Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-04-29
In THE PATH OF
THE BASHIKOUAY
BY ALBERT W. ToLMAN.


was standing in the monkey
house at the zoo. A white-haired, ED
erly man was making the circuit of
the cages with a paper bag of mixed
nUts By the time he came to where
I stood, in front of a little white-face,
his stock was almost gone. He fshed
out an English walnut. The monkey,
hanging from his perch by his tail,
swung across the cage, and put out
his paw for the proffered dainty.
81 never miss one of EN-" said the
man with the bag, for if l did, he'd
feel bad all day Intelligent? Why,
sir, those apes know more than a
good many men. / can understand
their talk. That macaque in the cor
ner's thirsty He's begging for wat
er. Cheouw! cheouwl Just listen to
that poor little scamp boohooing.
Somebody's hurt his feelings. Here,
boy!"
He held up his last almond. A
tiny brown paw clutched it, and the
Whimper changed to humble of sat
asfaction. The man continues:
Understand monkeys pretty well?
ought to. Twenty-years 1 collected
'em for circuses and museums. I've
been to Central and South America
and Africa so many times I've lost
count, as we'll as twice to India and
once to Borneo. Strange experiences?
Yes, plenty. Narrow escapes? Some.
It's no fun to meet a gorilla with
only one bird-shot cartridge. A river
full of crocodiles isn't the pleasant
est place to be spilled into.
But the thing that's responsible
for more of these white hairs than
any other didn't have anything 20 do
either with gorillas or crocodiles.
Ever hear of the bashikouay? No?
Sit down on that bench, if you've a
few minutes to waste, and let me
tell you about the worst scrape ever
got into.
"'In July, 1891, I was camped with
a party of hunters on a prairie near
the thick forest north of the 0gowe,
a big West African river .emptying
not far from Cape Lopez. This for
est, which lies almost on the equa-
tor, contains more different species
OF monkeys than any other spot on
the globe. The gorilla also lives in
its gloomy depths; and l was par
ticularly anxious on this trip to Sc
cure two or three living specimens
OF this giant ape.
For about two weeks everything
went well. My camp began TO look
like a menagerie, as the cages were
set up and filled with nshiegos,
mbouves, nkengos and kooloo-kam-
bas, as my men termed the various
apes.
Zone evening I was sitting alone
In my tent, when l heard wild yells
outside. Over and over again was
repeated the word:
"'Njego! Njego!'
"Suspecting what the trouble was,
grabbed my rifle and jumped out.
Three or four of my men had just run
in from the drinkingprol. They told
me that Mpongwe, one Of my best
hunters, had been carried off by a
leopard.
1--WE formed a party at once, and
followed the bloody trail. A mile
from camp it entered small glade
and then plunged into the thick
Jungle. 1t was useless to pursue far
ther. Poor Mpongwe was beyond our
help, and we should only expose
ourselves to a similar fate. There
vas little sleep in the camp that
night.
For the next three days my work
was at a standstill. When a leopard
has once tasted human flesh, he be
comes a confirmed man-eater. My
hunters knew this, and were panic
stricken. They refused to enter the
forest. BY night they kept bright
fires burning, and danced and bea
toms-toms to brighten the animal
away. l saw that nothing further
could be accomplished until he was
killed.
sit was perfectly plain, too, that
must do the job myself. My mer
were so badly frightened that l could
count on little help from them. Hov
could 1 get the man-eater without
giving him a chance to get me?
puzzled over it for some time. Their
l remembered a tiger-hunting trick
that an Englishman had told me about
when was in India the winter be
fore
st had two especially large cages
Intended for gorillas, If were fortu
nate enough to capture any. On the
third afternoon we set up one of these
cages in the glade through which
tae Ieopard's trail had led. Into this
I locked myself at sunset with I