Evening star., 1924-09-07

nSarQ tne even tilH VI IhCh
strokes In the stern the inevitable
bundle of grass was glowing under a
small cloud of grayish-black smoke.
At regular intervals a bowl OF water
was thrown over it in order that II
| should not burn too rapidly.
1t was a strange feeling to be
Graded across an unknown water in
| the company of few naked savages
with whom you could not even speak,
but to whom you had confided your
life. A blow on the head with pad
die. tip of the canoe would have
been enough-and nobody could have
said how It came to pass that the
white chief had fallen overheard and
| been drowned one night in the deep
| waters Of Kivu. Come on. black
| rover. IL you dare. We shall both
one day stand before the same
Judge"
But one does not think such
| thoughts on such occasions. On the
contrary, a strange feeling of safety
creeps over you as you completely
| lose yourself in nature, enjoy her
| original freshness, and the pleasures
| and dangers of primitive life in blind
| and defiant reliance on your lucky
| star. You feel in such moment so
infinitely small. so lonely and DESC
late; but you have nevertheless the
| feeling of being in good company.
| Everlasting and ever-changing the
mighty vault Of space lies above our
heads. But the earth attracts. 1t
| is, all the same, nearest to us. And
when I sit in the night listening in
| the darkness of Kivu, a great heavy
beating seems to reach my ear. 1t
| is Africas heart that Is beating now
| as in the thousands Of years that
have passed, unchanged by tho strug-
giles Of the ages or by the vain
| thoughts of men. 1t is the heart Of
nature that never stops beating for
her children, even though they SO
| seldom listen to her.
| r ULENGA was to become our tenn
IL porary base Of operations from
| which we were to explore the north
ern slopes of Mount Mikeno.
The most important result of our
chase at Mikeno consisted of three
new mountain gorillas which were
| shot by members of the expedition.
Two fell to Gyldenstolpe's gun and
one to mine. They were the result
Of many vain efforts and many days
| strenuous climbing in the difficult
mountains, and they were conse-
quently a doubly welcome bag.
I had already begun to give up hope
monsters when the director of the
Belgian Mission at Lulenga, Pere van
Hoe. proposed to come with me one
day. Because" he said, II usually
have good luck"
Surprised. I looked at this gentle
man with his kind, light-blue eyes
and wondered to myself how ser
want of the church would behave In
! gorilla hunt. His long white coat
would alone be enough to frighten
away all the game within a distance
of miles And what would hands ac-
customed to hold a prayer book and
monstrance do with a heavy, greasy
and murderous weapon?
But Africa Is, once for all, the en-
proved to be entirely without founda-
tion, and I was afterward really an
noyed that 1 should have entertained
them. Why should not a missionary
in the wilderness who is accustomed
to capture the souls Of the blacks
also take part in adding q few apes
to a geological collection? Espe-
cially as the former are certainly
much more difficult to approach than
even the most enterprising gorilla
Thus we started at daybreak with
a reliable guide, whom Van Hoe had
recommended. After the very first
hour I perceived that our MISSIONARY
was. to say the least. as skilled in
climbing mountains as / was, and at
|
of nature.
We stumbled over our tracker, who
was lying on his stomach examining
the footprints Of q gorilla.
Fresh today" he grinned.
Our talk came to q sudden end. UP
and down, through entangiing lanes,
over fallen tree trunks, and below
swaying aerial roots the track led
We dived down into ravines in which
the mountain streams gushed forth
and then climbed up again on all
fours. From the broad-leafed plants
water poured over our heads, thorny
4 nettles stung our knuckles and the
skin was mercilessly scratched BY
sharp twigs.
But still we advanced, step by step
crawling, walking. scrambling as sc
many times before. This day oul
work was, however, not to be in vain
Now and then I turned and looked
back at Van Hoe. He was all thu
time at the heels Of Kongonf, WHIT
came next after me with the $50
His humorous blue eyes looked en-
couragement, as If they wished tt
say, Go on! I will follow, all right
They are farther on"'
And farther on they certainly were
Twigs and leaves lay about cast OF
one side. It was evident that nu
merous flock had passed in front o.
us here and only a short time before
With extreme care we continued oul
stealthy pursuit, bending away thu
branches and taking care not u
ltrample on any dry twigs. TIL
ground 10 dificult, but at any rat
easier than on Sabinio.