb the perfect calm Of its reflected
gold with many ripples, looking like
blue scratches Oh it's surface. Here, ir
you are not too near, you may see them
squirt streams of water over their dry,
heated skins, and observe the mother
elephant carefully accompanying her
young one during the bath. But ordi-
narily it is at night time, and, above all, =,
when there is moon, that the ele-
plants come down to drink and bathe.
Moreover, they are much more COM
monty seen on the Congo during the
dry season, as then the many little for
est brooks are likely to be dried up, and
the elephants are compelled to incur
greater publicity in their bath by seek
ing the great Congo.
Hippopotami are often source OF
danger to native canoes, as they follow
them at times and upset them by u jerk
oil their huge heads underneath. On
one occasion L had personal expert
ence or their spite or their ill-timed play,
Whichever il may have been. l was do
scending the Congo in one native canoe,
and III another was some of my luggage.
The first canoe, III which l was seated
with three Zanzibaris padding, roun-
ded little promOntory somewhat alb
ruptly, and came suddenly on Il group
oil hlppOpotami summing themselves near
the bank. Three Of them deliberately
gave chase to the canoe, and for some
time ran us perilOusly hard, keeping up
within few feet OF the boat, and only
OCCASIONALLY showing their nostrils above
water. AT last they found that a stern
chase was Il long chase. and desstud
turning about and endeavoring to at
tack the baggage canoe, which was fol
lowing. For a moment feared for my
luggage, but the natives who were
padding managed cleverly to eludo tic
hippos, and put out into The middle OF
the Congo. Here the river horses de.
clined to follow, for I have observed
| they have Il strong objection to swim.
ming far out of their depth, and more
| over, would find it hard to resist being
carried away by the furious current
that races down the middle of the
stream. You may also Le sure Of avoid
ing chase by hlppopotami if you steer
your canoe towards the centre OF tht
Congo; but then, en- Tecanchc. you ar,
likely to get into one Of the many whlrl
pools and be upset, s. it is rather a cas-,
Of "out of the frylng-pan into the fire.
What keeps the hippopotami from gam
boiling in the middle OF the river is III
equally serious deterrent to canoe ira.
vellers. AS for this great amphibian
he prefers, in the daytime, to frequent
those large submerged sandbanks that
are SO common in the Congo.