Full text of "A camera actress in the wilds of Togoland; the adventures, observations & experiences of a cinematograph actress in West African forests whilst collecting films depicting native life and when posing as the white woman in Anglo-African cinematograph dramas"

A CAMERA ACTRESS IN THE
WILDS OF TOGOLAND

Kypet

Maj. H. Schc

KONKOMBWA WARRIOR IN FULL GALA DRESS

nburgk, F.R.G.S.

The helmet is a calabash, elaborately ornamented with cowrie shells, and surmounted by a fine
air of roan antelope horns Other less lucky warriors, or less clever hunters, content themselves
w th the smaller horns of the commoner puku antelope. Note the beautifully ornamented quiver
tilled wan poisoned arrows.

A CAMERA ACTRESS
IN THE WILDS OF

TOGOLAND

THE ADVENTURES, OBSERVATIONS & EXPERIENCES OF A

CINEMATOGRAPH ACTRESS IN WEST AFRICAN FORESTS

WHILST COLLECTING FILMS DEPICTING NATIVE

LIFE AND WHEN POSING AS THE WHITE

WOMAN IN ANGLO-AFRICAN

CINEMATOGRAPH DRAMAS

MISS M. GEHRTS

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY MAJOR H. SCHOMBURGK

WITH 65 ILLUSTRATIONS & A MAP

PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

LONDON : SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LTD.
1915

J77

INTRODUCTION

BY MAJOR H. SCHOMBURGK, F.R.G.S.

IT was after my return from my first West
African cinema expedition, in June 1913,
that I made up my mind to try and film
native dramas in their true and proper settings.

My aim was to visualise, as it were, for the
European public, scenes from African native life
as it once was all over the continent, and as it is
even now in the more remote and seldom-visited
parts ; and it was further my object to so present
the various incidents as to ensure their being
pleasing and interesting to all classes and condi-
tions of people.

To this end, then, it became necessary for me to
find a white woman capable of acting the principal
parts, supported by native supers. My thoughts at
once reverted to Miss Gehrts, a lady with whom
I have been acquainted for some little while,
and whom I knew to be a keen sportswoman, a
good rider, and possessed of histrionic ability of no
mean order.

It did not take me long to persuade her to
accept the offer I made her ; but her parents raised
many objections, based principally on the supposed
dangers and privations which they assumed not
altogether wrongly to be inseparable from the
trip. These objections, however, were eventually

INTRODUCTION

overcome, the enterprise was undertaken and
brought to a successful conclusion, and this book
is one result of it.

Personally, I must confess to not being altogether
favourably impressed with the ordinary African
" travel book " of the typical globe-trotting woman
writer : the kind of one, I mean, who either con-
scientiously and carefully hugs the coast, or else
ventures but a little \vay into the hinterland along
the ordinary caravan routes, and then puts upon
record a long string of facts and fancies which only
serve to raise a smile on the faces of those who
really know their Africa, exemplifying, as they
almost invariably do, that, with regard to this
vast and most wonderful continent, more than
perhaps anywhere else, a little knowledge is a
dangerous thing.

Miss Gehrts' book and I say so frankly and
freely without fear or favour is not of this sort.
She quitted the beaten track altogether ; so much
so that north of Sokode she was absolutely the
first and only white woman the natives had ever
beheld. She had, therefore, the satisfaction of
seeing these interesting peoples the Tschaudjo, the
Konkombwa, the Tschokossi, and many others
in their original unspoilt state of free and proud
savagedom.

I am pleased to say that she appreciated the
opportunities afforded her, using her powers of
observation to very good purpose indeed, and with
results that were not a little surprising even to old
dwellers in the country. For instance, it was she
who discovered the curious industry of making
beads from palm nuts, described in Chapter VII,

INTRODUCTION

as also the unique fortified native village of which
a plan and drawing, as well as a full and most in-
teresting description, will be found in Chapter XII.

For these reasons I am inclined to dissent from
the view, expressed by her in her foreword, that the
book possesses no scientific value. I also disagree
with most of what she has written in the opening
chapter concerning myself : it is far too flattering.

On the other hand I cannot praise too highly
the work done by her in connection with the ex-
pedition. I am only afraid that no reader will
either appreciate or understand, from her very
self-restrained narrative, what she really underwent
while acting in the dramatic pieces.

Miss Gehrts also took charge of the commis-
sariat, and I am sure that every member of the
expedition will be only too pleased to certify that
a better could not have been evolved than the
one that was run so easily and beautifully by " our
little mother," as the " boys " used to call her.

Finally, I should like to say that this book
possesses the distinction of being the first published
record of a journey through Togoland ever written
by anybody, man or woman, black or white. It is,
therefore, in a sense unique, and I wish it all the
success that, in my humble opinion, it deserves.
I cannot say more : nor can I say less.

HANS SCHOMBURGK.

LONDON, July 9, 1914.

Vll

FOREWORD

IN the beginning, when I first went out to West
Africa, it had never entered into my head for
a single instant that my experiences there
might form the subject of a book. But I fell into
the habit of keeping a diary of my journey ings, and
afterwards many of my friends, as also other people
in a position to judge, seemed to think it almost a
pity that the adventures and impressions of the
first white woman to travel through Togoland from
the sea to the northern border and back again,
should go unrecorded. It was pointed out to me,
too, that the fact of my being the first cinema
actress to perform in savage Africa, and with
savages as " supers," would most certainly add to
the interest, even if it did not enhance the value,
of such a record.

In this way the present volume came into being :
a creation born to be perfectly and absolutely
frank of egoism and flattered vanity. I should
like to say at the outset, however, that it does not
make any pretence to add to the sum of human
knowledge in a scientific sense ; it is merely a plain
and simple narrative of a girl's seeings and doings
amongst strange and primitive folk living in a
remote and little known land. Still, should there
be found in it anything new of anthropological or

ix A 2

FOREWORD

ethnological value, it will be to me an added
pleasure ; for I particularly tried, to the best of my
ability, to keep my eyes and ears open for the
reception of such. Likewise, I shall be glad if this,
my first attempt at authorship, helps to win
friends for the colonial cause, and tends to dispel
the altogether erroneous idea anent West Africa
being, in the sense in which the phrase is usually
interpreted and understood, the " white man's
grave."

Speaking for myself and on the whole, I was
both healthy and happy out there. I received
nothing but kindness from white and black people
alike ; so much so, indeed, that I have come to
love and admire the country into which I first
adventured myself with feelings akin to fear and
repulsion. Africa, in short, has cast her spell over
me, as she does, I am told, over most others.
Even as I write these few last lines I can feel " the
call of the wild " stirring my blood.

In concluding this brief foreword, I should wish
to be permitted to thank His Highness the Duke of
Mecklenburg, Governor of Togoland, whose per-
sonal interest in the welfare of the expedition,
shown in many ways and at divers times, made it
possible for us to carry it out in its entirety on the
lines originally laid down.

My thanks are also due to Commander Triebe,
of the S.S. Henny Woermamm, for many kindnesses
and courtesies received on the outward voyage, as
well as to his colleague, Captain Pankow, of the
Eleonore Woermamm, for other similar evidences of
good- will on the voyage home ; to Lieutenant von

FOREWORD

Rentzel, who so kindly placed his house at our
disposal on our first arrival in Lome, the capital
and port of Togo ; and to Mr. Kuepers, the head-
master of the Government school in Sokode, for
welcome hospitality freely extended to us.

Especially, too, am I grateful to Captain von
Hirschfeld, District Commissioner of Mangu, who
not only showed us personally every hospitality and
kindness during visits extending altogether to over
a month, but who also went out of his way, at
considerable trouble and inconvenience, to help us
in filming many subjects, scenes, and incidents of
native life, which we should otherwise hardly have
been able to secure ; his efforts in this latter direc-
tion being ably seconded by his two European
assistants, Messrs Sonntag and Gardin.

Mr. Mucke, of Bassari, also showed us many
kindnesses for which I am sincerely grateful ; and
my best thanks are likewise due to Herr von Par-
part, District Commissioner of Sokode, whose hospi-
tality on our return journey to the coast made our
last evening in the African bush an outstandingly
pleasant recollection. Mr. James S. Hodgson, our
camera man, besides proving himself a first-rate and
exceedingly careful operator, kept us lively of an
evening by his clever playing on the mandoline,
while his imperturbable good -humour, even in the
most trying circumstances, helped to make our
trip a pleasant and agreeable one.

Finally, I should wish to thank my friend, Mr.
C. L. McCluer Stevens, of " Ivydene," New Maiden,
Surrey, author and journalist, for the skilful and
painstaking manner in which he has edited my

FOREWORD

rough manuscript and put it in trim for the pub-
lishers, as well as for valuable advice and help
regarding the treatment and scope of the various
chapters and the work as a whole.

M. GEHRTS.

LONDON, July 1, 1914.

Xll

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

LONDON TO LOME

I am " up against " a queer business proposition Doubts and diffi-
culties Assent Major Schomburgk, F.R.G.S., the leader of the
expedition His African experiences Filming cinema pictures in
the tropics The start from England Dover to Madeira Life on
board ship Madeira Teneriffe Las Palmas Motoring under
difficulties Arrival in Togo " Yellow Jack " Kindness of
H.H. the Duke of Mecklenburg, the Governor of Togoland A
jolly dinner party Rickshaw riding in Lome Off to Atakpame . 17-28

CHAPTER II

HOW WE FILMED " THE WHITE GODDESS OF THE WANGORA "

A tiresome railway journey My hut in the forest A trying toilet
Native inquisitiveness Haute cuisine in the heart of Africa
Mosquitoes My first night in the bush -A very primitive shower-
bath Rehearsing our first cinema drama Savages as " supers "
Irritating delays A false alarm Filming the principal scene
in the White Goddess I am knocked up And laid up Malarial
fever " If you cough you'll die " Convalescence I try cookery
A disconcerting experience Eating 9863 chickens A little
about lizards Also about ants and beetles 29-39

CHAPTER III

LIFE AT KAMINA

Troubles of cinema playing in Central Africa Enforced leisure
Native girls and a gramophone Women and work Native
children A negro philosopher Native servants Learning to
cycle Improvising a studio Wild monkeys Native dances
A perilous climb 40-48

CHAPTER IV

STARTING " ON TREK "

On the march into " the back of beyond " Packing our " chop
boxes " Quinine " I didn't want to do it " The starting of

xiii

CONTENTS

PAGES

the caravan Good-bye to Kamina Kindly forethought of the
Duke of Mecklenburg Our first day's march Sleeping out in
the bush Rest-houses Our operator goes astray Dish-wash-
ing extraordinary Our cook disappears To return with a
wife I try my hand at bush cooking "Feed the brute" A
native belle 49-56

CHAPTER V

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

Our friend the doctor A new way with natives Laughable results
An& to Njamassila Travelling by hammock A rash resolve
Njamassila to Agbandi Sleeping on the march A native
giant Agbandi to Djabotaure Depressing effects of the West
African climate An adventure at Djabotaure Native festivities
on the eve of Eamadam Djabotaure to Audasi Incompetent
hammock boys " Sea-sickness " on land A moonlight night in
the bush Nearing Sokode Our horses waiting for us in charge
of a European A bush toilet Arrival in Sokode Kindly
hospitality 57-68

CHAPTER VI

IN THE CAPITAL OF TSCHAUDJOLAND

In camp at Paratau Uro Djabo, paramount chief of the Tschaudjo
A courtly savage The Tschaudjo a conquering tribe who
came riding on horses from the north Djabo's palace His
wives A much-married monarch His prime minister and at-
tendants He comes to afternoon tea A democratic king
Tschaudjo horsemen An accident I nearly lose my life A
nervous breakdown We leave Paratau in a hurry Kindness of
the German Government officials at Sokode They lend us one
hundred carriers On the road to Aledjo-Kadara, " the Switzer-
land of Togo" 69-79

CHAPTER VII

ALEDJO-KADARA THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

On the march from Paratau to Aledjo-Kadara A terrible stage
Doubt and depression An uphill journey I feel my health im-
proving An accident Native sympathy Our cook annexes
our dining-table A lovely camp A thousand yards up and
surrounded by mountains The Switzerland of Togo Beautiful
rest houses The harmattan Grass fires Filming a drama
Another accident Nebel and I nearly fall over a precipice
Nebel homesick He leaves for Europe Filming the final scene
of Odd Man Out We visit Bafilo, near Aledjo Great reception

xiv

CONTENTS

PAGES

by natives for the first white woman The Uro (king) of Bafilo
meets us in state Torch play to celebrate the finish of Ra madam
More filming An astonished native Industrial films The
cotton industry Trade guilds Primitive looms and spindles
Making beads from palm nuts Baboons like dogs and rabbits
with feet like elephants .... ... 80-96

CHAPTER VIII

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

The native market at Bafilo Native sweetmeats Cowries as cur-
rency A native barber shaving a baby's head Togo boys
playing at the West African equivalent of pitch and toss A
woman's dance that out-tangos the tango Native baskets at a
farthing apiece Hyenas I am nearly bitten by a puff-adder
A leopard Early stables Filming again A glut of supers A
" woman palaver " One of our people abducts a native girl His
punishment I read the girl a lecture But make little impres-
sion " He gave me these " A drunken native I intercede for
him with his chief Wild tribes from the Kabre Mountains
Nude but modest The shy girl and her bag of salt A native
falls in love with me Beautiful native wofk I buy a cloak of
native manufacture Good-bye to Bafilo 97-107

CHAPTER IX

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

On trek once more A disquieting discovery I am very angry A
long day's journey I narrowly escape sunstroke " Whole-
some anger a good tonic" I taste native beer for the first
time And find it both refreshing and sustaining Antelope
spoor Exchange carriers First meeting with the Konkombwa
The fittest race of savages in Togo Native dandies Trouble
with our horse boys They are punished In the heart of the
wilds European and native rest houses Paying our carriers
with salt Schomburgk gets "T>usned" Kesents my anxiety
We quarrel Elephant spoor I am given my first lesson in
wood-craft Mosquitoes The yellow-fever breeding anophele
We cross the Kara River First sight of hippopotami We strike
the Oti, the principal river of Northern Togo . 108-124

CHAPTER X

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

At Mangu Captain von Hirschfeld I make an "impression"
Though not the kind I should have liked to have made " The
Place where Warriors Meet " A brush with the Tschokossi

CONTENTS

Captain von Hirschfeld's splendid hospitality Taniberma Fort
The head tax The Mangu plantations Mangu in the rainy
season TJr&at heat Terrific thunderstorms Our Christmas
dinner at Mangu New Year's Eve festivities We burn three
thousand feet of film Game birds round Mangu A fishing car-
nival Queer native methods Canoeing on the Oti River A
marvellous shot Filming in the tropics More difficulties The
new station at Mangu, and the old one A striking contrast
The big Mangu "songu " A gathering of the clans Trapping
a hyena A plague of bats Fresh milk and native butter
Ancient records at Mangu 125-140

CHAPTEK XI

Northward from Mangu Wild savages and poisoned arrows A
treacherous attack and a lucky escape Different arrow poisons
Grass fires and their drawbacks Mosquitoes and some yarns
about them Wild natives The wild Tschokossi women A
new dress every day Our boys go swimming in a crocodile-
infested pool Our pet monkey gets loose Searching for hippos
An unreliable guide Sullen natives A too-early call A won-
derful game country In God's big "zoo " Gorgeous plumaged
birds I want Schomburgk to shoot some for me He objects
Sun birds and blue jays Across a yam-field country A bird
sanctuary Discovery of a flock of marabou I regret having no
gun The costliest feathers on earth Our guide loses his way
again Fulani herdsmen They supply us with fresh milk
Arrival at Sumbu 141-158

CHAPTER XII

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

At Sumbu Wild savages Our boys afraid Tschokossi refuse to
sell us provisions I enter a village and buy a chicken Astonish-
ment of the people at their first sight of coined money I make
friends with the children Lumps of sugar A new delicacy
The " white honey rock " I become " chummy " with the chief
He invites me to go over his village with him I accept the
invitation A unique village Elaborate precautions against
attack Where did the Tschokossi learn to build these remark-
able villages ? " Every village a fortress and every house a fort "
Messa gets scared And Alfred follows suit Cleanliness and
the "classes" I try my hand at cheese-making Our too
energetic " washerwoman " A novel theory of wages The
ugliest chief in Togo Marriage among the wild Tschokossi
Men's view A primitive form of eugenics " Can white women
laugh ? " Our boys are boycotted Native women refuse to
cook for them Salt the only currency--Sleeping "rough"
My boys' anxiety for the safety of their " little white mother "
Messa makes himself putties His anxiety about his wife A
case of filaria Dangerous symptoms 159-182

xvi

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIII

BACK TO MANGU

PAQE3

An adventure with a puff-adder Welcome news " Chief's mail "
Out after hippo Inexperienced hammock boys My first sight
of hippopotami I am not impressed Crocodile island An
extraordinary sight Birds that pick crocodiles' teeth Pans-
cheli Hodgson shoots two hippos Our boys fetch them from
the pool Cutting up the carcases A loathsome sight We
break camp Homeward bound Huge oyster "middens"
Stalked by savages A nuit blanche A leopard and other things
Bad news Back in Mangu 183-197

CHAPTER XIV \

THROUGH THE KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

At Mangu The harmattan A meteorological mystery Filming
ethnological pictures Building the new Mangu station Drilling
native soldiers Marriage in the native army Buying wives
Their market value Polygamy v. monogamy Filming Togo
history We reconstruct a big battle Celebrating the Kaiser's
birthday We buy a wild ostrich It escapes An ostrich hunt on
the veldt Packing up for the downward journey Horrible dis-
covery No cigarettes " Battle-axe " brand v. best Egyptians
Quitting Mangu On the march to Unyogo No water
Hodgson has an extraordinary " adventure " A woman palaver
On to Djereponi Chameleons Nambiri Nothing to eat
A glorious feed An egg-laying story In the heart of the Kon-
kombwa country 198-212

CHAPTER XV

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

The chief of Nambiri One of Nature's gentlemen Killing the fatted
calf Pretty Konkombwa villages The Konkombwa and the
Dagomba Elaborate head-dresses of the Konkombwa men
Konkombwa women A domestic row Wonderful recuperative
powers of savages Konkombwa dances A wonderful perfor-
mance Studies in facial expression Distributing kola-nuts to
the dancers A native delicacy On to Tschopowa Voluntary
carriers A "royal" progress Marabou feathers A welcome
surprise I secure a wonderful bargain The rest-house at
Tschopowa A huge baobab tree Bow and arrow "Competitions
We secure pictures of hippo Remarkable corn bins Roast
bats as native luxuries I decline a share in the " banquet " A
live alarum clock 213-226

xvii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XVI

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

Tschopowa to Kugnau No roads A careless guide Schomburgk
loses his way Crossing the Oti River Mosquitoes at Kugnau
Asmani and his " mosquito slaps " A disconcerting mistake
Messa and Asmani fall out The Konkombwa and their helmets
A too officious soldier Anecdote about the Duke of Mecklen-
burg Crossing the Oti for the last time Arrival at Imbubu A
"Roman Fort" In the Sokode district Small food rations
Truculent natives We buy a second ostrich Lack of carriers
A serious dilemma The chief of Ibubu is impertinent " I
can't make carriers out of mealie cobs " I go on ahead with the
few carriers available, leaving Schomburgk to follow The dis-
appearing women On the road to Banjeli Beautiful scenery
Schomburgk orders the chief of Ibubu to be arrested and
brought a prisoner to Bassari Women carriers A glut of green
and gold beetles Our mail arrives at Banjeli from Bassari
News from home I buy a pig And am disappointed A native
"cooler" Our personal boys imbibe not wisely but too well
A model punishment Filming the native iron industry at
Banjeli Slave women miners A pitiful sight We obtain some
most interesting pictures 227-248

CHAPTER XVII

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

Banjeli to Bassari In a mountain country Crossing the Katscha
River Bush riding Arrival at Beapabe An avenue of mango
trees We reach Bassari Hospitality of Mr. Mucke, the Sub-
District Commissioner He places the " Massow House " at our
disposal Sleeping in a dwelling with windows Scarcity of water
The " King of Bassari " An Arab stallion Native smiths at
Bassari The Mallam Mohammed, a local Pooh-Bah An open-
air school The Mallam's eight wives Their house and its trea-
sures They pay me a return visit A Jack-in-the-box baby
Native jewellery The District Commissioner from Sokode passes
through Bassari 249-262

CHAPTER XVIII

Native marriages A matter of sale and exchange Infant betrothals
Native weddings A Tschaudjo ceremony A trying ordeal
Polygamy Childbirth Infant diet and infant mortality Baby
girls A bush ordeal The "Women's Queen" Fetish women
Secret rites Status of native wives Widows African_d_eath
customs Caravan cookery Native cooks Monkey-nusoup
Potatoes a coveted luxury Bush delicacies .... 263-279

xviii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER XIX

BACK IN SOKODE

PAGES

Bassari to Malfakasa Crossing the Kamaa River A fearful climb-
Mountain scenery Uro-Ganede-Bo A royal sanctuary The
last of our provisions The outlaw of the " Long Gun " moun-
tain On the road from Malfakasa to Sokode The Tim plains
Arrival in Sokode In touch with civilisation once more A
telegraphic orgie We say good-bye to our horses Sending them
down through the tsetse-fly belt Precautions Sleeping sick-
ness The Mallam of Dedaure A splendid native The native
GovernmentjBchool at Sokode Mr. Kuepers, the schoolmaster
Native scKblars ^Good manners of the children Native children
apter to learn than white up to a certain age Herr von Parpart
gives a farewell dinner We meet Mr. and Mrs. Dehn The choir
invisible By motor car to Atakpame A breakdown on the road
Arrival at Atakpame Kamina 280-295

CHAPTER XX

KAMINA LOME HOME

Warm welcome to Kamina I am introduced to the Baronesa Codelli
von Fahnenfeld Good news A faithful black " boy " The
great wireless station at Kamina Feminine vanity Camping
out v. living in A tornado Good-bye to Kamina By rail to
the coast At Lome Filming the first scene of our principal
drama We want a white baby Difficulties of the quest Shall
we paint a black baby white ? A compromise Social life in
Lome Herr Vollbehr paints my portrait in the gardens of the
Duke of Mecklenburg's palace The great pier at Lome Coast
natives We part with our " boys " Good-bye to Africa Vain
regrets Las Palmas I try a mild gamble And win 7 We
are nearly sunk when nearing Southampton .... 296-311

INDEX 313-316

XIX

ILLUSTRATIONS

KONKOMBWA WARRIOR IN FULL GALA DRESS Frontispiece
PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR . . . . .To face page 32

REHEARSING FOR THE CINEMA 35

PLAYING AN " INTERIOR " SCENE IN A NATIVE DRAMA , 36

CINEMA ACTING IN THE WILDS ... , 42

AUTHORESS AND BODYGUARD OF T.SCHAUDJO HORSEMEN , 46

MAJOR HANS SCHOMBURGK , 50

EUROPEAN REST-HOUSE AT TSCHOPOWA . ,52
CINEMA FILMS: (1) A KONKOMBWA GIANT; (2)

PAYING CARRIERS IN SALT; (3) THE OLD

URO DJABO OF PARATAU ; (4) A LIVE ALARUM

CLOCK ; (5) BOY SCOUTS 62

MARKET SCENE IN PARATAU 72

NATIVE BOYS AT PARATAU 74

CINEMA FILMS : (1) WOMEN HAIRDRESSING ; (2), (3)

BABY'S BATH ; (4) BETTER THAN THE TANGO ;

(5), (6) SCENES FROM "THE WHITE GODDESS" 88

CINEMA' FILMS : BEAD -MAKING ..... ,, 94

A HAUSA WOMAN 104

TSCHAUDJO GIRL FROM BAFILO . . . . 104

KONKOMBWA WARRIOR 112

CAMPING OUT IN THE BUSH . . . . 112

KONKOMBWA DANDY ,, lie

YOUNG KONKOMBWA WARRIOR ,, lie

CINEMA FILMS : A WOMAN'S WORK . . . 120

TAMBERMA FORT 128

CANOEING ON THE OTI RIVER 134

CHIEFS' COMPOUND 138

NATIVE PIG IRON 138

UNFORTIFIED TSCHOKOSSI VILLAGE . . . . 144

NATIVES GAMBLING 154

SKETCH OF A FORTIFIED TSCHOKOSSI VILLAGE . 166

PLAN OF THE SAME VILLAGE ,, 167

BASKET-MAKING ,, 170

AUTHORESS AND DEAD "HIPPO" .... ,, 188

A FINE HEAD OF HAIR ,, 208

NATIVE HAIRDRESSING 208

YOUNG KONKOMBWA WARRIOR 214

A HUGE COMMUNAL CORN-BIN ,, 224

* ROMAN " FORT AT IBUBU 232

BENJELI THE CENTRE OF THE NATIVE IRON INDUSTRY ,, 240

SECTION OF OLD NATIVE IRON FURNACE ... 244

A COUPLE OF YOUNG SUPERS 260

A STUDY IN WHITE AND BLACK .... 260

NATIVE VILLAGE IN NORTHERN TOGO ... 280

CINEMA FILMS : KONKOMBWA AT ARCHERY PRACTICE 290

A CAMERA ACTRESS IN THE
WILDS OF TOGOLAND

CHAPTER I

LONDON TO LOME

ACTRESSES who, like myself, specialise in
f\ cinema productions, frequently find them-
-* *- selves "up against" all sorts of queer
propositions of a business character ; and we are
not, therefore, easily surprised out of that orthodox
professional calm, which we all try, more or less
successfully, to cultivate.

When, however, it was suggested to me, early
last summer, that I should take a trip into the
far interior of Africa, in a district where no white
woman had ever been before, in order to play
" leading lady " in a series of dramas of native life,
I confess to having been for once completely taken
aback.

Nor did even the fact that the proposed expedi-
tion was being financed and personally conducted
by Major Hans Schomburgk, F.R.G.S., the well-
known African explorer and hunter, completely
reassure me. I hesitated long. But eventually
the prospect of shaking the dust of cities from my
feet for awhile, and living the (very much) simple
life amongst unspoilt children of nature in alto-

..^LONDON TO LOME

gether novel surroundings, tempted me into ac-
quiescence ; and greatly against the advice of
my relatives and friends I " took on" the job.

Largely I was influenced in my decision by the
fact of my having known Major Schomburgk for
some time previously, for we are both natives of
Hamburg.

Although not perhaps so well known in England
outside of scientific circles as he is in Germany,
he can nevertheless, if he wishes to, truthfully lay
claim to be one of the most successful African
explorers and big-game hunters now living ; and
as his name will figure pretty prominently in the
pages of this book, a brief description of him and
his work may not be out of place.

Thirty-three years of age, of medium stature
and somewhat slim build, he is nevertheless en-
dowed with great physical strength. The last six-
teen years of his life since he was a lad of seven-
teen, that is to say have been spent almost
entirely in Africa, hunting, fighting, and exploring.

Speaking English like a native, he served in the
Natal Mounted Police, and in the last Boer War,
for which he has the medal, with four clasps. As
a hunter, it is no exaggeration to say that his prowess
is famed throughout Africa. No fewer than sixty-
three full-grown elephants have fallen to his rifle,
and he once bagged four big tuskers in four shots
two rights and two lefts.

Twice he has crossed Africa. His most adven-
turous trip one of five years' duration was from
the Victoria Falls to Angola, Portuguese West Africa,
thence back through the Congo Free State, Northern
Rhodesia, and German East Africa, coming out

LONDON TO LOME

eventually at Dar es Salam, near Zanzibar. During
the whole of that time he never saw a railway, or
slept in a stone house. For an entire year he was
exploring the source of the Zambesi, in the Walunde
country, which had not been previously visited by
white people ; and it was during this expedition
that he trapped, and brought to Europe alive, a
specimen of the East African elephant, a feat that
had been frequently attempted before, but never
successfully performed.

He was, too, the first white man to secure alive
specimens of the rare pygmy hippopotamus, an
animal that in its native state is so exceedingly
scarce and shy that its very existence even was
denied up till comparatively recently by most
African hunters and explorers.

Major Schomburgk knew better, however, for
he had actually seen one of the miniature creatures
during an early trip into the West African hinter-
land ; and in 1911, after infinite difficulty, and
some danger, he succeeded in trapping no fewer
than five living specimens, and, what is more to
the point, conveying them from the interior down
to the sea-coast, whence they were safely shipped
to Europe.

Two of these are now in the London " Zoo " one
specimen having been presented by the Duke of
Bedford, who bought it from Mr. Carl Hagen-
beck, for whom Major Schomburgk was acting;
the other three are in the New York Zoological
Gardens. All five " pygmys," I may mention, were
shown to the Kaiser, who was greatly interested
in the curious little beasts, and warmly congratulated
their captor on his success.

LONDON TO LOME

In addition to those mentioned above, Major
Schomburgk has also discovered and named many
hitherto unknown species of African fauna, in-
cluding a rare new buffalo, the Bubalus Schom-
burgki.

Nor was this the first cinema expedition that he
had organised and led into the West African hinter-
land. Scarcely three weeks prior to the date when
he first approached me with an offer to go out to
Togo as leading (and only) lady, he had returned
home from conducting a similar enterprise into the
hinterlands of Liberia and Togo. But that one
was not a success ; one reason being, he informed
me, that the negative stock he took out was not the
right kind for the tropics. Then, too, his camera
man proved a failure.

The net result was that the money invested in
financing the expedition was practically all lost.
This time he hoped, profiting by experience, to
attain to far better results, and, after I had signed
my contract, he infected me with his enthusiasm,
so that I grew quite learned in theory about
celluloid ribbon, reels, and so forth.

I may say at once that we succeeded even beyond
our expectations. In fact, it has been admitted
since by experts, that the collection of films we
brought back, dramatic, ethnographic, and anthro-
pologic, were the finest that ever came out of the
tropics. I can say this without egotism, and even
without appearing unduly to flatter Major Schom-
burgk, since the pictures were not taken by either
of us, but by his camera man, Mr. James Hodgson.
Of course, we both of us acted in the dramatic films,
but that is another matter.

LONDON TO LOME

It was on August 26th, following the necessary
preliminary preparations in London, that we sailed
from Dover in the " good ship " I believe that
is the accepted nautical termHenriy Woermamm,
bound for Lome, which is the capital and port of
Togo, a tiny German protectorate wedged in be-
tween the Gold Coast Colony on the west and
Dahomey on the east.

The coast-line is only thirty-two miles long, but
inland the country widens out a lot, and it was for
this " hinterland " largely unknown and uncharted
that we were bound.

I must confess to a certain feeling of pleasurable
excitement what girl would not experience such ?
on the occasion of this first start on what will in
all probability always stand out in memory's re-
cord as the longest and most adventurous journey
of my life.

Our prime business was, of course, to film pic-
tures, and we set to work promptly. Directly we
got on board the tender, we commenced photo-
graphing the first scene in a drama entitled Odd
Man Out, the scenario of which had already been
put together in London, and concerning the plot
of which I shall have more to say presently.

Naturally our business excited the curiosity of
the other passengers, and as the tug drew near to
the great liner, I could see that the rails of the
decks nearest to us were lined with row on row of
the passengers who had joined the vessel at Ham-
burg, all eagerly intent on watching us and our
doings ; and as we stepped on board, all eyes were
directed at us, and many smiled a kindly greeting.
As for me, however, during those first few hours

LONDON TO LOME

my one wish was to be alone, to arrange my cabin,
unpack my belongings, and generally make my
surroundings as comfortable and homelike as pos-
sible.

It is the fashion of old West African travellers
to protest that the pleasures and amenities of the
voyage do not really begin until Madeira is passed,
but as far as I was concerned I had quite settled
down to life on board after our first day at sea.
We played the usual ship's games, sang, talked,
and I am afraid that most of us, old as well as
young, married and single, flirted a little bit. I soon
gathered round me quite a small circle of friends.
They were mostly men friends, but this was not
exactly my fault. An actress is an actress. Que
voulez-vous ?

And here I feel that I must say how greatly I
appreciated the kindness and attention I received
during the voyage from the ship's officers. The
captain, a most fatherly old gentleman, the oldest
officer and the commodore of the fleet of mail
steamers to which the Henny Woermamm belongs,
was unceasing in his efforts to do all he could for
my comfort and convenience. The food, too, was
excellent, and the whole surroundings most com-
fortable, not to say luxurious ; equal, in fact, to
those of any first-class hotel.

Curious how one gets used to the throbbing of
the engines on board ship, and the vibration of
the propeller. When they suddenly ceased, very
early one morning, I was wide awake immediately.
For a few moments I lay quite still, wondering lazily
what was the matter. Then it suddenly flashed
upon my mind that we must be at Madeira, and all

LONDON TO LOME

desire for further sleep promptly vanished. I
jumped up, peeped out of my port-hole, saw at
once that it was even as I had surmised, and at
once I proceeded to dress and hurry on deck.

It was Sunday morning. Before my eyes lay
Madeira. Never in all my life had I seen any-
thing one-half so beautiful. I was quite taken
aback by the ethereal loveliness of the picture, and
could only stand still and gaze at it in speechless
admiration.

I was almost the first on deck, and so I had it
all to myself for a while, and I could drink in the
beauty of it, and enjoy it at my leisure. But soon
the other passengers came pouring up from below
in ever increasing numbers, and all became bustle,
noise, and animation. Native boys swam out and
round the ship in shoals, shouting, jabbering, and
gesticulating, and diving for pennies which were
thrown to them by the passengers.

After breakfast we went ashore, hired a motor-
car, and drove up the mountain side to a spot
whence a magnificent view is obtained of the whole
of the bay, harbour, and town. The road up is
exceedingly steep, and it was, take it altogether,
the most exciting motor ride I ever experienced.
I was, in fact, afraid at times that the car would
slip backwards.

But if the ride up was exciting, it was nothing
by comparison with the ride down. This return
journey is made by means of queer-looking native
sleighs over a smooth cobble-paved, but exceed-
ingly steep road. Each of these sleighs will accom-
modate two passengers, and is manipulated by a
couple of natives, who stand bolt upright on the

LONDON TO LOME

elongated runners that project behind, and guide
its course with their feet.

It is very like tobogganing, minus the snow and
ice, and most of the passengers made light of it,
but to my mind it was a rather terrifying and not
altogether pleasant experience ; for the road is in-
clined in places at an angle of something like ninety
degrees, there are many sharp curves, and the
crazy little vehicles fly downwards with the rapidity
of lightning. Nevertheless, so skilful are the natives
that I was assured that accidents are practically
unknown.

After our ride our party went together into the
town, and I found it very interesting to watch the
passengers busily engaged in buying curios, and
specimens of native work, to take home to their
friends. Everybody haggled to get the price as
low as possible ; and yet afterwards, when they
got back on board ship, everybody came to the
conclusion that they had been " had."

We utilised, too, our short stay on shore to film
yet another scene in the Odd Man Out drama,
this being taken in the gardens amidst beautiful
tropical vegetation ; and one of the curious island
sledges, drawn by oxen, was also introduced. In
fact, I may say here that we hardly ever missed a
suitable opportunity throughout the voyage to get
local colour for this our first cinema play, the early
scenes in which are concerned with a young white
woman going out to join her husband in the wilds
of Central Africa. When later on, for instance,
we passed a mail steamer in mid-ocean, the camera
was got ready, and I was set to pose and act on
deck, with the big ship flitting past in the back-

LONDON TO LOME

ground as a setting. We had some gorgeous sun-
sets, too, and these also we pressed into our service,
so to speak.

The " Blue Peter " flying from the masthead is
the signal for everybody to hurry on board, and
soon the anchor is up, the screw starts to revolve,
and we resume our journey. Between Madeira and
Las Palmas we enjoyed two of the lovely sunsets
mentioned above. I never saw anything to equal
them, and certainly I could never have imagined
anything half so beautiful. If a painter could have
painted them exactly true to nature, I am quite
sure that he would have been laughed at as a
futurist, or something artistically as dreadful ; be-
cause no one, who had not seen the original, would
have believed in the reality of his vivid colour effects.

On the morning of September 1st we passed
Teneriffe, but only stopped there for quite a short
while to put off a few passengers. At noon we
anchored at Las Palmas, where we had a long wait.
A party of us went ashore, and visited the cathe-
dral and the few other " sights " that the place
boasts of.

Then we hired a motor-car for a drive up to the
Hotel Monte. At least, the chauffeur who drove us
called his conveyance a motor-car, but it was the
awfullest type of its kind I ever came across. The
bumping was terrific, but looking over and under
to try to ascertain the reason I discovered to my
amazement that one of the wheels was practically
destitute of any vestige of a tyre. About every
ten minutes, too, we had to stop dead, because the
motor got hot, and there was no water available
to cool it.

LONDON TO LOME

At last, after a thorough shaking-up, the worst
I think I ever had in my life, we arrived at the
hotel, and had our tea. The view from the summit
made amends in part for the disagreeableness of
the drive. It was superb. It struck me as being
very strange, however, that the one side of the
mountain is quite bleak and bare, whilst the other
is beautifully green and wooded.

In Las Palmas I saw for the first time women
washing the family linen at the sides of the roads
in the streams that flow downwards through pebble
and shingle. The Las Palmas roads, by the way,
are atrocious ; but the strongly built mail-coaches,
each drawn by six mules, make light of their un-
evennesses.

At five o'clock we paid a visit to S.M.S. Bremen,
which lay in the harbour near the Henny Woermamm.
Three officers belonging to her had accompanied us as
far as Las Palmas, and we had been great friends
with them, and now they invited us to come on
board their vessel for a farewell visit. Champagne
was produced, and I took a couple of glasses and
found they did me good, the heat being very great,
and the ride up to the Hotel Monte and back
dreadfully dry and dusty.

Our captain had fixed six o'clock as the hour
of departure, but we did not actually start until
eleven. The ship seemed almost unnaturally quiet
now that the naval officers had left her, for they
were always bright and jolly, and I must confess
that I had got to like " my little boys in blue," as
I had christened them, very much indeed. How-
ever, I am naturally light-hearted, so I quickly
banished sadness, consoling myself with the re-

LONDON TO LOME

flection that there are, after all, heaps of nice men
in the world.

At length Lome hove in sight, and while I was
being lowered, together with three other pas-
sengers, into the boat that was to take us ashore,
the band struck up a song that was pretty popular
amongst the passengers on board, " Do you think
that I love you because I have danced with you ? "
and on deck stood an army lieutenant who was
going to join his regiment in Kamerun, and with
whom I had often danced. I was convulsed with
laughter, because I knew that it was all his work.
After this ditty came " The Girl I Left Behind Me,"
and looking back from the boat I saw my dear old
captain, and an elderly civilian gentleman who had
paid me a good deal of attention, standing on deck
with a huge bath towel between them, on which
they were pretending to dry their tears. It was
exceedingly comical.

Landing at Lome is not at all a simple matter.
First one has to be lowered into the boat from the
deck of the steamer in what is called a " mammy
chair " mammy being a coast term for woman.
It is a sort of wooden skip, something like one of
the old-fashioned swing-boats one sees at village
fairs.

The passage from ship to shore is exciting, and in
bad weather it is even considered dangerous, and
there is considerable surf; but the sea happened
fortunately to be calm when we got there. Other-
wise our arrival was inopportune. On the day
before a member of the tiny European colony there
had died of yellow fever, and all the flags were at
half-mast.

LONDON TO LOME

This rather cast a damper over our spirits,
although nothing could exceed the kindness and
courtesy shown us by the Togo officials, from the
highest to the lowest. The custom-house officers
hurried over the necessary formalities as quickly
as possible ; and although the governor, H.H. the
Duke of Mecklenburg, was unable to receive us,
being engaged with Sir Hugh Clifford, Governor of
the Gold Coast Colony, who had come to pay him
an official visit, he had kindly arranged quarters
for us, and done everything in his power to welcome
us and make us comfortable.

His adjutant, Lieutenant von Rentzel, who was
in hospital at the time, put his house and servants
at the disposal of our party, and we had a jolly
dinner party there that night, at which I played
the part of hostess. He also lent me personally a
rickshaw, and a boy to draw it, so that I might
be able to see what there was to see in and about
the town with the minimum of fatigue and incon-
venience.

However, I had not much time to devote to
sight-seeing, for very early on the morning after
our arrival we set out to journey up country to a
place called Atakpame, distant about 110 miles
from Lome. A railway runs so far ; and at the
rail-head civilisation may be said to come abruptly
to an end.

CHAPTER II

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE GODDESS
OF THE WANGOKA"

OH that railway journey ! Shall I ever
forget it ? The dust and heat were awful,
and owing to some unaccountable over-
sight, nobody had thought to lay in any provisions
for the trip, which lasted from six o'clock in the
morning till four in the afternoon. The only food
we were able to obtain en route consisted of monkey
nuts. Our thirst, however, we quenched quite
satisfactorily with luscious, juicy pine-apples, of
which the natives brought us unlimited supplies at
every stopping-place, offering them clamorously for
sale at the uniform rate of one penny each.

Arrived at Atakpame, we were given a right
royal welcome by Baron Codelli von Fahnenfeld,
who is building for the German Government, at
Kamina near by, an immense wireless station, in-
tended to communicate direct with the wireless
station at Nauen, just outside Berlin.

The baron first introduced to me my " house,"
a straw hut, like all the dwellings hereabouts, but,
as he proudly pointed out, it was, unlike them,
possessed of a cement floor. I duly thanked him,
and tried to smile my gratitude. But my heart
misgave me, for to my mind it seemed to lack
pretty jwell [alljthe essentials that a dwelling-place
should by rights possess.

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE

To begin with, it most certainly was not weather-
proof, for I could see, through the interstices of
the loosely-thatched roof, the stars twinkling far
above. The wind blew in the front and out at the
back, and I was conscious, all the time I was dress-
ing for dinner, that I was the cynosure of several
hundred pairs of eyes, belonging to as many natives,
men and women, who, " clad in the climate," as
the saying is out there, crowded in serried ranks
all round the wattle walls, anxious for a glimpse
through the all too numerous chinks at the won-
derful white woman timidly robing and disrobing
within.

But dinner made amends for everything. We
were the baron's guests for that evening. It was
a glorious, gorgeous meal, beautifully prepared and
perfectly served under conditions which seemed
ideal to me, partly no doubt because they were so
altogether novel. The warm African night was
absolutely still, save for the continual monotonous
humming of myriads of insects. All around was
the silent mysterious bush, from which came no
sound, either of man, or of beast, or of bird.

And we we were in a little gastronomic world of
our own ; a tiny bit of London, or Paris, or Berlin,
planted out in the wild. There was the same
sheen of damask napery, the same glitter of crystal
and silver, the same faint, almost imperceptible
perfume of exotics, as one associates mentally with,
say, the Ritz or the Savoy. Only the servitors
here, instead of wearing black clothes and having
white faces, were ebon black in colour, and their
liveries were white, all white, from head to foot,
save for the silver blazonry of the baron's crest.

GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"

Oh, how I enjoyed this my first real meal in the
real heart of Africa ! The memory of the taste of it
lingers on my palate yet, even as I write. Nothing
was lacking, nothing was de trap. The caviare was
as good as the consomme, and both were perfect.
The partridge en casserol was hot, juicy, and tender.
The spring lamb with asparagus shoots was a dream.
The peach Melba melted in one's mouth. The
coffee was as good as any I have tasted in Vienna,
which is only another way of saying that it was the
very best possible. The wines, like the liqueurs,
were just " it." When my host informed me, over
our cigarettes, that all the comestibles came out of
cans, I simply could not believe it. But it was the
truth, of course, nevertheless. Only canned pro-
visions are available in the Togo hinterland, if one
excepts chickens and eggs, and an occasional joint
of very tough and very insipid beef.

After dinner, however, came my first real African
ordeal. Wishful to do honour to our genial host,
I had donned one of my prettiest low-necked frocks,
and the mosquitoes took a mean and dastardly
advantage of my innocent inexperience. The baron
and Major Schomburgk swathed me from head to
foot in blankets and tablecloths, so that I looked
like an Egyptian mummy. Nevertheless, ere bed-
time, I grew unbeautifully speckled, and very, very
lumpy.

I had almost forgotten to record that the dinner
was served in an open thatched house, like my
own, but somewhat larger, so that the insects had
free access everywhere. The light came from one
of Baron Codelli's acetylene motor-bike lamps,
placed at some distance from the table. A lamp

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE

placed anywhere on, or near the table, attracts
insects in such countless myriads as to render eating
and drinking almost out of the question.

I slept fairly well through my first night in the
African bush, having previously learnt to lie per-
fectly straight and still on the narrow camp bed-
steads that are everywhere in vogue in Togo. If
one wriggles about under one's mosquito-net, or
throws one's arms about, the bloodthirsty little
brutes are sure to get at one, and then woe be-
tide the sleeper. He, or she, becomes the sleeper
awakened with a vengeance.

On rising at sunrise, I asked quite innocently
for my bath. My native boy grinned; and pointed
to a bucket hanging from the top of a tall pole in
the open compound fronting my hut. At the same
time he explained by gestures that by pulling out,
by means of a cord that was attached to it, the
bung in the bottom, I could manage to obtain a
very good imitation of a genuine shower-bath.

Nobody seemed to think that there was any-
thing amiss in the publicity that must of necessity
have attached to the proposed performance, but I
was of a different opinion. I shirked my bath for
that one morning, and during the afternoon my
boy, acting on my instructions, built a wattle screen
round the compound.

I was looking forward to start rehearsing that
day on the first of our native plays, which we had
entitled tentatively, The White Goddess of the W an-
gora ; but then I knew nothing at the time of the
delays incidental to any kind of work in which
natives play a part.

Time is of no value whatever to these wild and

PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR

Painted in Togoland, by Ernst Vollbehr of Mi'mchen. The native is a Konkombwa.

GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"

woolly savages, and as we had of necessity to get
together a small army of several hundred " supers,"
literally weeks elapsed before we were ready. I
chafed dreadfully at the delay, but there was no
help for it. The requisite number of natives had
to be laboriously collected from a score or more
of villages scattered over a wide area of country,
and then, when we had got them together, every-
thing had to be explained to them over and over
again through the medium of three or four different
interpreters. In fact, it was nothing but talk, talk,
talk, palaver, palaver, palaver, from morning till
night.

There was considerable difficulty, too, in getting
them to face the camera. Like most savages, these
Togo natives have an inherent rooted aversion
to being photographed. Luckily, however, Major
Schomburgk had taken moving pictures of some
of their villages during a previous expedition he
had led into these parts, and some of the very
natives we had engaged figured in them.

So, as we had brought a projecting machine
with us, we made shift to rig up a screen, and
showed them themselves, their wives and their little
ones, going about their ordinary avocations in their
own homes. The effect was instantaneous. They
had, of course, seen ordinary photographs before,
but none of them had ever beheld any moving
pictures. Now they all wanted to come into one ;
and whereas before the most of them hung back,
they were now only too anxious to push themselves
in the forefront of every scene.

Only one act they shirked. This was a battle
scene in which several of the warriors were supposed

33 c

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE

to be slain. We had the greatest difficulty in per-
suading even one native to " act dead." Their
objection, they explained, was due to the fact
that they believed that if they played at being
dead before the white man's mysterious machine,
they would most likely be dead in reality before
morning.

At length, by the promise of a liberal bonus, one
warrior, greatly daring, consented to play the part.
The next morning the head interpreter knocked
at the door of my hut to inform me that there were
" eight dead natives lying in the compound outside."

" What ! " I screamed, in great alarm. And,
hastily donning my dressing-gown, I ran out.

But I need not have got scared. The eight were
not really defunct. They were merely shamming
death, and wanted me to see how well they could
do it, with a view to being taken on for the part
in the forthcoming day's rehearsal.

The one who had played dead the day before
had not of course died during the night, as they
more than half expected he would have done, and
they were consequently now only too willing and
anxious to follow the lead he had set them.

At length the long, wearisome series of pre-
liminary rehearsals came to an end. Everybody
was supposed to be part perfect, and we made
ready to film the play.

Up to this I had, of course, rehearsed in ordinary
attire. Now I had to don native dress ; and as I
am a stickler for realism I insisted against Major
Schomburgk's advice in playing in bare feet and
legs, bare shoulders and arms, and with no head
covering.

GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"

As the principal scenes were laid out of doors
in the middle of the bush, and under a blazing
tropical sun, this, as was pointed out to me, was a
pretty " big order." Nevertheless, I thought I
could " stick it " ; and, as a matter of fact, I did,
though I suffered for it afterwards.

My part was, of course, that of the u White
Goddess." I was supposed to have been cast ashore
as a babe on the coast of Togo, and taken up-
country by the savages who found me, and who
afterwards placed me in charge of their principal
ju-ju shrine, paying me, in the course of time,
almost divine honours.

I had grown to womanhood without ever having
seen one of my own colour and race, and when a
white hunter (Major Schomburgk) was taken prisoner
by the tribe whose high priestess I was, I was
naturally attracted to him. Bound hand and foot,
he was cast into a hut, preparatory to being put
to death. I had to free him from his bonds, and
guide him in a wild flight for freedom over rocks
and bushes, through foaming streams, and up hill
and down dale.

All this I did. It is the great scene of the play,
and to film it took one whole day. Major Schom-
burgk had given strict orders for all our eight hun-
dred or so of supers to muster at 6 A.M. sharp, but
with the irritating perverseness of natives they did
not put in an appearance until 10 A.M., when, of
course, the sun was already high in the heavens.

This added tremendously to my trials and
tribulations, and was, in fact, to a great extent the
cause of my subsequent breakdown. By noon,
when the sun was directly overhead, it was so hot

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE

that the operator was unable to bear to touch with
his ungloved hand the brass work of his machine.

How I got through the afternoon's work I don't
know to this day. I managed it somehow. There
is a marvellous sustaining power in the mere ner-
vous tension of acting, and the click, click, click of
the camera helps to keep one tuned up as it were.
But directly it was all over I fell fainting on my
camp bed in my hut, and the doctor had to be
called in. My feet were all cut and scarred, and
full of thorns and jiggers. 1 My legs, too, were
pretty badly scratched and torn. And, to crown
all, I had got a " touch of the sun."

The next day I was in a high fever, and the day
after that in a higher one. Malaria had gripped
me, and I really thought at one time that my first
African photo-play rehearsal was going to be my
last one. Even the doctor looked grave after the
first week or so. " You have got malarial fever,"
he explained, " and you have got it pretty badly.
Your spleen is about four times larger than it ought
to be, and if you cough it will probably burst."

As at that time I was troubled with an almost
incessant cough, this was not consoling. However,
liberal doses of quinine, repeated at frequent inter-
vals, cured me at last, and in order to celebrate
my convalescence, as soon as I felt well enough I
prepared a little dinner with my own hands, and
invited Baron Codelli and Major Schomburgk to
my hut to partake of it.

I rather fancy myself as a cook, and I had pre-
pared, as the piece de resistance, a couple of nice
plump fowls. When the dish was uncovered my

1 Also known as the chigoes and the sand-flea.

By permission cf

Maj. //. Schomburgk, F.R.G.S.

REHEARSING FOR THE CINEMA

Another scene from the moving picture play " The White Goddess of the Wangora." Note the
intent look on the little black girl's face, and the pleased expression on that of the authoress. '1 he
black lady on the left is the head "super " amongst the native women at Kamina.

By permission of

PLAYING AN

Maj. H. Schontburgk, F.R.G.S.

'' INTERIOR" SCENE IN A NATIVE DRAMA

eeping, while a "slave-

The authoress is reclining on a leopard-skin rug, and is supposed to be sleeping, while a
girl" really a native "super " fans her with a feather fan. Taken at Kamina.

GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"

guests glanced sharply at one another, turned very
red, and looked quite uncomfortable.

I could not make out what was the matter, and
in my usual impetuous way, I blurted out, plump
and plain, the question that was uppermost in my
mind.

" Is there anything wrong with the chickens ? "

This was too much for their gravity. Both the
baron and Schomburgk burst into fits of uncon-
trollable laughter, and the former ran to fetch his
diary.

" Look here," he said, pointing to one of the
last entries, " I have already, during the years I
have spent in this benighted country, eaten 9863
chickens. Schomburgk has probably eaten pro
rata at least as many "the major nodded" and
now you give us two more as a treat ! O Lord ! 5:

I joined in their laughter then. I had to.
And, after all, my little dinner passed off excellently
well, for of course there were other dishes. Mean-
while I had learnt one more African lesson. Never,
never, NEVER offer your guests chicken if there is
anything else under the sun obtainable by hook or
by crook. Cheese and crackers, if you like ; or
tinned salmon, or sardines, or even " bully " beef.
But the domestic fowl, regarded as more or less of
a luxury in Europe, is in Africa absolutely tabu.
It is the one article of flesh diet that is all-per-
vading everywhere out there, and which everybody
consequently soon heartily sickens of. As well
might one offer a dish of salmon to an Alaskan
fisherman ; or a ragout of mutton to an Australian
boundary rider.

Another lesson I learnt during my long and

HOW WE FILMED "THE WHITE

wearisome illness was never to kill a lizard, the
reason being that lizards eat insects, and insects of
innumerable and most diverse kinds constitute the
principal pests of equatorial Africa. The houses
out there swarm with lizards, and they are big
ones too, fully eighteen inches or more in length.
Nobody dreams of interfering with them. On the
contrary, they are everywhere petted and made
much of. One old fellow I got quite attached to,
and he to me. I always knew him from the others
because he had only three legs, having lost the
other, probably in an encounter with one of his
kind. He was as good as a watch. I used to call
him my tea-time lizard, because he always put in
an appearance precisely at four o'clock every after-
noon.

Schomburgk used to tell me that every lizard
was responsible for killing and eating I don't know
how many hundreds or was it thousands? of
white ants daily. Very likely. But all the same
the ants did not seem to me to diminish perceptibly.
The venomous and vicious little pests swarmed
everywhere in incredible numbers. Nothing seemed
to come amiss to them. Our operator declared that
he once found a lot of them trying to make a meal
off a sixteen-pound cannon-ball that he used as a
make- weight to the tripod of his machine to prevent
it being blown or knocked over, but this I alto-
gether decline to believe. He must have been
well, mistaken. But I can vouch from bitter per-
sonal experience that they will devour, in the course
of a single night, photographs hung on the walls,
and boots left standing on the floor ; and once
a detachment of them riddled so badly a strong

GODDESS OF THE WANGORA"

wooden box in which I kept my letters and papers
that it fell to pieces in my hands.

Another troublesome insect pest was a kind of
big wood-boring beetle, that made its home chiefly
in the beams of the roof. These he would riddle
so completely that sooner or later the thatch was
practically certain to come tumbling about one's
ears. While in between whiles he peppered the
interior with sawdust from his carpentering opera-
tions to such an extent that I was kept continually
busy dusting and sweeping it out.

Later, however, when we trekked further up-
country right into the real heart of the unexplored
hinterland, I learnt that Africa held other even
worse insect pests than white ants and wood-
boring beetles. But of these more anon.

CHAPTER III

LIFE AT KAMINA

THERE seems to be no end to trouble when
filming cinema plays in equatorial Africa.
No sooner had I recovered from my bout
of malarial fever than our leader and pro-
ducer, Major Schomburgk, was stricken down
with it, and everything was at sixes and sevens
once more.

However, I employed my interval of enforced
leisure in making my temporary home as comfort-
able as possible, and in getting acquainted with
the natives, and so managed to pass the time
pleasantly and profitably enough.

My nicest hours were those spent before my hut
between four o'clock and dark, after the day's
work was done. Then I took my tea, and passed
the time of day with the women and girls who
came with huge calabashes on their heads to get
water.

At first they used to hurry by shyly, with eyes
downcast, and without speaking. But I laughed
and smiled at them, and by degrees, after the first
day or two, we became quite friendly. They were
chiefly interested in my needlework and my hair.
Then one day a thunderstorm broke suddenly while
they were near, and I invited them into my hut for

LIFE AT KAMINA

shelter and set my gramophone playing. This
delighted them immensely, although for a long
while they seemed to be more or less frightened
of it.

There are some sweet girls amongst them, and
many of them are quite modest in their demeanour,
and well-behaved, although in the matter of clothes,
of course, they have not much to boast of. The
young unmarried girls are some of them quite
pretty, with lithe graceful figures, beautifully
proportioned busts, and well-shaped arms and
shoulders.

All of them have to work hard, however, and
the existence of the married women especially seemed
to me to be one continuous round of drudgery. In
fact, the daily life of a native wife out here might
well serve the advanced suffragettes at home as
a typical, " terrible example " of what my sex has
to put up with from " tyrant man."

She has to rise at dawn, sweep out the home-
stead, fetch water from the river, often far away,
do the scanty family washing, tread out the corn,
grind it to flour and make it into porridge, gather
and prepare for food various wild roots, herbs,
and vegetables, cook the family meals, wash and
tend the children, and perform a hundred and one
other similar duties, while her lord and master is,
for the most part, quietly resting " in the shade of
the sheltering palm."

Nevertheless, I am bound to say that the women
do not appear to mind it, but seem, on the contrary,
to be quite happy and contented. And indeed
their lives compare very favourably on the whole

LIFE AT KAMINA

with the lives led by many married women of the
lower classes in the great cities of England, Ger-
many, and elsewhere.

The native husband is, as a rule, of a good-
natured and kindly disposition, tolerant to a fault
almost, and passionately fond of his children.
Domestic quarrels are rare, and " nagging " on the
part of the wife that great source of strife amongst
the lower classes in Europe is practically un-
known in Africa. Then, again, if there are no
palaces in Togoland, there are likewise no slums.
Everybody is well housed, according to native
standards, and they have plenty to eat. The
children especially are well looked after in this
latter respect. There is no " under feeding " of
them, at all events, and a Togo mother would
probably regard as an insult any offer on the
part of the State to provide " free meals " for her
offspring.^

The worst class of natives to get along with are
those who have been brought continually into
association with Europeans, and have acquired
thereby an exaggerated notion of their own import-
ance. Our chief interpreter, for instance, required
at first a good deal of keeping in his place, although
his views on life and things in general used to afford
me considerable amusement.

One day, for instance, seeing me rather down-
cast it was when I was recovering from my illness
he surprised me by offering to sing to me. I
thanked him, and told him to get on with it, ex-
pecting to hear some ordinary tuneless native ditty.
Instead, he greatly astonished me by singing, in a

LIFE AT KAMINA

fairly passable voice, some very nice songs in
German.

I complimented him, and asked him where he
had learnt them. He said, " At the Catholic
Mission." Then he went on to inquire whether I
had a mother still living, and on my answering him
in the affirmative, he remarked : " I, too, have a
mother, a dear good woman, and twenty-five
brothers and sisters."

I suppose I looked the astonishment I felt, for
he hastened to add that his father had five wives.
" My father," he remarked, "is a fine big man,
with a good figure, and in Togo, if a man has a
good figure, he can get plenty of wives."

As my interpreter possessed what he called " a
good figure," I asked him if he had many wives.
" Oh no," he replied, in quite an offended tone,
" I am a scientist, and I only have one wife."

" How scientist ? " was my next question, spoken
quite gravely.

" Well," he replied, " I understand German."

" And does your wife understand German too ? "
I inquired.

" Oh dear, no," he answered, " that is forbidden
amongst us, because we hold that it is not good
for a woman to be educated."

" And why, pray ? " I asked.

' Well," he said, " supposing I return home
to-night and issue some instructions to my wife,
she would probably, assuming her to have been
educated, reply : c Talk to yourself, my husband,
not to me ; you cannot teach me anything ; I
am as clever as you are.' As it is, however, she

LIFE AT KAMINA

just obeys my instructions, and says nothing. It
is better so."

I was inclined to laugh just at first at this ex-
ample of negro philosophy, when it suddenly struck
me that I had listened to very similar sentiments
expressed by men in far more civilised communities.
" The girl I shall choose for my wife," I once over-
heard an eminent lawyer remark, " will not be one
of your new-fangled sort, all fads and fancies, but
one of the good old-fashioned kind, who will faith-
fully minister to the comfort of my home and
willingly share my bed."

London lawyer and Togo interpreter there was
scarcely a pin to choose between them as regards
their outlook on marital life and its duties and
obligations. Both cherished at bottom precisely the
same sentiments, and neither's ideal of femininity
was one whit higher than the other's.

I also had some differences with my cook. He
demanded a lot of money for " extras," and so
forth, and the results were, as a rule, distinctly
disappointing. I was especially struck with the
toughness and tastelessness of the meat served at
table, until I discovered, quite by accident, that he
was in the habit of making soup out of it for his
family and relations, we getting the solid very
much solid residuum. After that I insisted, much
against his wish, in superintending his culinary
operations, with the result that we got good palat-
able food at about one-half the cost.

My best servant, or at all events the one I
liked best, was a young girl of about fourteen or
fifteen, who acted in our dramas, and was my

LIFE AT KAMINA

personal attendant between whiles. She was a
really nice little lassie, with no nonsense about her,
and an excellent taste as regards the most suitable
native attire for me to wear in our various plays,
and the best way to drape and arrange it. She,
too, was a bit of a philosopher in her way, some
of her remarks being exceedingly quaint, and yet
sensible.

Once, for instance, when I was attired in evening
dress for a certain social function I was attending,
she started admiring my costume, and on the spur
of the moment I said to her : " How would you like
to wear clothes such as I am wearing ? ' : Quick
as a flash came the answer : " Ma'am, what one
can never own, one must not permit one's self to
like." There is a world of meaning in that little
sentence especially for our sex if one stops to
weigh it carefully. Nor does it necessarily apply
only to dress, but to well, other things.

Another use I made of my enforced leisure at
this time was to learn to cycle, this being by far
the easiest way of getting about in southern Togo,
where the roads are fairly good. I had several
spills, for it must not be imagined that the Togo-
land roads, good though they are judged by African
standards, are in any way comparable with the
macadamised highways one cycles over at home.
Still, I persevered, and after a while I became a
fairly proficient rider.

One advantage I had, and that was not being
hampered in any way as regards dress. One re-
turns to nature in equatorial Africa. No tight
skirts, but riding-breeches, in which one can move

LIFE AT KAMINA

about easily. No high heels or wafer soles, but
good strong boots that are alike serviceable and
comfortable. No waved hair, because the waves
would not remain in for even half an hour in this
hot, damp atmosphere.

Of course we were all the while on the look-out
for suitable subjects and settings for our pictures.
I rigged up a studio out of half a hut, and we filmed
many scenes of native life and customs. Amongst
other pictures we took was one showing the daily
life and work of a native woman, as set forth
above. This was entirely my own idea, and when
the films came to be developed, and shown in London
later on, this one attracted a very great deal of
attention indeed.

I found, however, that the native women and
girls made far worse subjects for the camera, taking
them altogether, than did the men. It was more
difficult to get them to pose, or rather, to be strictly
accurate, they were always posing whenever the
camera started clicking, instead of going about
their natural avocations in the ordinary way, which
was what I wanted them to do. Their silly giggling,
too, used to get on my nerves, and at times made
me quite angry.

There were other difficulties also as regards the
mechanical part of the business. Occasionally the
heat was so great that it almost sufficed to melt the
films, or even to set fire to them ; and they had to
be kept stored, therefore, in a special sort of cooling
case, built on the principal of the vacuum flask.
Later on, when marching in the far north through
the Togoland Sudan, the cases containing the films

LIFE AT KAMINA

had themselves to be protected from the heat by
being swathed in green banana leaves.

On October 10th I saw wild monkeys for the
first time. Near my hut is a mealie field, and they
came there at noon every day to eat their dinners.
They are queer little creatures, very cunning and
amusing, but very shy, so that it is difficult to get
near them and study their antics.

Once or twice I went to a native dance, but I
must confess that I was not greatly impressed. It
amused me for ten minutes or so, but as the move-
ments are always the same I soon grew tired of
watching them. And the noise of the native drums
is simply deafening, so much so that it generally
brought on a more or less severe attack of headache.

On the night of October the 15th I had quite a
little adventure. It was bright moonlight ; I could
not sleep, and at eleven o'clock, when the whole
place was hushed in slumber, I was seized with the
desire to climb to the top of one of the great steel
towers that have been erected here by Baron
Codelli von Fahnenfeld in connection with the
Government wireless telegraphy station, mention of
which has been made in a previous chapter.

There are no fewer than nine of these towers,
varying in height from about 250 feet, up to about
400 feet, and with an enterprise born of ignorance
and inexperience I chose the tallest of them all for
my experiment. I thought how beautiful the
African landscape would look seen from the top
under the light of the tropical moon, and started
on my long climb full of hope and enthusiasm.
By the time I had reached about a third of the way

LIFE AT KAMINA

up, however, all my ambition had evaporated,
and I was glad to go slowly back again. I found
the climb down even more nerve-trying than the
climb up for one thing the stimulus had departed
and I reached the ground in a state bordering on
collapse.

CHAPTER IV

STARTING "ON TREK"

f I ^HE first few days of November were spent

in packing up our belongings and making

ready to start up-country away from the

rail-head, and into " the back of beyond," as

Schomburgk put it.

The packing process interested me greatly ;
partly, I suppose, because it gave my housewifely
instincts full play. It was like making prepara-
tions for a glorified picnic on a gigantic scale.
Piles of provender, pyramids of stores of all kinds,
cumbered the camp, and it fell to my lot to bring
order out of chaos.

Necessaries and provisions for a five months'
trip had to be packed, and all the " chop boxes,"
as they are called out there, had to be carefully
marked and their contents scheduled. It was also
necessary to see that each box weighed precisely
60 lb., neither more nor less, this being what each
porter contracts to carry in Togo.

This was my work, and the motto given me for
my guidance was " in every box a little of every-
thing." This obviated the bother of opening a
separate box for each article wanted on the march,
one or two days' supplies being carried in each box,
and used as required, after which the empty box
could be discarded, and another one opened.

49 D

STARTING "ON TREK'

The most important single article amongst the
host of stores was the quinine. Over and over again
I was urged to look carefully after this. One can do
without food in the bush, I was told ; one can even
do, for a while at all events, without water ; but
to be without quinine spells death.

Everybody takes it regularly out there, and
quite as a matter of course, the usual dose being
thirty-five grains or thereabouts each week. I took
my little lot in two separate doses on Saturday and
Sunday, and I don't mind confessing that, in the
words of the popular ditty of the day, " I didn't
want to do it." Only I had to. There was no
escape. Schomburgk and Hodgson, our operator,
who were the only other white people in the party
at this stage of the journey, took theirs on the
instalment principle, five grains each evening. But
I preferred the other way.

At last everything was ready. Our one hundred
carriers, collected and sorted with elaborate care
from a dozen or more different villages, made a
brave show. Altogether, with our personal staff,
interpreters, and so forth, we had a retinue of
exactly 120 followers ; a greater, I reflected, than
any I was ever likely to travel with in future, and
certainly far in excess of any that I had been
honoured with in the past.

On the evening of the 4th of November we
entertained to dinner the good Fathers of the
Catholic Mission from Atakpame, who had shown
us many kindly courtesies during the time we had
spent in their neighbourhood, and on the 5th we said
good-bye to Kamina, and started on our journey.

Our object was to film scenes and plays of native

Photo by A. Mocsigay, Hamburg-

MAJOR HANS SCHOMBURGK

The leader and organiser of the expedition. During the last sixteen years he has only spent about
two years outside Africa.

STARTING "ON TREK"

life amongst absolutely virgin and unspoiled sur-
roundings, and to this end we intended to pene-
trate to the extremest northern confines of Togo,
as far at least as the borders of the French Sudan.
As I have already intimated, no white woman had
ever travelled so far afield in this part of Africa
before, but we anticipated little difficulty or danger
on this account, the natives being reported as
quite friendly everywhere along our proposed line
of route. Then, too, His Highness the Duke of
Mecklenburg, the governor of the colony, had very
kindly instructed all district commissioners and
other Government officials to render the expedition
every assistance in their power ; so that altogether
we looked forward to a pleasant, if possibly a some-
what strenuous trip.

The first stage of our journey was to a place
called Sokode, seven days' march, and up to this
point there is a very fair road. Consequently we
had arranged to cycle so far, the major explaining
that we should have all the horseback riding we
wanted later on.

Our first day's trek was to have been a very
short one, only seven miles, and so we did not start
until four o'clock in the afternoon, having sent on
our carriers and instructed them where to wait
for us. But once again we had experience of the
curious perversity of the African native. Instead
of covering a short seven-mile stage, as ordered,
they travelled a good fifteen before they conde-
scended to call a halt.

As a result darkness overtook us long before we
overtook them, and I had one or two rather nasty
spills, reaching camp at last sore, shaken, and bruised.

STARTING "ON TREK"

Schomburgk was furious, but was obliged to dis-
semble a good deal, as at this stage of the journey,
with the carriers comparatively close to their homes,
any undue show of harshness or temper might
easily have resulted in stampeding the whole lot
of them.

That night I spent on a camp bed in an old
deserted straw hut. It was not altogether uncom-
fortable, but I got little sleep. The carriers were
all round me in groups of messes, each with its
own little fire, and they were all the time mumbling
and talking to one another.

The next day we made a short march, as the
rest-house was only about eight miles ahead.
These rest-houses are strung out all along the
Kamina-Sokode road at distances about twenty
miles apart, and each marks the end of a stage.
Our operator, Hodgson, should have picked us up
here. He had left Kamina the day after our depar-
ture, intending to overtake us, but he passed us
somehow, and cycled on to the next rest-house.

Naturally we wondered what on earth had be-
come of him, and were beginning to get rather
anxious when, about four o'clock in the afternoon,
a messenger arrived with news of his whereabouts,
and bearing a letter asking urgently for a supply
of provisions to be sent on to him, as he had nothing
to eat where he was, and had tasted no food all
that day.

By degrees things began to settle down. I had
charge of the commissariat and cooking arrange-
ments. The natives I found tractable enough, but
woefully deficient in their notions of cleanliness.
Most of them entertained the idea that the proper

STARTING "ON TREK"

way to wash a plate or a dish was to lick it all over
thoroughly. In this way, they explained, they not
only cleansed it, but at the same time were able
to get at least a taste of the white man's " chop."

Water, they contended, was for drinking, not
for washing things in. Even to rub over a kitchen
utensil with a wisp of dried grass seemed to them
a work of supererogation. Eventually I used to
boil the water myself in which the dishes were
washed up a necessary precaution against dysen-
tery and superintend the washing-up operations
from start to finish. It was, I found, the only way.

I also had charge of the petty cash book, and
used to make small advances to the boys as occa-
sion demanded. They had christened me " The
Puss," and applications for money became more
frequent and insistent than Schomburgk deemed
consistent with good order and discipline. It was,
" Please, Puss, give me some pennies," " Me want
one shilling, please, Puss," and so on from morning
till night.

The climax came on the evening of the second
day, when we were about twenty-five miles out
from Kamina. Just as I was retiring for the night,
a letter was handed to me which purported to come
from Messa, our cook, and Alfred, our chief inter-
preter, but which was really, I found out afterwards,
inspired by the first-named individual, although
drawn up and signed by them both.

" Dear Puss," it ran, " cook and myself want
advance. One pound please. Or more. If not
more, less would be good. Farther up in the bush
presently we no want one penny. This the last.
So please not tell master, because perhaps he make

STARTING "ON TREK"

palaver. Good evening, dear Puss. We salute you.
Alfred and Messa."

Well, I made a bit of a palaver myself about it,
for a sovereign seemed a good round sum for a
couple of natives to want all of a hurry, but even-
tually, yielding to their urgent entreaties, I let
them have it. We broke camp next morning at
three o'clock, so as to avoid marching in the heat
of the day. To my amazement and disgust the
cook had disappeared. So, too, had one of our
bicycles. The chief interpreter, on being interro-
gated, disclaimed all knowledge of the whereabouts
of the absent man. He had, he asserted, merely
written the letter to oblige Messa, and had no idea
that he intended deserting, as he apparently had
done.

Here was a pretty go and no mistake. The
major swore fluently ; I cried profusely. Then
we both got angry. He said it was all my fault.
" The idea of giving a nigger a whole sovereign
advance ! " I retorted that he ought to have im-
pressed upon me more carefully what mean, under-
hand skunks niggers were.

Gloomily we marched to the next camp, and I
could hear Schomburgk grumbling to himself at
intervals whenever I got near enough to him, which
was not often. " No cook ! Whatever shall we do ?
And Messa was a good cook. A better one I never
had. And good cooks cannot be picked up in the
bush like paw-paws." And so on, and so on.

We marched eighteen miles that morning, the
longest stage we had done so far, then halted for
breakfast.

" Sardines and crackers ! " sneered Schomburgk.

STARTING "ON TREK"

" For gracious sake go away somewhere for
half an hour," I retorted hotly. " I'm going to
run this chop."

He picked up his gun, and strolled off into the
bush grumbling. I set to work to prepare break-
fast. It was hard work to bring my self-imposed
task to a successful issue, for I had only the most
rudimentary cooking utensils, and an open fire.

By dint of much labour and perseverance, how-
ever, I managed in the end to prepare a very decent
dish of eggs and bacon, with hot rolls, and strong
steaming coffee. Schomburgk grunted approval
when he came to partake of it, and afterwards was
quite genial, despite the affair of the missing Messa.
" Feed the brute ! 5! I forget the name of the tact-
ful woman who first gave our sex that very excellent
piece of advice, but she knew what she was talking
about. She had studied men, and to some purpose.

An hour later our truant cook turned up. He
explained that just prior to starting on trek with
us he had married a young wife, and having regard
to her attractiveness and inexperience he had, on
mature reflection, deemed it inadvisable to leave
her behind. He had therefore gone back to fetch
her, borrowing the bicycle and the sovereign for
that purpose.

By dint of cross-examination I elicited that he
had not left our previous camp until midnight.
He had therefore cycled twenty-five miles to Kamina,
and the same distance back again, plus the eighteen
miles we had marched that morning, or nearly
seventy miles in all in rather less than nine hours,
a wonderful performance for a native, and on a
native road.

STARTING "ON TREK"

I asked him about his wife. " Oh," he replied,
" she come presently. She walking."

Sure enough she turned up that afternoon, having
trudged the whole distance from Kamina, forty-
three miles. When I saw her I did not blame Messa
for not caring to leave her behind. She was as
pretty a girl, for a native, as I ever wish to see.
Fourteen or fifteen years old, probably, but quite
fully developed and beautifully proportioned, with
a pair of roguish alluring eyes, and a face all smiles.
She accompanied us throughout the trip, and proved
herself quite an acquisition.

As for Messa, we ought of course to have chided
him severely. But, as a matter of fact, we were so
exceedingly glad to get him back again that but
little was said to him at the time. Later on, how-
ever, he was taken pretty sternly to task, and
warned that any similar breach of discipline would
in future be very seriously dealt with.

CHAPTER V

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

I FORGOT to say that shortly after leaving
Kamina, at a village called Ana, we were over-
taken by another caravan convoying a Euro-
pean, a certain Dr. Berger, who was travelling
up-country as far as Sokode, with a view to vac-
cinating the natives there.

The meeting came about in this wise. On
arriving at Ana, we discovered that the rest-house
there was already occupied by a Mr. Lange, an
engineer, who was building a bridge across the Ana
river.

He was away at work when we got there, and
Schomburgk sent his (Lange's) boy to tell him of
our arrival. Presently Lange turned up, looking
rather perplexed, and not a little worried. The
statement made to him by his boy, it appeared,
had been couched in the following terms : " Master,
two white men have arrived, and one of them looks
like a woman."

Lange had guessed from this the identity of
our party, for he had known Schomburgk during
his previous trip, and had heard of his re-arrival
in the colony, and of my presence there with him.
His worried appearance, we found out, was due to
the fact that he had practically run out of pro-
visions just then, and so was unable to show us the

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

hospitality he would have desired ; and he was
greatly relieved when we asked him to be our guest
during our stay at Ana. I may add that this was
Schomburgk's invariable practice, and I have often
heard him inveigh against the thoughtlessness some-
times shown by a certain type of globe-trotting
European travellers in Africa in planting themselves
upon other Europeans, sometimes for days together,
and eating up food which is perhaps badly needed,
and may be very difficult to replace. Of course
hospitality under such circumstances is never re-
fused. It is the unwritten law of the bush that
white man shares with white man. But all the
same there are times when it works hardly on the
individual who does the sharing.

Well, luncheon was served and eaten, and we
were enjoying our coffee and cigarettes, when a
new lot of carriers hove in sight.

" Hullo ! '' remarked Lange to Schomburgk,
" this looks like a white man's caravan " ; and the
two fell to discussing the foolishness of the in-
dividual, whoever he might be, in travelling thus
during the heat of the day.

Presently the owner of the caravan, the Dr.
Berger mentioned above, turned up, looking very
hot and tired. Of course we made him welcome
it is wonderful how bush life makes one relish
the advent of a white stranger and we spent a
very pleasant time together during the rest of
the day.

He was the most even-tempered man as re-
gards his dealings with the natives that I have
ever come across. Nothing that they did or said
seemed to disturb him in the least.

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

Curiously enough, although he was a Government
official, he was travelling unprovided with an inter-
preter ; and he himself, of course, understood no
word of any of the native dialects.

When he wanted anything he simply asked his
boy for it, addressing him at considerable length and
with much circumlocution in German. Now this
boy, whose name by the way was Joa, had been
specially engaged by the worthy doctor because
he had represented himself to be a fluent German
scholar.

As a matter of fact, beyond a few phrases that
he had learned to repeat parrot-like, he knew nothing
whatever of the language, and the result of their
joint efforts to make themselves understood was
laughable in the extreme, and was not rendered
the less amusing owing to the fact that the doctor
would not allow our interpreter to intervene to
straighten out the verbal tangle. He wanted, he
said, to train his boy to understand German
sufficiently well to minister to his wants.

As a result we nearly laughed ourselves into fits
over scenes like the following, repeated at intervals,
and with variations, all through the day.

" Joa," the doctor would say, " my friends
would like a whisky and soda, and I myself could
do with a drop. A small modicum of alcohol, Joa,
after the day's march, certainly does no harm to
a white man, and may conceivably do him good.
Therefore, Joa, you may bring us a syphon of soda,
please, together with a bottle of whisky " ; and the
doctor would imitate in dumb show the process of
drawing a cork out of a bottle.

" Yah ! " Joa would say, his face all one broad

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

grin ; and off he would go to his master's tent,
to return presently with a telescope.

" Now, Joa," the doctor would remark genially,
" a telescope is a very good thing in its way, but
one cannot drink telescopes, Joa. What we now
want, Joa, is a whisky and soda, especially the soda."
And he would start to imitate the pressing down
of the lever of a soda-water syphon.

A new light would then break on Joa's face.
" Ah ! Yah ! " he would cry, and trot off again,
to reappear a minute or so later carrying with due
care and circumspection his master's double-bar-
relled rifle, loaded, and at full-cock.

And so the pantomime would proceed, master
and man both in the best of tempers, until at last,
perhaps at the fourth or fifth attempt, perchance
at the tenth or twelfth, the native would hit upon
the right article, either by accident, or by the
slower process of elimination.

Whereupon the doctor would smile gravely yet
pleasantly at us, as if in mild reproof of our un-
seemly mirth, and remark : " There you are ; with
time and patience one can achieve anything, even
in Africa and with African natives."

On the morning after this little episode we rose
at three o'clock in order to cover the next stage,
as far as a place called Njamassila, before the worst
heat of the day began. This, I may say, was our
usual practice henceforward ; as it is, indeed, that
of all old seasoned travellers in this part of the world.

The distance from Ana to Njamassila is roughly
about twenty miles, and the road in places is not
particularly smooth. It was too, of course, quite
dark when we started, so that altogether I was

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

not particularly sorry when Schomburgk decreed
that I was to do the first part of the journey in
my hammock.

In this way I was carried about two-thirds of the
stage. Then, when it got light, I climbed out,
mounted my bicycle, and rode the remainder of
the distance. It was rough going, and very cold
at first, but I persevered, rather reproaching my-
self for my earlier laziness. When, however, I dis-
covered on arriving at Njamassila that our doctor
friend had elected to be carried the whole of the
way, I went to the other extreme, shook hands
with myself, metaphorically speaking, and plumed
myself mightily on my " wonderful " exhibition of
hardihood and endurance. " I intend to cycle the
whole of the next stage," I told Schomburgk.

Alas, my pride in this respect, and on this occa-
sion, was of the kind that goes before a fall. Whether
or no it was due to my unwonted exertions of the
previous day I had done a lot of running about on
foot besides the cycling I cannot say, but the fact
remains that when we struck camp at 2.30 next
morning I felt so weak and dizzy, as well as stiff
and sore, that I could hardly stand.

Under the circumstances there was nothing to
do but to seek refuge in my hammock once more,
where, snuggled beneath many rugs and wraps
designed to keep out the cold night air, and lulled
by the rhythmic swaying of the conveyance, I
promptly fell sound asleep.

It seemed to me that I had hardly closed my
eyes more than a very few minutes, when I was
awakened by hearing Schomburgk angrily inquiring
of the hammock boys why they were standing idle,

6.1

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

and whereabouts was I. " Master," they replied,
" she is inside asleep, and we feared you would be
angry did we wake her."

All this I heard dimly as in a dream between
sleeping and waking. Lazily I lay back, too com-
fortable even to raise myself on my elbow and peer
out ; but I was beginning to wonder what was the
reason for the long delay, and how soon we were
going to resume our journey, when the sound of
Schomburgk's voice, once more raised in protest,
roused me into instant and complete wakefulness.

It was me he addressed this time, and his words
were as follows :

" Come, little lady ; are you not going to get
up?"

" But why should I get up ? " I replied. " What
time is it ? Where are we ? "

" It's eight o'clock," he answered, " and we are
at Agbandi."

" What ! " I screamed ; and, pulling the cur-
tains aside, I bounced out on to the ground.

What I saw made me rub my eyes with amaze-
ment. Before me was a new rest-house, and a
village that I had never seen before, and prepara-
tions for breakfast were, I could see, well under
way. Only then did I realise that I had slept right
through the entire twenty-mile stage from Njamassila
to Agbandi.

In the afternoon, after the worst heat of the day
was over, we strolled down to the village. There
was very little to see, however, and we were on the
point of returning to our camp, when there suddenly
confronted us from out of one of the huts the tallest
and biggest man I have ever seen, either in Africa

REPRODUCED FROM CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS

1. A Konkombwa Giant

2. Paying Carriers in Salt

3. The Old King of Paratau dancing before

the Camera

A live alarum clock. A cock which accom-
panied the expedition, and roused them
every morning

Boy Scouts

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

or out of it. He stood over eight feet high, and was
very broad and immensely powerful, the muscles
bulging out under his skin like bosses of beaten
bronze.

We would have liked to have filmed him, but
unfortunately we did not have our camera with us.
Later on, however, we unearthed another giant, of
scarcely inferior size, and him we did succeed in
photographing, Schomburgk meanwhile standing
beside him to show the contrast in size and height,
and lifting and displaying at intervals the big
man's various personal paraphernalia his bow and
arrows, his spear, and the curious iron rattle which
all the Togo natives carry, and concerning which I
shall have more to say presently.

Our next stage was from Agbandi to Blita, and
at this latter place we were met by a fresh lot of
carriers, men of the Kabure tribe, who had been
sent down from Sokode to meet us. Our other
carriers were sent back to Atakpame.

The Kabures inhabit the Trans-Kara country,
and are, as a rule, fine strong men, but the lot we
got were rather poor by comparison with the
Atakpame people. However, they carried our be-
longings to Sokode all right, which was all we wanted
of them.

They were absolutely the wildest-looking lot of
natives I had yet come in contact with. There
were ninety of them altogether, and they were all
quite nude not even a loin-cloth amongst the lot
of them. Their dialect, too, was quite different
from anything I had heard up till now. It sounded
to my ears more uncouth and uncivilised, a mere
succession of grunts and gurgles.

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

Here, too, I realised for the first time that my
personal appearance might possibly inspire fear,
or even disgust and aversion, for when I went into
the market-place in the afternoon to have a look
round as usual, the children fled screaming with
terror, and even their mothers looked askance at
me. I did not mind the latter so much, for I had
already discovered that the women dwelling in these
remote bush villages were not always very pleasant
companions to have in too close proximity to one.
They are apt to be well, smelly. But I felt really
hurt at the attitude of their offspring, for I am
very fond of children, and they of me, as a rule,
and in Kamina we had been great chums together.
But then in Kamina there were always white people
about, whereas I was the first white woman, at all
events, that these nude little ebony imps had ever
set eyes on. Consequently, I suppose, they re-
garded me as a sort of pale-faced bogey, to be
avoided promptly, and at all hazards.

I slept again in my hammock during our march
from Blita to our next halting-place at Djabotaure.
This sounds a bit lazy, I must admit ; but then it
has got to be borne in mind that this moist, hot
West African climate is exceedingly enervating,
especially to a European woman, and to an unac-
climatised European woman at that. Spend an
hour or so in the Palm House at Kew Gardens, and
you will get a faint idea of what it is like. The
least exertion during the daytime causes one to
break out into a profuse perspiration. Worse still,
it seems to sap all one's energy and vitality, so that
one feels like a wet rag from morning till night.
To fight against it is well-nigh impossible. I used

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

to go to bed tired, and wake up more tired. After
a while, however, these symptoms entirely wore off,
and I became quite strong and well, despite the
heat and the constant travelling. Truly the human
machine is marvellously adaptable.

It was at Djabotaure that I had quite a little
adventure. I was taking my usual afternoon stroll
through the village, the men being out in the bush
shooting for the pot, when suddenly, from just out-
side, and in the opposite direction from where I
had entered it, there arose a most terrific noise of
tom-tomming, mingled with much shouting, the
clattering of rattles, and the trampling of horses.

I stood stock still in the middle of the village,
not quite knowing what else to do, and in a few
minutes a group of five horsemen, looking very
fierce and wild, galloped up and halted before me,
and these were followed by others, who took up
positions to right and left. Meanwhile, our inter-
preter, who had put in an appearance for once just
when he was really wanted, had mutually intro-
duced us, so to speak, and the foremost horseman
dismounted and greeted me with stately courtesy.
I was, he remarked, the first white woman he had ever
seen ; and having seen me, he trusted that he would
live to see many more. Not a bad compliment for
a nearly naked savage to pay one off-hand in the
heart of the African bush !

The newcomers were, the interpreter explained,
a chief and his retinue from a neighbouring village,
and they had ridden into Djabotaure in order to
take part in the festivities that precede the great
Mohammedan fast of Ramadan.

This, as most people are aware, corresponds

65 E

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

roughly to our Lent. It is supposed to commemo-
rate the first " revelation " received by Mohammed,
and during the entire four weeks that the fast lasts
a strict Moslem may not eat or drink, smoke or
bathe, smell any perfume, or even swallow his own
spittle, till after sunset.

All this, however, is pure theory, so far as
regards the Togo native Mohammedans. They cer-
tainly celebrate the festivities which usher in the
fast with a tremendous enthusiasm they kept us
awake all night with their singing and dancing
and they are equally enthusiastic over the bairam
festival which marks its close. But as regards the
actual fast itself, I could not see that it made any
difference to them whatever. They ate, drank,
and smoked just as they always do ; the real
truth, of course, being that these people are Mo-
hammedans in name only.

The day following this affair we marched as far
as Andasi, our next halting-place, I still travelling
in my hammock. I had not yet become acclima-
tised, and was very weak and languid. For some
reason, too, my relays of hammock boys on this
occasion proved themselves altogether incompetent,
a most unusual thing. They swung me from side
to side, tipped me this way and that, and only
grinned idiotically when I complained. It was
like being out in a small boat in a gale, and I really
felt quite " sea-sick " during the last few miles.

The next morning we started at 3 A.M., in
full moonlight, to cover the last twenty miles to
Sokode, which is one of the largest and most im-
portant Government stations in this part of Togo.
Wonderfully beautiful are the moonlight nights in

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

Africa, whether, as was the case now, one is on a
comparatively open road, or following one of the
native tracks that disclose, with each fresh twist
and turn, some new vista of silvery enchantment.
The grey, mysterious bush takes on, under such
circumstances, a hitherto undreamt-of beauty. The
many clumps of tropical vegetation in the frequent
open glades one encounters, stand out clear-cut and
still, looking like white metal trees fragilely carved
out of frosted aluminium.

At eight o'clock in the morning we reached a
spot about four miles from Sokode, where our
horses were waiting for us in charge of a young
European, Mr. Kay H. Nebel. Up to this point
I had travelled, after quitting the rail-head, en-
tirely by bicycle and hammock ; now it was to be
principally horseback riding.

Mr. Nebel had been attached to Major Schom-
burgk's former expedition in the capacity of staff
artist, and had been left behind at Sokode in charge
of spare stores and equipment when Schomburgk
had quitted that place on June 1, 1913. I knew
him fairly well, having met him in Hamburg, where
my home is.

It seemed passing strange to renew the acquaint-
ance out here in the African wilds. The sleek,
well-groomed young fellow I remembered had de-
veloped into a typical bushman. His face, neck,
and arms were burnt and blackened by the sun
to a very deep mahogany colour. He wore a huge
cowboy hat, beneath which his long hair fell almost
to his shoulders, h la Buffalo Bill. His flannel
shirt was open at the throat. He looked wonder-
fully picturesque, and also marvellously disreput-

ATAKPAME TO SOKODE

able, a sort of cross between a typical grand-opera
brigand and a Western American desperado, as
depicted on the cinema films in New York and
London.

After mutual greetings and explanations we
pitched a tent, made a hurried toilet, and changed
our clothes, in order to arrive somewhat clean in
Sokode, where we found awaiting us a welcome
luncheon, the outcome of kindly forethought and
hospitality on the part of Mr. Kuepers, the Govern-
ment schoolmaster at the station.

At Sokode we remained resting during the heat
of the day. After which we struck off at right
angles into the bush to a village called Paratau,
distant about four miles from Sokode.

Here it was our intention to make a rather
prolonged stay, in order to film a number of
dramatic, and some ethnological scenes.

CHAPTER VI

IN THE CAPITAL OF TSCHAUDJOLAND

PARATAU, where our camp was situated, is
the residence of Uro Djabo, the paramount
chief of the important Tschaudjo tribe.
Uro means " king," and it is indeed virtually as
King of the Tschaudjo that Djabo is recognised,
and subsidised, by the German Government.

In Togo it is customary for white strangers to
visit a really big chief like this before proceeding
to the Government rest-house, and although I was
very, very tired, West African etiquette had to
be observed.

I found the Uro a most charming host, and
although he was old and fat, and his personal
appearance, therefore, was not particularly im-
posing, he managed somehow to convey the idea
of dignity, and the power and ability to command.
He received us in great state, surrounded by a big
bodyguard of officials and personal attendants,
conspicuous amongst the former being his prime
minister, Mama-Sugu, an exceedingly tall, well-
proportioned, and fine-looking man. In his turban
he looked quite young ; in fact, I made a mental note
of his age as probably about thirty. Afterwards,
however, he removed it, and I then saw that he was
grey-headed and partially bald. Probably he was
about fifty, but this estimate is, of course, only

IN THE CAPITAL OF

approximate, for natives keep no records of their
birthdays, and have only the most hazy notions,
consequently, as to how old they really are.

Governments are not remarkable for gratitude,
but the German Government has certainly good
reason to be grateful to Uro Djabo, since it was to
his father and predecessor that it practically owes
its possession of Togoland. When the famous Dr.
Kersting, the founder and pioneer of northern Togo,
first entered the country, he found it inhabited
by many distinct and warlike tribes, continually
fighting with one another.

Following in a small way the example set by
Cortez in Mexico, and by Clive in India, he allied
himself with the strongest and most warlike of the
lot, the Tschaudjo to wit, and he and the old Uro
between them practically subdued the whole country,
and placed it under the German flag.

In the course of our somewhat prolonged stay
at Paratau I had several chats with Uro Djabo,
and he used to hold forth at length, through an
interpreter, of course, concerning the former power
and greatness of the Tschaudjo people. They were
originally it appeared a conquering tribe, like the
Masai and the Zulus, and they swept down from
the north many years ago, devastating the country
as they advanced. They came riding on horses, and
as these animals had never before been seen in Togo-
land, the terror they inspired almost sufficed by
itself to ensure the defeat of the aboriginal owners
of the soil.

Djabo also showed me over his "palace," a
collection of circular huts of various sizes, arranged
in irregular zigzag fashion, and connected by a

TSCHAUDJOLAND

wall. The principal hut, which was very much
bigger and higher than any of the others, contained
the entrance-hall and stables, and was surmounted
by an ostrich egg, the emblem of royalty.

At the other extremity of the space enclosed by
the huts and connecting wall a crested crane was
kept. Uro Djabo attached very great importance
to this bird. It was, I was informed, sacred ; and
anyone killing it, or otherwise interfering with it,
would be very severely punished. The crane knew
quite well that it was privileged, and it used to
strut up to the cooking-pots when the natives were
at dinner, and help itself to any choice morsel that
took its fancy. Any ordinary bird acting after this
fashion would have promptly had its neck wrung,
for hardly anything upsets a West African native
more than a liberty taken with his food. But
directly the crane appeared, they would all draw
away from their cooking-pot, and patiently wait
until he had finished helping himself before resuming
their meal. I tried hard to get Uro Djabo to tell
me all about this bird, but he always avoided the
subject, and when I pressed him, he refused point-
blank. Nor did anyone else seem inclined to say
anything about it, beyond telling me, in awe-struck
whispers, that it was the Uro's ju-ju.

Djabo, as I have already intimated, kept up
considerable state for a native. He was always
accompanied by his band, mostly drum, with one
or two reed-like instruments ; and by his prime
minister, sword-bearer, personal servants, and the
like, all elaborately attired in Arab dress. Thus,
when one day we asked the old fellow to our house
for afternoon tea, he came with a retinue of about

IN THE CAPITAL OF

twenty followers, completely filling the small com-
pound. He was, however, a most democratic sort
of a king. When, for instance, he helped himself to
a biscuit, he first took a bite, then handed it round
for everybody else to have a nibble at it. When
Schomburgk gave him a cigar, all his attendants
smoked it after him in turn, each taking two or
three big whiffs before passing it along to the next
in waiting. I never saw a cigar smoked by so
many people, or last so short a while, for each native
tried to draw into his lungs as big a modicum of
smoke as he possibly could, so that it was burned
away and done with in no time. Djabo meanwhile
chatted and joked with all and sundry. In fact,
the only difference discernible between the king
and his subjects was that he sat in a chair, while
the others squatted on the ground.

Subsequent to this visit, Djabo received me alone
in his palace, and introduced me to his wives. I
saw about twenty of them. Two or three were
young girls, and fairly presentable ; but mostly
they were old, fat, and ugly. After the reception
was over I complimented him, not upon the beauty
or intelligence of his wives, but on the fact of his
being able to afford so many of them, for this is
West African etiquette. " Oh," he replied lightly,
" this is nothing. I have hundreds more scattered
up and down the country."

Among other presents that Djabo had received
from the Government at one time and another was
a large and very substantial garden chair. It was
of extremely ordinary appearance, and quite out of
keeping with the surroundings of the African bush ;
but old Djabo was inordinately proud of it, and even

D "

< 2

s g

< 2

TSCHAUDJOLAND

went to the length of keeping a chair-bearer, whose
sole duty it was to look after this one piece of
furniture, and to carry it about to wherever his
master went. This was a source of difficulty to
us when we came to film his Majesty, for he would
insist on being photographed seated in it, a pro-
ceeding which, of course, would have rendered the
picture worthless from our point of view. Even-
tually, however, after many palavers, and the
present of a piece of silk stuff, he consented to
dispense with it for that one occasion.

There is a big native market at Paratau, and
food is very cheap. Eggs, for instance, can be
bought at the rate of eight a penny. Lemons
are a farthing a dozen. A fine plump pigeon costs
threepence. These sums represent, of course, very
much more to a native than they do to a Euro-
pean ; but even allowing for the difference in the
value of money, I came to the conclusion that the
average Tschaudjo man or woman could, if they
choose, live far better at a much cheaper rate
than can the average labouring man of, say,
England or Germany. Certainly the majority of
those I met appeared to be well fed and contented.

I have alluded elsewhere to the skilful riding of
the Tschaudjo horsemen, and one of the objects of
our stay at Paratau was to film them. In this we
succeeded perfectly. In fact, I was myself im-
mensely pleased, and even surprised, at the faithful
realism of the scene when I came to see it after-
wards in London on the screen. Everybody was
very much taken by the clever equestrian feats
performed by the Arabs at the International Horse
Show at Olympia last year. But there were only

IN THE CAPITAL OF

a few picked men. We were able to film a much
greater number of the genuine wild horsemen of
the Sudan, and to film them, too, at home among
their native surroundings.

By the way I am frequently reminded here, as
elsewhere, that I am the first white woman to in-
trude her presence among these primitive people.
The women shrink from me, or look askance, and
the children run screaming in terror away from me.
Once I got the interpreter to inquire of one sweet
little lassie of about nine or ten why she had run
from me. He brought the child before me, but for
a long time she would not say a word. She just
stood still, with eyes downcast, and trembling in
every limb.

At length she looked quickly up, and shot a
hard, swift question at the interpreter.

" No ! No ! No ! " was his reply. " Of course
not. Stupid little one! Why do you think such
things ? "

I asked him what the child had said. He
answered that she had asked whether, if she spoke
the truth, I was going to flog her.

"Tell her," I said, "that, on the contrary, I
will make her a present."

He translated my promise, whereupon the girl,
after one quick half-inquiring, half-doubting glance
at me, rapped out something that sounded short,
solid, and authoritative, like the rat-a-tat-tat of a
door-knocker.

Then it was the interpreter's turn to take refuge
in silence. He absolutely declined to translate
what she had said, saying that it was too dreadful,
was quite unfit for me to hear, &c. &c.

TSCHAUDJOLAND

" Very well," I said at last, " I will go and tell
Major Schomburgk that you refuse to perform your
duties."

Whereupon the poor man, driven into a corner,
blurted out the message, running his words alto-
gether in his confusion and excitement. " The
impudent little wench says," he rapped out, " that
shefearstolookuponyoubecauseyouaresougly."

I had to laugh. I simply could not help it.
But my mirth had a slight a very slight tinge of
bitterness in it. To be told to my face that I was
ugly ! And by this naked little ebony imp.

Well, men, I reflected, had not found me un-
comely. And even from my own sex supremest
test of all I had listened to words of appreciation,
and even of admiration upon occasion. So I play-
fully pinched the cheek of my little critic, and
sent her away happy in the possession of a gaudy-
coloured silk handkerchief.

This incident broke the ice, so to speak, and soon
I was on the best of terms with practically the
entire juvenile population of Paratau. They dis-
covered that I was not really an ogre, as they had
imagined at first. But I could not prevail upon them
to admit that I possessed any claim upon their
admiration, whatever I might have upon their
gratitude. " Am I really and truly ugly ? " I one
day asked a little boy, a dear little chum of mine.
" Really and truly you are, dear Puss," he replied,
with childish frankness. " But," he added in ex-
tenuation, and as a balm perhaps for my wounded
feelings, " you cannot help that. The good God
made you so, did he not ? We cannot all be black
and beautiful."

IN THE CAPITAL OF

Projecting my mind into theirs, and trying to
think as they thought, I have come to the conclu-
sion that they regarded me much as a white child
regards a black golliwog a something to be fright-
ened of at first, and yet cherished because of its
strangeness and uncouthness. Only in their case
the golliwog was alive, and so all the more
fearsome until experience had shown them its
harmlessness.

After spending about ten days in Paratau, I
began to feel my health breaking down. Our camp
was pitched close to the old Government station,
and the site was by no means an ideal one. My
hut, like the others, was close, very stuffy, and
almost unventilated. It had no windows, and it
was built of the usual wattle and daub, which is all
right when fairly fresh, but when old, as this was,
it is apt to give off a sickly, mouldy odour. Then,
too, there were the smells from the native village
anything but pleasant. While to crown all, the
entire place was surrounded by dense fields you
might almost call them plantations of guinea corn,
fifteen to twenty feet high, which effectually shut
out any breath of air. Not, however, that this
mattered so very much ; for the harmattan season
had now set in, and the hot, palpitating air was
filled with an impalpable yellow dust, like fog, so
thick that one could look straight into the sun at
mid-day without hurting one's eyes.

One result was that I suffered from almost in-
cessant headaches. Yet I did not like to com-
plain, for we were now in the middle of a new drama,
and I knew that Schomburgk had set his heart on

TSCHAUDJOLAND

completing it at as early a date as possible. But
sometimes, after rehearsing from seven till eleven
in the broiling heat, in cowboy dress, and with
crowds of perspiring niggers for supers, I felt that
I must drop in my tracks from sheer physical
exhaustion.

The climax came one day when I had to enact
the heroine in a scene where Nebel, who was sup-
posed to be a fugitive from justice, was galloping
away across the mountains, and I after him, fol-
lowed by twenty or thirty Tschaudjo horsemen.
Nebel kept turning round in his saddle and firing at
me. The horsemen behind were emitting a series of
the most blood-curdling yells. And between them
they frightened my horse, so that it bolted, and
headed straight for the brink of a fairly high cliff,
with a lot of rocks and broken ground at the
bottom.

Greatly alarmed, I threw away my revolver, and
using both hands, and all my strength, I tried my
hardest to pull up my frightened steed. He was a
grand horse, the best in Sokode, and he and I were
great friends. Ordinarily, I could do anything with
him, but now he was simply mad with terror, and
I was entirely powerless to even check appreciably
his wild race towards what appeared to be certain
death for both of us.

Nebel tried his best to stop him by grabbing at
his bridle as we flew past him, but the runaway
swerved violently, nearly unseating me then and
there. The next instant he leapt wildly into the
air over rocks and boulders, and I gave myself up
for lost.

IN THE CAPITAL OF

As luck would have it, however, he alighted on
almost the only patch of moderately soft ground
that there was anywhere in the vicinity. A yard
to the left, a yard to the right, were masses of jagged
rocks, and had he come down on these I should
almost inevitably have been killed. As it was he
stumbled, recovered himself, stumbled again, and
again recovered, and then stood stock still,
streaming with perspiration and trembling in every
limb.

I was, of course, riding astride ; luckily for
me. Had I been in a side-saddle, I do not see
how I could by any possibility have retained my
seat. As it was I was badly bruised and shaken,
and this, coupled with the shock to my nerves,
so aggravated my previous indisposition that I
collapsed.

" I must go away, and at once," I told Schom-
burgk that evening, "or I feel that I cannot

recover."

To his credit be it said, Schomburgk was most
sympathetic. He saw that matters were serious,
and although the hour was late, he sent a special
messenger to Sokode to tell the authorities there
how things stood, and to ask for their assistance.
With a promptitude and kindness that I can never
forget, the German Government officials set to work
at once, collected a hundred carriers from their
own working staff, and sent them over to us the
first thing in the morning, in order that we might
be able to start straight away for Aledjo-Kadara,
the sanatorium of Togo.

An hour later we had left our pretty but

TSCHAUDJOLAND

unhealthy camp at Paratau, and were on the
march for the highlands on which Aledjo stands
the Switzerland of Togo as grateful invalids
from the sweltering lowlands have enthusiastically
christened it.

CHAPTER VII

ALEDJO-KADAKA THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

FiniHE march from Paratau to Aledjo-Kadara,

or Aledjo, as it is generally called for short,

-*- was a very tedious one, and took us two

days. One reason for this was that the men so

kindly provided for us by the officials at Sokode

were ordinary station labourers and not used to

carrying; consequently they made but slow

progress.

I was carried all the way to our camp at Amaude
by hammock, reaching there at two o'clock, accom-
panied by Schomburgk as escort, but it was getting
dark before the rest of the caravan turned up,
shepherded by Nebel and Hodgson. They had had
a terrible time with the men, and at one period
during the worst heat of the day they had almost
given up hope of accomplishing the stage at all.
The poor fellows staggered in under their loads in
a terrible condition, some of them so utterly col-
lapsed that I could not bear to look at them. The
baggage was only got up at all, Nebel informed us,
by requisitioning the help of the natives other
than carriers who accompanied the caravan in a
permanent capacity. Even the interpreters, and
our personal boys, had to take turns in carrying
loads, greatly to their disgust, for these people con-
sider themselves to be on a higher plane altogether

ALEDJO-KADARA

than the porters. It was as if one should ask the
office staff at, say, a big contractor's place of busi-
ness, to doff their black coats and white shirts, and
start in to shovel clay or carry bricks.

As for me, I felt more dead than alive on arrival.
My head ached terribly; not the ordinary head-
ache of civilised climes, which if painful is at least
endurable, but a burning, throbbing, rending tor-
ture, that seemed at times as if it would drive me to
the verge of insanity. The heat, the dust, and the
added anxiety as to the whereabouts of the caravan,
made matters worse. There was no proper rest-
house ; only a tumble-down hut, dirty and evil-
smelling, into which, however, I was glad to crawl
and seek refuge from the blinding glare outside.
After a while I fell asleep, and awoke feeling much
better, but ravenously hungry. As, however, the
carriers had not yet arrived, there was no food
available, and by the time they did turn up I
was nearly dead with hunger. This was not sur-
prising, as I had had nothing to eat for twelve solid
hours, from six o'clock in the morning until six
o'clock at night. When the kitchen boxes did at
last put in an appearance, we lost no time. The
cook was put upon his mettle, and in rather less
than a quarter of an hour we were doing full jus-
tice to a glorious meal of delicious little Frankfort
sausages, tinned vegetables, and potatoes, washed
down this was an extra special treat by a bumper
of champagne, which had been kept cool in bottle
by being wrapped in wet blankets. Afterwards I
crawled into my hut, wrapped myself in a horse-
rug, and with a saddle for a pillow, I cried myself
to sleep. My last thoughts were, I remember, of a

81 F

ALEDJO-KADARA

most doleful character. I wished most fervently
that I had never come to Africa ; I was quite sure
that I was going to die out there in the wilds, and
I even contemplated seriously cancelling my con-
tract and insisting on returning to Europe.

Next morning, however, I awoke feeling very
much better, and all the dark misgivings of the
night before were completely dispelled as soon as
I stepped out into the glorious air of the early
African dawn. The men, I discovered, had slept
out in the open all night, it having been too dark
to see to pitch the tents when the last of the carriers
with the heavy baggage had straggled in, and the
boys too utterly exhausted into the bargain. They,
however, like me, were feeling much better, and we
made a good start ; I on horseback, as I felt that the
exercise in the open air was preferable to the stuffy
hammock, and might help towards my recovery.

Nor was I mistaken. We were now leaving the
lowlands, and mounting upwards, and ever up-
wards, by a winding serpentine mountain road, and
after the first few miles I could feel my health
and strength coming back almost with every yard
we progressed. I was not destined to reach Aled-
jo, however, without further mishap. Misfortunes,
they say, seldom come singly, and it was most cer-
tainly so on this occasion as regards myself.
Schomburgk and I had cantered on ahead of the
caravan, and on reaching a little native village we
called a short halt, in order to rest awhile and allow
the carriers to come up. Our two horses were
tethered close together, and out of sheer devilment
Schomburgk's horse edged back behind mine and
bit him on the tail. He lashed out with his hind

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

feet at his offending mate, and, fearing further
trouble, I went up to stroke him, and try to pacify
him. Usually I could do anything with him. He
would follow me about the camp like a dog, whinny-
ing for sugar, and poking his soft nose about my
shoulders and bosom. But on this occasion no
doubt he was angry and terrified, and the moment
I laid my hand on his flank he lashed out with both
hind feet, kicking me in the calf of the leg, and
sending me flying head over heels clean off the
path and into the middle of a small corn patch.
Half-stunned and dazed, I tried to pick myself up,
but found that I could not stand. The pain in my
injured leg was awful. I never experienced any-
thing like it in my life. Schomburgk and the others
thought that it was broken, and were naturally
very much concerned, since it would have taken
at least a week to get a doctor up. They tried to
get my riding-breeches off, but I could not stand the
agony, and had to beg of them to desist. Mean-
while our boys stood round in a circle, muttering
" Poor Pussy ! Poor little Pussy ! " and showing
in their black countenances the concern they felt
at my sufferings. I was greatly touched.

After about an hour the pain began to abate,
and I was able to endure the removal of my riding-
breeches. Then, to my great relief, I discovered
that the limb was not fractured, but terribly
bruised and swollen. Luckily the horse was not shod,
or one or more bones would almost inevitably have
been broken. The poor beast was not to blame,
and as showing how sorry he was for what he had
done, I may mention that for fully a week after-
wards he would shrink away and hang his head

ALEDJO-KADARA

whenever I approached him. He seemed to know
that he had unwittingly caused me pain, and no
doubt if he could have spoken he would have told
me how he had let fly on the spur of the moment,
without looking round, not knowing that it was
me, but imagining it to be the other horse, intent
on inflicting further annoyance.

When we at length reached Aledjo, the boys,
owing to our being delayed by the above incident,
had got there before us, and had begun prepara-
tions for camping. Now we had heard on the way
up that there was a very nice, large dining-table
in the Aledjo rest-house, and as dining-tables in the
African bush are rare luxuries, affording a wel-
come change from the usual ricketty folding things
carried in a caravan, we naturally looked for it the
first thing on our arrival. To our surprise it was
nowhere to be seen, and on inquiring we discovered
that it had been calmly annexed by Messa, our
cook, who had carted it over to his kitchen, and
arranged all his pots and pans on it in beautiful
apple-pie order. He was greatly chagrined and
annoyed at having to submit to their being all
dumped unceremoniously on the ground, and the
table returned to its proper place. We dined oft it
later in state, and enjoyed an extra good meal owing
to the thoughtful kindness of the good fathers of
the Aledjo Roman Catholic Mission, who sent us
over a supply of fresh vegetables, a treat which
only a prolonged course of tinned stuff enables one
to appreciate fully.

The next day I felt as fit as a fiddle as regards
my bodily health, although my leg still pained me
somewhat. It is simply marvellous the difference

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

a few thousand feet of elevation seem to make in
equatorial Africa. From out of the depths of a
steaming cauldron, so to speak, one is transported
in the course of a few hours to a region where the
air seems as pure and bracing as that of, say, the
Austrian Tyrol. Of course it isn't. It is the force
of contrast. If a European could be transported
straight from such a climate to that which prevails
in the dry season at Aledjo, he would probably
laugh to scorn its claim to be entitled the Switzer-
land of Togo. But to poor, jaded me, it was as
the very elixir of life itself.

And it is not the climate only. Aledjo itself is
a beautiful place, and beautifully situated on a lofty
plateau nearly 3000 feet above the level of the sea.
Here Dr. Kersting has built for himself an ever-
lasting monument. Foreseeing how in time it would
be needed, he laid out the place as a health resort
for Europeans, and built beautiful roomy and airy
rest-houses overlooking a wide expanse of plain and
mountain, the plain in front, the mountains behind.

These Aledjo rest-houses consist of a series of
enormous round huts, connected by covered corri-
dors. All the rooms are very large, and have big
windows and doors, so that the fresh air can come
in everywhere. The dining-room especially is big
enough for a circus to perform in. And what de-
lighted me perhaps more than all was that there
were the very finest set of stables for our horses
that I had seen anywhere in Africa.

In time Aledjo is bound to become a place of
considerable importance. Already there is in course
of erection there a fine Catholic Mission Station.
I am not a Catholic myself, nor is Schomburgk, but

ALEDJOKADARA

nevertheless we became great friends with the good
fathers who were there superintending the work.
We dined together nearly every night, and organised
jointly some sports target shooting and so forth
which were very well attended.

We also utilised our stay here to film what after-
wards proved to be one of our very best dramas.
We called it The Outlaw of the Sudu Mountains,
and in the beginning we merely intended to use the
play as a sort of setting for the beautiful scenery
around Aledjo, much of which is, as I have already
intimated, grand beyond description. When, for
example, the harmattan is not in evidence, and the
atmosphere is consequently clear, one can see right
away to the Bassari Mountains, and the lofty out-
standing peak of Mafakasa, meaning "Long Gun."
At night, too, when the moon is shining as only it
does in the tropics, the landscape takes on a new,
mysterious beauty, on which I was never tired of
gazing. Other nights, when there was no moon,
the grass fires lit up the country for miles around,
so that I thought I had never seen anything so
awe-inspiring and magnificent. These grass fires
are started by the natives at regular intervals
during the dry season, as otherwise the country
would be covered with an altogether too luxuriant
vegetation. It is simply marvellous how quickly
nature repairs the ravages of the flames. After
two or three days, new green grass shoots up through
the ash-covered soil, and clothes the whole of the
burnt areas with a beautiful carpet of verdure
three or four inches high, on which the antelope,
and other small four-footed game, feed greedily.
The natives call this " the sweating of the country,"

THE SWITZERLAND OP TOGO

a most expressive phrase. The flames did not as
a rule sweep onward with a wide front, but ate
broad streets and roads, as it were, through the
bush ; and we used to amuse ourselves after dinner
of an evening by making imaginary comparisons
between these fiery thoroughfares and places we
knew. " There is the Strand," we would say,
"and over there the Unter den Linden. Yonder
are the long-drawn-out lights of the Thames Em-
bankment, and that is the Boulevarde des Italiens.
This is the White City, that is Earl's Court, and so
on." It was all very amusing, and served to recall
memories of home and friends, and of happy hours
spent in far different surroundings. Later on, I
may add, when our caravan had to make long
detours to avoid these same grass fires, I was not
so greatly in love with them. Our horses, however,
were not in the least frightened of them, which was
one comfort. They would even gallop through some
of the lesser ones, and seemed to have a perfectly
marvellous knack of finding openings in the ad-
vancing line of dancing flames, through which they
trotted unconcernedly. The reason for this is, of
course, that these African horses have been used
to grass fires all their lives. An animal fresh from
Europe would probably go wild with terror, if con-
fronted with one for the first time.

We evolved the plot of the Outlaw film
practically on the spot, and I have very good
reason to remember it, for while playing in it I
met with yet another of those mishaps which seem
to be inseparable from the profession of cinema
acting. Briefly the story of the play is as follows.
A white man is outlawed from amongst his fellows,

ALEDJO-KADARA

and takes to the bush, living as a native amongst
the natives. Prowling about one day in the vicinity
of a settlement, he approaches a farmer's homestead,
and is ordered off by the farmer's wife myself.
Cursing and threatening, he goes away to his lair
in the hills, where he has collected together a lot of
black scalliwags, of whom he is the self-elected chief.
He sits apart on a knoll, brooding over the slight
that has been put upon him, and vowing revenge.

His chance comes sooner than he had anticipated.
From his eerie in the hills he sees me walking along
a lonely path, decides to kidnap me, and does so,
carrying me, struggling wildly, to his lair, over
steep and dangerous mountain tracks. Part of the
way led along the brink of a precipice, where the
foothold was extra precarious, but of course I had
to keep on struggling and squirming, as obviously
a robust young woman of two-and-twenty is not
going to submit to be abducted in this rough-and-
ready fashion without making a fight for it.

It was this that was the cause of the accident.
The camera man was grinding away at his machine,
and calling out " Capital ! Capital ! Keep it up !
Keep it up ! " while Schomburgk sat a little way off
on a rock out of range and beamed approval. Every-
thing, in short, was going on first-rate, when sud-
denly Nebel, who was playing the part of the outlaw,
stumbled over a boulder that lay in his way. At
the same moment I, over-anxious perhaps to do
perfect justice to the situation by making it as
realistic as possible, gave a more than usually
energetic wriggle. The result was that he lost his
balance completely, and we tumbled head over
heels on the very brink of the precipice. As the

REPRODUCED FROM CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS

1. Hair-dressing

2, 3. Baby's Bath

4. Better than the Tango. A curious bumping dance

5, 6. Scenes from " The White Goddess"

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

scene had been originally mapped out, he ought
to have been carrying me in his arms. But he had
insisted that this was not the way an outlaw would
carry off a woman, and had hoisted me across his
shoulder. As a result, when he fell, I flew clear of
him, and landed within less than a foot of the edge
of the cliff. Had I gone over, it goes without saying
that I should most certainly never have played in a
cinema drama again. As it was, I was cut and
bleeding, and pretty badly bruised, but my pro-
fessional instinct caused me to ask almost auto-
matically as they picked me up, " What sort of a
picture did it make ? ?: As a matter of fact, except
that it did not show the depth of the precipice,
it made a very good one, for the operator had
never ceased all the while turning the handle of his
machine. Nothing short of an earthquake, and a
pretty big earthquake at that, would, I am con-
vinced, upset the equanimity of a cinema photo-
grapher to the extent of making him stop grinding
away at his beloved camera.

Whether it was the effect of this little upset or
not, I am unable to say, but the fact remains that
soon afterwards Nebel got homesick, and gave out
that he must return to Europe then and there. So,
as we still had to film one or two scenes in our
Odd Man Out drama, in which we wanted him to
act, we went to a place called Bafilo, only about
eight or nine miles from Aledjo, where we had
previously decided to act them. I might mention
here that all the dramas we played in Togo
were entirely the work of Major Schomburgk,
who wrote the scenarios, produced them, and
also acted in all of them. The germ idea of The

ALEDJO-KADARA

White Goddess of the W angora, however, was given
him by Mr. L. Dalton, a young London journalist.

We had a tremendous reception at Bafilo, the
Uro and all his people turning out to do us honour.
It was very flattering, no doubt, but all the same
I could not help wishing that they would not be
quite so demonstrative. The din was simply ter-
rific, and the heat and the clouds of dust together
were well-nigh overpowering.

The station at Bafilo is perched on a plateau,
with a sheer drop down to the native town, which is
a very large one ; and here one night, soon after
our arrival, I was witness to a scene that at the time
made a deep impression on me. It was pitch dark,
no moon, but millions on millions of stars twinkling
like points of fire out of a coal-black sky. We were
sitting on a sort of platform, which Dr. Kersting
had had built on the extreme edge of the plateau,
jutting out over the valley. The native village, or
rather the cluster of native villages that constitute
Bafilo, lay beneath us, but for all that we could see
or hear of them they might have had no existence.
Neither sight nor sound came from the depths to
indicate that hereabouts were the homes of many
thousands of people.

I had just commented upon this strange and
altogether unusual stillness, when there was borne
upwards on the night air a curious, almost uncanny,
sort of rustling sound, like the sudden soughing
among trees of a newly-awakened wind, and which
yet had something human about it, as of a vast
multitude bestirring itself uneasily. Then, all at
once, in every village for miles around, thousands of
lighted torches twinkled into being, and a chorus

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

of delighted shouts burst from as many savage
throats.

It was the beginning of the festival of Bairam, the
great Mohammedan period of rejoicing which marks
the end of the fast of Ramadam, mentioned in a
previous chapter. From what I heard and saw, I
am quite sure that the Bafilo people paid little or
no attention to the fast, but they certainly let
themselves go on the festival. Many of them threw
the torches that they carried high in the air, so that
they resembled very much a flight of rockets. And
they seemed to vie with one another in running
swiftly about with them all over the place. Even-
tually they all converged at a level spot just outside
the principal village, where the half-burnt torches
were thrown together in a huge heap, making a
very presentable bonfire. One has only to remem-
ber that the Moslem festival of Bairam commemo-
rates the offering of Isaac by Abraham on Mount
Moriah to appreciate the significance of this bonfire.
But of that these savages knew naught. It was to
them just an occasion for merry-making. Had they
known of the word they would doubtless have
called it a " beano." All that night, at intervals
when I awoke, I heard the weird negro music, and
the singing of men and women. It sounded not
unmusical heard afar off.

We were kept very busy filming at Bafilo.
First we played the scenes in Odd Man Out that I
wrote about, so that Nebel could leave for home.
These occupied us off and on, and counting the pre-
liminary rehearsals, for about a week, from Decem-
ber 1st to 8th, on which latter date Nebel left us,
with many expressions of regret and best wishes

ALEDJO-KADARA

on both sides, to start on his journey down to the
coast.

One incident of this drama caused us a good
deal of amusement. Nebel, acting the part of
the brutal husband, had to throw a plate at my
native boy ; and in order to get exactly the right
expression we decided not to tell him anything
about it beforehand. The result was eminently
satisfactory from our point of view. Hodgson
having been previously warned to have his camera
in readiness, Nebel pretended at breakfast-time
one morning to find fault with his porridge
served purposely cold for the occasion and seizing
hold of the plate and contents he hurled them at
the boy, who was standing behind my chair. I
never saw a native so completely flabbergasted in
my life. His whole face, attitude, and manner
expressed unbounded amazement, not unmixed
with fear. I take it that he imagined that Nebel
had suddenly gone mad. For perhaps half a minute
he remained rooted to the spot. Then he turned
and ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the
shelter of the cook-house. Of course the nature
of the incident was explained to him later on,
whereat he laughed heartily, quite entering into the
spirit of the joke.

After disposing of the Odd Man Out drama, we
started on some industrial films, and these I found
extremely interesting. Among others we took,
was a series showing the various processes in the
native cotton industry from start to finish. A
great deal of cotton is grown round about Bafilo, and
the people are exceedingly clever in cultivating it,
preparing it, and making it up into garments.

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

First we filmed the cotton growing in little
plots, or fields, which the natives clear from time
to time, in the midst of the virgin bush, and
where it was being tended and picked by the
native girls. Then we photographed one by one
the various processes, such as ginning, spinning by
means of hand-worked spindles manipulated by
the women, dyeing, and so on, down to the final
process of weaving the cloth on the queer, old-
fashioned native hand-looms, the pattern of which
has been handed down unchanged probably for
thousands of years.J These looms are most curious,
and likewise extremely primitive. The cloth can
only be woven on them in strips about four to
five inches wide, and these have afterwards to be
laboriously sewn together by hand in order to
make of them whatever garment is required. The
native tailors are, however, marvellously expert
with their needles, the stitches they put in being
so tiny, and so close together, and the thin strips
of cloth so evenly matched, that at a little dis-
tance the finished garment appears as if it had
been woven in one piece.

The ginning is done by hand, and mostly by
the women and girls, who tease it out very finely
and quickly. In other parts of Togo, however,
I have seen the natives acccomplish this same
process even more expeditiously by rolling it on a
stone. The skeining is done by boys. Men every-
where undertake the important work of weaving,
with the one exception that there exists at Bafilo
a sort of class, or guild, of women weavers. These,
however, work on quite different principles, and
with altogether different looms, to those used by

ALEDJO-KADARA

the men ; and the cloth, instead of being woven
in narrow strips, is made all in one piece, and of
practically any width. It is a sort of primitive
home industry, occupying women in their spare
time, and is carried on inside their hutJ When
we wanted to film one of these women weavers
at work, we had to get her to bring her loom out
from her hut, and set it up in the open. I may
add that theseQ workers' guilds are common in
Togo, not only amongst women, but to an even
greater degree amongst men. They are very strict
and conservative as regards the qualification for
admission to membership ; and as regards their
aims and objects, they correspond in some respects
to our European trade unions, while in other
directions they approximate very closely indeed
to the caste system of IndiaU

The dyeing is also women's work, a beautiful
dark blue colour being obtained from a prepara-
tion of native indigo. fTVEost interesting of all
from my point of view was the process of spinning.
The hand-worked spindles are merely hard round
sticks, which are inserted through a hole drilled
in a flat disc more rarely pear-shaped of soft
stone, or of clay baked hard, the weight of which
helps to keep the spindle revolving, and also re-
gulates its speed performing, in fact, the functions
of the governor of a steam-engine. The women,
who do all the spinning, are marvellously expert
with this exceedingly primitive contrivance.
Resting one end of the spindle in the hollow of
a calabash placed upon the ground, and sanding
their fingers from time to time so as to get a grip,
they make it revolve evenly and rapidly, and

BEADMAKING : A NATIVE INDUSTRY DISCOVERED BY THE AUTHOR

1. Ordinary palm nuts

2. Are cracked on a stone

3. The cracked shells are smoothed with water

between two stones

4. Holes are drilled in the cracked and

smoothed pieces

5. Then strung together

6. And the whole string made round and

smoothed with the help of a stone and
mud and water

7. The bead belt is put on over the head

8. And worn as a hip ornament by the women

THE SWITZERLAND OF TOGO

seemingly with little or no exertionj Sometimes
one sees a woman revolving the spindle on her
knee. A white woman trying the experiment
would probably succeed in drilling a hole in her
knee-cap, that is, if she continued the experiment
for any length of time, but the skin of a native
woman's knee is calloused by continual kneeling
to almost the consistency of bone. I have occa-
sionally, too, seen a spinner of more than ordinary
dexterity throw the spindle away from her, and
draw it back by the thread, keeping it revolving
in the air all the while.

Another industry which we filmed, and one
which, so far as Schomburgk could discover, is
peculiar to the district, I can lay claim to be the
discoverer of. I was out one day after butter-
flies, when I came unexpectedly on a number of
girls busily engaged, by the banks of a little
stream, in grinding and polishing a number of
small objects, the exact nature of which I could
not at first determine. Inquiry revealed the fact
that they were palm nuts, out of which they were
manufacturing artificial pearls to make up into
waist-belts. By marshalling a bevy of the girls
together, and setting them to work, we were able
to secure a number of most interesting photo-
graphs of their unique industry, showing the whole
process, from the first cutting of the nuts, drilling
the holes, stringing the " pearls," and so on, down
to the moment when the native belle, broadly
smiling her manifest delight, puts the finished girdle
round her ample waist.

I quite forgot to mention that while we were
at Aledjo, Nebel went out one day and shot a

ALEDJO-KADARA

" dog monkey," otherwise a baboon. It was as
big as me, and looked so human that I could not
bear to gaze upon it. In the evening I inquired
casually what had become of the carcase, and
was informed that our boys had cooked and eaten
it. I shuddered. To me it seemed only one
remove from cannibalism. Another queer little
animal we shot here was called a rock-rabbit.
It was exactly like a rabbit as to the body, but
its feet reminded me very much of an elephant's
hoofs.

CHAPTER VIII

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

BESIDES the films mentioned in the last
chapter, we also took advantage of there
being an unusually large market at Bafilo
in order to photograph a series of unique moving
pictures of this side a very important one of
the natives' daily life. It was my business, as
well as Hodgson's and Schomburgk's, to be con-
stantly on the look-out for fresh scenes and in-
cidents in this connection, and between us we
managed to secure a complete representative
collection.

To mention but a few of them. In one film
boys are seen bargaining for supplies of native
sweets, made from flour and wild honey. Pay-
ment for these toothsome delicacies, it may be
mentioned, is made in cowrie shells, coined money
being very rarely used. The value of these shells
varies, according to distance from the coast, diffi-
culty of transport, and so on, from about 2500
to the shilling up to as few as 1000. In Bafilo,
they were worth about sixpence a thousand. In
another film we showed a native barber shaving
a baby's head, in accordance with native custom.
The baby was held tight in the mother's arms,
during the operation, which it did not seem to
relish at all, for it kicked and screamed the whole

97 G

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

while. After it was over I asked the woman the
reason of the custom. " How else would you
keep the lice from feeding on its little scalp ? "
she asked in evident surprise. We also photo-
graphed boys engaged in gambling for cowries at
a curious kind of native game, the equivalent,
I suppose, to our pitch and toss. Only in Bafilo
there are no policemen to interfere with the urchins
or mar their enjoyment. The kind of dour puri-
tanism that is so prevalent in England and in
parts of Germany, too, for that matter would find
but little encouragement among the Togo people.
It was at Bafilo, too, that we filmed a most curious
native dance, performed entirely by women and
the principal feature of which consisted in violently
bumping one another with that portion of their
anatomy on which boys are birched at school.
It was a most strange and mirth-provoking spectacle,
but the women take this particular dance very
seriously, and will continue at it for many hours
at a stretch, encouraged by the loud yells of
approval from the spectators that invariably follow
an extra hard bump, and by the terrific tom-tom-
ming of the native band. In yet another film,
vultures are seen acting as scavengers ; while hard
by warriors are engaged in mimic sword-play.
The manufacture of leather mats, an industry
peculiar to the place, was also filmed together
with basket-making from the stalks of the palm
leaf, which we photographed from start to finish.
The finished articles are sold for a sum approxi-
mating in value to one farthing apiece.

There are many wild animals in the bush round
Bafilo, but the hyenas are the most trying. At

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

Paratau we had heard these noisy brutes at a distance,
but here they came quite close up. Night after
night, one's rest was broken and disturbed by them.
I used to get up and throw empty bottles and
things out of the window to drive them away, much
as one scares off the nocturnal domestic cat at
home ; but, though they would slink off for a
while, they always came back again. Some nights
were worse than others. I remember, on one
occasion, there seemed to be a regular pack of them
prowling round the huts, and their fierce howls
sounded quite terrifying. Next morning, Hodg-
son, who slept in a detached hut some distance
away from those occupied by the other members
of our party, turned up at breakfast looking un-
usually pale and hollow-eyed ; and, on inquiring,
we found that he had been sitting up all night
with his revolver fearing an attack. Presently
Nebel put in an appearance it was just before he
left for Europe that the affair happened and
remarked casually to Hodgson that he had been
unable to sleep for the noise, and had at one time
been on the point of coming round to his (Hodg-
son's) hut for a chat. " Good job for you, you
didn't," replied Hodgson, wearily. " I should
most likely have shot you. My nerves were in
such a state that I am quite sure I should have
let drive at any living thing [only he didn't say
living] that had come to the door of my hut
in the dark."

There were also numbers of scorpions about the
place, and snakes, although for a long time I did
not see any of the latter. In fact, one evening
when we were sitting outside our hut on some

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

stones, chatting and enjoying the cool night air, I
remarked generally to the men-folk that I did not
believe one half of the many snake yarns they
were in the habit of telling one another from time
to time. " Here I have been at this place for a
whole week, and nary a snake," I remarked. " I
don't believe that there are any." Hardly were the
words out of my mouth, when one of the boys
standing near darted forward to where I was
seated, and started lashing furiously with a stick
at something on the ground at my feet. It proved
to be a puff-adder, one of the most poisonous
reptiles to be found in the whole of Africa, and
its deadly fangs were actually within a foot or so
of my lightly covered ankles at the very moment
when I was deriding the existence in Bafilo of him
or any of his species.

Curiously enough, too, a somewhat similar in-
cident occurred here in connection with a leopard ;
and this also took place in the evening. The men
had been talking about these animals, and of
how plentiful they were, until their stories rather
got on my nerves. " Oh, bother your leopards,"
I cried. " I don't believe there is one within a
hundred miles." I spoke in jest of course, and
looked towards Schomburgk expecting him to
laugh. Instead, he held up a warning hand, as
if to enjoin silence, while with the other he pointed
to what looked to me like a black shadow slinking
slowly past where we were sitting, and not more
than five or six yards distant. " A leopard ! ?:
he whispered. Hodgson and I both laughed,
thinking he was joking, and that what we had
seen was probably nothing more dangerous or

100

AMONG THE BAFIl^O FOLK

uncommon than a native dog. We were sitting
outside our hut as usual, and without a light, for
the night, though dark, was fine and warm. But
Schomburgk was quite sure, and he called up the
native boys, who lit lamps, and there, sure enough,
clearly discernible even to my inexperienced eyes,
in the soft sand, was the spoor of a big, full-grown
leopard. He must have come our way from the
village, climbed up on to the plateau, spotted us,
and slunk off between the huts, and so escaped.
When we came back from examining the spoor,
Hodgson, said to me, remembering our former
experience with the snake : " Well, you're a pro-
phetess the wrong way about ; only say you don't
believe in elephants, and I'll go and load my gun."

From the 10th to the 13th of December, I
suffered from a relapse of fever, and had to lay
up, but during the rest of the time, as I have said
before, we were kept pretty busy. There were
seven horses to look after, and I usually super-
intended their early morning toilet myself, taking
my coffee by the stables at six o'clock. Every
afternoon we went riding, and the mornings were
devoted to acting, or filming ethnological subjects.
One thing, there was no lack of supers for our
dramatic scenes at Bafilo. Once, when we asked
for fifty negroes, fully a thousand turned up.
Naturally they all wanted to be taken on, and
the noise and clamour they made was simply
deafening.

One day a " woman palaver " caused con-
siderable trouble. The word " palaver," I may
explain, stands for anything and everything in
West Africa. Originally it meant a talk, a formal

101

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

conference or conversation. Nowadays any hap-
pening in the least out of the common is re-
ferred to as a palaver. If, for example, you go
to buy a horse that is a " horse palaver." Does
the cook spoil or steal your rations ? There follows
a " cook palaver." And so on. Most frequent of
all, however, are the woman palavers, for my fair
but frail sex was, I found, the cause of fully as
much trouble in Togo as it is generally credited
with being elsewhere. Cherchez la femme.

This particular case began in this way. During
the afternoon, while the men were away shooting,
a native came from the village to complain that
one of our soldiers we had two as escort pro-
vided by the Government had decoyed away his
daughter, a girl of fourteen or fifteen. She had,
he said, been sent to the market that morning to
buy provisions, and the " soldier " had met her,
and induced her to go away with him. I called
the soldiers before me, and questioned them jointly
and severally, but they both denied most strenu-
ously having had anything to say to any girl, one
of them adding, with a great show of virtuous
indignation, that he had a wife of his own in
Sokode. This latter assertion, however, though
doubtless correct, did not greatly impress me,
because I had only the evening before come across
him canoodling one of the native women on the
outskirts of the camp.

While I was trying to get at the bottom of
the matter, Schomburgk returned and, on my ex-
plaining to him what it was all about, he called
Alfred, our chief interpreter, and ordered him to
translate the man's story carefully, and word for

102

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

word. This, however, Alfred seemed either un-
willing or unable to do, so we called in the aid
of Mseu, another interpreter, who understood the
Bafilo dialect better than Alfred did. Mseu heard
what the man had to say, and translated it sen-
tence by sentence, adding voluntarily, after he
had finished, that, in his opinion, the man was a
liar. I began to think so myself, for it suddenly
occurred to me that the two soldiers had been
about the camp practically all the morning, and
could not, therefore, have been down in Bafilo,
philandering with native girls.

The man, however, insisted that what he said
was correct, and that his daughter was even now
concealed in our camp, so we told him to go with
Mseu and see if he could find her. This he ap-
peared unwilling to do, and Mseu also, but Schom-
burgk insisted, and eventually they went off together,
to return presently with the girl. This, of course,
was a serious matter, as these sort of " women
palavers " may easily lead to grave bother with
the natives. So we held a sort of informal Court
of Inquiry, and went thoroughly into the matter.
In the end we found that it was Mseu himself
who had taken the girl away. Schomburgk fined
the delinquent ten shillings a big sum to him
to be handed over as compensation to the girl's
father, and gave him the option of taking a letter
to the Government Commissioner at Sokode, or
of suffering personal chastisement at his hands
there and then. He promptly chose the latter
alternative, and Schomburgk gave it to him
soundly. He yelled like a hyena, and screamed
for mercy, to the huge delight of our boys, for

103

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

Mseu was always greatly interested and pleased
when anybody else got a hiding. Afterwards I
took the girl aside, and gave her a good talking
to, but I am sorry to say it seemed to make
very little impression on her. To all my ques-
tions as to how she came to act in such a wicked
manner for it transpired that she had gone away
with Mseu quite willingly she would only reply
in snappy monosyllables, or by that forward and
upward thrust of the chin which is everywhere
associated with sulky indifference. Once only did
she show any sign of interest or animation, and
that was when I asked her if she had gone with
the man because she loved him. " Love him ! "
she cried indignantly. " Indeed no. He is old
and ugly. But he gave me this." And she
pointed to a string of common white beads, value
perhaps three-halfpence, which she was wearing
round her throat. Poor child ! To her they were
a rope of rarest pearls, and for ropes of pearls,
I reflected, European women, dainty and well-
educated and well-bred, have ere now been not
unwilling to barter their honour.

It was at Bafilo that there also occurred another
palaver, in which I was more directly concerned.
I was out riding one day, when a native lad of
about sixteen or seventeen started dancing and
shouting in the path in front of my horse. The
more I expostulated with him, the worse he went
on, and I was afraid that he would frighten the
horse, and perhaps cause it to bolt. Luckily,
Schomburgk rode up at the crucial moment, and
secured the offender, who proved to be drunk.
We handed him over to his chief, who was furious,

104

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

and promptly ordered him to be flogged. I waited
till he was triced up, then interceded for him, but
I had the greatest difficulty in inducing the chief
to forego the punishment. I do not know whether
the culprit was grateful to me or no gratitude
being, to put it mildly, not a strong point in the
character of the African native but he at all
events ought to have been, for a chief's flogging
is no joke.

An endless source of interest to me during our
stay in Bafilo were the long strings of natives
belonging to different tribes, Losso, Lamantine,
etc., from the Kabre Mountains semi- wild people,
who were travelling back to their far-off homes
after going down to do their tax-work at Sokode,
or to labour for wages on the railway at Atakpame
and beyond. All these people were accompanied
by their women to cook their food, and both sexes
were absolutely nude ; not even a loin-cloth amongst
hundreds of them. Yet, somehow, after the first
impression wore off, one saw nothing to cavil at
in it. Their black skins seemed quite to do away
with the impression of nudity, and their extremely
graceful movements, and modest carriage, made
their nakedness seem not only natural, but ad-
mirable. The women were especially modest in
their demeanour, and the younger girls were even
painfully shy. If one spoke to them in passing,
one might get a swift shy smile in return, accom-
panied by a sudden uplifting of the head for a
fraction of a second. But if one approached one
of them in order to try to converse, they seemed
to be absolutely paralysed with fright. Like a
startled fawn, they would stand stock-still, and

105

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

trembling all over, until one was within a yard or
so of them, then fly away like an arrow from a
bow. Numbers of them carried on their heads
big bags filled with salt, the ordinary currency of
the Kabre country, and representing probably the
wages of the bread-winner for many months. On
one occasion a young girl thus loaded stumbled
and fell right opposite my hut, the bag burst,
and some of the precious salt was spilled and
wasted. I felt sorry for her, and went in and
got some of our own salt to give to her. But
directly I approached her with it, she fled like
the wind, after giving one startled scream. How-
ever, I went after her, and by the aid of the inter-
preter I eventually succeeded in calming her fears,
and inducing her to accept my salt.

Another thing that amused me greatly, al-
though I was chaffed about it considerably by
Schomburgk and the others ! The son of the
richest native in Bafilo took it into his head to
fall violently in love with me. There was nothing
offensive about his attentions. It was merely a
dumb, dog-like sort of devotion. He would sit
for hours silently watching me, would run to
anticipate my wants, and was constantly bringing
me presents, and expecting nothing in return, a
thing absolutely foreign to native methods. Poor
chap ! I have a pretty little table-cover of native
workmanship spread upon the table at which I
write these words his parting gift! I can see
him now, the tears streaming down his squat ebony
face, as I turned in my saddle to wave him a
last farewell a ludicrous sight, and yet somehow
pathetic.

1 06

AMONG THE BAFILO FOLK

By the way, some of the native cloth-work
at Bafilo is exceedingly beautiful. I bought a
number of specimens of it, among the best being
a handsome toga-like garment of hand- woven blue
stuff, elaborately embroidered, and which I am
now wearing as an opera cloak in London, where
it has been greatly admired. It is woven in
narrow strips about two inches wide, and these
are then sewn together by stitches so small, even,
and regular, that they are practically invisible.
It cost me 3, 10s., a big sum out there, and to a
native, but then it must be borne in mind that
one of these cloaks takes about a year to make.

107

CHAPTER IX

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

ON December the 16th, at five o'clock in
the morning, we left Bafilo, where we had
been since the first day of the month, and
started on trek again, bound for Dako and the
north. On the road an incident occurred that
upset me greatly. A certain Dr. Engelhardt had
died in Togo about three weeks previously of some
malignant malady of the fever type. They
Schomburgk and the rest had given me to under-
stand that he died at Sokode. Now it tran-
spired that he had really died at Bafilo, and in the
very hut and on the identical spot where my bed
had stood. They had kept this from me, not
wishing to alarm me. Now they thought it a good
joke to tell me, and were quite taken aback when
I got exceedingly angry. They pointed out that
the hut had been thoroughly disinfected. But I
was not at all appeased. I said they were cold
and callous, and many other things, but they only
laughed.

The distance from Bafilo to Dako is only a
little over twelve miles, yet it took us four hours
or thereabouts to cover it, the reason being that
the road was so bad. It was all up hill and down
dale, and covered with big rocks and loose round
stones. As a result, I was quite shaken up and

1 08

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

tired on arrival, and the sight of the clean and
pretty little rest-house was a welcome one. There
was, however, I found, no accommodation for our
horses, and we had to tether them all together
under a big tree. We took our meals under
another tree, and were very comfortable and
" picknicky."

Next day, on to Kabu. The going was even
worse than on the previous day. Indeed, I have
never experienced anything like it, either before
or since. The road, a mere native track, crossed
at right angles a continual succession of mountain
ridges, with narrow wooded valleys in between,
along which in the rainy season rapid streams
flowed. To ride down the steep sides of many of
these valleys was a sheer physical impossibility.
We had to dismount again and again, and scramble
down as best we could. Even without their riders
the poor horses had hard work to keep their footing
at times, and one of them nearly met with a bad
accident when crossing one river bed that was not
yet wholly dry. He had negotiated successfully
the exceedingly steep slope down to the river, and
was in the act of crossing, when he somehow got
his near hindleg between the root of a big tree and
the bank, and nearly broke it. He was our best
horse too, and my own for riding purposes, and
I was fearfully anxious about him until Schom-
burgk assured me, after a careful and prolonged
examination, that beyond a straining of the ten-
dons, there was no harm done.

As the day advanced it grew fearfully hot. I
kept on asking how much farther it was, and the
answer from the interpreter hardly ever varied

109

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

between "Not far," and "Only half an hour."
It turned out to be three full hours from the last
" only half an hour," the whole journey occupying
from 4 A.M. till 1.30 P.M., so that we were nine
and a half hours in the saddle without a break,
barring the time that we were climbing and
slithering on foot up and down the sides of the
valleys. Even the horses felt the strain, and
although I had two mounts, and changed them
frequently, they were both pretty well knocked up
by the time we reached our journey's end. Schom-
burgk, who knew beforehand that the stage was
likely to be a hard one although even he did not
realise how hard had strongly advised me, before
setting out, to wear my pith helmet. But I, with
true feminine perversity, had insisted on donning
a big slouch hat of the cow-boy type to which I
was partial. I realised my mistake when the sun
was well up, but my pride would not let me admit
it. The last few miles were the worst. Only my
thick hair, I am convinced, saved me from sun-
stroke. Once or twice I reeled in the saddle,
almost overcome with weariness and the terrible
heat. I got, however, but scant sympathy from
the men. Schomburgk especially was most rough
and unkind, and this was so unlike him, as a general
rule, that at length, after one or two half-hearted
appeals for sympathy, I got very angry, gritted
my teeth, straightened myself in the saddle, and
made up my mind to go through with it come what
would. Afterwards, when we had camped and
rested, he told me that he had acted of set purpose.
He had realised that I must be on the very verge
of collapse, and knew that if he could succeed in

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

making me angry, I should probably succeed in
pulling myself together ; while if he started to
condole with me, he feared that I might break
down altogether. No doubt he was right. Whole-
some anger is a good tonic.

Anyhow, I managed somehow to hold out until
our arrival at Kabu. Here the chief's hut was
placed at my disposal, there being no rest-house,
and throwing myself full length on the horse blanket
and with my saddle for a pillow, I slept soundly
for a full hour. I woke greatly refreshed, and
ravenously hungry. Unfortunately there was no
food available, the carriers with the chop boxes
not having yet arrived. However, the negroes
brought us some big calabashes full of native beer.
It was the first time I had ever tasted it, and I
am bound to say that I found it both refreshing
and sustaining. This was lucky, as we had nothing
to eat until six o'clock that night. It is a fer-
mented drink made from guinea corn, and is, I
was told, highly intoxicating if one drinks enough
of it. It has a peculiar sweetish sour taste, not
at all unpleasant. After my sleep, a wash, and
supper, I felt none the worse for our long march,
notwithstanding that it was the worst and longest
one we ever did. Here for the first time I saw
antelope spoor all along the road, but no antelope
were visible. We expect, however, to meet plenty
before long, as well as other game, for we are now
in the heart of wild Africa no proper roads, only
native tracks, and all round us the shadeless,
waterless bush.

Our next day's stage, to Bapure, was a short
one. I felt unusually fit and well, and the road

1 1 1

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

being good rode nearly the whole way in a canter.
I forgot to say that after Sokode we got a different
lot of carriers at each stage ; what are called out
here " exchange carriers." These are furnished by
the chief of each village, on payment of course, and
each day a soldier of our escort was sent on ahead
to arrange for the proper number being forthcoming.
There is practically no difficulty about this so far
as Togo is concerned, although in some other parts
of Africa, I was informed, things are very different.
On the whole trip we only once had any bother
about carriers, but I shall come to that later on.
I may add that there are two sides to the exchange
of carriers. It has its advantages and its disadvan-
tages. One of the principal advantages is that
with fresh people each day, one naturally travels
faster than with " stale " men. On the other
hand, a nucleus of old carriers is to be preferred,
because they know the loads, and can consequently
pack up very much quicker. Coming up from
Atakpame to Sokode it usually took us no more
than about half an hour to pack up in the morning
and get away, whereas now our exchange carriers
take fully three times as long.

At Bapure, we first came into contact with the
Konkombwa, admitted by everybody to be the
finest race of savages in Togo. As, however,
Bapure is only a border village, the ones we saw
here were not, for the most part, pure bred ; and
nothing like such fine specimens, consequently, as
those we saw farther up country. For this reason
I will defer my description of them until later.

We camped here under a big tree, the roost-
ing place of innumerable tame guinea-fowl, who

112

By permission of Maj. H. Schomburgk, F.R.G.S.

A KONKOMBWA WARRIOR

He is not wearing a helmet, ora cap of some kind, as might be supposed, but his
own hair, into which is woven a number of little rings of copper and brass.

CAMPING Our IN THE BUSH

The authoress is sitting outside her tent, busy at needlework. Note the double awning, the bed
with mosquito curtain, the portable washstand on the right, and ' u -
fold up into a small compass. This photo was taken at Kugnau.

the chairs and tables all made to

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

greatly annoyed us by their incessant cackling.
The heat in the middle of the day was very exces-
sive, and in order to get the maximum of fresh
air and the minimum of sunshine, we adopted the
expedient of detaching the outer canvas roofs
over our tents, and using them as awnings. It
was surprising what a difference it made. Be-
neath this awning, and still further sheltered from
the sun's glare by the thick branches of a big tree,
I enjoyed my siesta in perfect comfort and com-
parative coolness, whereas when I remained cooped
up in the tent, I found it usually impossible to
obtain any sleep whatever during the daytime.
The fact of the matter is that a tent in the tropics
is not at all a desirable kind of dwelling-place.
It looks cool, and it sounds cool, but it isn't any-
thing of the kind. On the contrary, its interior
is almost always stiflingly hot.

Whilst we were waiting here for our carriers
to come up, I was greatly amused by the antics
of two travelling coast natives who unexpectedly
put in an appearance. They were " beautifully "
dressed in what they, no doubt, considered the
latest European styles ; broad-brimmed straw hats,
short tight trousers, and cut-away coats. As soon
as they saw us they came swaggering over to
where we were seated. Said Schomburgk : " Where
do you come from ? " " From the coast," they
replied. Said Schomburgk : " You look it." That
was all. But it was enough. The two "culled
gentlemen" beat a quick retreat, and for the
rest of their stay they left us severely alone ;
which was precisely what we wanted. They had
two carriers for their belongings, and later on we

113 H

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

saw them seated back to back on their boxes in
the middle of the village street, each reading a
book, while a crowd of gaping bush negroes stood
round, evidently greatly impressed, and very much
amazed at so marvellous a display of erudition on
the part of men of their own race and colour. Of
course it was all done for effect.

Although the days in this part of the Togoland
Sudan are frequently fearfully sultry, the heat
radiates quickly in the thin dry air at this season
of the year, and the nights, consequently, are apt
to be chilly. On the morning when we left Bapure,
for instance, at 5 A.M., it was quite cold, so that my
teeth chattered as I dressed myself. A quick short
canter, however, soon put the blood into circula-
tion. The first part of our journey was along a
picturesque native path, just wide enough to allow
two people to ride abreast, and bordered on either
side by open bush country. About half-way be-
tween Bapure and our next halting-place at Gerin-
Kuka, however, we crossed a river, the Dakpe,
which forms the boundary between the Sokode
and the Mangu districts, and immediately found
ourselves on a broad, well-kept Government road.
I didn't like it at all. The tortuous native tracks,
winding in and out, may not be so good for quick
or easy travelling, but they possess the charm of
the unknown. When riding along them, one is
always wondering what new scenery the next
turn will disclose. But this wide straight highway
where one could see miles ahead. Bah ! There
was no more romance or element of uncertainty
about it, than there is about Rotten Row.

However, I was soon to be reminded that, road

114

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

or no road, I was not anywhere in Europe, but in
the heart of savage Africa. We had arrived within
a mile or two of Gerin-Kuka, when there suddenly
sounded ahead of us a most terrific din, and pre-
sently there came in sight an immense crowd of
Konkombwa people, who advanced towards us
leaping and yelling, and brandishing in the air long
bows and barbed arrows the latter, I was informed,
poisoned. It was a most imposing, barbaric sight.
The savages, all nude, or nearly so, kept up a
chorus of yells, a series of long-drawn and sonorous
" ha-ha-has," threw their bows into the air, and
dexterously caught them again. And all the while
they were dancing and capering, and making swift,
short darts forward, as if bent on attacking us.

I confess to having been a wee bit frightened
at first, until Schomburgk assured me that this
was merely their way of saluting an honoured
guest, and that the honoured guest on this occasion
was myself, the first white woman who had ever
adventured herself within the confines of their
country. I can quite understand, however, what
a welcome of this description might easily be mis-
understood, and possibly lead to complications, as
it has, in point of fact, upon occasions, and this
not only amongst the Konkombwa, but amongst
other more or less kindred people, whose customs
in this respect are practically identical. In this
connection Schomburgk mentioned an incident that
came within his own personal knowledge. It hap-
pened some years ago. in what is now the north-
western corner of Rhodesia, in the bend of the Kafue
River. Here a traveller, who shall be nameless, first
came into contact with the Mashukulumbwe. This

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

traveller had heard a lot about the fighting prowess
of the Mashukulumbwe, in just the same way as I
had heard a lot about the fighting prowess of the
Konkombwa, and when they came out to greet
him, as the Konkombwa came out to greet us,
he, like me, grew frightened, and fired and killed
one of them. The poor savages, utterly at a loss
to understand in what way they had offended, went
in a body to the District Commissioner to complain
of the outrage, and to ask for redress and compen-
sation. They got what they asked, the money
payment they received being afterwards recovered
from the traveller, who was severely called over
the coals for his share in the matter.

This was the first time I had ever met any
real full-blooded Konkombwa, and I was greatly
struck with their appearance. Tall, splendidly
proportioned, and of fierce and warlike aspect,
they carried themselves with a grace and dignity
one could not help admiring. They were great
dandies, too, for although they wore no clothes to
speak of, many of them had little copper plates
woven into their woolly hair, or had their heads
surmounted with curious helmet-like head-dresses
of cowrie shells, topped by antelope horns. The
quivers in which they carried their sheaves of
poisoned arrows, too, were beautifully designed
and ornamented ; and round their arms, from
wrist to shoulder in some cases, they wore bracelets
of brass and copper alternating. These were kept
brightly polished, and glistened in the sun as they
moved, making an extremely effective picture. So
I rode into Gerin-Kuka in state, surrounded by my
savage escort, dancing, shouting, and leaping. The

116

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

noise made my horse exceedingly restive, and I
began to fear that I might be unable to control
him, so that I was very glad when, after we reached
the confines of the village, they suddenly with one
accord stopped shouting, and began to sing, a low,
melodious, yet barbaric chant, altogether different
from any native singing I had ever heard before. The
interpreter explained that it was a song specially
composed in my honour, and in which I was told
that I was more fair than the moon, brighter than
the sun, and more graceful and beautiful than a
roan antelope.

The rest-house at Gerin-Kuka is very large and
comfortable, and beautifully clean. It is square,
not round, as is usual with the Togo rest-houses,
and this in itself was a change. We were its first
occupants, which accounted perhaps for its being
so altogether spick-and-span ; although as a matter
of fact [the rest-houses all over Togoland are in-
variably^ept in first-rate order. Only white people
are alloWed to occupy them, and it is the duty of
the chiefs of the different villages where they are
situated, to keep them clean. It must not be
imagined, however, that it is only the white
travellers whose convenience is studied by the
Government in this respect. In the neighbourhood
of each of the rest-houses for Europeans, there
has also been built a compound for nativesA Many^ V
of these compounds are quite imposing-looking
places, being, in fact, self-contained villages, com-
prising often as many as fifty or sixty round huts,
each of which affords accommodation for a native
family. The entire compound is called a " songu,"
and is in charge of a native official called the

117

jth
th

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

" sery-chi-songu " (I won't vouch for the spelling),
whose duty it is to keep it clean and tidy, and to
see that the occupants of the huts sweep them
out before they leave in the morning for the next
stage of their journey. This sweeping out process,
I may mention, is by no means perfunctory, for
the Government insists on cleanliness in regard to
e native rest-houses, as well as in regard to
those used by the whitesj But it is not by any
means an ordeal. There are no brooms provided,
but the natives soon improvise one from the
branches of the nearest tree, the work as usual
falling upon the women, when there are any in
the party. \J)ne penny a day is charged for the
use of a hut, the money being collected by the
man in charge of the compound. No party is
allowed to remain beyond a certain time usually
three days at any one rest-house, except in case
of sickness. One result of the provision of these
compounds, and of the roads the Government have
caused to be built, is that there has grown up quite
a regular system of travel to and fro between the
rail-head at Atakpame, and other parts of Togo,
and not only are the roads and rest-houses used by
the Togoland natives, but those from the northern
parts of the British possessions on the one side, and
the French possessions on the other, also come
down through Togo to the coast, when they wish
to make the journey, in order to avail themselves
of the facilities provided.^

It was outside the Gerin-Kuka rest-house, by
the way, that I first paid our carriers in salt,
the currency in general vogue throughout the
Mangu district, where we now are. Each carrier

118

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

received two cupfuls of salt for his day's work.
Schomburgk saw nothing extraordinary in this,
and rather pooh-poohed the idea when I suggested
cinemaing the incident. He consented, however ;
and afterwards, when we came to show the films
in London, this one created quite a lot of interest.
People seemed to find it strange that natives could
be found willing to carry heavy loads all day in
the broiling sun for what was, from their point of
view, so altogether inadequate a remuneration.

In the afternoon, the Konkombwa, not content
with their magnificent reception in the morning,
gave a grand dance in my honour. Afterwards,
Schomburgk went out into the bush to look for
antelope. He had previously told me that he
would not be gone more than about an hour or so,
and when darkness came on, and he had not re-
turned, I grew alarmed for his safety, remembering
how easy a matter it is to lose one's way in the
African bush. Hodgson kept trying to reassure
me, saying that it was quite certain that so old
and experienced an African traveller as Schomburgk
was would not get bushed. As, however, he had
not returned by eight o'clock, I ordered out the
soldiers to look for him, and fired several revolver
shots to guide him in our direction in case he was
anywhere within hearing. I also sent natives out
with lanterns, and soon the bush all round Gerin-
Kuka was alive with twinkling points of fire. At
nine o'clock the truant turned up. He had, he
explained, struck some fairly fresh antelope spoor,
and, urged on by the ardour of the chase, had gone
further afield than he had at first intended. As
is the way with men the world over, he was not

119

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

a bit grateful to me for my thoughtful solicitude.
On the contrary, he growled and grumbled, saying
that the lights of the lanterns had dazzled and
confused him, and so caused him to be even longer
on the way than he otherwise would have been ;
also that all the unnecessary hubbub and excite-
ment had made him look foolish in the eyes of the
natives. " I am quite capable of looking after
my own safety, thank you," he snapped in con-
clusion ; to which I icily retorted that if he thought
it was his safety I was anxious about he was
mightily mistaken, my only reason for acting as I
had done being that I had no ambition to be left
stranded alone with a leaderless caravan in the
heart of the African wilds. It is perhaps un-
necessary to add that after this little passage of
arms we parted on not the best of terms that night.
Next morning he was all smiles and kindly
courtesy, and as I showed by my manner that I
had forgiven his boorishness of the previous night,
we made a first-rate start. We are now bound
for Sansane-Mangu, the northernmost Government
station in Togo, by way of Kadjamba and Nali, and
are in the heart of the Togoland Sudan. The days
are intensely hot, and the nights seem to get colder
and colder. This morning, for instance, the frost lay
thick on the ground, so that we shivered under
our thick wraps. These extremes of temperature
are very trying. For at least nine out of the twelve
hours of sunshine that one gets in these latitudes,
the sun pours down scorching rays from a cloud-
less sky upon sandy plain and mountain rock, and
the whole landscape shimmers and glows like the
mouth of the furnace ; but with the coming of

120

Kyperm-'ssion of

Maj. H. Schomburgk, F.R.G.S.

A WOMAN'S WORK

Five phases 01 a native woman's life are given here. She brings in the firewood and the water,
-does the cooking, and attends generally to domestic duties and family cares, whilst her lord and
master passes the time in pleasant oblivion under a tree.

Reproduced from Cinematograph Films,

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

night a sudden chill seems to fall from the stars,
the heat radiates rapidly into space, and the mer-
cury in the thermometer drops often as many
as forty or fifty degrees in hardly more than as
many minutes. Of course the above applies to
the dry season only.

On leaving Gerin-Kuka we did not take the
main road, but branched off into a side-path
which it is only possible to use in the dry season.
After riding a few miles, Schomburgk stopped his
horse, and, stooping down, called my attention to
a small round depression, or hole, in the hard
clay soil. It looked for all the world as if some one
had jabbed the bottom of a bucket deep down
into the clay when it was soft, and that the in-
dentation so made there had then been left to
harden. I looked at it, as he bade me ; but I
did not see anything very remarkable about it,
and I said so. " Perhaps not," replied Schom-
burgk. " Nevertheless, it happens to be an ele-
phant's spoor, the first you have ever set eyes
on." Of course my interest was aroused at once,
and I dismounted in order to examine it more
closely. Schomburgk explained that it was an
old spoor from the last rainy season. I thought
the footprint an enormous one, but Schomburgk
said that it was made by quite a small elephant.
We followed up the spoor for some little distance,
and I received my first lesson in wood-craft,
Schomburgk pointing out to me where the beast
had stopped to feed, breaking off the branches
and uprooting a number of small trees, and where
he had stopped to rest for a while. In the rainy
season all this part of the country is under water

121

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

and impassable, and the elephants then come here
to feed from the mountain country of the north-
east, and from the Kara River region, where, in
the " gallery forests," as they are called, there are
elephants all the year round. Later on, during
the next day's march, we struck this same Kara
River, and I saw spoor of hippopotami and buffalo.
We also encountered immense flocks of guinea-
fowl. The flesh of these birds is eatable, but tough.
Kadjamba we found to be quite a small village.
We could not even get carriers to take us on to
Nali, the next stage, but had to keep those we had
brought from Gerin-Kuka. There was only a small
rest-house, and I slept under my tent, being badly
bitten by mosquitoes, which swarmed about the
place in countless myriads. Amongst them were
numbers of anophele, the carriers of the mala-
rial fever microbe. Only the female anophele
stings, and she has got to be herself previously
infected by the fever germ before she can convey
infection to the person bitten. Consequently,
anopheles inhabiting densely populated regions are
far more dangerous than those found in compara-
tively deserted ones, such as we were now in. In
and around the big villages practically every
anophele is a germ carrier, and capable of breeding
infection, while those breeding out in the bush are
comparatively innocuous.

Next day we started at 6 A.M. as usual, and
after an hour and a half's ride we reached and
crossed the great river Kara, our horses going in up
to their saddle-flaps. This river drains the Kabre
Mountains, and is one of the main tributaries of
the Oti, the big river of Northern Togo, and which

122

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

is itself in its turn a tributary of another and yet
bigger river called the Volta, which forms the
boundary between the British and German terri-
tory. In the dry season, which is of course now,
the Kara is only about 100 yards wide and com-
paratively shallow, with a slow, sluggish stream ;
but in the wet season it is, I was informed, fully
500 yards wide, and so deep and swift as to be
quite unfordable.

The Konkombwa country, in which we now
are, differs from the Tschaudjo country in many
respects, and especially as regards the number
and extent of the villages. The Konkombwa live
in little homesteads of two or three huts, distri-
buted thickly but unevenly all over the country,
the reason being that these people are in the main
agriculturists, getting their living from the soil.
The Tschaudjo, on the contrary, are traders and
warriors, caring little for agriculture, and so in
the course of ages they have come to concentrate
together more and more. Paratau, which may be
described as the capital of Tschaudjoland, has a
population of several thousand souls, and Bafilo
is even bigger.

Two hours after crossing the Kara we rode
into Nali, where the chief had laid out all his
" presents " under a big tree. The collection
made a goodly show ; quite a lot of flour, some
unground corn, many chickens, and a big pile of
eggs. In return we gave him brass, tobacco, and
salt, and he retired highly pleased. Later in the
day Schomburgk and Hodgson went out shooting,
and the latter returned greatly excited. He had
seen a school of hippos for the first time. His

123

ON THE MARCH ONCE MORE

jubilation, however, over the incident, was greatly
marred by the fact of his rifle having jammed
in a most extraordinary manner when he was
making ready to let drive at them. He had it
already loaded at the time with a cartridge carrying
a soft-nose bullet for shooting antelope, and pulled
the lever in order to extract it, with a view to re-
load with one carrying a solid bullet. But the
case came away, leaving the bullet in the barrel,
and as he had no ramrod his rifle was put alto-
gether out of action for the time being. There
were five or six hippos in the school, and for days
afterwards, Hodgson did not cease to lament
having been unable to bag at least one of them.

From Nali we rode on in the morning for about
ten miles, then camped on the open veldt. There
was no rest-house available, of course, and we put
up our tents. The next day, December 23rd, we
struck camp at six as usual, and after an hour
and a half's ride we reached the Oti River. Here
we halted, had breakfast, and tidied ourselves as
best we could for our entry into Sansane-Mangu,
which lay only about another hour and a half
ride in front of us.

124

CHAPTER X

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

MANGU, the northernmost Government station
in Togo, is in charge of a District Com-
missioner, Captain von Hirschfeld, who
is assisted in his duties, which are arduous
and important, by two other white men, one of
whom is a non-commissioned officer, the other a
civilian. Between them, these three representa-
tives of a dominant race, carry on from year's
end to year's end administrative and executive
duties over a tract of country as big as half a
dozen English counties, and larger by far than
many of the smaller semi-independent German
States. It is a country, too, difficult of access at
all times, and in the rainy season impossible alto-
gether to traverse in many parts. It is, more-
over, inhabited by a people diverse and strange,
speaking different dialects, possessing different
tribal customs, manners, and beliefs ; and in some
instances and in all instances at times truculent,
intractable, and treacherous.

That this vast, far-flung region, in parts even
now largely uncharted and unknown, should have
been brought, within comparatively recent times,
under a settled and stable government, and tribal
and internecine warfare practically abolished, speaks
volumes, I venture to think, for the character and

125

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

abilities of the men who have accomplished the
task. Earliest among these pioneers was Dr.
Gruner, who took the German flag right up to
the Niger bend, but who had to withdraw owing
to the shortsightedness of the German Parliament.
The British Government, by the way, made no
such mistakes, I notice. I have read in our history
books how, some twenty years ago, Lord Rose-
bery's Government was on the eve of adopting a
similar policy of scuttle in regard to Uganda. But
the Rosebery Government went down in response
to a popular outcry, and as a result your Union
Jack waves over all that portion of East Africa.
Our Parliament was subject to no such popular
pressure at all events at that time, and in regard
to this matter. But here I had better stop. I
am trenching upon high imperial, not to say inter-
national, politics, and such things are not for a
girl like me.

Let me get back to the Mangu of the present
day, which we are now, if you please, dear reader
I like that old-fashioned phrase approaching on
horseback from the lowlands about the Oti River.
A big broad road leads up to the station from
the Oti, and the station buildings can be seen a
long way off, gleaming white in the sunshine, and
giving one, even at a distance, the impression of
extreme neatness and cleanliness. As our caravan,
with its long string of porters, winds slowly up-
wards, I observe through my field-glasses that
flags are flying from every point of vantage, and
I guess, even before Schomburgk tells me so, that
the decorations are in honour of the advent of
myself, the first white ^woman in Mangu. Pre-
126

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

sently, Captain von Hirschfeld, accompanied by a
mounted bodyguard, canters out to meet us, and I,
intent on making as imposing an entry as possible,
ride forward to greet him. But alas, for the plans
of mice and men, to say nothing of women! A
patch of soft sand a quicksand, no doubt, in the
rainy season lay directly in my path. When my
horse reached it, he first sank in it over his fetlocks,
then floundered, then fell, pitching me over his
head. And in this unceremonious, not to say un-
dignified, fashion, the first white woman made
her first entry into the far northern station of
Mangu. Captain von Hirschfeld and myself often
laughed over the incident later on, but to me at
the time it was no laughing matter. Not that I
was hurt in the least. The sand, fortunately,
was soft, and the floundering kind of stumble my
horse made resulted, so far as I was concerned,
in a subsidence rather than a fall. But I was
deeply mortified. I had looked forward to making
quite an impression, and the only kind of impres-
sion I accomplished was the one made by my
face in the sand when I fell.

The full name of the station I fancy I have
mentioned this before somewhere is Sansane-
Mangu, meaning " the place where warriors meet,"
Once upon a time it was the gathering-place of the
natives when their young men met together to
set out on one of those wild forays so dear to
savages the world over. The exact place of meeting
was a big baobab tree, still standing, and about
this tree the new station of Mangu has been built,
with|a view to breaking the fetish spell which in the
estimation of the natives stills hangs round it. The

127

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

old station at Mangu, founded by a Lieutenant
Tiery, was in a different spot, overlooking the Oti
River. It was a small station, but very strongly
fortified ; a fort, in fact. Of this station, only
the walls remain. The interior of the site is used
as a European cemetery. Three white men lie
there. Two died, the third was killed in warfare
with the Tschokossi, a tribe inhabiting the country
to the north and west. The unhealthiness of the
site, more than anything else, caused the old
station to be abandoned. The new station was
founded by a Captain Mellin, who died a few years
back. A little while ago the Tschokossi rose in
rebellion, and tried to capture this station, and
they very nearly succeeded. There was some
sharp fighting, one white man and a good many
native soldiers being killed. As an act of ex-
piation, after the rebellion had been crushed,
they were forced to build, near their principal
village, an immense stone pyramid, with a cross
on top.

Captain von Hirschfeld, who, throughout this
and our subsequent stay at Mangu, was hospitality
personified, had got everything ready for us. A
nice house was placed at our disposal, all swept
and garnished, very large, airy, and roomy, with
a fine broad verandah. Close by our house was
an extraordinary-looking building of native con-
struction called Tamberma Fort. This was built
many years ago by a tribe of natives of that name,
who live in the extreme north-eastern corner of
Togoland. These Tamberma were, and still are,
a very wild, warlike, and truculent people. The
German Government, I ought to explain, exact

128

|js

< 5-=

S O S

C4 *j rt
| 1|

H -II
S

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

what is called a head tax of six shillings a year
from each native. It is the equivalent of the
British " hut tax," and, like that impost, it has
been the cause of endless trouble and bother with
the negroes, who in Togoland are called upon,
under its provisions, to either pay the tax in cash,
or work twelve days on the Government roads,
buildings, etc. Now six shillings sounds a very
small sum to a civilised white man, but to a semi-
wild negro, who never sees any coined money
whatever from year's end to year's end, it is, of
course, an altogether impossible impost. He has
therefore to work it out, and in the case of a
distant tribe this means a long journey forward
and backward to their homes, with their wives
and their little ones, all of which not infrequently
involves considerable hardship and privation, for,
of course, the negro has to provide food for him-
self and his family on the journey, though not
while he is working out his tax. No wonder he
resents the hated impost, and tries to evade it
whenever possible ; for the native is constitution-
ally incapable of looking ahead, and cannot be
made to see that the work he is called upon to
do is for his own benefit as much as, and even in
a sense more so, than for that of his white masters.
He sees, of course, that the roads he builds, he is
able presently to travel over with an assurance
unknown in the old days ; that the songus he
erects shelter him and his family when he is on
the move ; and that the net result of all this easy
intercommunication is a general cheapening of
commodities, and the opening of new markets for
those he produces. But all this weighs in the

129 i

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

balance very little against his innate conservatism
and rooted aversion to settled labour.

Well, these Tamberma people came down once
to Mangu from their mountain fortresses in the
far north-east ; then, having finished their allotted
task, they packed up their belongings and returned
to their homes. And they never quitted them
again at least to come to Mangu. For shortly
after they got back to their own country, a new
boundary line was drawn between the German
and the French possessions in this part of Africa,
and the Tamberma country was intersected by this
line. The result has been considerable confusion,
some of the tribe owning allegiance to one govern-
ment, and some to the other. Things, however,
are now likely to straighten themselves out before
long, the Tamberma having, by mutual agreement
between the two governments, been given a year
in which to decide under which they will come,
and this year expires shortly. Meanwhile Tam-
berma Fort, erected by them as a memento of their
visit, still stands in Mangu, a conspicuously pic-
turesque object. It is, I may add, at present used
as a mosque by the Mohammedans at the station,
who have agreed to keep it in order in return for
the privilege.

All round Mangu are big plantations of different
kinds of valuable timber, a sort of experimental
arboricultural farm. All this work has been done
at the initiative and under the personal super-
vision of the officials there, and they have also
carried out many other improvements. The place
is, in fact, a little island of civilisation set in a
wilderness of savagery, the new station house

130

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

there, Schomburgk considers, being the finest and
handsomest building of its kind in the whole in-
terior of Africa. The country round the station,
and especially to the north, is typical of the Sudan,
the soil mostly a hard dry ironstone formation.
It is on the whole of somewhat arid appearance,
but grass grows freely in many parts, and along
the banks of the streams, and for a considerable
distance on either side one gets a belt of riverine
vegetation trees, osiers, and the like.

Mangu during the harmattan season, which lasts
from October to the end of January, is an alto-
gether delightful place of residence ; no mosquitoes,
pleasantly windy, cool at night, and not too hot
by day, because of the harmattan, the sun's rays
being unable to penetrate the dry yellow mist.
During the rest of the year, however, and especially
from May to August, Mangu has been not inaptly
described as " Hades with the lid off." Not only
is the heat terrific in the day-time one cannot,
I was assured, walk across the square without
dripping with perspiration but it is hardly any
cooler at night, while to keep things lively there
is an almost continual succession of thunderstorms
of appalling intensity, the rain descending with
tropical violence at an angle of forty-five degrees
or thereabouts, and beating right into the houses,
so that at times the people prefer to go out into
it at once and have done with it, rather than try
to take shelter inside, when it is practically unob-
tainable. These storms do not last long enough
to cool the air, but the lightning seems to take a
special fancy to strike the station or the village,
one theory advanced to account for this being

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

that there exists beneath the place a subterranean
stream of water, which attracts the electric fluid.
How feasible this may be, I do not know ; but it
is a fact that Mangu is very unfortunate in this
respect. During the last rainy season, for instance,
two natives were killed in the village by lightning,
and one here in the station. The lightning also
struck Captain von Hirschf eld's house, and went
through his writing-table, destroying a lot of
papers, he himself only escaping death by a
miracle.

We spent Christmas at Mangu, and had a real
good time. We ate our Christmas dinner in
Captain von Hirschfeld's house, a fine, handsome
stone building. It was only finished last October,
and when inside, and especially of a night, one can
hardly realise that one is in the heart of Africa.
We had part of a young pig for our Christmas
dinner, and I was present at the killing of him.
I must confess that the sight rather sickened me,
though later on I became quite an expert butcher.
Curious how one sheds the veneer of civilisation
in the wilds. After quitting Mangu for the north,
we were destined to be absolutely cut off from the
outer world for a while, and we relied almost alto-
gether on our guns and rifles for fresh meat for
the pot. Then it was the men who hunted and
killed the game, and I who prepared and cooked
it. In like manner, I take it, did the women of
the Stone Age.

At Mangu, however, we were, of course, still in
touch with civilisation, and our Christmas dinner,
besides being something of a curiosity in its way,
was exceedingly nice. I append the menu :

132

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

Caviare sans Ice.
Asparagus Soup.

Oti Fish.

Ragout a la Mangu en escallop.
Saddle of Pork a la Konkombwa.

Peaches a la tin.
Frothed White of Eggs, Cream, Sauce Vanilla.

Cheese sticks.
Coffee. Liqueurs.

Wines.
Madeira. Claret. Champagne.

On the dinner-table was a miniature Christmas
tree, which had been sent all the way from Ger-
many by Captain von Hirschfeld's mother, and
after we had finished eating we gathered round it
and toasted absent friends in champagne. I had
not looked forward at all to this particular Christ-
mas. In fact, I had rather dreaded it, fearing that
it would bring with it more of regret than of
pleasure, but as a matter of fact I thoroughly en-
joyed it. For one thing, I found it hard to realise,
owing to the climate and surroundings, that it
was really Christmas ; for another, everybody
was so kind and hospitable that one could not
help feeling merry and jolly. On New Year's Eve
we had another little party, and on the stroke of
midnight we set fire to about three thousand feet
of old celluloid films. The inflammable stuff
blazed up fiercely of course, directly a match was
applied to it, and made a splendid bonfire.

I have alluded already to the big plantations
round about Mangu. Most of these are thriving,
but as regards some of them, considerable damage
has been done by a species of beetle with huge
saw-like forceps. It was pitiful to ride along the

133

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

plantation roads, and see hundreds and hundreds
of fine trees all dead or dying, killed by these
insect pests. Every effort has been made, Captain
von Hirschfeld told me, to extirpate them, but in
vain. In the plantations are many small antelope
and immense flocks of guinea-fowl and francolin,
the latter a bird resembling a partridge. The
best sport of all, however, was afforded by a bird
called out there a koran. It is a most comical-
looking creature, not unlike a miniature ostrich,
but, unlike the ostrich, it is a good flier. Schomburgk
was quite an expert in shooting them ; right and
left bang ! bang ! They were excellent for the
pot, yielding two distinct kinds of meat, white
and brown, arranged in layers like a cream and
chocolate sponge-cake. They were so plump and
fat that I used to cook them in their own grease,
and we all agreed that they were better done that
way, being delicious eaten hot, and even better
cold. There were also quail in great numbers all
round the station, which I used to roast, and serve
on toast in the approved fashion. We also had
antelope, as many as we cared to shoot. Their
meat, which had a pleasant gamey flavour, made
a nice change. The only drawback was that we
had to eat it too fresh, as of course everything
goes bad if kept overnight in this climate.

The Oti River furnished us with fish in abun-
dance. We rode down to it nearly every day,
and once we went for a cruise in it on a big dug.
out native canoe. We started at seven in the
morning, and got back at eleven. We were not
able to go far, as the water was nearly at its lowest,

134

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

but still it was very pleasant, and the scenery was
very beautiful. Towards the end, however, the
sun's rays, reflected back by the almost stagnant
water, made things very oppressive. What it must
be like in the summer I can only faintly imagine.
From a sand-bank where he had stalked it, Hodg-
son shot a very fine paauw a kind of bustard
with his rifle at about sixty yards, the bullet
passing clean through its neck. It was, of course,
a fluky shot, but Hodgson was awfully proud of
it, nevertheless.

Early in the morning of December 30th, word
was brought to us that the natives were gathering
for a grand combined fishing expedition, and, of
course, we rode out to see the fun, taking our
camera and operator with us. They caught any
number of fish, but in a way that I fear would
hardly appeal to any genuine disciple of Isaac
Walton. Still it was very interesting, and we
secured some good pictures. The natives had
previously built a number of dams parallel to each
other across the river in a shallow and still reach,
and they now proceeded to bale out the water
from each inclosure until there was only liquid
ooze left, in which the fishes hid, and whence
they were presently scooped up by hundreds of
natives armed with calabashes. Afterwards the
master of the ceremonies distributed the catch
to the perspiring fishermen. They were mostly
of the barbel species, and of very moderate size ;
but there was one big fellow, which we purchased,
and afterwards ate for dinner. He was very
nice, unlike many of the Togo river fish, which

135

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

are about as tasty as blotting-paper flavoured with
mud.

We took no dramatic films at Mangu, but plenty
of ethnological ones. Cinemaing had now become
more difficult than ever, for the intense dry heat
kept continually cracking the wood of the cameras,
until both Hodgson and Schomburgk were well
nigh in despair. Every evening almost they were
kept busy repairing the damage done during the
day-time, filling the cracks with sealing-wax, which
they afterwards smoothed down with hot knives,
and covered with sticky tape. We had only brought
two cinema cameras with us in addition to three
ordinary ones and the woodwork of one of these
had got so badly warped by the heat on the road
up as to interfere with the working of the mechanism,
rendering it utterly useless. Consequently we were
relying on the one machine ; and if anything hap-
pened to put it out of action, the whole expedition
would come automatically to an end, since no other
cinema camera could be bought nearer than Europe.
I never saw so much care lavished over an inani-
mate object, as was bestowed on that machine.
Talk about a mother with a new-born babe !
Why, that bit of brass and woodwork was watched
over by Hodgson as though it had been the apple
of his eye. He scarcely ever allowed it out of his
keeping, whether on the march or in camp, and a
boy was detailed to do nothing else all day long
but rub it over with palm-oil.

Amongst other interesting films we took at
Mangu was one showing portions of the new stone
station in process of construction, with, as a con-

136

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

trast, the old wattle-and-daub buildings still
standing in close proximity. The scene here
during the hours when work was in full progress
was most animated, and our cameras did full
justice to it. In one picture an endless row of
carriers is seen bringing up the hewn stones from
the quarry. In the next native workmen are
burning lime in a native kiln. Another picture
shows forty stalwart negroes carrying between
them an immense baulk of timber, hewn in the
mountain forest country many miles away ; they had
been carrying it after this fashion for eight whole
days at the time our photograph was taken. The
skilled masonry work is being done by long-term
prisoners, many of them in chains, and in charge
of armed soldiers. The head mason, I was in-
formed, was a murderer.

After taking this film we rode down to the
quarry near the Oti which furnishes the stone.
Here were hundreds of natives working out their
tax. The quarry, which is a very large one, and
seems capable of indefinite extensions, was only
discovered quite recently by Captain von Hirsch-
feld. On the way to it we passed a large " songu,"
or native resting-place, equivalent to the rest-houses
of the whites. Here we saw specimens of races
and tribes from all parts of Western Africa, and
even parts of Northern Africa, collected together
Hausas from Nigeria; Fulani, with their com-
paratively pale complexions, and clear-cut European
looking features ; squat, coal-black, pagan tribes-
men from the Kabre Mountains, and the central
forest region ; Fulbe, from the far interior of the

137

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

central Sudan ; stately Arab traders from Tim-
buctu, and beyond, clad in flowing snow-white
robes ; naked Gourma people, fierce and wild look-
ing; and many stalwart Konkombwa, upright
and graceful as ever, but minus their helmets
and head-dresses ; while in and out among the
motley throng, naked little children swarmed
everywhere, and perfectly nude women and girls,
bearing on their heads calabashes of water, or pots
of food, trod gravely and sedately to and fro,
their brass anklets glittering in the sun, and
making music as they moved. It was as picturesque
a scene as any I had ever beheld in my lifetime,
and certainly more so than any I had yet come
across in Togo.

On January the 2nd, in the morning, a soldier
came to say that a hyena had been caught in a
trap overnight, and we at once saddled up our
horses and rode out to have a look at it. The
soldier led us to the place where the trap had
been, but both it and the hyena had vanished.
Investigation showed that the powerful brute had
torn up the anchor which held the iron gin-trap
in position, and had walked off with the whole
contrivance. However, we knew that it was im-
possible for him to rid himself of the trap alto-
gether, so we followed up his trail to a patch of
jungle grass a considerable distance away, where
he had hidden himself, and a soldier went in and
pulled him out, trap and all. The poor beast
howled horribly, and no wonder, for its mouth was
all torn and bloody, where it had tried to bite away
the iron of the trap. It was no goodly sight, and

138

NATIVE PIG IRON FROM A FURNACE
AT BANJELI

CHIEF'S COMPOUND IN A TSCHOKOSSI VILLAGE AT MANGU

These compounds are where the wives are housed, and they also contain the
chief's "palace," his stables if he is well enough off to possess horses and other
offices."

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

I was glad to turn away my head while Schom-
burgk put an end to its misery with a bullet from
his mauser. In the afternoon came huge flocks
of vultures to feast upon the carcase, and again
we put our camera into requisition, getting some
fine pictures. They are loathsome-looking creatures,
these carrion-eating birds, but of course they are
invaluable to the squalid African villages, where
they act as general scavengers, and are rarely, if
ever, interfered with.

Mangu is plagued with bats millions on millions
of them. I would not have credited it if I had
not seen it with my own eyes. If I write that
there came at dawn out of a single small hut,
twelve to fifteen thousand of the creatures, dark-
ening the air for quite a distance around, I should
hardly expect to be believed. But it is so. One
of the interpreters told me that on one occasion
a deserted hut where there was a rookery or
should it be a "battery"? of them, was sealed
up, and sulphur burned inside. And when they
unsealed it in the morning, they counted above
eighteen thousand carcases of bats.

We got plenty of milk at Mangu, making a
welcome change of diet, also native butter. This
latter is good for cooking, but one cannot eat it
on one's bread, owing to its rancid taste, even
when freshly made. As regards the milk also,
one has to be very careful to see that the cala-
bashes are clean. I always saw to this myself,
for native servants, as I have already stated else-
where, have no idea of the importance of hygiene.

One evening, shortly before we quitted Mangu

139

CHRISTMAS AT SANSANE-MANGU

for our " farthest north," Captain von Hirschfeld
told us about a number of most interesting records
concerning the days of Dr. Gruner and the earlier
pioneers, which are preserved here. Schomburgk
was greatly interested in them, and urged the
Captain to have them published, which he said he
would probably do shortly.

140

CHAPTER XI

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

ON January llth, 1914, we left Mangu, where
we had been since December the 23rd,
and resumed our journey northward. Be-
yond Mangu, Togo has not yet been opened
up, nor is the country considered altogether
safe for Europeans. We only went there by
special permission of the Government, obtained
through H.H. the Duke of Mecklenburg, and he
only granted it because Schomburgk was person-
ally known to him as an old and experienced
African traveller, who could be trusted to treat
the natives well, to neither do nor say anything to
provoke them, and who yet was capable of holding
his own in an emergency if he were attacked.

Before setting out, too, Schomburgk had to
sign an official document, promising only to go
north along the Oti River, and not to attempt
to enter the Gourma country. He was also warned
to be on his guard against the Tschokossi people
in the villages of the extreme north, as these were
reputed to be shy and suspicious of white strangers
entering their territory. As a matter of fact,
Schomburgk insisted, in talking the matter over
with me, that the Tschokossi are nowhere dan-
gerous if properly handled, and that there was
likewise little or nothing to fear from the Gourma

141

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH "

people living in German territory, although he
admitted that occasionally parties of Gourma come
over from French territory as far as Panscheli,
whither we were bound, and that these strays are
apt to be troublesome, and even truculent. In-
deed, only quite recently a German officer traversing
the very district into which we were about to
penetrate, and having with him a big escort of
soldiers, was attacked by prowling savages, who shot
a flight of poisoned arrows into the tent where he
was asleep. According to the version of the affair
I heard, he must have escaped death by a miracle.
He was, I was told, lying down asleep when he
was awakened by the " plunk, plunk, plunk," of
the arrows striking and penetrating the taut
canvas. Jumping up, he ran to the entrance
of the tent, whereupon the lurking savages shot
another volley, one of the arrows glancing from
the tent pole behind which he was standing, and
wounding him on the forehead. With commend-
able presence of mind, instead of going after his
assailants, he at once sat down upon the ground,
and called to his native boy, who there and then
set to work to suck the poison from the wound.
In this way his life was saved, for although he
suffered great agony, and was seriously ill for quite
a long while, he recovered in the end. He was
lucky, for, as a rule, the least scratch from one
of these poisoned arrows proves fatal. I made
many inquiries during my stay in the country,
and afterwards, as to what was the particular
poison used by the natives on their arrow tips,
but I could get no proper information, or rather,
I should say that what I did get was extremely

142

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

contradictory. A Doctor Porteous, a friend of
mine, assured me that he had analysed some of it
taken from a freshly-smeared arrow, and found it
to be a preparation of digitalis, made from a native
plant of the fox-glove variety. On the other
hand, I have talked with people who claim to
have actually seen the natives poisoning their
arrows by the simple process of sticking the points
in a lump of putrid meat, and leaving them there
for a while; while yet others assert that the
poison is a preparation of rotting vegetable earth
taken from the nearest bog-hole. There may be
some truth in this, for it is known that people
wounded by the arrows frequently succumb to
tetanus. The probability is that no one poison is
used at all times, and by all the tribes, but that
different kinds are utilised as opportunity offers.

It was on a Sunday morning that we quitted
Mangu, and Captain von Hirschfeld, with his usual
kindness, made all arrangements for carriers and
so forth, and also stored our spare baggage against
our return. Our first day's march was only five
miles, and, travelling as we did along the Oti valley,
in which the natives had just been burning the
grass, it was anything but pleasant riding. The
air was filled with a black impalpable dust, which
got into my eyes, down my throat, up my nostrils
everywhere. The heat was terrific, and caused
one to perspire freely, so that our faces soon took
on a most unbeautiful streaky appearance. The
water I washed in when we camped became of the
colour of ink, and the consistency almost of pea
soup ; and when I unbound my hair, showers of
blacks descended from it to the ground.

*43

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

Schomburgk wanted to camp at a village, but
I was greatly taken with a very pretty spot, lying
fifteen feet or so up on a bluff in a bend of the river,
and from which a beautiful view could be had
over the surrounding country. To this Schom-
burgk objected, saying that the wind was likely to
prove troublesome by day, and that at night
we were pretty certain to be eaten up by mos-
quitoes. I persisted, however, and in the end
he allowed me to have my way. Afterwards, I
wished he hadn't. His prediction was verified.
Very much so, in fact. As the day advanced, a
hot wind swept across the Oti plains in fierce
eddying gusts, bringing with it more clouds of
black dust from the burnt veldt ; and at night
the mosquitoes were so bad that we couldn't sleep,
exactly as he had foretold. I never encountered
anything quite so bad in the way of insect pests
as were these mosquitoes on the banks of the Oti.
The boys had to light fires of green boughs to drive
them away, and while they were crouching over
them, half-suffocated by the smoke, Schomburgk
started to tell me about some mosquitoes he once
encountered in the Congo forest region. " Why,"
he remarked, " we used to shoot them like game
with our revolvers as they sat perched on the
boughs of the trees above our heads, and so big
were they that several of them weighed a pound."
" Get out," I retorted indignantly, " there are no
such insects anywhere in the world." " It is the
literal truth I am telling you," he replied, gravely,
" several of those Congo mosquitoes weighed a
pound." " Yes," put in Hodgson slyly, with a
laugh and a wink at me, " several of them. Several

144

.s a

fl
ss

o -3 3.-I

u SS-5-5

H >,::

Q T5JS rf

* V V

O S .

5 "

S-2"

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

thousands or millions if you like." Then, of
course, I saw the joke, such as it was, and we all
laughed.

The place near to which our camp was pitched
was a small Tschokossi village called Bwete. The
people were very wild in appearance. The Tscho-
kossi living in and about Mangu were compa-
ratively civilised, but these were just savages
pure and simple. The men wore only small loin
slips of undressed bark, the women bunches of
green branches before and behind. These they
renewed daily when they went down to the river
to wash in the early morning. Each woman or
girl plucked a few branches, thereby possessing
herself of a new dress. In this respect these
children of nature go one better than ourselves.
No civilised woman, I take it, be she ever so
wealthy, has a new dress every day. Schomburgk
considered these umbrageous costumes hideous, but
I thought them very pretty, modest, and becoming.
Certainly, on hygienic grounds, the custom has
much to recommend it.

In the afternoon all our boys went down to
the river to bathe in a big deep pool, in which I
had previously observed several crocodiles dis-
porting themselves. I was horrified when I saw
them, and called to them to come out, telling them
what I had seen ; but they only laughed at my
fears, and went on swimming, skylarking, and
splashing about. The natives assert, and pro-
bably with truth, that whereas for one man to
venture alone by himself into a crocodile-infested
pool would be for him to court almost certain
death, a number of them can go in together with

H5 K

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

impunity. Doubtless the reptiles are frightened
at the noise and the splashing, and lie low in-
stead of attacking, fearing for their own safety.

On the road to this village a pet monkey we
had bought earlier in the trip got loose, and bolted
across the veldt. It was being carried shut up in
a hen-coop, and probably resented the indignity.
We were greatly perturbed, for we had all of us
become more or less attached to the " comical
little cuss," as Artemus Ward would doubtless
have called him, and we did not want to lose him.
The boys tried their hardest to catch him, and
failed ; but directly Schomburgk called him, he
came to him, and rode coiled up on the front of
his saddle for the rest of the day.

Shortly after this episode we came upon a very
picturesque little lake, a really pretty sheet of
water, long and narrow. We had been on the
look-out for this, because before we left Mangu
one of the officials there told us that he had re-
cently shot a big bull hippopotamus here, and
Schomburg was anxious to film one or more of these
creatures. So we circled the entire lake, going
up one side and down the other, examining it
carefully. There were lots of water-fowl, but no
hippos, big or little, male or female. When we
reached camp, our boys told us that they had seen
a big herd of antelope. This was tantalising, for
we wanted meat for the pot, and we had seen
nothing of them. The natives are still busy at
their favourite pastime at this season of the
year of burning the grass on the Oti flats, and
the wind, as usual, blew the calcined debris into
our eyes and noses. Anything but pleasant !

146

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

Next day we resumed our march. Our inten-
tion had been to follow the Oti, but the river winds
in and out just about here in the most bewilder-
ing and tantalising manner, and our soldier guide
from Mangu, in attempting a short cut, lost his
way. We passed through or round a number of
dirty Tschokossi villages, but the people were
sullen and suspicious, refused to answer our ques-
tions, or replied only in non-committal monosyl-
lables. These people live, like the Konkombwa, in
tiny hamlets of two or three families, and, to judge
by their replies to our requests for information, one
would have imagined that no such river as the
Oti existed anywhere in Togo, let alone close to
where they lived, moved, and had their being.

At length, thoroughly vexed and tired out,
hot, dusty and thirsty, we halted at noon at a
place called Magu, and put up our tents under
some low, withered trees. It proved to be a most
uncomfortable camping ground. The black dust
settled everywhere. The sun beat down with a
perfectly awful intensity, and it was practically
impossible to obtain shelter from the heat, the
country all round being low bush, interspersed with
open veldt. Late in the afternoon, after a rest,
Schomburgk set out to try and find the Oti, and
returned in a little while with the somewhat com-
forting news, under the circumstances, that it was
only about a quarter of an hour's march ahead.
And yet the people here had assured us that it
was " very far away." This shows what reliance
is to be placed on the word of a wild native.
Schomburgk further told us that on the way back
from the river he had sighted a roan antelope,

147

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

but that it was too far off for him to be able to
get a shot. Another disappointment !

Before going to bed that night Schomburgk
instructed the interpreter to rouse us at 5 A.M.
Presently I heard him calling out as usual that
it was time to get up, and in obedience to the
summons I arose, though feeling unusually sleepy.
I put this down, however, to the tiring events of
the day previous, and, having washed and dressed,
I went outside the tent. To my surprise, I found
the moon still high in the heavens, and only then
did it occur to me to look at my watch. The time
was 2.30 A.M. After saying some things the reverse
of complimentary to the interpreter, I re-entered
my tent and lay down, intending to try and get
to sleep again. But meanwhile Hodgson, who had
also been awakened, had started a long confab
with one of the native boys. Hodgson was a first-
rate operator, and a very decent sort of a fellow
to boot, but he was one of the most confirmed
chatterboxes I ever came across. I used to tell
him that he would talk to his own shadow, if there
was nothing and nobody else to talk to. In this
respect he was the very reverse of Schomburgk,
who, like most men who have lived long in the
wilds, was a very quiet, reserved sort of man.

At five o'clock, we rose finally for the day, and
resumed our march in the direction of the Oti,
striking it, as Schomburgk had already told us we
would, in from fifteen to twenty minutes. We
are now in an utterly wild country, where few,
if any, white people, whether men or women, have
ever been before. There are no paths, and the
native tracks one cannot call them trails lead

148

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

nowhere save from village to village, or possibly
to water-holes, or river fords, as the case may be.
For the most part we tried to follow the Oti, but
the wide bends it made, and the nature of the
banks in places, rendered this at times an absolute
impossibility.

We are in a fine game country, and we saw
many troops of antelope. Flocks of guinea-fowl,
too, ran along in front of the horses ; francolin flew
up in coveys of ten and twelve ; crested crane kept
passing overhead on their way from one feeding-
ground to another, uttering their haunting rasping
cry. It was a beautiful sight to a city-bred girl.
I felt I was really near to Nature at last ; that
here was God's big " zoo." I did not want to
talk only to listen and look. I am beginning to
understand now how it is that all the white bush
people are quiet men, who think a lot, but say
little, like the famous parrot of immortal memory.
Crossing, as I have already said, a succession of
big bends, we were mostly out of sight of the river,
but when we did catch a glimpse of it I could see
that it was covered with ducks, teal, and all sorts
of water- fowl ; while every thicket and clump of
trees we came to held colonies of bright-hued land
birds, blue jays, sun-birds, and so on, whose gor-
geous plumage, flashing in the sunshine, was a
source of never-ending pleasure.

It was concerning these fine-feathered birds
that Schomburgk and I had " words " one day.
I badly wanted him to shoot a few specimens, and
preserve them for me, as I had reason to know
that he is an exceedingly skilful amateur taxider-
mist. But he politely and firmly declined to do

149

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

anything of the kind. He is in favour of the pro-
tection of wild birds, and holds strong views about
killing them in order to strip them of their plumage.
" We might," he said, " take back to Europe
hundreds of pounds' worth of feathers and skins
from this district, but to do so would be a crime
against Nature and against Nature's God." I
replied that I didn't want to do murder for money,
but that I would like a few specimens for my own
personal use and adornment. " Besides," I added,
"you kill birds for the pot f rancolin, quail, and
so forth and what the difference is between
killing them to eat and killing them to wear, I
cannot for the life of me make out. So far as I
can see, it makes precious little difference to the
poor birds." To this Schomburgk retorted that
men must eat, and women too for that matter,
but that the latter need not stick feathers or
stuffed birds in their hats. Eventually, however,
he did so far do violence to his principles as to
shoot me a single sun-bird, out of the many hun-
dreds that were flying about. These little creatures
are exceedingly beautiful ; purple red about the
body, with lovely blue heads, a splash of blue at
the root of the tail, and very much elongated and
very brilliant tail feathers. Schomburgk, also,
yielding to my earnest entreaties, shot me a blue
jay, and gave to Hodgson permission to shoot me
one other. These have been greatly admired since
in London, for, of course, we took care before
shooting them to select perfect specimens in full
plumage. But I wish my fair friends could have
seen them as I saw them first, when the feathers
were alive. The difference between the plumage

150

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

of a stuffed bird and a living one, or even one
recently killed, is very marked. It is the differ-
ence between a woman's own hair and a made-up
switch, between a peroxide blonde and a real one.

These bright-plumaged birds, by the way, do
not sing. A few of them whistle, but mostly their
cries are coarse and rasping ones. The reason is,
of course, that they rely upon the beauty of their
colouring to do the work of sex attraction. It is
wonderful, when one comes to think of it, how
always and everywhere it is love, love, love, that
makes the world go round. To it we owe the
beauty of the colouring of the sun-birds, the tail
feathers of the bird of paradise, the song of the
nightingale, and these in their turn, no doubt, in
the dim, distant past, gave birth to painting and
to music. No doubt the first Tschokossi belle who
tore down a green branch to deck herself withal,
was moved in the first instance by sex attraction,
and the same holds good to-day of a frock by
Worth.

It is astonishing how tame the antelope, and
four-footed game became so far at least as I
personally was concerned as we trekked farther
into the wilderness. They seemed almost to have
lost all fear of me whatever. The pretty little
puku antelopes used to stop and gaze curiously
at me until I was within a few yards of them,
and once a couple of reitbuck got up right in front
of my horse, and stood stock-still staring at me.
I called to Schomburgk to bring his rifle, but by
the time he got to me they had galloped off.

On the morning of January 13th, after following
the Oti for about eight miles, we debouched on to

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

a big open plain, and Schomburgk and Hodgson
rode on ahead along the river bank to explore,
leaving me to lead the caravan across the flat.
The going for the horses soon became exceedingly
bad, so that we could only move at a snail's pace.
It is the kind of country that is known out here
as " yam-field country " ; for the following reason.
The natives, when they cultivate their yams, hoe
up a little hillock round each plant. Now in the
rainy season the country we are crossing part of
the Oti flats is all under water, and when this
dries up it leaves a lot of little hillocks, which the
sun presently bakes into the consistency of bricks.
Hence the name !

Owing to the recent firing of the old grass,
however, there was plenty of fresh green stuff in
the interstices between the hillocks, and this fur-
nished fodder for countless troops of antelope.
I never saw so many together at one time before.
Some of the herds we encountered numbered
between thirty and forty head. While Schom-
burgk and Hodgson were with the caravan, they
were shy, but with me riding alone it was quite
different. They seemed instinctively to realise that
they were in no danger. They would stand still
gazing stolidly in my direction until I was within
thirty or forty yards of them, before gracefully
cantering off, afterwards stopping every now and
again to turn round and stare inquisitively at what
was evidently something quite new to them.
Others would simply trot a little way to one side
of the path we were following, then line up to see
us pass, like soldiers on parade.

It was while I was gazing admiringly at a row

152

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

of these pretty little creatures, that my boys drew
my attention to a big moving object in the dis-
tance, whispering excitedly: "Look, missy some
big meat ! " The native, I may explain, calls all
game " meat." Focussing the object through my
field-glasses, I saw that it was an unusually fine
specimen of a roan antelope, the size of a small
horse. These roan antelopes are, of course, quite
different from the small puku, and other similar
varieties ; they are, in fact, the second biggest of
the antelope species, only the eland being larger.
This one, to the unaided eye, looked like a blue-
black shadow moving obliquely across the bright
sunlight, and I do not suppose I should ever have
noticed it had it not been for my boys. With
the glasses, however, I could see distinctly tlj
beautiful dappled skin, note the proud carriage
of the creature's head, and watch its long tail
swaying rhythmically and regularly to and fro as
it switched the flies from its hind quarters. It
was moving across our track well in advance,
and was evidently travelling from the river, where
it had been for its morning drink, back to the
safety and shelter of the bush beyond. When I
first focussed it, it was going quite leisurely, but
after I had been observing it for about a minute
or two I saw it stop suddenly, and gaze anxiously
in my direction. Evidently it had got our wind.
It started to throw up its head in angry defiance.
Then it began to paw the ground, and a moment
later it was off and away like an arrow from a
bow.

Presently we breasted a slight rise, and then
rode down into a sort of circular depression, in

153

OUR " FARTHEST NORTH"

the centre of which was a small " vley," or hollow,
where the water collects from the rainy season.
It was literally covered, and also surrounded, by
an immense collection of birds of all kinds, amongst
them being about a hundred marabou. My heart
gave a great bound at the sight of these latter,
and for the first and last time during our journey
I regretted that I carried no gun. Here were
hundreds of pounds' worth of the most beautiful
and highly-prized feathers in the world within easy
reach of me, and I couldn't get one of them. I
could easily have shot them had I a weapon handy,
for they allowed me to come quite close to them,
before lazily rising, only to settle again a few
hundred yards farther on. Later on I told Schom-
burgk about them, and begged him to go back and
get me at least one bird ; but his reply was a
blunt negative. " I've told you already I will not
shoot these beautiful creatures," he said. " But
marabou feathers ! " I replied, almost crying with
vexation. " You don't know what they mean to
a woman. And such splendid specimens too. Why
they are practically priceless." To all of which,
and much more on similar lines, he listened in
silence, only shaking his head doggedly from time
to time. However, I was destined to get my
marabou feathers later on, and that, too, without
doing violence to Schomburgk's feelings by killing
even one single bird. But that is another story,
which will come in its proper place. These mara-
bou birds, by the way, were first discoverd to exist
in Togo by Schomburgk during this very trip, he
coming across a flock of them accidentally, just
as I had done. When we went back to Mangu,

154

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH'

and he told them there what he had seen, they
absolutely declined to believe him, holding that
he must have mistaken some other commoner
species of the crane family for the rare and valu-
able marabou stork. Our old friend, Captain von
Hirschfeld, was especially emphatic on the subject,
saying that he had resided in the country for years,
that he had travelled all about it on his official
tours of inspection, and that if there were any such
birds in Togoland he would have been sure to have
come across them. We were standing on the
square in front of the Captain's house when this
conversation took place, and Schomburgk, hap-
pening to glance up, remarked quietly to Von
Hirschfeld : " Why, there's one flying overhead
now," at the same time handing him his glasses.
" By gad, you're right," cried the Captain, after he
had focussed the bird, " I can see the tail feathers
plainly." And from now on therefore the Lep-
toptilus crumenifer will figure in the list of birds
indigenous to Togo. I may add that after coming
to London I made frequent inquiries in the millinery
shops of the West End for African marabou feathers,
but never once did I succeed in getting even a peep
at the genuine article. Those I was offered, and
at very high prices too, were mostly of the far
less valuable Indian variety, though others were
not even derived from any of the cranes, but
were the product of all sorts of birds, including
vultures.

After leaving the vley where the marabou were,
we rode on and on across the shadeless, waterless,
sun-baked plain. The heat was terrific, and the
guide seemed to have completely lost his way.

155

OUR "FARTHEST NORTH"

I confess to feeling anxious, and at length I called
a halt, feeling that we might as well be sitting still,
as to go on travelling in a direction that might
be a wrong one. In about an hour Schomburgk
and Hodgson turned up. They had been following
the course of the river, scouting, taking compass
bearings, and doing a little mapping. They had
found that the Oti took another big bend just
here.

Schomburgk took over command of the caravan
from me, and set a course due north, towards a
fairly large village called Sumbu. Soon after-
wards we quitted the plain, and climbed up on to
a plateau. Everybody was very tired, including
myself, and I quite understood now why natives
preferred to go nude, or with only a loin-cloth.
One never realises how utterly ridiculous and super-
fluous civilised clothing can become, until one travels
in the African bush during the heat of the day.
We passed many dirty little Tschokossi villages,
mostly deserted or in ruins, but saw no inhabi-
tants. At last, when we were beginning to despair,
we discerned in one we sighted some slight signs
of life ; a stray chicken or so, and a mongrel dog.
Riding up to it we found it to be quite a small
hamlet, inhabited by a mixed lot of Tschokossi,
and some Fulani, who were looking after their
cattle. The Tschokossi, I may explain, are not
themselves cattle-breeders. All the stock they own
comes down to them from the north by way of
trade, and always in charge of the Fulani, who,
in regard to their knowledge of cattle and their
ways, may be termed the Masai of Western Africa.
These Fulani drovers, being mostly poor men in

156

OUR " FARTHEST NORTH"

their own country, or at all events cattle-less,
which amounts to much the same thing, are only
too glad to remain and settle down amongst the
Tschokossi for a while, and look after their herds.
They receive as their reward the milk, and at
stated intervals a calf or two. These latter in-
crease and multiply, and in time each Fulani
possesses a herd of his own, and returns to his own
land a rich man, judged by Fulani standards. I
was greatly interested in these people, who are,
as I think I have already mentioned, of an
altogether different type to the ordinary negro
tribes dwelling in this part of Africa. I found
them quite intelligent to talk to. They possess
clear-cut features, approximating to the European
standard, light chocolate-coloured skins, and some
of the women I saw were by no means bad-looking.
The Fulani as a class are supposed to be of Arab
and Berber blood, with a dash of the negroid. At
this village we called a halt, and partook of a
hurried lunch, which was greatly improved by a
big calabash of fresh milk brought us by the Fulani
herdsmen.

After lunch Schomburgk and I cantered on to
Sumbu, about two miles distant, leaving the caravan
to follow. On the way two reitbuck got up, and
stood looking at us not ten yards away. Schom-
burgk's language at not having his rifle with him
was, to put it mildly, not elegant. Personally, I
was glad that he hadn't got it with him, but I
did not tell him so. The beautiful creatures were
so close up, that I could see the look of startled
terror in their lovely big brown eyes, and I was
pleased when they scampered away, even though

157

OUR " FARTHEST NORTH"

their meat would have come in most handy for
the pot. At Sumbu, we pitched our camp on a
promontory overlooking the Oti, which is here
bordered with fresh grass, very pretty. The out-
look, too, over the plains to the north and west
was very cheering, with herds of puku grazing
quietly at intervals as far as the eye could reach.
We intend staying here four or five days.

158

CHAPTER XII

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

WE carried out our intention, as narrated
at the end of the last chapter, and stayed
at Sumbu several days, making short
excursions into the surrounding country, and a
dash north-east as far as the French frontier. We
have now traversed Togoland from end to end,
and I can flatter myself that I am at all events
the first white woman to go farther than Sokode,
and only one or two, at most, have ever been so
far as that.

The people about here are a very wild and
mixed lot. Besides the native Tschokossi, who are
indigenous to the soil, so to speak, there are many
others Gourma people from the northern plains,
Fulani from the central Sudan, Ashantis from the
neighbouring British dominions, and Dahomeyans
from across the French international boundary,
with a sprinkling of individuals belonging to other
tribes and peoples from various districts and states,
who, for reasons best known to themselves, have
sought sanctuary, as it were, in this remote and
seldom-visited region, within comparatively easy
reach of three different frontiers.

On the afternoon after our arrival the men
went out shooting, and I noticed directly that our
boys kept close round my tent, and that their

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

usually merry countenances wore an exceedingly
staid, not to say sombre, aspect. As this was so
entirely unlike their conduct under normal cir-
cumstances, I asked them the reason for it. They
answered that they were afraid to venture outside
the camp. " People here," they said, " very bad
people ; they very much kill."

This was not very reassuring, and when Messa,
the cook, came presently to tell me that he was
unable to get any fowls, the interpreter having
reported that the people in the village refused to
sell, I felt rather uneasy. From where I was, I
could see the natives sitting about outside their
huts, each one with his bow and quiver of poisoned
arrows beside him.

However, I reflected that I had to get dinner
somehow against the return of the hunters, so
calling the cook I ordered him to come with me
to the village. At first he refused, saying that he
was frightened. But I told him that if a woman
could go there, surely a man could, and eventually
he consented, very reluctantly, to accompany me.
When we approached the place, the children all
ran away screaming. This did not trouble me
greatly. I had become used to it. What I did not
like was that the women, in obedience to gestures
from their men-folk, also went away where I
could not see. This I interpreted as a pretty bad
sign, for it is well known that the African natives
invariably send away their women and children
when mischief is brewing. The men sat still, and
scowled at us in silence, making no move, and
speaking no word.

At this moment I must confess to feeling very

1 60

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

frightened. I remembered the gruesome incident
of the white man and the poisoned arrows. The
affair had happened quite close to where I then
was. It was likely, indeed probable, that some of
these very men who sat there scowling at me, had
been concerned in that cowardly and treacherous
attack. However, I reflected that having adven-
tured myself amongst them I had got to brazen it
out. It would never do now to show the white
feather, for if we retreated we must of necessity
turn our backs upon them we could not very
well retire facing them and walking backwards all
the way to the camp and a flight of arrows let
fly on the impulse of the moment would mean the
end of the pair of us.

So, stalking along till I came close up to them,
I said, addressing one of the biggest of the groups
of squatting negroes, that I wished to buy a fowl.
Nobody took the slightest notice. I waited a
matter of thirty seconds or so, then fixing one of
the least truculent-looking of the savages with my
eyes, I addressed my request to him personally.
I told him that I wanted a chicken, that I was
willing to pay anything within reason for a chicken,
but that a chicken I must have. Thereupon the
man rose, caught a fowl, and handed it to me,
still without speaking.

I had not brought with me any salt the usual
currency of the country so I gave him a whole
sixpence in cash. It was probably the first coined
money that he, or any of those sitting near him,
had ever seen. Everybody pressed round to ex-
amine it, and everybody started to express his
opinion concerning it. The jabbering was terrific,

161 L

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

and hearing the din the women came running up,
and even the children ventured near, their wide-
open eyes fixed in staring astonishment at the
stranger white woman who had dropped from the
skies, as it were, into their village, in order to
bargain for chickens with tiny bits of metal.
Eventually, after being passed from hand to hand
all round the circle, the sixpence was returned to
me by the man to whom I had originally tendered
it, and who now, opening his mouth for the first
time, condescended to explain that the price of
his chicken was half a cupful of salt i.e. about
three-halfpence. I told him that the sixpence I
had given him was worth two whole cupfuls of
salt, and ought therefore by rights to purchase
four chickens, taking the birds at his own valua-
tion, but that as he had been the only one to
oblige me by selling me what I wanted, he could
keep the sixpence and I would keep the bird.

He shook his head. Obviously he did not
believe me. Most likely he thought I was trying
to obtain his valuable chicken in exchange for a
worthless fragment of metal, which, assuming him
to be fool enough to accept it, his wife would
promptly annex as a neck ornament, and which,
even at that, would not be much of an ornament.
Luckily at this juncture a much-travelled native
from a neighbouring village he had once been as
far as Mangu put in an appearance, and on being
appealed to, and after an examination of the six-
pence, was able to confirm to his fellows my state-
ment as to the seemingly fabulous value of the
coin. At once the spell was broken. Obviously a
person who, like myself, was willing to buy chickens

162

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

at four times the ordinary market rates, was an
individual whose acquaintance was worth culti-
vating.

From being almost openly hostile, the villagers
went to the other extreme, and became embar-
rassingly friendly. Everybody crowded round, the
women especially evincing the liveliest curiosity.
They felt my clothes, my arms, my neck, my hair ;
especially my hair, bombarding me with questions
concerning it meanwhile. Was it all my own ?
Did all white women's hair grow straight like
mine ? What made it so shiny ? Did I put
palm oil on it ? These, and other even more deli-
cate questions concerning the inner mysteries of
my toilet, were flung at me by all and sundry. To
distract their attention from the subject, I picked
up and fondled a little urchin of three, or there-
abouts. At once every woman in the place ran
to fetch her own offspring, and held them up for
my approval and admiration. A happy thought
struck me. I had in my pocket several lumps
of sugar, which I carried about with me to give to
the horses. Taking them out, I distributed them
amongst the nearest children. They took them,
but had evidently no idea what to do with them.
One little girl, placing her lump in a calabash,
started to bore a hole in it with a thin piece of
pointed iron, like a skewer, obviously with the
intention of hanging it round her neck as a charm,
and seemed greatly disappointed and annoyed
when it broke into several pieces. Meanwhile, I
had bitten a lump I had reserved for myself in
halves, and putting one part in my mouth, handed
the other half to a little boy standing near me,

163

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

who, greatly daring, licked it. His delight was
promptly manifested in his face. I doubt whether
Charles Lamb's mythical Chinaman showed a more
intense appreciation of the flavour of roast pig,
when tasting it for the first time, than did this
little Tschokossi savage on first sampling sugar.
After indulging in several more licks, he handed
it to his mother, who started licking it in her turn ;
and who, like her child, showed her manifest ap-
preciation of the delicacy after the first lick. Other
women were not slow to follow her example. Soon
the place was full of women and children licking
lumps of sugar, the novel delicacies being passed
from hand to hand, and from mouth to mouth,
the recipients meanwhile " ul-ul-ulling " in gleeful
anticipation and excitement. After this little
episode, whenever I showed my face in Sumbu, I
was sure to be followed by crowds of children,
begging for some of my " white honey rock," as
they not inaptly christened it.

The ice once broken, I became very friendly
with the Sumbu people, so much so that I asked
the chief to show me over his village. He readily
agreed. It was a most extraordinary place, unlike
any I had ever seen or heard of, and merits a de-
tailed description. The village itself is egg-shaped,
the huts round, and placed closely together, not
more than two yards apart, all round the rim of
the oval, the roofs overlapping in such a manner
that the edges of the opposite down-sloping eaves
practically meet at a height of about three feet
from the ground. The huts are completely joined
together all the way round by two walls, an outer
wall and an inner wall, the same height as the huts,

164

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

the outer wall protected by thorn bushes. The
entrance hole one cannot call it a door to each
hut is two feet from the ground, is round in shape,
and of a diameter just sufficiently large to allow
a full-grown native to squeeze through feet fore-
most. The only entrance to the village is through
a fair-sized doorway in a big hut at one extremity
of the oval. This big hut is a sort of communal one,
and is used, as regards one side of it, for the women
to grind the corn on stones placed upon a hard
clay platform the height of a table ; and as regards
the other side, as a sort of club-room for the men to
sit in during the rainy season in the daytime, and
as a stable for the sheep and goats at night. At
the opposite end of this big hut is a second fair-
sized doorway giving access to a courtyard. From
the level of the first two huts (see plan) to right
and left of the big communal hut a straight wall
is carried right across from wall to wall, dividing
the inner egg-shaped inclosure into two unequal
portions, the larger portion being on the far side
of the wall. This intersecting wall has a doorway
in the centre through which admission is secured
to the other further portion of the inclosure, and
from this far inclosure only can access be had to
the huts.

And not even then directly. When I arrived
in this inner space, after being politely conducted
by the chief through the communal hut, and across
the courtyard, I naturally thought to see some
signs of human habitation, and looked round for
the doors of the dwelling-places. To my great
surprise, however, there was nothing to be seen
but the bare inner wall ; and the chief, his eyes

Ladder for climbing over fyc walla

A.B.C. Stones for

grinding Corn.

D^ PUlform fable lf}$b G. Entrance

w?erc women Stand ro y Ind corn. J^|.r. off l^p* ground'

r \*>-n^ i uk i L.,k ?PK ar? *^ j^ar lar enou^l/ for a

7)i?r 0| I?*IM ^^^ fe a( j Uee j t rl^roo^^

"R 5nrall tholes for fowls. H LjfMc walb inside entrance

PLAN OF THE VILLAGE SHOWN OPPOSITE

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

twinkling at my obvious bewilderment, presently
reared against this a forked stick, and motioned
me to climb up it, using it in fact as a ladder. I
did so, though not without some slight misgiving,
and stepping over, and down the other side, I
found myself in a sort of well-like space between
the inner and outer walls and two of the huts.
From here only could access be had to the actual
dwelling-places of the Tschokossi, through the
small round holes mentioned above, and which were
placed close up under the low overhanging eaves.
Even, however, after squeezing one's body through
this hole, one has not yet reached the actual in-
terior of one of the houses. One is faced by yet
another blank wall, round which one has to nego-
tiate a careful passage in pitch darkness. This
inner wall is intended to prevent anybody from
creeping in under cover of darkness, and shooting
oft poisoned arrows amongst the sleepers inside,
a pleasant practice to which both the Tschokossi
and the Gourma are said to be only too frequently
addicted. The whole series of elaborate precau-
tions dates from the days when inter-tribal war-
fare, instead of being sporadic, was endemic.
Every one of these villages is in fact a fortress, and
every house is a fort. To storm such a place would
be exceedingly difficult, at least for savages armed
only with bows and arrows ; to surprise it would
be impossible, especially in view of the fact that
the two blank spaces contained between the outer
and inner walls and the big communal entrance
hut and the two nearest to it on either side, are
utilised to keep chickens in, and these creatures
would at once give notice, by their unwonted

168

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

commotion, of the presence of an intruder. The
natives dwelling near Mangu, as well, of course,
as those living to the south of it, have now en-
tirely given up building these fortress villages, the
necessity for them having ceased to exist. Nor
is it likely that even the Tschokossi of the extreme
north of Togo will build any more, when those
they are now dwelling in are abandoned, or fall
into ruin. I learned later that these Tschokossi
people are supposed to have learnt the art of
building these curious villages from the Gourma
people, with whom they are intermixed.

I forgot to say that after I had bought the
chicken, and had handed it to Messa, at the same
time telling him that I was about to go inside the
village at the chief's invitation, he tried earnestly
to dissuade me from doing anything of the sort.
" Oh, but I am going," I replied, " and you will
come with me." Whereupon he threw up his
hands with an expressive gesture, and declared
that he was afraid. " I will go and call Alfred,"
he suddenly ejaculated, after a few moments'
cogitation, " him big man, him no frightened,"
and off he went at a great pace, before I could
stop him. Alfred, I may explain, was our chief
interpreter, and stood six feet three inches in his
bare feet.

Well, I waited for him to put in an appearance
until I grew tired ; then I went alone into the
village, to the great delight of the old chief, who
seemed vastly to appreciate my reposing such
implicit confidence in him, and started off ex-
plaining everything to me with great volubility.
Of course I could not understand a word of what

169

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

he said, so on second thoughts I decided to go
outside again and wait until Alfred turned up.
This he did soon afterwards, walking very slowly
and reluctantly, and evincing the greatest indis-
position to come with me into the village. At
length I got angry with him. " Surely," I said,
" if a little slip of a girl like me is not afraid, a long
slab of misery like you ought not to be " ; and I
wound up by threatening to report him to Schom-
burgk. Only then did he agree very unwillingly
to accompany me, at the same time protesting so
solemnly and earnestly against the " terrible risks "
we were running, that once the thought did flash
through my mind that my insistence on the enter-
prise might possibly turn out to be yet another
example of the danger of fools rushing in where
angels fear to tread. " But then," I reflected, " I
am no fool, and Messa is most certainly not an
angel " ; and I thereupon took my courage in both
hands, and in we went, with what result I have
already stated. I was greatly pleased and excited
at my discovery of this extraordinary village, as
also was Schomburgk when I told him about it.
It was, he agreed, one more fact added to our
anthropological knowledge of darkest Africa ; and
of a kind, moreover, regarding which nothing has
ever before appeared in print.

After this little episode we never had any diffi-
culty during our stay there in getting plenty of
chickens from the people at the ordinary market
rates, which shows, to me at all events, that by
firmness, mixed with kindness, one can do a lot
with natives, even very wild ones. Our camp is
on a high plateau, very picturesque, and command-

170

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

ing a quite extensive view over the high rolling
veldt. Provisions are plentiful, with the excep-
tion of eggs, which are scarce just now. The Fulani,
however, still continue to bring us milk, and butter
for cooking. As their village lies at a much lower
elevation than our camp, I am able to see them
coming a long way off, and their first advent upon
the scene is the signal to begin to get breakfast
ready. We use the milk for our porridge and our
coffee, but it is always very dirty. Tolstoy was
right when he wrote that cleanliness is the hall-
mark of the classes the world over. The lower
down, the dirtier ! Most of these people, for in-
stance, are simply filthy, possessing not even the
most rudimentary notions of cleanliness. They
defecate promiscuously in the neighbourhood of
their villages, and they throw out their garbage
anywhere. One result is a plague of flies, which
settle everywhere, and must be ideal breeders and
carriers of disease under the circumstances. At
first I was really afraid to use the milk they brought.
But by straining it through a clean cloth, and
then boiling it, I have managed so far to ward off
any ill effects. I have to pay these people in salt
for all the milk, butter, and eggs they bring ; they
absolutely refuse to accept coined money. The
rate of exchange has been fixed at one cupful of
salt for each big calabash of milk, and the same
for a pat of butter. They bring so much milk at
one time, that there is quite a lot left over, and
the happy thought struck me to make cheese of
it. I put it in a big basin, allowed the cream to
rise, skimmed it off, put it in a serviette, and hung
it up in the branches of a tree. The result was

171

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

an excellent cream cheese, which, after I added
some salt and carraway seeds to it to give it a
flavour, proved to be quite nice and palatable.
I tried it first on Schomburgk, who liked it im-
mensely. " Who made it ? " he asked. " I did,"
I answered, quite proud, as what woman would
not be, of my achievement. " Good ! " he cried.
" Give me another helping." Presently Hodgson
came along. " Have some cheese ? " I said.
Hodgson eyed the dainty doubtfully, thinking it
to be of native manufacture, and he had a rooted
aversion and prejudice not altogether unreason-
able under the circumstances against any article
of native-made food. " Who made it ? " he de-
manded, using Schomburgk's exact words. I was
just about to answer him as I had answered
Schomburgk, when the latter kicked me violently
under the table. I understood, and my lips framed
the ready lie. " Oh, the cook, I suppose," I an-
swered carelessly. " Then I don't want any,"
he replied decisively. Whereat Schomburgk kicked
me again under the table, but appreciatively this
time; and we finished the rest of the cheese to-
gether. Then we both started laughing, and
Hodgson grew quite angry, because he didn't
know what the joke was. He knows now, how-
ever ; or he will, at all events, when he comes to
read this book.

I had other domestic troubles at Sumbu, in
addition to culinary ones. Washing-day was a
great trial. Our " washerwoman " was a boy, if
you please, and said " boy " was a man, which
sounds rather paradoxical, but you will find it is
quite right, dear reader, and good sense, if you

172

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

stop to think for a minute. Well, this boy, or man,
or " washerwoman," whichever you please, had one
fixed idea as regards the cleansing of clothes, and
that idea was the one underlying, according to the
old English proverb, the correct treatment of " a
woman, a dog, and a walnut tree," as regards all
three of which we are assured that "the more
you beat 'em the better they be." Only I am
convinced that neither woman, nor dog, nor walnut
tree could possibly have stood, for any but the
briefest period, the terrible beatings that our boy
subjected our clothes to. He was a small, under-
sized man, but very strong and energetic, and
with fists like ginger-beer bottles, and he used
to pound c,nd tear my delicate lingerie into shreds
with his iron-shod paws, as a preliminary to ham-
mering it to pulp on a big chunk of rough stone.
Eventually Schomburgk raised his wages, on con-
dition that he didn't work so hard ; the first time
on record, I suppose, that an employer has so
acted. The result was disastrous. From that
moment he ceased to take any interest whatever
in his washing operations. He just trailed the
soiled things in the river for a few minutes, and
took them out again. When I, in despair at getting
them cleansed, but hopeful of getting them at least
smoothed out, suggested damping them down, and
ironing them, he compromised matters with his
conscience by ironing them wet. " What is the
good," he exclaimed when I expostulated with him,
" of first drying things, and then wetting them
again, in order to dry them yet again with hot
irons ? " Such logic, regarded merely as logic,
was unanswerable, and I was wise enough to at

173

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

least refrain from attempting the obviously im-
possible.

There were a lot of old people in Sumbu. As
a rule one sees few such in Africa. One old chap
I especially remember. He used to sit in front
of his hut all day, a mere living skeleton, only
skin and bones. He looked exactly like a shrivelled-
up monkey, or a mummy out of the British Museum.
One day, taking pity on him, I gave a woman a
lump of sugar to give to him. After he had eaten
it, to my unbounded amazement he scrambled to
his feet and executed a sort of impromptu war-
dance. Later on he told our interpreter that he
was now willing to die, having eaten of the white
woman's honey rock. The phrase sounds new, but
it isn't. It is merely one more variant of the
" fate - cannot - harm - me - 1 - have - dined - to - day "
wheeze.

The chief of Sumbu, the same who conducted
me over his village, is the ugliest man I ever set
eyes on, even in Africa, which is saying a good
deal. He was so surpassingly ugly, so perfectly
and preposterously hideous, that we took a cinema
picture of him. We did not, however, think it
necessary to explain to him our real reason for
wishing to photograph him. On the contrary, we
told him that it was because, besides being the
northernmost chief in Togo we had visited, he was
also the handsomest, and Europe would be incon-
solable if it were to be deprived of possessing a pic-
torial record of an individual at once so distinguished
and so beautiful. Hodgson, our operator, hung
back for a while. He said he was afraid the chief's
face might break the camera. It didn't. But I

174

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

am inclined to think that it was a near thing.
In justice to the chief, I feel I ought to add that
not quite all his ugliness was natural to him, so
to speak. It was due in part to his having been
pitted by smallpox. He was badly pitted, too.
His face would have made a very good cribbage-
board, but regarded as a face it was a failure.
Even, however, if he had never been pitted, I am
inclined to think he would have been sufficiently
ugly to have carried off the wooden spoon at even
the least exacting of beauty shows. He reminded
me of the ugly man immortalised by Mark Twain,
who, after having the smallpox ever so bad, was
just as handsome as he was before.

In addition to being very ugly, the chief was

also very dirty. So were all his people. In fact

the Sumbu Tschokossi are about the filthiest lot

of savages I have come across up till now. It

was only twenty minutes to the river, yet even

the younger men's bodies were always grey with

ashes, sand, and dirt, and covered with vermin.

The women were much more clean to look upon,

probably because it was their custom to bathe each

day when they went to the river in the morning

for water. The younger girls wear brightly polished

brass armlets round their wrists and forearms, and

the contrasts of these ornaments with their ebony

skins, and the green leaves they wear before and

behind, is exceedingly effective. Some of the very

young unmarried ones are not unbeautiful, but

they soon lose their good looks, owing to the hard

work they have to do. They are at it from morning

till night, carrying water, cooking, hoeing in the

yam fields, bringing in fuel from the forest, while

175

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

the men laze about in the sun, and breed flies.
One thing, however ; this incessant labour renders
them very strong, and strength is a valued asset
in a Tschokossi woman. A weak one stands a
poor chance in the matrimonial market. " Amongst
us, men choose their wives for strength, not for
beauty," remarked one burly savage to me. I
have heard somewhat similar sentiments expressed
amongst our working classes in Europe. And
after all, what is the philosophy of these savages
regarding marriage but a primitive form of eugenics ?

As for the men, they strongly resent the impu-
tation of laziness. " We are fighters," remarked
the old chief when I gently tackled him on the
subject, " not workers. It is for the women to
work, whilst we protect them against outside in-
terference." "But," I said, "there is no fighting
to be done now ; the land is at peace." " Who
knows ? " was his somewhat cryptic reply.

If, however, these far northern tribes, the
Tschokossi, the Gourma, and others, resent being
called lazy, they regard as flattering the charges
of treachery and cowardice that are brought against
them. They look upon the shooting of a foe from
behind with a poisoned arrow, not only as legiti-
mate warfare, but as the very best and highest
form of warfare. It is their business to stalk an
enemy, to see and not be seen, to pounce upon
him unawares ; a proceeding which, after all, is
recommended by all writers on strategy, and
practised by all beasts of prey. It is a fact, too,
that a certain kind of cowardice requires a certain
kind of courage. The prowling savage who climbs
the walls of a Tschokossi village at dead of night

176

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

in order to take pot-shots at the sleeping inhabi-
tants with his poisoned arrows, is not exactly a
coward, however reprehensible his conduct may ap-
pear judged from a civilised standpoint. For having
accomplished his object, he has to make good his
retreat, with an even chance that by that time
the whole village is in an uproar, and I can con-
ceive of no less desirable place wherein to be
trapped by a score or so of vengeful enemies, than
the well-like space between the huts and the in-
closing walls.

I had many talks with the old chief regarding
these and other matters, and once he made some
sort of an odd remark which caused me to laugh
heartily. " Oh then," he said, looking mildly
astonished, " you can laugh." " Of course I can
laugh," I answered. " Why not ? " " Well," he
replied, " I have never seen a white woman before,
but I have always been told that they are unable
to laugh."

Although the chief, and in a lesser degree his
people, were fairly friendly with me, they con-
tinued up to the end to show themselves suspicious
and distrustful of our boys, and this distrust
showed itself in many curious, not to say incon-
venient ways. For example, it was our custom
while on trek to allow our personal staff, numbering
about fifteen, three-halfpence a day extra subsist-
ence money. With this they used, on arriving at
a village, to club together, and engage a woman
to buy their provisions and to cook for them ; in
fact, to board them during their stay there. But
in Sumbu no woman could be got to undertake
the job, nor would they even sell them provisions

177 M

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

until they had exchanged their coined money for
salt, the usual currency of the country. With
this they were at length able to buy provisions,
millet-meal, yams, &c. Then, however, a new
difficulty presented itself. They had no one to
cook for them, nor had they any cooking utensils
of their own. So they came to me, and asked me
to lend them one of our pots. Naturally, I declined ;
I am not over squeamish, but to eat after natives !
Faugh ! On the other hand, I could not stand by
and see the poor fellows go hungry. So off I went
to the village, and begged the chief to let me have
the loan of a pot. After a lot of palaver he con-
sented, and Schomburgk, at my request, allowed
his gun-bearer to be struck off duty in the after-
noons in order to cook for them. This arrange-
ment worked fairly well, for natives eat only
once a day, of an evening. Then they consume
an enormous meal. One can actually see their
stomach " swell wisibly," like the Fat Boy in
Pickwick.

No sooner had this difficulty been settled, how-
ever, than another one arose. Owing to the boy-
cott of the villagers, the boys could not even get
the use of a hut to sleep in at night, and had to
camp out in the open. They complained to me,
and 1 told Schomburgk about it, but found him
unsympathetic. " If the Sumbu people won't lend
them a hut, they won't, and there's an end of it.
I have no right to force them to. Besides, it is
good to sleep out in Africa. I've slept out hun-
dreds of nights when hunting elephants, and it
never did me any harm, nor will it them. Tell
them I said so." I did as I was told, and the boys

178

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

had to sleep out for the rest of the time we re-
mained in the neighbourhood. But they didn't
like it one bit.

In fact, towards the end of our stay here, some
of them began to get somewhat surly and discon-
tented, not like their usual selves. One reason for
this probably was that, on quitting Mangu, their
women had all been left behind there. This had
been done at their own wish, as they said they were
afraid to take them up-country to where we were
going. Nevertheless, they no doubt felt the sepa-
ration keenly, for natives temporarily divorced
from their womenkind are like ships without their
rudders. They had all taken it for granted, by
the way, that I too was to be left behind in Mangu,
and seemed greatly surprised and anxious when
they heard that I was going to accompany the
caravan. Indeed, just as we were about to start,
all our personal boys came to me in a body, and
implored me not to go, saying that the Tschokossi
of the north were dangerous, and that they feared
for the safety of their "little white mother." I
was greatly touched by their solicitude, but of
course I was unable to accede to their request,
even had I a mind to, which I had not. Later on
I overheard Asmani, Schomburgk's personal ser-
vant, while discussing the journey with another
boy, exclaim : " Well, I shall be glad when our
little white mother is safe again on board the
steamer."

Another source of dissatisfaction, was that
there was a shortage of caravan food. For one
thing, our European flour began to give out, and
we ourselves were obliged to eat bread made half

179

AMONG THE STJMBU SAVAGES

of millet-meal and half of flour. I didn't like it a
bit. But for the Fulani, in fact, we should have
been, if not exactly on short rations, at all events
on restricted ones. These used to bring us, when
they came with our daily allowance of milk, huge
calabashes of buttermilk, which the boys used to
purchase, and mix with their millet-meal, thereby
obtaining a welcome addition to their diet.

Meanwhile their clothing, what they had of it,
was going from bad to worse. Messa had to cut off
the legs of his trousers above the knees, in order to
patch the portion covering that part of his anatomy
on which boys are birched at school. Alfred, the
interpreter, was in an even worse fix, because he
had no trouser-legs left to utilise after this fashion.
He complained to me, saying that his appearance
was not decent. I was bound to agree with him
as to this, but pointed out to him that I could do
nothing in the matter just then, as we had no
spare clothing with the caravan. When we got back
to Mangu, I told him, Schomburgk was going to
rig out all our personal staff with new clothes ;
in the meantime I suggested to him that he should
wear a " lavelap," which is a West African term
for a whole piece of cloth wrapped round the body.
" Oh dear no, little mother," he replied, in deeply
shocked tones. " An interpreter cannot wear a
' lavelap,' he must at least have a pair of
trousers."

Next day I noticed that Messa, who was always
a bit of a dandy, had covered his bare legs, from
the ankles to above the knees, with strips of white
cloth dipped in washing-blue, and arranged like
putties. I rallied him on his " improved " appear-

180

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

ance, but he only smiled feebly and somewhat
sadly, so I asked him what was the matter. There-
upon he confided to me that he was worried about
his wife, who was lying ill at Mangu. This was
the same young lady whom, it will be remem-
bered, he had gone back to Kamina to fetch
while we were on the road up from there to
Sokode, and her illness, or at all events the
undue prolongation of it, was largely his own
fault.

She was always bright and bonny until we got
to Paratau. Then, when we resumed our march,
she seemed to have changed altogether. She was
always tired, and appeared as if trying to elude
our observation. Messa, too, got sad and sulky,
so one day, after we had camped, I went over to
their quarters to try and find out what was the
matter. I found the girl sitting disconsolate out-
side their hut, crying, and nursing a frightfully
swollen and ulcerated leg. I went and told Schom-
burgk, who examined it, and at once diagnosed it
as a very bad and greatly neglected case of filaria,
otherwise guinea- worm. These dangerous para-
sites burrow under the human skin, generally in
the feet or legs, and the female lays eggs, giving
rise to abscesses, and also causing grave functional
disturbances. They are removed by very slowly
twining them round a stick, and the natives assert,
and apparently with some measure of truth, that
if the worm is broken in the process, the death
of the person affected will ensue. Messa had
known all along, it appeared, what his wife was
suffering from, but fearing to have her sent back,
had tried to conceal it from us. Schomburgk gave

181

AMONG THE SUMBU SAVAGES

the poor girl some mercurial ointment, and after-
wards several of the parasites were removed in
the manner described above, many of the natives
being exceedingly skilful in this matter. Now, it
appeared, he was anxious, fearing a relapse. As a
matter of fact, on our return to Mangu, we found
the patient practically convalescent.

182

CHAPTER XIII

BACK TO MANGU

W~TIILE in camp at Sumbu I had another
adventure with a puff-adder, which is,
as I have explained elsewhere, one of
the most venomous snakes in all Africa. We were
sitting outside my tent after dinner, enjoying our
coffee and cigarettes as usual, when my personal
boy had occasion to go inside on some errand or
other. A moment or two later there came the
sound of a wild commotion from within. The
boy was threshing about with a stick, and calling
out excitedly something we could not understand.
We jumped up, and the boy came running out,
dangling the dead reptile gingerly at the end of his
stick. He had, he explained, nearly stepped on
it in the dark, and he showed us where it had
been coiled, right opposite my toilet table, where I
should have stood on entering. The curious in-
stinct natives have about snakes, had warned him
of his danger, but had I gone in I should almost
certainly have trodden on it ; and there would
probably have been an end to me for good and all.

Soon after this incident a piece of very welcome
news reached us. A native runner came trotting
up to our camp with a letter in a cleft-stick, and
wrapped in the usual oilskin. It proved to be a

183

BACK TO MANGU

cablegram from the Moving Picture Sales Agency
in London the firm that is handling our films
telling us that the first lot of pictures had been
received and developed, and that they had turned
out very well indeed. Naturally, we were all
immensely pleased and delighted, for as we had
no proper facilities for developing our cinemato-
graph negatives where we were, we had no means
of judging how they were going to turn out, and
Schomburgk, with memories of the failure that
had attended his efforts during his former expedi-
tion, had been all along very anxious about the
matter. Now all our apprehensions were set at
rest, our spirits soared high, and we opened a bottle
of champagne in honour of the occasion. The
cablegram had only left London thirty-six hours
previously. It had been re-transmitted by tele-
phone from Lome to Mangu, whence it had been
dispatched by relays of runners to our camp. The
date stamp showed that it had left Mangu at ten
o'clock that morning, and it reached us at eight
o'clock in the evening, the distance from Mangu
to Sumbu being approximately fifty-five miles.
When it is remembered that there is no proper
road between the two places, nor even a trail in
many parts, that the heat in the daytime up here
is so terrific that even the natives ordinarily do
not care to move about in it, and that the letter
had to be carried up hill and down dale, as well
as across rivers and streams, it must be admitted
that the performance was a good one. It had been
brought to us by what is known as " chief's mail,"

184

BACK TO MANGU

an institution peculiar to Togo. The letter, mes-
sage, telegram, or whatever it may be, is wrapped
in oilskin by the clerk at the issuing office, firmly
fixed into the cleft of a stick, and handed to a
native runner, who at once dashes off with it to
the nearest village along the line of the route it is
intended it shall take. Arrived there, he calls out
at the top of his voice " Chief's mail ! " and hands
it to the first native he happens to meet, who at
once starts off with it at top speed to the next
village, where the operation is repeated. In this
way messages can be dispatched to practically any
part of the country with marvellous celerity.

Our principal reason for remaining at Sumbu
was because we wanted to photograph some pic-
tures of hippopotami, which were reported to be
fairly numerous in the Oti hereabouts. Schom-
burgk wanted to secure a good picture of the
ordinary hippo, in order to show the contrast
between these big fellows and the pygmy hippo-
potamus which he discovered in Liberia, and also
to show how the one is practically always cooped
up in some big pool, while the other, the little one,
roams at will all over the place in the forest;
otherwise he did not trouble greatly about game
pictures. Day after day passed by, however, and
we saw none, and Schomburgk began to get
anxious. Eventually he sent natives out to look
for them, promising a reward to whoever succeeded.
That evening a couple of Tschokossi came in, and
reported that they had located five of them some
few miles up-stream, near a village called Panscheli.

BACK TO MANGU

This, of course, was welcome news, and very early
the following morning we set out for Panscheli, taking
our camera with us. We crossed the river, which
was fairly deep and infested with crocodiles, without
mishap. I was being carried in a hammock, being
a bit run down, and I confess to being a little bit
nervous, as I was being carried by boys who were
new to the business, and didn't know how to handle
the hammock properly. Besides this, the re-
sponsibility of having to carry a white woman
for the first time made them over careful, and
their progress was slow and tedious. Proper
hammock boys, like those who carried me from
Atakpame to Sokode, are exceedingly swift,
smooth, and easy in all their movements. They
" break step," like stretcher-bearers are trained to
do, and sing a curious sort of chanting melody
as they trot along, which is very apt to lull one to
sleep.

Altogether, what with the crossing, and one or
two enforced halts on the way, the journey to
Panscheli occupied about two and a half hours,
and a little way beyond the village, in a big and
very deep pool, we came up with the hippos one
big bull, one big cow, and three smaller ones. This
was the first time I had ever seen hippopotami in
a wild state, and Schomburgk was rather looking
forward to my being impressed at the sight. As
a matter of fact, however, I wasn't a bit impressed.
The ungainly brutes only poked their heads above
water at intervals to breathe, then down again.
I was far more interested in those I had seen in

1 86

BACK TO MANGU

captivity at the " Zoo " in Hamburg, and in
Regent's Park, London.

So shy and wary were these Oti hippos, that
even now we had tracked them to their lair our
operator found it impossible to take pictures of
them. So at length, hot, tired, and disgusted, we
gave it up as a bad job, and Schomburgk proceeded
to vent his anger on the crocodiles, shooting six
or seven of them. He absolutely refused, however,
to shoot any of the hippos, saying that they were
harmless creatures, not like the beastly crocs, and
that anyway it wouldn't be sport, but butchery,
because the poor brutes, although they were in
their native element, had not got the run of the
river, but were cooped up in the pool, and had to
come to the surface to breathe. Eventually, however,
he so far relented as to give Hodgson permission
to shoot one of the two big hippos, telling him to
remain behind for that purpose. " Perhaps," he
remarked, " you will never get another chance, and
anyhow it will do for meat for the boys."

Meanwhile, on an island in the middle of the
pool, I saw the most extraordinary sight I had
ever beheld, an incident that I had often heard
about, but never really believed. The low sandy
islet was covered thick with innumerable water-
fowl : teal, egrets, herons, and so forth. And
right in amongst them were five enormous croco-
diles, lying basking in the sun with their mouths
wide open, and numbers of little white birds running
in and out, and pecking with their tiny beaks
at the interstices between the big cruel teeth.

187

BACK TO MANGU

We promptly tried to cinema the scene, and again
we were disappointed ; in fact our luck seemed
dead out on this particular day. The crackling
of the dried grass alarmed the reptiles, and they
promptly closed their cavernous mouths, and slid
off the island into the river. Whether any of the
poor little birds were accidentally trapped inside,
under the for the crocs altogether exceptional cir-
cumstances of the case, I do not know, but Schom-
burgk said not, as these birds are exceedingly
quick in their movements, and the crocodiles are
careful not to hurt them. The little creatures are
generally known throughout Western Africa as
" tick-birds," and they do not go only with croco-
diles, but with elephants, rhinoceri, buffaloes, &c.,
as well as tame cattle and sheep. They feed
on the vermin, and especially on the ticks, that
infest these creatures ; hence their name. Hence,
also, the fact that they are never wantonly inter-
fered with by their hosts. Even the stupid croco-
dile has sense enough to know that it is good for
him to be rid of vermin, and to have his great ugly
yellow teeth picked and cleansed for him by these
indefatigable little scavengers.

Panscheli, where we halted for a brief spell on
our way back to Sumbu, is a prettily situated little
village of the usual frowsy Tschokossi type. It
stands on the left bank of the Oti going up-stream,
Sumbu being on the right bank, and is surrounded
by broad belts of palm-trees. Curiously enough,
the natives hereabouts seem to make no use what-
ever of these valuable trees.

1 88

I"'

By permission of

AUTHORESS AND DEAD "Hipro"

Ma}. H. Schomburgk, F.R.G.S.

This young bull hippopotamus was shot in the Oti river in the far north of Togoland. Lying
in the water in the background of the picture is another. These two hippos were the only ones
shot by the expedition, although many others were seen and photographed.

BACK TO MANGTJ

Very late that afternoon, while we were resting
at our base camp at Sumbu, Hodgson came back
and reported that he had shot the two big hippos,
leaving the three smaller ones. In acting thus, he
explained, he had not wilfully disobeyed Schom-
burgk's instructions, which were, it will be remem-
bered, to shoot only one, sparing the other four.
He had fallen into an error which, Schomburgk
remarked, was quite excusable on the part of a
young hunter unaccustomed to the ways of these
animals. He had shot at one of the big hippos,
which sunk, fatally wounded. Directly afterwards
the other big fellow popped up, and Hodgson,
thinking it to be the same hippo, fired again. After-
wards, when, on coming back to see whether they
had risen, he found, not one only, but two dead
hippopotami drifting on the surface of the pool, he
was greatly surprised and disgusted.

Next day we rode over to Panscheli to see the two
hippos, taking our boys with us to get them out.
We found the carcases floating on the surface of
the pool, surrounded by innumerable crocodiles
biting and tearing at them. Despite of this our
natives plunged fearlessly into the water amongst
them, and fixing long stout coils of native coir
rope round the bodies, soon had them hauled up
on dry land. A hippo when shot sinks imme-
diately, but only takes about two hours to rise.
A crocodile, when fatally hit, jumps clean out of
the water, then falls back, and also immediately
sinks. But it takes much longer to rise than the
hippo ; thirty-six hours, or even longer, according

189

BACK TO MANGU

to the state of the weather. Consequently none of
those shot by Schomburgk on the previous day
were visible, but on the island were above a score
of the loathsome creatures, gorged to repletion,
their jaws wide open, and their living toothpicks,
the little tick-birds, to wit, running in and out, and
cleansing their mouths from the remnants of their
disgusting meal. By the way, Schomburgk tells
me that the popular idea regarding the strength
and toughness of the " scaly defensive armour "
of the crocodile is all moonshine. The so-called
" armour " is not really armour at all, but merely
a leather-like integument, and a modern bullet
will penetrate it almost as easily as it would so
much blotting-paper.

While we were up at the island, discussing the
chances of a cinema picture, our boys were cutting
up the dead hippos. I never witnessed a more
disgusting sight. The extremities had been gnawed
off by the crocodiles during the night, but the
massive trunks, and the huge heads, were intact,
and the natives sliced up the meat, entrails and all,
and squabbled over the tit-bits, their faces, hands,
and bodies smothered in blood. I wanted to get
away from the horrible scene, and at my request
Schomburgk took me for a short stroll up the
river. Here, in a bend on a shallow sand-spit, we
came unexpectedly on a number of big turtles.
At our approach they popped up their heads like
so many snakes, then bobbed down again as swiftly.
Schomburgk succeeded, however, in shooting one,
and I had visions of turtle soup for dinner. But

190

BACK TO MANGU

it sank, and could not be recovered. That night
our boys gorged themselves on hippo meat, and
the next morning croton oil was at a premium.

On January 16th we broke camp and started
southward for Mangu. This is the first stage on
our return journey to London, and Schomburgk,
at my suggestion, utilised the occasion to take a
" travel picture " this is the technical trade term
showing the making up and starting of the cara-
van, striking the tents, porters taking up loads,
and so forth. It made a very interesting film,
but in order to photograph it, we had to get up
much later than usual, and also delay the start,
so as to get the light, so that our first day's stage
was an unusually short one.

We are now marching back across the Oti flats.
The season is advancing, and each day that passes,
the heat increases in intensity. The very air seems
to palpitate with it, and even by eight o'clock in
the morning the sun's rays are so powerful that
to sit in one's saddle exposed to them is to endure
a mild sort of torture. We camped that night in
the bush, far from any human habitation, under a
big tree. It was near to where I had seen the
marabou on my way up, but these beautiful crea-
tures had now all disappeared. The burning sun
had drunk up most of the water in the " vley,"
reducing it to the dimensions of a good - sized
puddle, and the little depression, so full of bird
life the week before, was now silent and deserted.
In a comparatively little while the rainy season
will set in, and soon afterwards all this district

191

BACK TO MANGU

where we now are will be under water, and con-
sequently of course quite impassable for man or
beast. The antelope, which now cover the flats,
will retire to the higher ground away from the
floods, and only the hippopotami and the croco-
diles, and of course the birds, will disport them-
selves in and about what will be in effect a vast
inland sea of fresh water.

Next day we resumed our march, striking a
new track a little nearer the river bank. On the
way we passed many big heaps of oyster shells.
These river oysters are small, but very sweet and
nice, and in the season they are consumed in
enormous numbers by the natives, who come down
to the Oti at this spot on purpose to feast upon
them, returning to their homes in a few weeks' time
as fat as butter. The native does not trouble
about an oyster knife in order to open what journal-
ists of the old school used to term the " succulent
bivalves." He just dumps the oysters down near
a big fire, and waits for them to open of their own
accord. Some of these midden-like piles of old
shells are of vast extent, and are probably the
accumulation of many years, possibly of centuries.
These shells are now used by the Mangu people for
making lime, and Schomburgk used to note the
whereabouts of the heaps so that they might be
able to come up and fetch them away later on.

I was surprised and uneasy at observing, soon
after we camped to-day, that several Tschokossi
savages, each with his bow and sheaf of poisoned
arrows, were prowling about in the bush in the

192

BACK TO MANGU

distance, evidently watching us, and taking stock
of our movements. We tried to get in touch with
them, in order to find out what their intentions
were, but directly we made a movement in their
direction, they as promptly retired, to reappear
once more when we withdrew, and resume their
silent spying upon us. It was somewhat discon-
certing, but Schomburgk did not attach any very
great importance to it. No doubt, he remarked, they
were suspicious of our intentions, wondering what
we were doing so far away from the beaten track ;
since even in the more remote parts of Togo, like
that where we now are, there are certain well-
defined caravan routes, and the natives, treacherous
and cunning themselves, are always mistrustful of
any white strangers who quit these recognised
travel lanes, in order to adventure themselves into
the bush on either side.

Nevertheless, when night fell and the camp
was still, I felt strangely uneasy. I could not
sleep, and the story of the white man so nearly
slain in his tent by the poisoned arrows of these
treacherous savages kept recurring to my mind
again and again. At first a camp in a typical
African bush is strangely silent, but after an hour
or so there invariably begins a regular succession
of noises, continuing till just before dawn. I
heard, and perforce listened to them all, on that
nuit blanche. First it was a horse neighing, then a
hyena yowling; monkeys started chattering in
the trees, a bush buck was bellowing to its mate.
A little later on an old owl started " ter-hoot !

193 N

BACK TO MANGU

ter-hoot ! " somewhere near, and some crested cranes
answered her with their rasping " honk ! honk ! "
like an asthmatical motor horn. My tent was
pitched under some dwarf trees, from which there
proceeded a continual crackling of dry branches.
Hark ! Surely there are human fingers stealthily
groping about the outside of my frail dwelling.
I creep to the flap and look fearfully out. Then
laugh softly. It is only a tree lizard that has
fallen from above, and now runs pattering about
the taut canvas. The moonlight is flooding the
country, and all the landscape for miles around is
as a level unbroken plain of snow, or frosted silver,
save that here and there a huge mis-shapen baobab
rears its contorted form and casts weird black
shadows athwart the white brightness. I lie down
and close my eyes, determining to sleep, to be
startled into wakefulness again this time by the
low gurgling cough of a leopard. I go to the tent
flap once more, and call softly to the horses, who
are commencing to neigh uneasily. As I stand
there huge bat-like moths circle about with whir-
ring wings, or dash blindly into my averted face ;
while from the river below comes an endless,
monotonous chorus from the throats of thousands
of bull-frogs " qua-ah ! quah-ah ! quah-ah ! " a
million times repeated. At last I feel myself
drifting into slumberland. The weary eyelids close
peacefully over aching eyeballs. The tired brain
ceases to concern itself automatically with things
past or with things present. Have I slept, or have
I been awake all the time, and only imagined the

194

BACK TO MANGU

sleep that came not ? I am not sure. But I am
at all events certain that I am now wide awake,
and that the camp is in an uproar. One of the
horses had got loose, and being a stallion, as in-
deed they all are, " goes for " the one next him.
The two fight furiously. The others start kicking
and squealing. The boys rush out, stumbling
over the tent ropes in their excitement, and cursing
fluently meanwhile in half a dozen different dialects.
And above the din I can distinguish Schomburgk's
voice, angrily inquiring of the horse boys whose
animal it is that has broken loose, and promising
punishment for the careless delinquent later on.
That morning at dawn comes to my tent the erring
one, to beg me to intercede for him with the "master."
I promised to do my best. But Schomburgk is
adamant. " An example must be made," he says.
"It is sheer downright carelessness. No horse can
break loose like that if it is properly tethered. Some
night we shall have the lot stampeded ; or, worse
still, one of them will be fatally injured." Sud-
denly a happy thought strikes me. " It was a
leopard," I explain, lying fluently, for the leopard
incident happened hours before the horse broke
loose. "I heard the brute myself." "Oh, of
course, that alters the case," he says. " A horse
might conceivably get loose if frightened by a
prowling leopard. I will let the fellow off with a
talking to." So that little affair ends satisfactorily
to all concerned, and I congratulate myself on the
fact that although I have lied, I have at least
lied for an unselfish object, and to some purpose.

195

BACK TO MANGU

Only later on did I learn that Schomburgk knew
I was fibbing all the while, since he was perfectly
well aware that a leopard will not go anywhere near
a horse ; only he was glad of an excuse to remit
the punishment without injury to discipline.

I start the day's march with aching eyes and
head, due to lack of sleep, and an aching heart,
also, for I am obsessed with a curious feeling of
misfortune waiting for us ahead. In vain I try to
shake it off, and when presently a native runner
is seen approaching with a letter carried in the
familiar cleft stick, I feel as certain as certain can
be that he is the bearer of bad news. And so it
turns out. The envelope, on being taken from its
oilskin wrapper and opened, proves to contain a
telegram from Kamina to tell us that Baron Codelli
von Fahnenfeld's house there had been burned to
the ground, and that all our heavy baggage which
we had left stored in it had gone up in smoke.
This was indeed terrible news. I cried nearly all
day and the best part of the next night. Practi-
cally the whole of my personal belongings, includ-
ing about 200 worth of jewellery, my books and
papers, the little presents and souvenirs that I
had bought at Madeira and elsewhere out of my
hard-earned money as presents for the dear ones
at home, my best and daintiest frocks and under-
wear, to say nothing of other valued odds and
ends all! all! nothing but dust and ashes! It
was really too awful. Schomburgk's loss was even
more serious than mine, but he took it more philo-
sophically. His manuscripts had gone, his private

196

BACK TO MANGU

letters and papers, his army commissions, his
medals and decorations, photographs, &c., repre-
senting fifteen years' camera work in the African
wilds, his diaries, his clothes and uniforms, and a
whole lot of other valuable property, much of which
can never be replaced. We had intended to camp
for the night at a place called Magu, but were so
disgusted with fate, and things in general, that, in
order to tire ourselves out and keep from brooding
we pushed on as far as Najo. Here we camped,
spending most of our time lamenting, and the
next day, still very much down in the dumps, we
rode into Mangu.

197

CHAPTER XIV

THROUGH THE KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

I FOUND that the change in temperature at
Mangu was very marked indeed since we had
left it not so very many days ago. The
harmattan was lifting, and the nights, as well as
the days, had begun to get very oppressive, so that
I had no longer any difficulty in believing the
stories that had been told me concerning the tropical
intensity of the heat in the rainy season.

This harmattan, by the way, is a bit of a
meteorological mystery. In the reference books
it is generally described as a hot dry wind, blowing
from the interior deserts of Africa, and laden with
reddish dust. This may be true as regards its
inception, but to describe the harmattan one en-
counters in Togoland as a " wind," is to convey an
altogether wrong impression. It more nearly re-
sembles a dry fog, and is yellowish rather than
red, rendering the light effects most unsuitable for
photography of any kind, and especially so for
cinematographic photography. Its advent is, how-
ever, welcomed by the residents of the colony, for
it tempers the heat of the sun's rays in a most
effective, not to say extraordinary, manner. Directly
it lifts, the temperature goes up with a bound, and

198

THROUGH KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

the heat, which, while it lasts, is at least tolerable,
becomes well-nigh insupportable.

My second stay in Mangu was not particularly
eventful. The men went out every day taking
ethnological pictures. This was in the morning,
of course, before the worst of the heat began. I
put in the time riding round with Captain von
Hirschfeld, watching the progress of the building
of the new station, and inspecting the soldiers on
parade. There are a great many soldiers in Mangu
just now, as all the reserves have been called up
for training. It is wonderful to see the progress
these reservists make, not to mention the raw
recruits, in the course of their training. This is
limited to ten days, but into that brief period of
time there is crammed almost an infinity of hard
work. Their ordinary hours of drill are ten a day.
No white soldier could, or would, stand it. But
the black man seems absolutely to enjoy it.

We took the opportunity of the reserves being
called up to film the lives of these native soldiers,
photographing them not only while they were at
drill and at work, but also while they were at play,
and resting in the bosom or rather bosoms of
their families. Family life, by the way, plays a
big part in the existence of the black troops of the
Togo hinterland. There is no " marrying off the
strength" for the Togo "Tommy." Practically
they are all married, and " with leave," and most
of them are very much married. An English
Tommy, when he has saved up money, and feels
like enjoying himself, goes on furlough, and buys

199

THROUGH THE

beer. The Togo Tommy stops at home, and buys
a wife. He has to ask permission first, of course,
but this is practically always granted, provided
he has enough funds standing to his credit. The
cost of a wife in Mangu is about sixteen shillings ;
in other places it is dearer, in some few cheaper.
It all depends on the number of unmarried girls
there are available; in other words, on the law of
supply and demand. Even in Mangu, however,
the price varies. A young and attractive girl of
thirteen or fourteen may possibly be worth a
sovereign. Girls marry young in West Africa.
On the other hand, a strong and experienced woman
who is a good cook and housewife, has also a good
market value. Practically every soldier in Togo-
land buys as many wives as he can afford. The
German Government very wisely, I thinkdoes
not attempt to interfere with native domestic
customs, of which polygamy is one of the oldest
and most deeply-rooted. The women do not
object in the least. In fact, they rather like it,
for many hands make light work, and the more
wives a man has to minister to his wants, the less
arduous are the duties any single one of them is
called upon to perform. Besides, in the days when
inter-tribal fighting was the normal state of affairs
in Togoland, the women naturally greatly out-
numbered the men ; for although in no single one
of these perpetual little wars was the death roll
on either side considerable, the sum total of fatal
casualties soon mounted up, and the adult males
were, therefore, always in a minority as compared

200

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

with the adult females. Consequently, if mono-
gamy were the rule, many Togo girls would have
been, in the old days, condemned to a life of celi-
bacy, and a celibate female amongst savages is
unthinkable.

But I find I am wandering off the track. Soon
I shall find myself writing a Togoland " Golden
Bough." Let us return to our sheep in other
words, our films. Most of those taken at Mangu,
as I have already stated, were ethnological ones,
and many of them created the liveliest interest
when they were shown later on in London at
special meetings of the various learned societies,
such as, for instance, the Royal Anthropological
Institute and the Royal Geographical Society.
But we also utilised this, our second stay in Mangu,
to photograph some of the kind best described as
semi-dramatic.

One of these was of very special interest to
everybody there, natives as well as whites, because
it was an attempt to reproduce for the cinema
what will presently become Togo history. The
incident chosen was the attack on the old station
at Mangu by the Tschokossi, mentioned in a
previous chapter, and amongst the hundreds of
supers, soldiers as well as natives, who took part
in the film production, were many men who had
been in the actual fighting. We followed the true
course of events as nearly as possible in our mimic
representation, the authorities kindly placing at
our disposal for the purpose practically the entire
Mangu garrison. In the film, as finally completed

201

THROUGH THE

and screened, two patrols are seen going out, one
in the direction of Tamberma Fort. The latter is
attacked, overwhelmed, and cut to pieces, only one
badly wounded man escaping. The other patrol,
going farther afield, scouts up to a big native
town, and finds the savages there dancing their
tribal war dances, yelling death to the Europeans,
and generally working themselves into a frenzy.
The patrol returns to the fort to report, and on
the way picks up the wounded survivor from the
other party, who tells them of the fate that has
overtaken his comrades. The officer in charge of
the fort sends a letter to the commanding officer
at headquarters asking for assistance, but before
the relief arrives the natives swarm up and attack
the fort. The garrison is hard pressed, and the
officer in charge, uncertain as to whether his first
letter has got through to headquarters, calls for a
volunteer to take a second letter. A native soldier
steps forward, and quits the beleaguered fort dis-
guised as a Hausa. By taking careful cover he
gets through the lines of the besiegers without
being noticed, delivers his letter to the officer
commanding, whom he meets on the road, and all
ends happily, the final scene showing the assault,
followed by the arrival of the relieving force and
the dispersal of the assailants. Curiously enough,
we had considerable difficulty in getting the natives
to act as supers in this film. They remembered the
real fighting, and having a wholesome fear of the
soldiers, born of actual experience, they were ex-
tremely loath to come to close quarters with them.

202

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

On January 27th the Kaiser's birthday was
celebrated in Mangu, sports and games being
organised for the natives, who took the keenest
interest in them. A water race for women caused
great excitement. They had to run a certain dis-
tance, carrying calabashes of water, the prizes
going to those who succeeded in spilling least.
A blind-fold pot-smashing competition was also the
cause of a lot of fun. In the afternoon Captain
von Hirschfeld distributed the prizes to the winners,
and I also gave away some pieces of silk, cloth,
and beads as supplementary ones.

One morning an exceedingly smart-looking
Hausa, from the heart of the true Sudan, came into
the station with a wild ostrich for sale. It was a
very fine bird, the biggest in fact, Schomburgk
said, that he had ever seen, and he promptly
bought it. The bird had been tightly tied up for
some considerable while, and as a result it was
all sore and chafed about the legs. Schomburgk
therefore set him loose. And the bird showed its
gratitude by immediately bolting. The result was
that we had to organise a party to recapture him.
It was by no means bad fun, however, and besides
we were able to film an ostrich hunt on the veldt.
Everybody nearly enjoyed it first rate, including,
I verily believe, the ostrich. The one exception
was our camera man, who soon ran himself out of
breath, and was as limp as a wet rag by the time
we had finished. Before this little episode he had
been very keen on game pictures, but it was notice-
able that afterwards he studiously avoided refer-

203

THROUGH THE

ring to them. However, he made a lovely film of
this one, and we were highly pleased, naturally.

We were due to leave Mangu for good on
February 1st, and the last few days were spent in
packing up, sorting out our stores for the down-
ward journey, and disposing of such as we no longer
required. A lot of tinned stuff we gave away, and
one of the horses that was ill Schomburgk pre-
sented to the white non-commissioned officer at
the station. Our one hundred loads that we had
started with had dwindled by now to about
forty.

Suddenly Schomburgk announced a most ter-
rible and alarming discovery. He had run out of
cigarettes. A package supposed to contain a
reserve supply was found on being opened to be
filled with packets of tea, sugar, and other groceries.
He flew to the telephone and sent an urgent message
to Sokode for a fresh supply, to be despatched by
special runner. Meanwhile he growled and grum-
bled like a bear with a sore head. Nor did matters
improve greatly when the cigarettes at length
arrived. The Sokode people had run out of the
best Egyptians his usual smoke which retail out
there at sixpence a dozen, so they had sent him
a very inferior sort, known locally as " battle-axe
brand," and costing about sevenpence for fifty.
They have been christened "battle-axes," Schom-
burgk explained, in between two long strings of
swear words, because two of them will knock you
on the head and kill you. On the same principle
the Western American cowboy dubs the vile spirit

204

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

sold in the frontier cattle towns " forty-rod whisky."
You walk forty rods after drinking a glass of it,
then you drop down dead. I cannot, of course,
speak as to the whisky ; but the cigarettes fully
deserved their evil name. Navvy shag was simply
" not in it " with them. When Schomburgk started
to smoke one, everybody ran away. I am told
they are exported to Togo from England for
native consumption. All I can say is, I pity the
natives.

At last the day of parting came. I can hardly
find words to express how sorry I felt to leave
Mangu and our dear little home. Captain von
Hirschfeld, who had shown us such splendid hos-
pitality all through our stay there, rode three miles
with us on the return journey. We are not travel-
ling back along the same route we came up by, but
are setting a course some distance to the westward
of it, so as to break new ground. Our first camp
had been fixed at a place called Unyogo, and as
the distance was comparatively short, Schomburgk
and I did not quit Mangu until three o'clock in
the afternoon, having previously sent our carriers
on ahead to pitch the tents, and get everything
ready. Our boy we took with us on horseback to
carry our water-bottles, but he didn't keep up
with us, and somehow he managed to tumble off
his horse. Naturally, the riderless animal promptly
bolted back for its comfortable stable at Mangu,
with the boy hot a-foot after it. As a result we
had no water to drink during the stage, which
was a very hot one, with no shade whatever and

205

THROUGH THE

clouds of dust. I suffered considerably from thirst.
So did Schomburgk, who, however, was able to
console himself by smoking " battle-axes " and
swearing at intervals, both palliatives denied to
me. It was a glad moment for both of us when at
length we caught sight of our green tents under
the trees outside Unyogo.

Hodgson was already there, having gone on
ahead on his bicycle. He was greatly excited,
and would hardly give us time to get a drink of
water, or a cup of tea, before plunging into a
narrative of what he somewhat grandiloquently
termed his " adventure." It appeared that he
had been pedalling silently along on his bicycle,
when a covey of grouse flew up almost from under
his front wheel, and cannoned into one another in
their fright and excitement with so great violence
that six of them fell to the ground. Dismounting,
he picked up five of the birds quite dead ; the
sixth was only stunned, and, recovering itself,
fluttered off into the bush. The incident was cer-
tainly a remarkable one, almost incredible indeed,
for grouse are notoriously hard birds to hit. But
there they were, all five of them, mute witnesses
to the truth of his story. None of them bore any
shot, or other wound, to account for their deaths ;
and besides, Hodgson had no gun with him. We
cooked them for supper, and very delicious they
were. Afterwards, we sat outside our camp in
the moonlight talking and laughing, and in high
spirits at the thought of going home all but
Schomburgk, who declared that the trip was far

206

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

too short a one. " Some day," he remarked, " we
will come out here again, film some more pictures,
and return home the other way." " Other way ? "
I inquire dubiously. " Yes," he replied airily,
" round by Timbuctu, and north across the Sahara.
It will be grand fun, and we shall get some unique
pictures." " Yes-s ! " I reply feebly. And no
more is said. But I think a lot.

That night a woman palaver started right out-
side my tent. I was awakened at dead of night
by the cries of a female in distress shouting,
howling, and sobbing. Jumping up, and throwing
on a wrap, I hurried outside, imagining that murder
was being done at the very least. The noise was
being made by the wife of one of our soldiers, who
declared, on being questioned, that her husband
had tried to kill her. Schomburgk, whom the
noise had also awakened, and who now put in an
appearance, promptly sent for the man, and cross-
examined first him and then his wife. The true
facts of the case were thus elicited. It turned out
that the woman, having had a wordy quarrel with
her husband no blows were struck -had an-
nounced her intention of forthwith going back to
Mangu. Her husband had, quite properly, pre-
vented her from carrying out her intention.
Whereupon she had rushed out of their hut, and
over to our camp, where she had started howling
and yelling, hoping thereby to get her husband
punished. Had Schomburgk been an inexperienced
African traveller, unused to the little wiles of
native women, she might possibly have succeeded

207

THROUGH THE

in her design. But he was too old a bird to be
caught that way. Instead of punishing the hus-
band, who was obviously not to blame in the
matter, he told him to take his wife back to their
hut, and if she didn't behave herself, he had his
(Schomburgk's) full permission to give her a hiding.
I never saw a woman so completely taken aback
as this one was when she heard the judgment de-
livered. Her jaw dropped, her look of hard de-
fiance gave place to one of abject fear, and without
a word she followed her lord and master to their
joint domicile, where, for the rest of that night at
all events, peace reigned once more.

Next morning at 3 A.M. we were off again, and
rode the next stage, a short one, to Djereponi.
Here there is a rest-house, one of the old square
Sudan stations. It is quite an imposing-looking
place, and beautifully clean. Two square huts for
sleeping in form one side of a hollow square, the
other three sides being formed by the huts intended
to accommodate the native dependents of Euro-
pean travellers. In the middle is a mess hut
for the rainy season. During the dry season in
Togoland, of course, as elsewhere in Africa, one
eats invariably out-of-doors, usually under a veran-
dah, if there is one, if not, under the awning of
one's tent, or beneath a tree. Here there was a
very fine broad verandah, and the roof came down
very low, giving plenty of shelter and shade, very
pleasant. All the buildings, and even the hard
beaten clay floors, were coated with fresh native
whitewash. This gave the place a beautifully

208

.!:'. 3 S

"2 Js-c'- <n

101

-< !-^i

,_J S 'O 73
J5 cj v c a

-5lS

w rt^ g*

: & c ^

-d^^

- E s ^
o ffll

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

cool and clean appearance, but I found the glare,
when the sun beat down upon it, somewhat trying
to the eyes. While we were resting here a soldier
brought in five chameleons, which he sold to us for
three-halfpence each. It was very interesting to
watch them change their colour from grey to
green, and back again to grey. They have large
staring eyes, which they roll about in the most
comical manner imaginable ; and their slender
tongues, when they protrude them to their full
extent, are nearly as long as their bodies.

The next stage was to Nambiri, where also there
is a very nice rest-house. The road was good, and
we cantered or galloped nearly the whole distance.
As a result we arrived at our destination a long
way in advance of the carriers, who, after the sun
rose, were unable to make very rapid progress.
There being nothing to eat, I rolled myself in my
horse rug, pillowed my head on my saddle, and fell
fast asleep ; when I awoke, some two hours later,
there were still no signs of the carriers, and we were
all three very hungry. Schomburgk sent the cook,
who had come along with us on a bicycle, to forage
round for eggs, and on his returning with a hand-
kerchief full he boiled six of them hard and ate
them without any bread or salt. Hodgson and I
preferred to wait, saving up our appetites against
what we knew was coming. Three hours after
our first arrival in camp the first of the carriers
came straggling in, looking very hot and exhausted.
As luck would have it this advance guard was
carrying the chop boxes, and we pounced upon them

209 o

THKOUGH THE

forthwith. We did not even wait for a wash, or
for our chairs and tables, which happened to be
behind, but squatted down just as we were on
the mud floor, and enjoyed our tinned stuff better
than a meal at the Savoy. First we devoured
three whole tins of sardines, then we ate an entire
pate de foie gras, followed by a miscellaneous as-
sortment of cheese, crackers, and candied fruit.
Schomburgk rather looked with disfavour on these
extravagant delicacies, having been used to more
frugal bush diet on his previous trips. But I con-
sidered that now we were homeward bound we
could afford to use up our reserve of luxuries.

And, speaking of luxuries, it was here that our
personal boys had the feed of their lives. It came
about in this way. At different places along the
road I had bought a number of chickens, mainly
on the strength of the assertions of the sellers
regarding their unrivalled powers as layers, and
these we carried with us in a big native coop,
releasing them at the end of each stage in order
that they might give free play to their supposed
egg-laying proclivities. I write " supposed " ad-
visedly, for with the exception of one little bird,
who did her duty regularly by laying one egg at
practically every place we stayed at, hardly one
single egg did the others produce between the lot
of them. Until we got to Nambiri ! Then they
laid no fewer than five. This was all right if
they hadn't chosen to lay them in my bed. More-
over, I did not discover the whereabouts of the
eggs until I went to lay down at night, and then

210

KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

only through making an improvised omelette ot
them. Being new laid, fortunately, there was
naturally no smell, but the mess was awful. I
would not have believed that five small eggs
and African hens' eggs are exceedingly small
could have made one's bed in such a state, to say
nothing of one's night attire. Next morning I
gave away all my chickens bar the regular-laying
one to our boys, who ate them that night for
supper. I also told Schomburgk about my mishap,
expecting him to condole with me. Instead he
laughed himself nearly into a fit ; and when he
had somewhat recovered, he started telling me
about a fox-terrier bitch he once owned, and who
had deposited six " new-laid puppies " in his bed.
" And when I started to get in between the sheets,"
he began ; but I stopped my ears and ran away,
refusing to hear any more. Men are so unsym-
pathetic.

We are now in the heart of the Konkombwa
country, and Schomburgk decided to stay over
here for a couple of days in order to film these
most interesting savages. Everywhere around us
the country is most densely populated, little villages
peeping through the trees wherever one turns
one's gaze, and we expected that we should have no
difficulty, therefore, in inducing sufficient numbers
of natives to attend. But in the beginning there
was a hitch. Schomburgk had sent round word
for them to come up to the camp in the afternoon
for a dance, and they duly turned up, but un-
decorated. This, of course, was not at all what

211

THROUGH KONKOMBWA COUNTRY

we wanted, and Schomburgk asked them why they
had left oft their head-dresses and other ornaments.
They replied that it was because they were afraid
that the white men would take them from them ;
but on receiving his personal assurance that nothing
would be taken from them by force, but only on
fair payment, and even then not unless they were
perfectly willing to sell, they agreed to come the
next day dressed in their best.

212

CHAPTER XV

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

(TT^HE chief of Nambiri turned out to be a
charming little old man ; one of Nature's
gentlemen. He wore a long grey beard,
and not much else beside, but his manners were
courtly and kindly, and he bore himself with a
certain savage stateliness, tempered by a deference
that had in it no trace of cringing or servility.
Since parting with the old Uro of Bafilo, I have
met no African potentate who has impressed
me so favourably. Unlike so many village chiefs,
he was not unduly intrusive. He waited until we
had had a bath and a sleep, then came with his
" presents." They were more than abundant, in-
cluding, besides the usual chickens, eggs, &c., a
young calf. Schomburgk at first refused to accept
this, knowing that the return " present " expected
would be of considerable value ; but the old man
begged so hard, saying that the first white woman
to honour his town with a visit must be properly
feasted, that at last he consented. We gave him
in return a piece of silk cloth, and a number of
brass and copper rods, with which he seemed to
be highly delighted, and all the rest of the day he
kept pottering round, trying in every way that lay
in his power to make things comfortable for us.

213

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

That night the soldiers killed the calf, and I
distributed the meat to our boys, keeping the best
portions for ourselves. These I ordered to be
roasted at once, a precaution only too necessary
with meat in this climate, as otherwise it will go
bad in a surprisingly short time. The boys are
greatly delighted when this happens, because the
native has no qualms whatever about eating tainted
meat. They always pretend to be very sorry
when they come up to me with the news, " Missy,
um meat gone smell um quite bad"; but it is
easy to see by the irrepressible glitter in their eyes
that they are secretly delighted. Consequently,
they were rather crestfallen when I ordered that
our share of the meal should all be roasted there
and then. They considered that a good meat
meal had, from their point of view, been practically
stolen from them.

The Konkombwa villages round about here are
the prettiest and neatest I have seen in Togo.
They are quite small, consisting mostly of from
five to ten huts, and each little community seems
to be more or less self-contained. The social
system under which they live, in fact, may be best
described as a blend of the communal and the
patriarchal. It is very astonishing that these
splendid savages, so warlike by training and in-
stinct, and of so fine and stalwart an appearance,
should have been, for as far back as their history
or traditions extend, under the domination of the
neighbouring Dagomba tribe. The only explana-
tion I can think of is that the Dagomba have guns,

214

Photo by Miss M. Gehrts

YOUNG KONKOMBVVA WARRIOR

Note the helmet-like shape of the hairdressing ; the dependent horse-
hair switch, a highly-prized ornament ; the iron bell-rattle carried in the
hand ; the bow, and sheaf of arrows all poisoned. The bead necklace
supports a whistle by means of which the natives can signal ^messages
from village to village, and even call one another by name, using a sort
of Morse telegraphic code invented by themselves.

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

and probably became possessed of them, moreover,
and learnt their use, at a very early date, whereas
the Konkombwa are still in the bow-and-arrow
stage of martial evolution. The Konkombwa
women are by no means ill-looking; but they are
short and squat, and their good appearance is
considerably detracted from owing to their custom
of cropping their hair quite close, the cuttings
being used, I was told, by the young warriors to
make up their own elaborate head-dresses. I
wonder what a European girl would say, if she
were required to sacrifice her tresses for the benefit
of her brothers, her sweetheart, or her husband. I
rather think she would indignantly refuse ; but
these dusky belles take it quite as a matter of
course. It is the custom of the country, and here,
as elsewhere, it appears to be a more or less settled
conviction that whatever is, is right. As regards
their behaviour, the Konkombwa women compare
very favourably with any in Togoland. Not only
are their manners modest and gentle, but they
have a reputation for chastity a rare virtue
amongst African natives which inquiry led me to
believe is not undeserved. They all barring the
very young unmarried girls wear a loin cloth,
mostly of some white material, and which they
take a pride in keeping exquisitely clean, and this,
and the custom they have of wearing pretty little
white " pearl " anklets, and similar, but broader,
belts of " pearls " round their wrists, necks, and
waists, gives them quite a picturesque and pleasing
appearance.

215

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

My first favourable impression of these charming
people, however, was destined to receive rather a
set-back during the course of the evening, although
the incident that gave rise to it was an isolated
one, and probably of quite infrequent occurrence ;
and in any case, of course, one has no right to
generalise from a particular instance a fault
which, by the way, is far too common. We were
sitting outside our hut in the cool of the evening,
chatting together of home and future prospects ;
Hodgson, who plays the mandoline rather nicely,
was strumming some old-time melody ; the moon
was shining as it only can shine in the tropics ;
and all nature seemed at peace ; when there rose
from the village near by a most terrific din.
Women were screaming, men shouting, and chil-
dren crying. Naturally we all jumped up, and
ran over to see what was the matter. It proved
to be a domestic row, and a pretty serious one at
that. A huge native, apparently mad drunk, was
beating his wife with a big, heavy stick, almost a
club in fact, while a score or more of others stood
round yelling to him to desist, but not caring
apparently to take any active steps to compel
him to do so. When we arrived upon the scene, the
poor woman was lying huddled up on the ground,
covered with blood, feebly moaning, and evidently
too weak to even attempt to ward off the blows which
her better half was still raining down upon her de-
fenceless head. Schomburgk promptly bowled the
brute over with a left-hander straight in the face.
Then, having got possession of his big stick, he

216

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

gave him a taste several tastes, in fact of his
own medicine until he howled for mercy. Mean-
while I had run back to our camp for lint and
bandages, and proceeded to bind up the injured
woman's hurts. I never in all my life saw such
a sight as the poor woman presented. He had
beaten her almost to a jelly, so that her features
were well-nigh indistinguishable, and on the scalp
were six or seven deep wounds, extending to the
bone. Her body was simply drenched I can use
no other term in blood. To my inexperienced
eyes it seemed well-nigh impossible that she could
ever recover ; yet such are the recuperative powers
possessed by these people, that when I inquired
about her not long afterwards I was informed that
she was going about her household duties as usual,
her head swathed in bandages, and her face all
puffed up and swollen, but otherwise seemingly
little the worse for the terrible punishment she
had undergone. I tried to get her to tell me,
before quitting Nambiri, what was the origin of
the affair, but beyond saying that it was " all
her own fault," I could get no explanation from
her. The other women were not so reticent,
however, and from what they let drop I gathered
that her husband had caught her philandering
with a young buck belonging to a neighbouring
village. So there you are ! Conjugal chastity, or
the insistence upon it, has as its necessary corol-
lary conjugal jealousy, in Konkombwaland as
elsewhere.

Next day the dancers turned up. There were

217

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

about two hundred of them, picked young warriors
from every village within a big radius round about
Nambiri ; and very smart they looked, with their
ebony skins set off by rows on rows of brass
and copper anklets and wristlets, their quivers of
poisoned arrows ; and their cowrie-shell helmets,
with long strings of similar shells dangling before
and behind, and surmounted either by the small
graceful puku horns, or occasionally by the yard-
long horns of the roan antelope, worn in pairs.
I had never beheld, or even conceived of, a more
magnificent yet barbaric sight. Nearly every
warrior carried a curious bell-like rattle, made of
native iron, with which they kept up a continuous
ding-dong " duotonous " tintinnabulation, each note
separated by an octave, and continually repeated
over and over again.

We took great pains over this film, for these
Konkombwa people are exceedingly interesting
from an ethnological point of view ; they have
hardly ever before been visited by private travel-
lers, and most certainly have never before been
photographed by a cinema camera. In the pic-
tures we took, the tribesmen, fully arrayed in all
their finery, are first seen in the act of parading
for one of their big ceremonial dances. Then comes
the salute, followed by the actual dance itself.
The young braves rush into the circle, and perform
various evolutions, the whole being instinct with
life and movement. The only hitch in our arrange-
ments, but that a sufficiently annoying one, was
due to the Konkombwa women, who insisted on

218

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

dancing in between with their children, thereby,
of course, spoiling the film, and necessitating its
being done all over again. After the dances were
over, a number of warriors were photographed
separately, and close up to the camera ; and in
order to get good studies of facial expression, we
told them to talk into the machine, saying that it
would take down whatever message they gave it,
and that it would afterwards be heard in Europe.
The result of this little manoeuvre fully came
up to our expectations, each warrior as he ad-
vanced close up to the camera delivering his
message to it with much energy and many gesti-
culations. Afterwards, I asked our interpreter
what it was they had been saying. His reply
was that most of the messages were of such a
character that they would not bear being re-
peated !

After it was all over we distributed tobacco and
kola nuts amongst the dancers, both of which were
much appreciated, especially the nuts, which are
esteemed a great delicacy by the natives, and are
highly valued besides on account of their stimulat-
ing effects, and the curious property they possess of
enabling a person to go without food or other re-
freshment for a considerable interval. These kola
nuts are brought into the interior from the coast
belt by the Hausa traders. They have to be
carried very carefully, and must also be kept
constantly damp. Their value is from a half-
penny apiece upwards, being dearer the farther
north one goes. Two or three kola nuts are usually

219

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

provided he can afford them carried by a native
when he goes out hunting, or is called upon to
perform any other feat of physical endurance, and
one nut will enable him easily to do without
food or water for at least a day. Some of the
older natives, who are also well to do, and the
chiefs and mallams are very partial to the nuts,
chewing them all day long, much as the American
girls chew gum. The result is a staining of the
inside of the mouth, lips, and teeth, a dirty reddish-
brown, very repulsive to look upon. I once tasted
a kola nut, but found it exceedingly bitter and
unpalatable.

Very early on the morning after the dance we
struck camp, and started on our next stage to a
place called Tschopowa. We only wanted fifty
carriers, but over two hundred turned up. Schom-
burgk naturally objected, but the old chief ex-
plained that we need only pay on the basis of
the number of loads carried ; the extra carriers
were going on their own initiative, and for the
fun of the thing. They regarded it, in fact, in
the light of a pleasure excursion, and as they all
helped with the loads, which were constantly
being changed voluntarily from one to the other,
we got over the ground in fine style, and at a
great rate. At almost every village we passed
going along, too, other natives joined in, singing,
shouting, and capering, so that our caravan as-
sumed in the end a most imposing, yet barbaric
appearance. As I felt somewhat indisposed, I
travelled all the way by hammock, and my boys

220

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

swung me along in great spirits at a five-mile-an-
hour gait.

The curiosity aroused by my advent in the
villages along this usually little frequented route
was very great ; more so, in fact, than anywhere
else in Togo. Everywhere crowds of natives lined
the roads to see me pass, the women " ul-ul-ulling "
a wild welcome, the men capering and singing.
While at the more important places, regular demon-
strations of welcome were organised, as though for
royalty itself. Thus, at Tschopowa, at a distance
of fully three miles from the village, there awaited
us a great crowd of natives, all dressed in their
best. Schomburgk happened to be riding some
little distance ahead at the time, and when he
appeared they seemed quite disappointed, and in-
quired as to the whereabouts of the " White Queen "
of whom they had heard so much. He pointed over
his shoulder as he cantered past, intimating that
" Her Majesty " would be along presently, and the
reception I got when I did ride up to where they
were awaiting me was almost overpowering. At
most of the other larger villages it was much the
same. The road used to be lined three and four
deep by hundreds on hundreds of Konkombwa
men, women, and children, all in gala attire, and
I had to tell my boys to throw up the curtains
of the hammock, so that I could sit up and smile
my acknowledgments right and left, just as royalty
does when it appears on a festive occasion in the
streets of, say, London or Berlin. It quite made
me blush for myself and I am not ordinarily

221

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

over-shyremembering how insignificant a per-
sonage I really was. Our operator, however,
was troubled by no such scruples ; but getting
his camera in position, he usually managed to
secure any number of good pictures of the
curious, unusual scenes. At Tschopowa the whole
affair culminated in a big dance, given in my
honour.

It was at this dance that I made an interesting,
and profitable discovery. Surmounting the head-
dress of one of the male dancers, I noticed a bunch
of black, draggled looking objects, that closer
inspection showed me to be feathers. They were,
however, altogether different from any other
feathers I had seen the natives wearing elsewhere,
and a sudden, quick, glad suspicion flashed into
my mind. I darted up to the native, and greatly
to his surprise snatched the plume from his head-
dress. One glance sufficed. " Marabou ! 5: I
shouted to Schomburgk. " Marabou feathers at
last ! " Would the native sell ? Of course he
would, and glad to. A brass rod changed hands.
So, too, did the feathers.

To heat some water was the work of a few
minutes. Then I rinsed the bedraggled objects in
soapsuds, dried them by waving them to and fro,
and a little later they emerged the most beautiful
objects conceivable, soft fleecy things of snowy
whiteness and exquisite purity. Yes, there could
be no doubt about it ; they were marabou feathers,
of perfect texture, and large size. I wear them in
my hat now occasionally in London and elsewhere,

222

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

to the envy and admiration of my women friends ;
those, at least, who are not members of the Wild
Birds' Protection Association.

The feathers had been left hanging up in the
smoky atmosphere of the native's hut, which ac-
counted for their black and draggled appearance.
But they had suffered no permanent deterioration,
and after I had washed them, they were, as I have
already intimated, as good as ever. That after-
noon, without saying anything to Schomburgk,
who had gone out shooting, I sent for the native
from whom I had bought my treasures, and told
him to let it be known in the village that I would
give a brass rod for every similar feather brought
in. Soon the camp was alive with Konkombwa
bringing marabou plumes for sale. As fast as I
secured them, I rinsed them out in a big bath of
soapsuds, and set the boys to work drying them.
When Schomburgk returned presently he was
amazed to see rows on rows of ebon-black natives
engaged in gravely waving to and fro a small forest
of snow-white feathers. Even his personal boy
had been impressed for service, and he was inclined
to grumble a little thereat in consequence. But
he quickly relented, when he realised the nature
of the bargain I had made. We had, at the time,
a considerable store of the rods left, which we wanted
to get rid of. They were worth to us about six-
pence apiece, while marabou feathers are scarcely
to be had for money in Europe.

The rest-house at Tschopowa is of the old square
Sudan pattern, like an East African " tembe." It

223

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

is beautifully situated on a little rise, whence a
fine view is obtainable for miles all around. This
is in the dry season, after the crops have been
harvested. In the rainy season, however, when
the guinea corn stands some 15 or 20 feet high,
and the country is mostly under water, it cannot
be at all a desirable place to stay at. Near the
rest-house was one of the biggest and finest baobab
trees I saw in Togo. The trunk was, I suppose,
fully 60 feet in circumference, and it was certainly
many hundreds, and probably some thousands, of
years old. The wood of the baobab tree is of no
use commercially, being so spongy that a *303 bullet
will go clean through even the biggest of them ;
but the bark, which is fibrous, is sometimes stripped
off by the natives, and used for making ropes, and
a coarse kind of cloth. The leaves are dried, and
made into a powder called " lalo," which is used
by West Africans as a condiment. Only the
female baobab tree bears the fruit, which is the
size of a small football. Inside are a lot of
kernels, enclosed in an acid pulp. This is said to
be a fine cure for blackwater fever, and it makes
a most refreshing drink, prepared with sugar, like
lemonade.

Here we had a bow-and-arrow competition, the
natives shooting at marks for prizes, which caused
a lot of interest and excitement. One warrior
greatly amused us by putting in an appearance
in a sort of George Robey hat, stuck full of feathers.
No doubt he considered it the very latest thing in
head-dresses. We stayed at Tschopowa two days,

224

By permission of

A HUGE COMMUNAL CORN-BIN

Maj. H. Schombttrgk, F.R.G.S.

Bins built after this fashion are peculiar to the Konkombwa people. The ons shown in the
illustration was photographed at a place called Tschopowa. It has a movable top, is as big as a
good-sized hut, and when full will hold several tons of corn.

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

while Schomburgk and Hodgson went out to the
Oti and filmed some pictures of hippopotami. We
also secured pictures of some enormous corn-bins
of curious construction. They are round, as big
as a good-sized house, and stand on three legs,
with a covered-in top. When full some of them
will hold several tons of corn. These bins, built
after this fashion, are peculiar to the Konkombwa
people.

In the evening we discovered that the baobab
tree mentioned above was full of bats ; thousands
on thousands of them. Our horse boys from
Sokode killed some scores of them with sticks,
spitted them on small skewers, and roasted them,
esteeming them apparently as a great delicacy.
They brought me some on a stick, and laughed
when I turned away shuddering. I am a great
favourite, by the way, with our boys. When they
transgress in any way, and Schomburgk, sitting in
judgment, condemns them to be fined or otherwise
punished, they always come and ask me to inter-
cede with him for them. This I invariably do
unless it is a very flagrant case and Schomburgk,
glad of an excuse to let them off, will then remit
the punishment, saying carelessly : " Oh, all right
if Puss says so " ; or, " Now mind and don't let
it happen again, and remember you've got Puss
to thank for this."

It was here that I saw one of the most beautiful
white cocks I ever set eyes on, riding on a donkey-
load of stuff belonging to a Hausa trader. I had
seen similar cocks before in Mangu, and elsewhere,

225 P

NAMBIRI TO TSCHOPOWA

but never so fine a one as this. These birds are
carried all over Togoland by these peripatetic
pedlars, in order that they may arouse their owners
in good time in the morning by their crowing.
They are, in fact, living alarum clocks, a lusty, loud
crower being greatly valued.

226

CHAPTER XVI

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

FROM Nambiri as far as Kugnau, our next
stage, there is no road, nor practically any
trail ; only an immense variety of native
tracks, leading anywhere and everywhere. The
country is so thickly populated, that to pick out
the right route is very difficult, and well-nigh
impossible without a guide. I went on ahead,
with the guide, from Tschopowa ; and Schomburgk,
who was to follow on later, instructed him to
" close the road." This means that whenever the
guide came to a cross trail, or a fork in the road,
he was to place a piece of stick across the wrong
one, thereby " closing " it to the next traveller
who came along, assuming him to be bound in our
direction. This, however, the guide neglected to
do in several instances, and as a result Schomburgk
wandered off the right track and got lost.

We crossed the Oti twice during this stage.
The first crossing was a somewhat difficult one.
Not only were the banks covered in dense jungle,
but the path dipped down a very steep angle for
about fifty feet in sheer depth. I had to slide
down assisted by my hammock boys, and we had
to exercise considerable care in order to get the
horses down, and safely across. I had a magni-

227

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

ficent view of the river, which is here about three
hundred yards wide from bank to bank, but it
being now towards the end of the dry season, the
actual stream was greatly shrunken, revealing the
presence of many islands, both up and down.
These islands were covered with thick tropical
vegetation, the haunt of innumerable birds. In the
rainy season, all but a few of the higher and larger
islands will have disappeared beneath the risen
waters, which then fill the whole channel from
bank to bank, and bank high.

The second crossing of the Oti was even more
picturesque than the first. It is here much broader,
the banks are lower, and there are many villages
scattered about, from all of which came detach-
ments of natives to swell the welcome given to the
first white woman. In the end there must have
been fully a thousand of them round my hammock,
in front and behind, shouting, dancing, and singing.
The din was terrific, the heat and dust awful. I
felt I would have given almost anything if they
would only go away, and leave me in peace ; and
yet it was, of course, impossible to get angry with
them, or even be anything but polite to them,
their good intentions were so obvious. Some time
after our arrival Schomburgk turned up, hot, tired,
and cross, and rated the guide soundly for not
having closed the road. He had, it appeared, gone
completely astray, and had been wandering about
all over the place.

There is no rest-house at Kugnau, so we had
to use our tents. But there was no shade, the

228

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

trees just about here being merely dwarf ones,
and the daytime heat rendered sleep out of the
question. Then at night came hordes of ferocious
mosquitoes, some of which got under my mosquito-
net, and well I knew it. It was the duty of Asmani,
Schomburgk's personal boy, to attend to my bed.
He was quite a youngster, a long lanky slab of a
boy, with arms on him like a chimpanzee's ; but
he was so willing and good-tempered, that he was
a great favourite with all of us. He could not be
made to understand, however, the importance of
tucking my mosquito-curtain in all round under
the mattress, so as to prevent the ingress of the
bloodthirsty little pests. I got so tired of talking
to him about it, and so weary of sleepless nights,
that at last I used to send him regularly to report
himself to Schomburgk whenever I was bitten by
mosquitoes. It was very comical to see him go
up to make this report in the morning, his usually
jolly, round face, long and woebegone. " Master,"
he would say, " two" (or three or four, &c., as the
case might be) " mosquitoes in the ' little mother's '
bed last night." " Ah ! " Schomburgk would re-
mark, with becoming gravity. " Then you must
be punished." And he would give him two, three,
or four light slaps on the face, one for each mos-
quito. They were just such smacks as one gives
in play to a child, and of course did not hurt him
physically in the least, but they hurt his dignity,
for Asmani, in virtue of being Schomburgk's per-
sonal servant, was " head boy " of the caravan,
and the other boys, whom he regarded as being

229

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

more or less under him, used to take a solid
delight in crowding round and sniggering their
approval whenever he rolled up for his " mosquito
slaps."

I have said that Asmani was a willing boy.
In fact, he was too willing. When one gave him
an order, his eagerness to obey led him to rush
off at top speed before he half understood what
was required of him. The results, very often, were
ludicrous in the extreme ; and occasionally not a
little annoying. Asmani got to be known, very
early in the trip, as the " cockroach," on account
of his erratic, rapid movements ; and towards the
end of our journey, whenever he was making ready
to bolt eagerly off before he had properly com-
prehended our meaning, it only became necessary
to cry out to him, while lifting a warning forefinger,
" Whoa, Asmani ; don't cockroach ! " in order to
arrest him. He was one of that type of servant
now, I am afraid, rare in effete Europe who
regards his employer's interests as his own. Con-
sequently, he was not a great favourite with the
other boys ; who held, for the most part, views
widely divergent from these. To Messa, our cook,
more especially, he was the very reverse of a per-
sona grata, for when Messa would come to tell me,
say, that the tea was all gone, or that he required
more sugar from store, Asmani, if he happened to
be anywhere near, would be sure to give vent to
an incredulous, long-drawn " Oh-h-h ! " Where-
upon Messa would glare at him, and presently
there would ensue a rare hullabaloo from behind

230

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

the cook-house ; Asmani and Messa " having it
out."

It was while we were resting here that an
incident occurred which showed how easily an
inexperienced European may be led astray in his
dealings with the natives, and so cause trouble
without being at all aware of it. It had reference
to the Konkombwa cowrie-shell helmets, of which
mention has already been made. These beautiful
and unique objects always attract the immediate
attention and admiration of European travellers,
who naturally try to acquire one or more to take
away with them. But the Konkombwa value
them highly, and are usually, and for the most
part, very unwilling to sell them, even though
tempted by what is, for them, a very good price,
either in coined money, or in brass or copper rods,
which they greatly prefer.

I have heard it hinted that, in the old days,
Europeans were not too careful of the rights of the
natives in regard to their acquisition of these curios.
Now, however, strict orders have been issued by
the Duke of Mecklenburg that the Konkombwa
are not to be unduly pressed to part with their
helmets or other trappings. They may be bought.
But the sale must be a genuine one, a fair price
must be paid, and above all, Europeans are warned
to make certain, before purchasing, that the Kon-
kombwa are willing to sell, and that no secret
intimidation has been used to compel them to do
so by the interpreters, soldiers, &c., attached to
the caravan.

231

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

Now Schomburgk had already secured one of
the helmets at Gerin-Kuka, but he was open to
purchase others, and sent one of the soldiers of
our escort into the village to say so. The man
was strictly enjoined, however, to use no com-
pulsion. If the Konkombwa wished to do busi-
ness, well and good, but not otherwise. His part,
in short, was simply to act as a go-between, to
introduce a willing seller to a willing buyer. Well,
the soldier went off on his errand, to return pre-
sently with several natives marching at his heels,
carrying helmets, quivers, &c., about a dozen in
all. " Are these for sale ? '' asked Schomburgk.
" Yes, all the lot," replied the soldier. Schom-
burgk thought this suspicious, knowing how loath
the Konkombwa are to part with these things,
so he sent the soldier away, out of sight and hear-
ing, while he cross-examined the natives. As a
result it turned out that only one man wanted to
sell a helmet, and two others bows and quivers,
and a horse-hair switch. The others had been
told that they had got to bring the things up to
our camp for sale, and that if they did not do so
they would be punished. Of course the unwilling
ones were at once sent back to their village with
their helmets, &c., while the soldier was given a
severe lecture. In this connection Schomburgk
told me of the following amusing incident. During
his last trip in the Konkombwa country, he was
travelling with the Duke of Mecklenburg. One
man of the party, a newcomer in the district,
bought two helmets, and showed them, with evident

232

2-S

s sj

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

pride, to some members of the party. Said the
Duke, using his usual formula in such circum-
stances : " I suppose I may take it for granted
that there was no intimidation." " Oh dear no,"
was the reply, " I just sent a soldier to the village
to tell the Konkombwa I wanted a couple of their
helmets, and he brought 'em to me." A roar of
laughter greeted this naive admission, and even
his Highness was unable to repress a smile.

At 5.30 A.M. the following morning (February 8th)
we resumed our journey, and soon afterwards we
crossed the Oti once more, and for the last time.
Schomburgk seized the opportunity to go off with
Hodgson and the camera to try and get some hippo
pictures, but only two of the creatures were visible,
so he did not trouble. Afterwards he caught up
to me, just as my hammock broke down, letting
me to the ground with a bump. While it was
being repaired, we consumed an alfresco breakfast
by the side of the road ; very enjoyable. An hour
or so later we arrived at Ibubu ; the end of the
stage.

There is a spacious old rest-house here, but to
our surprise we found it very much dilapidated ;
almost in ruins, in fact. This is a very unusual
thing as regards the Togo rest-houses, the only
explanation I can think of being that this particular
route is very infrequently used by white people.
Ibubu is the site of an old fort, called by Europeans
in Togo the " Roman Fort." I had heard it men-
tioned so often, that I expected to see a quite
imposing-looking building, and was greatly dis-

233

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

appointed at beholding nothing more startling or
romantic than a big mud wall, surrounding a huge
conglomeration of native huts, set closer together
than any I had ever observed previously. No
doubt, however, it was once a place of considerable
strength. It was built, I was told, by Dr. Kerst-
ing, to overawe the Konkombwa in the old days,
when these savages, not having then sufficiently
measured their strength with that of the white
men, were inclined to be aggressive and trouble-
some. It is noticeable that the Konkombwa on
this side of the Oti are much wilder and more
truculent than are those on the other side, and still
give the Government trouble from time to time,
although there has been no actual fighting for the
last few years.

We are now in the Sokode district, and the
supplies of food are ridiculously small by com-
parison with what they were in the Mangu district.
We put up the flap of our tent under a big tree,
the upper branches of which were full of what I
at first took to be some kind of fruit, but which
turned out afterwards to be a large species of bat,
a kind of flying-fox. We bought another ostrich
here. He was a most comical sight, having been
plucked before being offered to us for sale. I
laughed till I cried, at the sight of him. He looked
exactly like a gigantic replica of one of those wooden
egg-shaped toy birds that are sold in the shops,
with two sticks for legs. However, he turned out
to be a very fine, and unusually big, bird. So,
too, did the other one, that we bought in Mangu.

234

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

Both ostriches are now in the Hamburg " Zoo,"
to which they were presented by Major Schomburgk,
and the director wrote, after our arrival in London,
that everybody was amazed at their enormous size,
and that it was quite conceivable although this
is not yet scientifically proved that they are a
new species of giant ostrich. " In any case," he
wrote, " they are quite out of the common."

The Ibubu people are very sullen ; not a bit
like those on the other side of the Oti. The women,
as well as the men, eyed us askance ; and the
children edged away from us, and remained silent,
when spoken to. This I took to be a bad sign,
for these people are not " savages," in the sense
that the far northern tribes are, and that they
declined to make friends was, therefore, clearly
due to the influence of their elders. Both Schom-
burgk and I I flatter myself that I am getting
quite experienced in the ways of natives by now
had a sort of feeling, a presentiment if you like,
that all was not well ; and so it turned out.

In the morning only twelve carriers turned up,
whereas we wanted at least fifty, and the inter-
preter reported that the chief either could not, or
would not, supply any more. Here was a pretty
go. It is difficult for an outsider to realise how
completely a caravan in the African hinterland is
dependent on man transport. If we could not
secure a sufficiency of carriers, it meant either
one of two things, abandoning the bulk of our
belongings an unthinkable alternative or doing
" relay work " backwards and forwards between

235

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

Ibubu and Banjeli, the next stage, the latter as
heartbreaking and tedious an operation as can well
be conceived. Then, too, there was this further
cause for anxiety ; an official who was acting for
the Commissioner at Sokode who happened to be
on leave at the time had had bother with the
natives at this very village, and serious trouble
was only narrowly averted.

Schomburgk acted at once, and in a manner
which I hope he will pardon me for saying so
struck me at the time as being somewhat high-
handed, although I have no doubt now, from what
subsequently transpired, that it was the only way.
He sent a peremptory demand for the chief to attend
before him at once. Soon he appeared, escorted
by our two soldiers. He was very cheeky, not to
say overbearing. In effect he said that the twelve
carriers he had sent were all that were at present
available, and he " couldn't make carriers out of
mealie cobs, could he ? 9: However, after talking
to him for five minutes or so in terms the reverse
of polite, Schomburgk got a promise from him to
let us have ten more.

The chief was a tall, big man, and Schomburgk
is of quite medium size ; consequently he had to
bend his neck backwards at an angle, and look up
at the huge Konkombwa towering above him like
a rock, in order to address him. This, I think,
made him even angrier than he otherwise would
have been. A short man carrying on an alter-
cation with a tall man is always at a disadvantage,
be the taller black or white. Schomburkg called

236

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

him everything but a gentleman, " long slab of
misery," being among the mildest term of abuse
he applied to him, and when the interpreter inter-
preted the chief at first looked puzzled, then bowed
and seemed quite pleased. Schomburgk couldn't
make this out. He thought the chief was, speaking
vulgarly, " trying to take a rise out of him," and
it made him wilder than ever. Not until long
afterwards did it transpire that the interpreter,
fearing for his own skin, had interpreted all his
abusive terms into eulogistic ones, " long slab of
misery " becoming " tall and strong chief," and
so on.

Well, the promised ten carriers turned up,
making twenty-two in all, and Schomburgk sent
me on with these, and one of the soldiers, he
remaining behind with the interpreter and another
soldier. After leaving Kugnau, the scenery changes.
We are now quitting the Togoland Sudan, and going
back to the more thickly- wooded part of the country.
The scenery is magnificent. In the blue haze of
the early morning one can see the purple mountains
outstanding round Banjeli, whither we are now
bound, and beyond, as far as Bassari, ridge upon
ridge. Presently Hodgson passed me on his bicycle,
and I was surprised at seeing him, as I supposed
him to be staying behind helping Schomburgk.
The latter told me afterwards that Hodgson had
gone off, leaving him to deal with the bother alone,
and he was very angry with him about it. In fact,
he hardly spoke to him again all that day.

Presently we begin to go uphill by a tortuous

237

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

rocky path, and after a while we came in sight of
the village of Banjeli, beautifully situated on the
crest of a long rise, and backed by an imposing
array of lofty, wooded mountains. I had heard a
lot about this place, partly because it was the
farthest point north that Schomburgk had got on
his previous trip, and also on account of its being
the principal seat of the famous iron industry,
which affords occupation to large numbers of
natives throughout this district. Already, on our
way up, we had passed several of the curiously
shaped furnaces, concerning which I shall have
more to say later on. The rest-house here is in the
form of a square of pretty round huts, from the
windows of which one has at this season of the
year a lovely view of the mountains, their slopes
lightly shrouded in the haze of the harmattan,
which, however, lies thick as a woollen blanket in
the valleys between.

Hardly had I got settled in the rest-house,
when Schomburgk turned up with a few carriers
and some more loads, but not all. He told me that
he had had a lot of bother with the Kugnau people.
First he had gone to the village and collected a
few women, telling the chief that as his men would
not carry, the women must. They did not seem
to mind greatly, and he promised them good pay,
and put each woman by a load, arranging every-
thing beautifully, as he thought. Then he turned
for a moment to speak to the interpreter, and
when he looked again, about half of them had
vanished. " I could not believe my eyes," he

238

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

said, " and had to rub them to make sure I was
not dreaming. I never saw any manoeuvre exe-
cuted so swiftly and silently in my life. One
moment they were there, the next they were not.
Talk about the disappearing trick ! Why those
women could give points to Maskelyne and
Devant."

At last, it transpired, he succeeded in collecting
a few more carriers, but still not enough for the
loads. He had come on with these, leaving the
interpreter and the soldier behind to get other
carriers as best they could, and bring along the
rest of the baggage. He also placed the chief under
arrest, and told the soldier to bring him along with
him, intending to hand him over to the authorities
at Bassari, which station has jurisdiction over all
this part of the Konkombwa country.

The last batch of carriers, with the rest of the
loads, shepherded by the interpreter, turned up
sooner than we had ventured to expect. With
them was the soldier, in charge of the chief. The
latter looked very crestfallen. All his cheeky,
overbearing manner had gone, and he seemed to
wish he had behaved himself properly in the be-
ginning. Amongst the last arrived lot of carriers
we found, to our surprise, ten women. This seemed
to show that the chief really could not prevail
upon the men of the village to carry, and made
Schomburgk even more determined than ever to
take him on to Bassari and have the whole matter
threshed out there, since a chief who cannot im-
pose his authority on his people, when called upon

239

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

to do so, is worse than useless from the Government's
point of view. Schomburgk also announced that
only those carriers who had come voluntarily in
the morning would be paid for their work, the
others would get nothing. He expected them to
be disappointed and crestfallen on hearing this
decision, but greatly to his disgust they did not
seem to care in the least, laughing and joking
amongst themselves about it, women as well as
men, as though being docked of their wages was
the greatest fun imaginable. Whether they really
did not care, or whether they acted as they did in
order to show their independence, I am unable to
say. It is practically impossible to fathom the
workings of the native mind in regard to a case
like this.

After we had been here a short while, a little
native boy came into our camp bringing me as a
present a very pretty little green and gold beetle.
We gave him a pfenning (eight pfennings go to the
penny) for it, and seeing I was pleased with it,
Schomburgk said he would purchase at the same
rate as many other similar beetles as he or the other
children cared to bring in. It proved to be a rash
promise. The wonderful news must have spread
like wildfire amongst the village urchins, who
must, moreover, have immediately set to work with
feverish energy to secure a goodly store of beetles,
for soon the camp was alive with grubby little boys
and girls, some carrying no more than a single
beetle, or two or three, others with both dirty
little paws filled with the pretty delicate insects.

240

.= 3

I -I 3
1 Is

III

g-s

5 >>

Q.T;

u 2
j-

II
2g

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

It was one of the most comical sights I ever saw.
There was Schomburgk dishing out pfennings in
exchange for beetles, and the more pfennings he
distributed the more children came rolling up with
their beetles. They pressed and clamoured round
him like English children round a street hawker
of toy paper windmills, so that eventually he had
to take refuge on a chair in order to escape being
mobbed by them, while I set to work to marshal
them into a queue, which, as regards both its extent
and the happy eagerness of its component parts,
reminded me of that which assembles outside the
Gaiety on the first night of the production of a
new musical comedy.

Whilst we were resting that afternoon, our mail
arrived from Bassari. It had come by post-runner
to Bassari, whence it had been forwarded by
special messenger to Banjeli. At once everybody
was on the alert to secure his or her letters, and
once secured we retired to a quiet corner to read
them. We got two mails together & month's
letters and papers on this occasion, so that we
had plenty of reading matter to occupy ourselves
with. Afterwards we came together again to
compare notes, and tell each other tit-bits of
personal news, talking and chatting until dinner-
time, and afterwards far into the night. Amongst
a bundle of papers sent out by my sister was
a copy of the Elegante Welt, Germany's leading
fashion paper, and, womanlike, I was im-
mensely interested in seeing, out here in the
wilds, what was being worn at home by the

241 Q

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

" smart set " in Berlin, London, and the other
European capitals.

So utterly sick and tired of fowls had a lengthy
sojourn in the African wilds made me, that at
Banjeli I decided to have for once a dinner of
roast pork, and sent Messa into the village with
strict injunctions to bring back a pig, no matter
what the cost. He succeeded almost too well, re-
turning in about half an hour at the head of a
procession of natives, leading, driving, and carrying
pigs of all sorts and sizes. In only one respect
were they alike. They were the ugliest-looking
lot of porkers I ever set eyes on ; all black as to
colour, and with long bristly hair, not at all like
the rosy- snouted little piglets one sees in the
German villages. However, I reflected that I was
not buying a pig to look at, but to eat, so I
picked out one I considered to be the best and
fattest of the lot, paying for him what seemed
to me the ridiculously small sum of four shil-
lings. Then, spurred on by my success in the
pig-killing line at Mangu, I superintended the
similar necessary operations here, only to find,
however, when my porcine purchase came to be
cut up and dressed, that he was about as
scraggy, scrawny, lean, and generally unprofitable
a specimen of his species as one could possibly
conceive of. What he had been fed on, Heaven
only knows. Sawdust and wood shavings, I should
imagine, from the taste of him. And this, I
hasten to add, was not the fault of the cooking,
for from almost the beginning of the trip I have

242

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

made the kitchen and its conduct my own special
care.

Taught in the first instance by that old Togo-
land campaigner, Captain von Hirschfeld, I have,
too, succeeded in perfecting a very excellent system
of keeping our drinks cool, and our cheese and
butter from running to oil. It is worked this way.
In Togoland we have what is called a " Hausa
load." This is not a " load," as might be imagined,
but a long, narrow basket made of split bamboos
laid closely together lengthways, and bound together
crossways with strips of bark. Into this long
wicker trough I used to put the things I wanted
kept cool, wrapped up and covered with sacks
kept constantly wet. It was marvellous how
beautifully they were preserved by this simple
expedient. Even on the march, by detailing a boy
to constantly sprinkle the sacks, I was able to keep
the butter quite solid, the bottles of liquid com-
fortably cooled, and even perishable provisions,
such as cooked meat for instance, fresh and sweet.

It was Anton, our pet monkey, by the way, who
was the alleged cause as a matter of fact he was
quite innocent in the matter of a grave dereliction
of duty on the part of seven of our boys. The
affair happened on the road to Ibubu, where the
whole lot of them turned up very late ; a long
way, in fact, in rear of the carriers, who, of course,
made ordinarily considerably slower progress with
their heavy loads than did our personal servants,
who carry no loads. They had, it transpired, met
some friends on the road, who treated them to

243

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

palm wine and native beer ; but their excuse was
that Anton had scampered off into the bush, and
refused to be caught for some time, thereby de-
laying them. Now this was an excuse that might
easily have held water, for we knew, and our boys
knew that we knew, that Anton was addicted to
such tricks. But on this occasion their somewhat
unsteady gait and the strong smell of alcohol that
hung about them convicted them, and one by one
they broke down under cross-examination, and
confessed to the truth. Then came the question of
their punishment.

Very early in our trip Schomburgk had told
me that the best way to punish a lazy carrier
was not by personal chastisement for which they
care little unless it be carried to such an extent
as to be inhuman, which, of course, is not to be
thought of nor by fining them ; but that if a
carrier was really lazy, coming in a long while
after the others, the best thing to do was to give
him a load, and stand him with it on his head
in the middle of the camp, making him stay there
for as long a time as he had been behind his fellow-
carriers. " Then," said Schomburgk, " the others
will all make game of him, and he will have learnt
a lesson he is not likely to forget."

Well, this plan had been carried out on several
occasions with our carriers, and we found that it
worked excellently. So Schomburgk decided to
try its effect upon our boys, and that afternoon the
seven " beauties " were lined up in the middle
of the camp, each with a 60lb. load on his head.

244

By permission of M*j. H. Schombitrgk, F.R.G.S.

SECTION OF OLD NATIVE IRON FURNACE

The portrait is that of the Chief of Banjeli, the seat of the native iron industry of Togo. In
these furnaces the iron ore, after being laboriously dug out of the mountain side by native slave
women, is smelted, and afterwards made into axes, knives, spear and arrow-heads, hoes, and
so forth.

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

Also, as they had laid the blame on the poor in-
nocent monkey, he was fastened by a chain to the
right leg of our " washerwoman " he of the ginger-
beer-bottle fists who had been the last one to hold
out in the lie about him. At first the culprits
treated the whole affair as a huge joke, laughing
and chattering amongst themselves. But little by
little, as the afternoon wore away, their faces grew
longer and longer ; the laughter and chatter grew
less, and finally died away altogether ; they started
shifting their loads from the head, first to one
shoulder, then to the other, until, eventually, after
Schomburgk had gone out with the camera, a
benighted appeal for mercy reached my ears. I
was seated inside my tent at the time, and for a
little while I pretended to take no notice. But the
cries of " Little mother ! Little mother ! Have
pity on your poor tired children ! " redoubled in
intensity, so as Schomburgk had told me, before
quitting camp, to let them go when I thought fit,
I gave them their " ticket of leave."

Prior to our arrival at Banjeli, Schomburgk had
made arrangements with the chief there to film
the iron industry, of which I wrote earlier in this
chapter. He was a nice old man, and, having met
Schomburgk on his previous visit, he had now
promised in advance to have everything ready for
us. This promise he faithfully kept, and to the
letter, an attribute very rare in a native. Next
morning we took the pictures. First of all we
started off at 6 A.M. to the mountain where the
iron ore is mined. We rode the first stage of the

245

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

journey, accompanied by our two ostriches, who
seemed to imagine that we were going on trek again,
and intended giving them the slip. It was very
comical to watch them, especially after we dis-
mounted, and started to climb the last part of the
journey to the top of the hill where the mine is
situated, about 1600 feet up. Eventually, how-
ever, we had to send them back, for fear they
might injure themselves.

The ore is mined by women, strong, but dirty-
looking, with more of the masculine element about
them than the feminine. It was pitiful to see some
of them, with babes at their breasts, digging out
the ore with a curious kind of hoe-shaped tool.
Besides being a hard occupation, it is also a dan-
gerous one. Only a day or so before our visit one
of the miners had been killed, owing to a shaft
falling in. On inquiry, I learnt that the women
were slaves. I was assured that it was only a mild
form of slavery, a system of indentured labour,
and that even if liberated they would not go away.
Still, I didn't like the idea, and the sight impressed
me the least favourably of anything that I had
seen in Togoland.

The other operations that centred round the
iron industry, however, interested me greatly.
Here is a handicraft that is usually associated with
a more or less advanced degree of civilisation
the bronze age everywhere preceded the iron age
amongst primitive man being carried on by nude,
or nearly nude, savages, in a fashion which, al-
though it has many points in common with our

246

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

own methods of mining, smelting, and so on, bears,
nevertheless, unmistakable signs of being of purely
indigenous origin.

Taking it altogether, I am inclined to think that
this film, which was one of the last we took, was
also one of the best, if not the very best, of the lot,
and when I came to see it screened later on in
London, I was amazed at its fidelity to life. First
the women miners are seen getting the ore out of
the mines, as narrated above. The next scene we
filmed shows a long string of them carrying it in
baskets on their heads down the mountain-side to
the primitive native furnace, which the men load
with wood, charcoal, and ore. We showed, too,
the method of regulating the ventilation of the
furnaces by means of holes round the bottoms,
these being stopped by clay stoppers, very in-
geniously constructed, and which can be inserted
and withdrawn at pleasure by means of a wooden
stick, embedded in the centre of the clay stopper
when it is first made. These furnaces, after being
lighted, burn for three days, when the pig-iron is
taken out and carried to the market at Bassari,
where it is bought by the native blacksmiths.
These craftsmen, working with a round boulder for
a sledge-hammer, and curious hand- worked bellows,
somewhat resembling bag-pipes in appearance,
forge the iron into axes, knives, spear and arrow
heads, hoes, and so forth, not forgetting the curious
iron rattles mentioned in a previous chapter, and
which form a valued part and parcel of every
Konkombwa warrior's equipment. Speaking in

247

THE WOMEN MINERS OF BANJELI

regard to these industrial films in general, a certain
eminent scientist who presided at a recent meeting
of the Royal Geographical Society, remarked that
he did not think that at the present time any
very great good was accomplished by getting to the
north or south pole, because both these very in-
teresting spots would be there five thousand years
hence ; but the men who went out into the wild
places of the earth in order to try and obtain re-
cords of the out-dying customs of native tribes in
these remote regions, deserved the greatest praise.
Even an ordinary written record (he continued)
is of acknowledged value. What* then, must be the
value of living pictures, such as these, showing
every stage in processes of primitive native indus-
tries which, from the nature of things, must, in the
not far distant future, become superseded, and so
ost to us forever. Similar views, I may add, were
expressed in letters written to Major Schomburgk
after having viewed the films, by Mr. Atho Joyce,
of the British Museum, and by Sir Harry Johnston,
the famous explorer.

248

CHAPTER XVII

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

I FORGOT to say that owing to the forethought
of the chief of Banjeli, in making all arrange-
ments beforehand for us to film the iron
industry there, we were enabled to get away one
day earlier than we anticipated. According to the
itinerary which we had drawn up, we should have
left there on February the 12th, whereas we got
away early on the morning of the llth.

Up to now, from at all events as far north as
Nambiri, my journey had been one long triumphal
progress, of a kind somewhat different from any-
thing of the kind I had experienced previously.
All through the thickly populated Konkombwa
country, the roads they are mere native trails
are punctuated throughout their entire length with
little villages, strung out like beads on a string with
intervals between them, and from the very first
one past a station there used to issue in my direc-
tion crowds of women and children to welcome me.
On meeting me, they would separate on either side
to let me pass, ul-ul-ulling and waving their hands,
then close in behind me, and follow me through
their own village, and on to the next, a mile or so
distant, where the welcome would be repeated by
the women and children living at that place, the

249

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

others returning to their homes ; and so on to the
end, the result being that I used to have a con-
tinuous bodyguard, perpetually renewed, all the
way from one station to the other.

Now all this came to an end. We are entering
a wilder and more mountainous country, where
villages are few and far between, and the inhabi-
tants correspondingly sparse. From Banjeli to
Bassari, for instance, a distance of twenty-two
miles, we did not pass a single settlement that
could properly be called a village. The road is a
narrow winding native path, just wide enough to
allow of two people riding abreast. Nothing more
pleasant and exhilarating can be conceived than
to ride thus in the cool of the African morn along
a road where every turn reveals new beauties.
It was nowhere level, but all up hill and down
dale, some of the steep ascents making us rather
pity Hodgson, who had gone on ahead, as usual,
on his beloved " bike." Presently we reached the
Katscha River, which flows hereabouts at the
bottom of a deep gully, cut by the raging torrents
that, during the rainy season, hurl themselves
down from the adjacent mountains. It is crossed
by a native wooden bridge, which, however, looked
so frail and insecure, and was moreover in so
wretched a state of repair, that we preferred to
go through the river, now nearly dry.

The descent to the river bed was as nearly
perpendicular as a steeply sloping bank can be ;
nevertheless, our horses slithered down without
mishap, as only African ponies can. By the way,

250

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

when I first came to Togoland, I rather fancied
myself as a fearless and accomplished horsewoman.
But I very quickly discovered that a morning
canter in the " Row," or even a stiff cross-country
gallop to hounds, constituted but a poor prepara-
tion for African bush-riding. Practically I had
to begin and learn equitation all over again. But
I proved an apt pupil or at least so I was informed
and now even a deep and steep gully like this
possesses for me no terror, whatever it might have
done at the beginning of the trip.

The usual riverine belt of vegetation that is a
feature of all the Togoland streams had broadened,
in the case of the Katscha, into a beautiful shady
forest, and here it had been our intention to halt
and partake of an open-air breakfast, but we had
made such good time on this, the early stage of our
journey, that we decided to put on a few more
miles. Nearing Bassari, we came to a big native
town, called Beapabe, which reminded me very
much of Bafilo, on account of the number of
houses, and the many fine baobab trees scattered
about. Here we struck the northern end of a fine,
well-kept Government road, which has been built
out from Bassari, and which will ultimately extend
upward as far as Mangu, following approximately
the route along which we have come. We did not
keep to this road, however, but left it to our left,
and rode through the native market-place, to
emerge presently into a perfectly straight and most
beautifully kept avenue of mango trees. These
grew so thickly overhead as to form a complete

251

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

arched roof of solid greenery, altogether shutting
out the burning rays of the sun ; the only dis-
advantage being that the fruit sometimes hung so
low down that, in riding along, it was liable, unless
one was very careful, to catch one in the face,
with results the reverse of pleasant. Following
this avenue for about half a mile we arrived at
Bassari.

The station is built very much on the lines of
an old Norman castle, with a castellated tower,
and a broad raised verandah fronting a level, well-
kept parade ground shaded by fine trees, the whole
backed by forest-clad mountains. Here we were
welcomed by Mr. Mucke, the Sub-District Commis-
sioner, one of the oldest officials of Togoland, and
one of Dr. Kersting's most able assistants. He
has been in the Government service ever since
1898, and has taken part in practically every piece
of Togo history that has been made during the
intervening years.

Schomburgk knew him through meeting him
here during his previous trip, and the worthy
gentleman's only regret was that we had been
unable to be with him for the Christmas festivities,
of which he gave us a glowing description. We
soon convinced him, however, that we could not
possibly have managed it ; and he then led us,
talking all the while, to where he had prepared
for us a most substantial and appetising breakfast,
to which, needless to say, we did full justice. He
had also very kindly got ready for us, and placed
at our disposal, the " Massow House," so called,

252

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

I was informed, after a certain Lieutenant Massow,
a pioneer of empire who died in northern Togo
in the early days, while engaged in opening up
that part of the territory. It is a square house,
standing ninety feet above the station, with baobab
and other trees all round it, affording a welcome
shade. The view from it is one of the finest I had
yet seen in Togoland, with picturesque wooded
mountains in front and rear, and all around. Here
we stayed five days, and were very comfortable;
what made it seem more than ordinarily homelike,
being the fact that it was provided with windows.
This may not sound much to untravelled Euro-
peans, but it was the first windowed house I had
slept in since leaving Lome, six months previously,
for although at Mangu Captain von Hirschfeld's
house had windows, ours had none.

There were, however, some slight drawbacks to
residence here. One was that there were no stables
for our horses, these being down at the station.
We therefore had to tether them under some of
the biggest of the trees, for we were afraid that
our horse boys would not look after them properly,
or at least not to our liking, once they were freed
from our constant personal supervision. Another
drawback was the scarcity of water. We had to
buy every single drop we used, paying at the rate
of a halfpenny a calabash for it, from the natives,
who brought it on their heads all the way from
the Kamaa River, a good two hours distant. It
was not good water either, being brown and nasty
looking; but it had to serve us for all purposes

253

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

until Mr. Muck& detailed some prisoners to fetch
us water for our personal use from a spring situated
some distance up in the mountains that towered
at the back of our house. We still, however, had
to purchase water for our horses, and for washing
purposes, &c. This came rather expensive at a
halfpenny a small calabash full, for we had seven
horses, and they needed, of course, to be watered
regularly twice a day. However, there was no
help for it, and Mr. Muck& did his best to atone
for the dearth of water by sending us daily
plentiful supplies of the most delicious, thirst-
quenching fruits limes, oranges, paw-paws,
bananas, &c. and beautiful flowers from his own
garden.

We went out riding a good deal during our
stay at Bassari. All round the station another
legacy from Dr. Kersting's days there are beauti-
ful tree plantations, similar to those at Mangu,
and these are kept in apple-pie order by Mr. Mucke,
who is as proud of Bassari almost as Bassari is
of him. In the evening, after dinner, he used to
hold us spellbound by the hour together, telling us
stories of the olden days, when all the country
round about was unsafe, and almost unknown, and
when warfare with the wild natives was practically
endemic. Muck and Bassari ! Bassari and
Muck& ! The two terms are identical inter-
changeable. He has been christened the " King
of Bassari," and with reason, for he rules his sub-
district with a rod of iron, and yet with a fine
sense of justice that makes the natives respect, and

254

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

at the same time fear, him. Schomburgk, who has
the greatest respect and liking for him, remarked
one day that he was of the class that helps build
up colonial empires without talking about it, and
I fancy that that very aptly describes him. If he
has a fault it is that he is rather too fond of his
Bassari. A story is told of him, which may or
may not be true, but which at all events fits him
to a nicety. It concerns a visit he paid to Ger-
many's capital during one of his infrequent leaves
of absence. He was asked what he thought of it.
" Ah Berlin ! " he is reported to have remarked,
drawing out his words in his slow, thoughtful,
methodical way. " Well yes ! Berlin is all very
well, of course. But " with a sudden brightening
of the eyes and a quick acceleration of speech
" give me Bassari." The yarn is not new of course ;
it is merely one of the many variants of PuncKs
old-time joke anent the Peeblesshire Scotsman who
declared, after his first trip to France, that Paris
was " a graun' city, mon, but gie me Peebles for
playsur." But, as I have already intimated, it
exactly hits off Mucke, and Mucke's attitude to-
wards that little unregarded strip of West African
soil whereon he reigns an uncrowned monarch. A
curious attribute of Mucke's is that, although the
soul of hospitality, his fondness for a practical joke
will sometimes go to the length of permitting a white
stranger to pass his domicile ; and this, in a land
where peripatetic white men are as rare as butter-
flies on an iceberg a more apt simile would be
ice in Hades is a sufficiently strange trait to merit

255

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

mention, the more especially as it was the cause of
Hodgson going without his breakfast for ten minutes
longer than he otherwise need have done. And for
Hodgson to go without his breakfast for even five
minutes beyond the appointed time, was an eventu-
ality that Hodgson did not greatly appreciate. I
need not say more.

Well, Hodgson had gone on ahead of us from
Banjeli, as I have already said, on his " bike,"
and when he cycled level with Mucke's house he
just gave it a sidelong, passing glance, and went
on, never dreaming but that if it were the residence
of a fellow white man he would step outside and
give him a hail. Muck&, however, did nothing of
the kind, but sat tight, and when his boy rushed in
crying, " Master ! Master ! There's a white man
gone past ! " Muck& simply replied, " Is there ?
Well, don't bother about that ; he'll come back
again." And he did, after having over-shot his
destination some little distance ; whereupon Muck&
remarked, " You must be fond of cycling, but come
inside now and have some breakfast." Two more
facts about Mr. Mucke. He owns the finest and
handsomest horse I saw in all my journey ings
through Togoland. It is a perfectly black stallion
of Arab breed, and came from the far interior of
the French Sudan, whence it was brought by a
Hausa trader, a journey of many months' duration.
Such horses are difficult to acquire, and Schom-
burgk badly wanted to buy this one on his first
trip, but Muck& would not sell. Another great pet
of Muck&'s he simply idolises his horse is a tame

256

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

bush buck, which he keeps in a wire enclosure out-
side his house.

Bassari is the principal market for the raw iron,
which is mined and smelted at Banjeli. Here it
comes to be made up into the finished articles, as
mentioned in the previous chapter, and our reason
for staying here so long was that we wanted to film
these finishing processes, the native smiths at
work, and so on. When we were not taking pic-
tures, we put in our time exploring the surround-
ing country, which is exceedingly picturesque and
pretty, and also densely populated. The climate,
too, is healthier and less enervating than most
other parts of Togo ; the great drawback being
the terrific thunderstorms and the heavy moist
heat of the rainy season.

We also paid a few visits to local notables, chief
amongst whom is the Mallam Mohammed. Every-
body in Bassari, and for miles around, knows the
Mallam, who is a sort of local Pooh-Bah. For one
thing, he is the richest native in these parts. For
another, his interests are practically unlimited, so
that he has a finger in every local pie. He is, for
instance, a great dealer in horses, trading as far
north as the French Sudan, and with Dahomey
on the one side, and the Gold Coast Colony on the
other. He also occupies the important and re-
sponsible post as regards a big place like Bassari
of sery-chi-songu, or head-keeper of the native rest
house and compound, known together as the songu,
and this carries with it the further responsible
and lucrative position of tax-collector to the

257 R

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

Government. Besides all these things he is head
schoolmaster at an open-air school for natives
which he has established, and where the little
children, sitting cross-legged on mats under a shady
tree, are taught the Mohammedan religion, and to
read and write. He is very proud of this unique
school, and with reason, for the scholars seemed
to me to be a wonderfully intelligent lot of
laddies. I was especially struck with their pains-
taking writing of the neat and pretty Arabic
characters, which is done on soft slabs of wood,
with a pointed stick and native made ink. It
was really astonishing to see the beautiful re-
sults they obtain with these primitive writing
materials.

Of course he invited us to his house, where I
was introduced, collectively and separately, to his
eight wives. These ladies possess a certain degree
of culture, and most of them are good-looking;
one, a Fulani girl of light, almost white complexion;
being really pretty. The chief wife showed me,
with evident pride, all their household treasures,
their European crockery, brass dishes and cooking
utensils, and so forth. I was greatly struck by
the contrast these afforded to much of the native
furnishings. For instance, her bed was made
of mud, baked hard, a mere raised platform,
similar to that used by the Sumbu women for
grinding corn on, and on top of this was a mat-
tress and rug of native manufacture, surmounted
by a European mosquito-curtain, of which she

258

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

was exceedingly proud. There were numbers of
children about the place, some quite pretty, and
ranging in hue from jet black to light chocolate
colour.

Afterwar s all the eight paid me a return visit
at our house. I had invited them to afternoon
tea, but found out on their arrival that they did not
drink tea, preferring cocoa, which, to suit their
palates, I had to make inordinately sweet. They
put in an appearance arrayed in their smartest
lavelaps, each one heavily be- jewelled, and with
faces rouged and powdered, and eyes and lashes
and eyebrows painted black, after the fashion of
a stage actress's make-up. They chewed kola-nuts
incessantly, and their nails were dyed red with
henna. But what struck me most about my visi-
tors was the inordinate quantities of scent they
used. What particular kind of scent it was, I do
not know. I have never smelt anything exactly
like it before or since. But I do know that it was
so heavy and overpowering that I felt a difficulty
in breathing the same atmosphere. The slightest
movements of their wraps sent invisible clouds of
it wafting and rolling about the room, and when
once five of them stirred suddenly and quickly in
unison, they set going an aromatic hurricane that
made me gasp, and cough, and choke. However,
the wild bees, who swarmed in countless numbers
in the big baobab trees near our house, seemed to
like it, for they buzzed round my visitors in clouds
incommoding them so greatly that, after two or

259

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

three ineffectual attempts to drive them off, they
had to sit, during the remainder of their stay, with
their heads and shoulders shrouded in their lave-
laps.

After they had been with me for some time
an infant started to cry lustily, to my great
surprise, for I had seen no signs of a baby up till
then, nor had any mention been made of one. I
suppose I looked the astonishment I felt, for they
all began to laugh, and the chief wife rose, unrolled
her outer lavelap, and after a further unwrapping
of shawls, produced a fine, healthy child of six
weeks, or thereabouts, from a sort of sling in which
she had been carrying it between her shoulders
at the back. She then handed it to another of
the wives, who suckled it, so I suppose she
was the mother. Then, when it had had its
fill, it was passed on to yet a third woman
not the chief wife who wrapped it up as before,
and slung it behind her back under her lave-
lap.

In order to amuse and entertain them, I showed
them my European clothes and jewellery. The
former interested them greatly, but my rings and
bracelets did not appear to impress them. They
seemed to consider them too small and trivial to
be of any particular value. They themselves wore
numbers of very large and heavy silver bangles
and finger and thumb rings, together with massive
gold brooches of native workmanship and design.
That evening, on their return, they sent me food

260

Photo by Miss M. Gthrts

A COUPLE OF YOUNG "SUPERS"

A STUDY IN WHITE AND BLACK

Scene from a native drama being acted for the cinema.

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

of their own cooking. It was, however, so terribly
peppered that a single spoonful brought the tears
to my eyes and nearly choked me ; so I gave it to
my boys, who devoured it greedily, smacking their
lips over it with many grunts and gurgles of ecstatic
approval.

During our stay at Bassari, Herr von Parpart,
District-Commissioner of Sokode, arrived with his
escort. They had ridden the whole distance from
Sokode to Bassari, about forty miles, in the one
day, a truly wonderful performance considering
the roads they had to traverse, of which more anon.
As a result of their journey, Parpart was somewhat
tired, so I did not see him that night, and the
following morning very early he was up and away
to Banjeli before I rose. I was rather disappointed
at being unable to make his acquaintance, but as
it turned out, it was only a pleasure deferred, for
we were destined to see a good deal of him later on
during our stay at Sokode.

It was at Bassari one evening, on returning
from our ride, that I first heard close up, and was
able to observe, the curious death wailing and
other ceremonious celebrations precedent to a
native funeral, concerning which I shall have more
to say presently. I had frequently, when on my
travels, heard these same weird sounds afar off, but
on this occasion I was brought into actual contact
with them, and the result was an almost painful
shock to my nervous system. The wailing and
lamentation emanated from the compound occupied

261

IN A MOUNTAIN COUNTRY

by the native soldiers attached to the station, and,
on inquiring, I found that they were mourning for
a little child who had died that day, a baby of
about two weeks.

262

CHAPTER XVIII

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

I HAVE entitled the following chapter "A
Woman Palaver," and this it is no more.
Men may skip it, if they like. Women, I
venture to think; will find it interesting. In what
I have set down there is, I suppose, little that is
of real ethnographical or anthropological value.
Nevertheless, the facts were obtained at first hand,
and are the result of many long and confidential
talks with the women of many diverse native tribes,
and of my own observations and deductions, taken
and recorded on the spot. The latter portion of
the chapter, dealing with caravan life and cookery
from a white woman's point of view, I have been
led to insert in the hope, which I believe to be well
founded, that it may serve a useful purpose in
the case of any other woman who may in future
visit the West African hinterland under cir-
cumstances similar to those in which I found
myself.

Marriage, and its natural corollary, the bearing
and rearing of children, constitute the main fea-
tures in a native woman's life ; indeed, marriage
may be said to be the pivotal point, as it were;
round which all else revolves. Broadly speaking,
it is, as amongst mosj: primitive peoples, a matter

263

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

of barter, of sale and exchange. Girls are mar-
ketable commodities, just as are cattle, or goats,
or fowls, and are, in fact, interchangeable, a wife
being bought by so many of one or the other, or
by so much salt, or coined money, as the case
may be.

Frequently, instead of buying a wife outright,
the prospective husband will work for her, exchang-
ing in fact his labour against her value with his
prospective father-in-law. In this way a man can
obtain a wife, or wives, without any capital outlay
whatever, and for this reason the plan is much
favoured by the younger and more impecunious
natives. Those who are older and better off
naturally prefer to pay cash on the nail, or its
equivalent.

Girls are frequently bought by far-seeing natives
as soon as they are born, and are then considered
as betrothed from birth. The price of such is
naturally much less than when they are adult, or
approaching adolescence, for obviously the child
may die before attaining to marriageable age. A
girl so betrothed is supposed to keep herself chaste ;
but an unbetrothed girl is free by native law to
indulge her sexual appetite as she pleases. If a
child is born out of wedlock, however, it is not
necessarily considered to belong to the mother.
On the contrary, the reputed father has the first
claim to it by tribal law; but he must claim it
directly it is born, and if the girl disputes his claim,
he must make it good by evidence that will satisfy
the chief, or the village elders, as the case may be.

264

A WOMAN " PALAVER^'

If he fails, then the child is retained by the mother,
and goes with her to the man who eventually
marries her, and who becomes a father to it. As a
rule, the fact of a woman having previously given
birth to one or more children, is no bar to matri-
mony. Indeed, the native husband seems rather
to prefer it so, for reasons into which I need not
enter.

Marriage customs vary widely amongst the
different tribes. The semi- wild Tschokossi people
of the far north, for instance, seem to have, so far
as I could discover, no wedding ceremonies what-
ever of a fixed settled character, although the
occasion is always made one of feasting and re-
joicing. The Tschaudjo, on the other hand, who
profess Mohammedanism and are by comparison
civilised, possess a very elaborate series of marriage
rites, which is strictly adhered to. Those prece-
dent to the actual ceremony, however, are secret,
and strangers are jealously excluded from any
participation in them, nor may they be present
even as spectators.

One such wedding took place while I was at
Paratau, but although I tried to gain permission
to see the thing from start to finish, I was unable
to. I gathered, however, that the principal
feature of the initial proceedings, so far as the
bride was concerned, consisted in a sort of very
rough washing and massaging of her whole body,
lasting throughout the entire night immediately
preceding the actual day of the wedding. This
operation took place in a hut set apart for the

265

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

purpose, the poor bride being rubbed and scrubbed
vigorously by relays of village women armed with
pieces of porous stone, like pumice, and rough
wooden brushes or scrapers, shaped like hair-
brushes, but minus the bristles. The ordeal, which
lasted practically from dusk till dawn, must have
been a pretty unpleasant one, judging from the
shrieks and yells that came from the interior of the
hut where it was being carried out. At the same
time other women were engaged in buffeting and
harrying the bridegroom ; although the treatment
meted out to him, I was informed, was nothing like
so violent or painful as that which the bride had
to endure.

However, the latter looked, I am bound to
say, none the worse when, next day, dressed all in
white from head to foot, she took her place with
her prospective husband in the bridal procession.
Both were mounted on fine horses the Tschaudjo,
as I have already explained, are splendid horse-
men and were escorted by multitudes of people,
shouting and firing guns, to the mosque, where the
actual ceremony was performed in accordance with
the Mohammedan law. The day's proceedings
culminated in a feast, after which husband and
wife were escorted to their hut by practically all
the married women in the neighbourhood, who
remained outside all through the night, yelling at
the top of their voices, singing, capering, and
beating drums.

Every native wife, it may be mentioned, is
entitled by tribal law to her own separate hut, no

266

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

matter how many other wives her husband may
possess, and she can also lay claim to an equal
share of his society and attentions, the rule being
for him to stay with each of his women for five
days and nights together in regular rotation.
Thus, in the case of a well-to-do native possessing
eight wives, a favourite number amongst those
who can afford it, it takes him exactly forty days
to " go the rounds," so to speak. As I have
already intimated, native women do not resent
polygamy in the least ; and on the whole they
seem happy and contented. They take, too, con-
siderable pride in their personal appearance ; and
they are, speaking generally, far cleaner in their
personal habits than are the men. This is largely
due, no doubt, to the fact that they bathe two or
even three times a day, when going down to the
river for water. The men usually bathe once a
day, in the evening, and then it is invariably a
warm bath, the water for which is carried and
heated for them by the women. This, however,
does not apply to some of the remote pagan tribes,
whose habits are filthy. Practically all the women
I came across spend a lot of time and trouble over
dressing their hair, with the exception of the
Konkombwa, who, as already related, crop their
wool quite close. They are also very fond of
cleaning their teeth, using little pointed sticks of
soft wood, which they are everlastingly twiddling
in their mouths with their fingers as they go
to and fro for the morning and evening water.
Soap they manufacture themselves in little black

267

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

balls about the bigness of a golf ball, and
very good soap it is, giving a soft and abundant
lather.

The savage woman looks forward to the ordeal
of childbirth with none of those fears and mis-
givings that so frequently beset her civilised sister.
To her, indeed, it can scarcely be counted an ordeal.
She is, as a rule, a perfectly healthy female animal,
and her strong, supple body has never been com-
pressed by corsets, or had its natural growth and
development hindered by tight-fitting skirts, heavy
" tailor-made " costumes, and other similar sar-
torial abominations. Every woman, too, has re-
ceived during her early girlhood, and quite as a
matter of course, a training in midwifery ; but of
this I shall have more to say presently.

Assuming the birth to take place at home, and
in her own village, which, however, by no means
always happens, she is taken in hand by her female
friends and relations when the critical moment
arrives, and as a general rule all is over in two
hours or thereabouts, and the mother is frequently
up and about again an hour or so later. They are
as a rule, skilful and careful midwives, with two
exceptions. The umbilical cord is nearly always
severed in an exceedingly primitive, not to say
rough and ready, fashion, leaving a disfiguring
protuberance, which in after life, amongst peoples
who almost invariably go nude, or nearly so, is
unpleasantly noticeable. The other exception has
to do with the observance of a proper degree of
cleanliness on the part of the mother, and those

268

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

attendant on her, which is largely lacking, On
the other hand, the new-born baby is always well
looked after, being given a warm bath directly
after it first enters the world, and otherwise care-
fully tended.

When, as not infrequently happens, the birth
takes place while the woman is on a journey, or
at work in the fields, the mother does not allow
the incident to unduly distress her. She is quite
capable of looking after herself in her " trouble,"
and does so, much as do the wild bush animals
amongst whom she lives, and from whom she has
learnt and adopted many practices. In such an
eventuality she simply rests for an hour or two,
or perhaps three at the outside, then wraps the
baby in her lavelap, bunches it in a heap behind
her back between the shoulders, and goes on with
her work or resumes her journey, as though nothing
untoward had happened. Nor does she appear to
suffer any after ill-effects ; although that is not to
say that they do not result. And this is where
white women in Africa might do a lot of good on
lines similar to those achieved by the Zenana
missions in India ; teaching the native mothers,
that is to say, the importance of personal hygiene
at this critical time, of obstetric cleanliness ; and
likewise impressing upon native husbands this is
vital the necessity of permitting women with
new-born babies to be released for a time from
their hard domestic duties.

The native mother suckles her child for from
three to four years, during which time she separates

269

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

herself entirely from her husband, who has, almost
perforce, to take to himself another wife, assuming
him to be still a monogamist. One reason for this
custom, no doubt, is that the ordinary native food
is not sufficiently sustaining for a very young child,
or rather it cannot assimilate enough of it, because
its little stomach is not big enough to hold a suffi-
cient quantity. The poor little mite does its best,
and is assisted thereto by its mother, who practises
regularly upon it a system of forcible feeding of so
drastic and unpleasant a nature as would, I should
imagine, quickly break down the resolution of even
the most stubborn of suffragettes.

The thick millet gruel, or thin porridge, called
fu-fu, which is the staple diet of the Togoland
negro, is simply poured and crammed down its
little throat whenever feeding-time comes round,
giving rise to the peculiar pot-bellied appearance
so noticeable in all native children. One result of
this lengthy suckling, coupled with an insufficiency
of any other sort of nourishing food, is a very high
rate of infantile mortality. The mother gets care-
less as time goes on, does not properly attend to
the cleanliness of her nipples, is guilty herself of all
sorts of imprudences of diet, with the result that
the youngster sickens and dies.

The negro baby at birth is not black. It is
either white, or of a very light yellowish colour;
but this gradually darkens, until by the time it is
a month old, it has assumed a chocolate tint, which
afterwards deepens rapidly to the ordinary jet-
black of the full-blooded negro. Another peculiarity

270

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

I noticed, in the new-born native baby, is its long,
straight hair. This, however, rapidly falls out, to
be replaced in due course by the well-known thick
woolly thatch that does duty for hair on the
cranium of the African adult native.

African children learn to walk at a later age
than do European children. This is probably due
to the fact that they have, comparatively speaking,
very little practice. As soon as the youngster is
born it is taken to the local ju-ju man, who bestows
upon it, for a consideration, certain charms, or
fetishes a small piece of bone, a fragment of wood,
or a bit of glass, say. These are carefully placed
in the middle of different-sized strings of beads,
which are then made into bracelets for its wrists,
into anklets for its legs, and into a waist-belt. So
long as it wears these, which it does constantly, it
is supposed to be secure from the influence of the
evil eye. But in order to make assurance doubly
sure, the mother rarely lets the little one out of
her sight. She carries it about with her constantly
on her back, shrouded in her lavelap, from the
folds of which, in the case of a very young child,
not even the head protrudes. This method of
carrying the child is rendered easier, owing to the
fact that all native women wear round their waists
big bead belts, drawn quite tight with a view to
making their hips look larger and more prominent;
a greatly admired feature. Into these belts the
lower edge of the head lavelap is tucked, affording
a comfortable support to baby.

As soon as it does begin to toddle, however, it

271

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

is, assuming it to be a girl, given a tiny calabash,
and taught to balance it, filled with water, upon
its little head. From now on it becomes a useful
unit in the tribal, or village, organisation. It
accompanies its mother regularly to the river
when she goes with the other women to get water ;
is taught to sweep out the hut with a little broom,
to prepare fu-fu 9 is taken into the forest and in-
structed what herbs and wild vegetables are good
for food, and which must be avoided. In short,
the child is trained in the ordinary domestic and
other duties that fall to the lot of the average
native woman.

At about the age of ten or twelve, assuming
her parents are able to afford the expense, the
little girl undergoes an extraordinary ordeal, gene-
rally referred to euphemistically as being " sent
into the bush." This means that she quits her
home and her parents, and is placed in charge of
a fetish woman, who leads her away to a hut, or
rather a collection of huts, in the forest, far from
the habitations of men. Here is a very important
personage, a " mammy," generally referred to as
the " Women's Queen," and under her care and
tuition, and that of her assistant fetish women,
the little girl remains for a period varying from
two to five or six months, or even longer.

During this period she receives instruction in
the art and practice of midwifery, and has to
undergo the painful, and to our minds revolting,
operation of introcision, corresponding to the rite
of circumcision, to which her brothers, if she has

272

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

any, are called upon to submit themselves at about
the same age. This much is known ; but what
other practices are carried on in these women's
fetish groves cannot be told. No man may ap-
proach anywhere near any of them under penalty
of instant death, and the women's lips are sealed
regarding them. Even to their husbands, it is
said, they dare not speak concerning them, nor to
any uninitiated women. I made several attempts
to get them to tell me personally something con-
cerning the matter, but without result. At Atak-
pame I made the acquaintance of one of these
" women's queens," a charming old pagan, rejoic-
ing in the very Christianlike name of Maria. She
bore herself with the dignity of the abbess of a
cloister, as indeed in a sense she was, and she had
the smallest and most beautifully formed hands,
wrists, and ankles I ever beheld in a negress. She
was most affable and courteous, and I tried hard
to get her to tell me something of herself and her
work. Beyond, however, telling me that her high
office was hereditary, her mother, grandmother,
and great - grandmother having held it before
her, and that she "taught the girls for their
good," she would vouchsafe me no information
whatever.

One thing, however, is certain ; the woman
who, either owing to the poverty of her parents
or from any cause, has not been " sent into the
bush " as a girl, is looked down upon as an inferior
by all the other women of her tribe. So much is
this so, that women of twenty, or even thirty years

273 s

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

of age, who have been long married, and perhaps
borne two or three children, are not infrequently
handed over to the fetish women by their hus-
bands, who themselves pay the initiation fees,
in order that the stigma may be removed from
them.

The status of married women amongst the West
African native tribes varies widely. Among the
pagan Tschokossi of the extreme north, the wife is
a chattel and a beast of burden, and her condition
is very little, if any, better than that of a domestic
slave. The Tschaudjo woman, on the other hand,
is a household queen, lording it over everybody,
including her husband, who must yield implicit
obedience to her lightest whim. In between these
two extremes come the great mass of the native
women, who are drudges certainly, but willing
drudges, and with their rights and privileges well
defined and carefully guarded by tribal law and
custom. Probably they are neither better nor
worse off, according to their lights, than the ma-
jority of working wives elsewhere. Certainly, they
appear to be happy and contented ; conjugal
quarrels are comparatively rare ; and poverty, as
we understand the term in Europe, is practically
unknown. The worst off are the widows, who are
usually looked down upon and disregarded, although
there are plentiful exceptions to this general rule.
In the old days the wives of a chief, or other big
man, were buried with him ; their legs and arms
being first broken with a heavy club, after which
they were thrown, still breathing, into the open

274

A WOMAN -PALAVER'

grave. But these barbarous practices have now
been, to all intents and purposes, done away with ;
and now the widow simply shaves her head, and
wears a white bandage round her forehead, as signs
of mourning. On the man's grave are placed
broken guns, bows, arrows, and so forth ; on the
woman's are calabashes and cooking-pots, also
broken, and in each case there are supplies of food
to enable the dead person to subsist during his or
her long journey to the supposedly far-away land
of shades.

The cultivating, gathering, and preparation of
food constitutes the most important part of the
native wife's duties, as it does, I suppose, amongst
all primitive peoples. Native cooking may be
almost entirely summed up in one word porridge.
This, however, is not made altogether of meal or
flour, but is mixed with herbs and wild vegetables,
and is invariably so highly seasoned with native
pepper, derived from the wild pepper plant, as to
be uneatable by Europeans.

For this reason, if for no other, one is obliged
to carefully superintend one's own cooking when
on trek. The ordinary native cook will put pepper
into all dishes, if he is not carefully watched, and
he uses the pepper-pot with no sparing hand. The
matter of superintendence and oversight of the
culinary department fell to my lot all the time
we were on our travels. All our provisions were
carried with us up country from Atakpame in old
kerosene tins, which a native artisan had previously
fitted with hinged lids and locks and keys. These

275

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

tins, carefully cleansed from all smell or taint of
oil, constitute the very best receptacles possible for
the conveyance of perishable commodities, as they
are white-ant proof and weather-proof.

Each box, as I have previously explained, held
a little of everything, and I entered in my store
book before starting the contents of each. In this
way it was easy at any time to get at any parti-
cular article, and I was able to check any tendency
to extravagance on the part of our cook ; a most
necessary precaution when dealing with natives.

Cooking in the bush, I need hardly say, is a
very different thing from cooking at home. Largely
it is carried out in the open ; or at best in a small
low hut, with little or no ventilation, and of course
minus a chimney. In this latter case, as there is,
of course, no outlet for the smoke, the mistress -
in this case myself usually finds it impossible to
remain in her " kitchen " for more than a minute
or so at a time, and the superintendence of the
preparation of a meal resolves itself into a succes-
sion of dashes in and out mostly out and a con-
tinuous rubbing and wiping of smarting eyeballs.

One thing I never dared trust to the cook, and
that was the boiling of the water ; not only that
used for drinking, but also that for washing up in,
and for our personal ablutions. It all had to be
boiled for a full ten minutes by my watch, and
always under my personal supervision. This was
done outside the hut on a special stove, but the
operation was only carried out systematically and
regularly by means of constant pertinacity and

276

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

insistence on my part, to which Messa, our cook,
was wont continuously to oppose as great a measure
of passive resistance as he dared. The one objec-
tion to boiled water is that, to quote Artemus
Ward's dictum anent " biled crow," it " ain't nice."
Its taste is about as insipid as it is possible to con-
ceive, and a prolonged course of it as a beverage
is unthinkable. Consequently we drank tea when
on trek almost entirely ; either hot or cold, and
flavoured with limes.

Barring his rooted objection to boiling water,
and his undue predilection for the pepper-pot,
traits which, I am given to understand, he shared
with all native servants, Messa was a good cook.
He could dish up a fowl so that it looked and tasted
like anything but a fowl ; an invaluable attribute
in a cook in a country where a surfeit of fowls, as
fowls, is so quickly and invariably produced. He
used to buy for a penny a bone as big as a small
log of wood from the villagers, split it open, and
serve us delicious marrow on toast. His soups,
made out of the most unpromising materials he
used to give us one kind the basis of which was
burnt monkey-nuts that was a gastronomic dream
were simply delicious.

His great fault was that he would use tinned
stuff whenever possible, even when other fresh food
of the same kind was available. For instance, we
had amongst other canned vegetables several tins
of spinach, of which we were all very fond. Only
when it was all gone did I discover that spinach
of a most delicious quality far better than the

277

A WOMAN " PALAVER"

tinned grew wild in the bush all along our line of
route.

The greatest luxury in the vegetable line up in
the bush is the ordinary potato, which cannot be
got to grow anywhere in Togo. We had brought
one load, 60 lb., up country with us ; and when
we wanted to give anybody an extra special treat,
we would cook them a few potatoes. I remember
on one occasion, on our way up, asking our good
friend Mr. Kuepers, the schoolmaster at Sokode,
to breakfast with us at Paratau, where we were
living, the distance between the two places being
about three miles. He demurred somewhat, seek-
ing excuses, for to come meant an early rise and
an early ride. But when I told him that we had
got eggs and bacon, and European fresh potatoes,
he agreed to come like a shot. Our great ambition
was to take some of the potatoes on to Mangu,
and we did succeed, by exercising considerable self-
denial, in saving about 15 lb. Then, to our grief
and consternation, they began suddenly to go bad.
Each morning Messa would sort them carefully
out, laying them to dry in the sun, and bringing
the black ones to me, saying, with a sorrowful face :
" Little mother, four more or six or seven as the
case might be potatoes gone bad." Eventually,
by bestowing upon those remaining as much devoted
care and attention as a fond mother does to her
new-born babe, or a dog fancier on a litter of pedi-
gree puppies, we got enough good ones into Mangu
to give each European there three for his Christmas
dinner. Yams, which are the native equivalent to

278

A WOMAN "PALAVER"

our potatoes, I did not like at all at first ; but
in the end, mashed and served with butter, I grew
to find them at least palatable. Our tinned butter,
by the way, became after a while of the consistency
of oil, from the constant jolting on the carrier's
heads, and could only be used for cooking. The
tinned bacon was the best of the canned provisions,
keeping good and sweet to the last. It was, how-
ever, very expensive, costing 4s. 8d. a pound tin.
Native eggs were everywhere plentiful and cheap,
costing about a shilling the hundred. They are
small, but nice tasting. Fruit, too, was plentiful,
especially bananas, of which Messa used to make
all sorts of tasty dishes. But when I wanted to
give the men a real treat, I used to prepare for
them a special Hamburg dish, consisting of dried
apples and plums, boiled with bacon and little suet
dumplings.

279

CHAPTER XIX

BACK IN SOKODE

first stage of our journey to Malfakasa,
the half-way house, so to speak, between

"" Bassari and Sokode, led us down to the
Kamaa River along a beautiful, well-kept road,
planted on either side with mango trees. The
Kamaa in the dry season is, like most West African
rivers, practically without water ; but during the
rainy season it is frequently quite unfordable, and
many a poor native, I was informed, has lost his
life in its treacherous whirlpools, while attempting
a crossing that looks perhaps easy, but is in reality
excessively dangerous.

To us, of course, the crossing presented no
difficulty. The road on the far side of the river,
too, though rocky, is fairly good, undulating up
and down, and twining in and out amongst an
open bush country until the foot of the Malfakasa
Mountain is reached. Then commences a fearful
climb of about two hours' duration. For the
greater part of the way riding was out of the ques-
tion. We had to lead our horses, clambering
painfully up slippery slopes, dragging them after
us, often threading our way between huge boulders

280

BACK IN SOKODE

where there was hardly room for them to pass.
Arrived at the top of the shoulder of the mountain,
we had to go along the ridge for about half an hour,
then followed an exceedingly steep, well-nigh per-
pendicular descent of about two hundred feet, to
the almost dry boulder-strewn bed of a small
stream ; and out of which a corresponding though
not so steep rise led up to a little plateau where
the rest-house is situated.

From here a lovely view is obtained over the
whole surrounding country, reminding me some-
what of that seen from our old house at Aledjo.
The round huts, too, were very clean and com-
fortable ; but, owing to lack of room on the tiny
plateau, they are situated rather too close to the
native compound and songu, whence the smell of
cooking, and other even more potent odours, was
wafted in a manner more pronounced than pleasant.
I noticed this the more on account of a splitting
headache from which I suffered, due no doubt to
the heat and the hardships of the ascent. I was,
too, exceedingly tired ; so for the last time I
rolled myself in my horse-rug, with my saddle
for a pillow, and despite the pain from my
throbbing temples, was soon lost in blissful uncon-
sciousness.

I awoke feeling almost my old self, and able to
properly appreciate the magnificent scenery that
surrounded us on all sides. One needs to spend, as
I had done, two or three months traversing the
brown sun-baked veldt of the northern Togoland

281

BACK IN SOKODE

Sudan, in order to fully enjoy the sight of these
verdure-clad mountains. Here one seemed alone
with Nature, and with Nature's God. There was
no village near, only a few resident negroes to
look after the rest-house for European travellers,
and its native equivalent, the songu. To right and
left, in front and behind, wherever the eye ranged,
it rested on a wilderness of wild mountain country,
peak on peak jumbled together in chaotic, yet
magnificent confusion. To the north was the
outstanding mass of Tabalo Mountain, where is
situated a curious village, called by the natives
Uro-Ganede-Bo, which means " The-Place-where-the
Crown-Prince-is-educated." Here, in the olden
days of Togo native history, the eldest son of the
reigning Uro, or king, of Paratau, lived alone with
his tutors, who instructed him in the arts of war
and of peace, and in the duties appertaining to a
native ruler. The place, I was informed, is prac-
tically impregnable to attack from a native army,
no matter how large, and even a European force
would find it a hard nut to crack. Here, in this
mountain fortress, the young prince remained closely
secluded until he came of age, and even afterwards
he was only permitted to pay an occasional brief,
flying visit to Paratau, never permanently leaving
his rocky retreat until such time as his father, the
old Uro, died, and he was called down with much
ceremony, and the beating of many drums, to
reign in his stead.

We are now looking forward eagerly to a return

282

BACK IN SOKODE

to civilisation. At Sokode, our next stage, we are
in touch with the telegraph once more, and there
are rumours that a big motor car has been put
upon the road since we have been away, and is
available for the journey down to the rail-head at
Atakpame. It is time we emerged from the wilder-
ness, for our stock of provisions is beginning to
give out. Here at Malfakasa we opened our last
tin of condensed milk. The last of our coffee and
butter we used before reaching Bassari. Our table
salt gave out long previously, and we have had to
make shift with the coarse native article, carefully
sifted.

The country round here is the home of a curious
little bush fowl, which looks exactly like an English
bantam. We used to see them running alongside
the road on our way up, and when I first caught
sight of one I called out to Schomburgk : " Hullo !
We must be nearing a village. Here's a chicken
straying about the track." Later on I learnt that
they were wild birds, and indigenous to the moun-
tain regions of West Africa.

Malfakasa means " Long Gun " ; malfa gun,
and kasa long ; and the story goes that it derived
its name from a famous outlaw who, many years
ago, used to sit up here with a gun and rob the
caravans, and levy blackmail on such solitary
travellers as desired to pass. Of course I cannot
vouch for the truth of this yarn, which is in the
nature of a native tradition, but it seems to me
that it is very likely to be true. Anyhow, it

283

BACK IN SOKODE

is difficult to conceive a better place for a
robber stronghold than this rocky, isolated
peak, with its steep, tortuous, boulder - strewn
approaches.

After resting the usual part of a day and a
night at Malfakasa, we set out for Sokode very
early the next morning, the conversation during
the first part of the journey turning almost en-
tirely on whether we should be able to secure the
motor car of which we had heard, to take us down
to Atakpame. If this is available, and native
rumours crystallize as to its existence, at all events,
the nearer we get to Sokode, then we shall be able
to accomplish in one day what otherwise will take
us seven. Moreover, just south of Sokode one
enters the tsetse-fly belt, which extends downwards
as far as a point above twenty-five miles north of
Lome ; so if we cannot get the car, we must either
travel by hammock and bicycle, or else ride our
horses down after dark, as these animals cannot,
of course, be taken through a fly-infested area in
the daytime.

The view on the road leading down from Malfa-
kasa is fully as beautiful and picturesque as that
leading up to it from the north. On quitting the
plateau, one sees far away to the north-east the
Sudu Mountains, and in between the great level
Tim plain. This plain, or steppe, got its name in
rather a curious way. Mostly the various dis-
tricts, or areas of country, in West Africa take
their names from the tribes inhabiting them.

284

BACK IN SOKODE

Thus, one speaks of the Konkombwa country, the
Gourma country, and so on. Now the Tim plain
is inhabited by our old friends the Tschaudjo, who,
as I have previously explained, came riding on
horses from the north, conquering or driving out
the aborigines before them, and harrying the
country with fire and sword. The invaders were
called by the original inhabitants of the soil
Kotokoli, which means " warriors " or " robbers,"
the two terms being interchangeable, and, amongst
primitive peoples, frequently identical ; and the
strange, barbaric "lingo" they spoke strange
and barbaric that is to say to the peaceful abori-
gineswas dubbed by them " tim." When they
took possession of the plain, and settled there,
the neighbouring tribes no longer cared, perhaps
no longer dared, to call them by the opprobrious
name of Kotokoli (robbers), and so they used to
refer to them as the folk who spoke " tim," and in
time this became a general term for the country
inhabited by them. It is perhaps the only instance
in West Africa of a land being named after a
language, and not after a people.

After a not unpleasant and interesting twenty-
mile ride, we at length reached Sokode, where the
District Commissioner, Herr von Parpart, being
still absent, we made a bee-line for the post office.
Here we found a huge mail awaiting us, and many
cablegrams. We soon set the wires humming in
return ; in fact, we indulged in a regular telegraphic
orgie : after which we went over to the house of

285

BACK IN SOKODE

our old friend Mr. Kuepers, the Government school-
master at the station, from whom we received a
most hearty and hospitable welcome. We also
heard from him full particulars concerning the
motor car, about the very existence of which up
till now we had been more or less doubtful. It
was, he told us, a big and powerful automobile,
capable not only of carrying our entire party, but
also of transporting our personal luggage, leaving
only the heavy baggage to be carried by man
transport. It had been put on the road by the
Togo Company, and was now at Atakpame, whence
it could be summoned by telegraph, the cost
of hiring it for the journey being ninepence per
mile.

This, of course, was splendid news, and put us
all in the best of spirits, which were further en-
hanced by the receipt of a second communication
from the Moving Picture Sales Agency in London,
saying that all the rest of the films to hand had
turned out well, and were of the highest possible
quality. That night we stayed at the rest-house
near the station, and sat up late talking of home
and friends. The one drop of bitterness in our
overflowing cup of happiness was the knowledge
that we should now have to part from our horses,
to whom we had become very much attached.
Next day, however, we received a wire from the
Hon. W. H. Grey, whom we had met on the steamer
on the outward voyage, offering to take over all
our animals, and to transport them to Accra,

286

BACK IN SOKODE

where they would be well cared for and looked
after. This, again, was very acceptable news, for
it would have caused us infinite pain and regret
to have had to sell the faithful animals, that had
carried us safely for so many hundreds of miles,
back to the natives, to be ill-treated as only a native
can ill-treat a horse, and to be tortured by the
horrible bits they habitually use. Nevertheless,
when they left that night for the coast, after a
final caress and a feed of sugar, we all felt a bit
down-hearted. I know I felt it like parting from
old friends. Schomburgk had detailed a soldier
to accompany them on the downward journey, and
had given him the strictest and most minute in-
structions as to each day's itinerary. He was
also warned on no account to permit them to travel
before nightfall, after which the dreaded tsetse-fly
sleeps. This is, of course, the insect that is respon-
sible for the fatal sleeping-sickness in man. We,
however, saw no cases of this terrible disease while
we were in Togo, although it is known to exist there
and according to some accounts is spreading. As
regards domestic animals horses, oxen, and so
forth they can be moved safely through the worst
fly-belts if proper care be taken. They must be
shut up in a hut during the daytime, and for pre-
ference in a hut situated in or near a village, since
the tsetse invariably shuns the habitations of man,
preferring to live out its life in the low, unhealthy
localities it most frequents, near to water, stagnant
if possible, and with plenty of thick tropical under-

287

BACK IN SOKODE

growth wherein it can breed and take refuge from
its many enemies.

We stayed five days in Sokode, paying visits,
resting from the fatigue of our long journey, and
generally enjoying ourselves. Amongst other not-
able people we called upon, was the Mallam of
Dedaure. " Mallam," I perhaps ought to explain,
meant originally a priest or teacher, but the term
is now applied loosely in West Africa to any native
who, owing to his wealth or learning, has raised
himself far above the common herd. This parti-
cular Mallam struck me as being absolutely the
finest -looking native I had seen during our trip.
Tall, beautifully proportioned, with clear-cut aqui-
line features, a small well-kept beard, and always
exquisitely dressed, he would have been a striking
figure anywhere, let alone out here in the heart
of the African bush. Schomburgk said he was the
best specimen of a native he had come across any-
where in Africa, and I can quite believe him. I
imagine, though, that he is by no means a full-
blooded Togo native, but has Arab blood in his
veins, and probably a goodly proportion of it. He
was a well-educated man, and before we left he wrote
on a board in exquisite Arabic characters what he
assured me was a eulogistic account, and personal
description, of my humble self.

What impressed me most during my stay in
Sokode, however, was the splendidly-appointed
Government school, of which Mr. Kuepers is the
principal. He is assisted by several native teachers,

288

BACK IN SOKODE

and it is really wonderful to see the way in which
the scholars all boys from the bush villages
hereabouts assimilate the knowledge that is put
before them. Mr. Kuepers assured me that they
make far apter and better pupils than do European
children of a similar age. Their minds seem to be
more quick and ready to receive outside impres-
sions. It is like writing with a new pen on a per-
fectly blank sheet of paper, or sowing seed in virgin
soil. And this rapid progress they make is the
more remarkable, in view of the fact that these
little African kiddies, when they begin to attend
school, have first to be taught the German lan-
guage, or at least enough of it to enable them to
understand their lessons, to grasp the purport of
the questions asked, and to frame their answers.
Unfortunately, however, this quickness of percep-
tion, and the desire to learn, does not last beyond
a certain age. Directly the boy begins to blossom
into a man, which in this climate and amongst the
black races is somewhere between the thirteenth
and the fourteenth year, he conies to a dead stop
as it were. Restless and uneasy, he cannot be
brought to fix his mind upon his tasks, and seizes
the first opportunity to return to his native village,
where, it is to be feared, he quickly forgets most,
if not all, of what he has learnt. There are excep-
tions, of course, but this is the general rule. In
the pregnant words of one of the native teachers,
spoken with no touch of lightness, but solemnly
and even sadly : " When the young native Afri-

289 T

BACK IN SOKODE

kander begins to think about women, he thinks no
longer any more about lessons."

On one of my visits to the school, I was asked
to put some questions to the children, and I asked
a small boy of eight or thereabouts, " What is a
mouse ? " His answer, transcribed word for word
from my note-book, was as follows : " A mouse is
a small animal, with four legs, two eyes, and a thin
long tail ; on its back are brown hairs, and it has
white hairs under its stomach." The description
is incomplete, but I doubt if one English or German
child out of a hundred, of a like age, could have
given offhand as good a one. I also asked a class
generally the old, old " catch " question in mental
arithmetic of our childhood's days : " If a herring
and a half cost three-halfpence, what is the price
of eleven herrings ? " I had previously announced
that I would give a penny to every child who
answered it correctly, and that I would allow them
three minutes by my watch to think it out. It
was most interesting to watch their thoughtful,
intent little black faces, as they wrestled inwardly
with the puzzling problem. When time was called,
hardly a child but gave some sort of an answer,
many being obviously mere guess-work ; but two
of the scholars earned their pennies, and more than
earned them, for not only were their answers cor-
rect, but they explained to me how they arrived
at them.

The children are very prettily mannered. If
one meets a group of them on the road, they will

290

KONKOMBWA AT ARCHERY PRACTICE

These people are still in the bow-and-arrow stage of martial evolution ; nor are the bows they use
remarkable for power or strength of construction. Their arrows, however, are invariably
poisoned, and the slightest scratch from one means death.

BACK IN SOKODE

line up, stand rigidly to attention, and give one
a smiling " Good morning." If, as frequently
happens, one comes across them seated by a stream,
and repeating their lessons together in the sort of
a sing-song chorus they greatly affect, the same
thing happens. Of course, however, these children
are picked children. Only a certain number are
taken from each village, and not above a certain
number in all. At present the sum total for whom
accommodation is available is about one hundred ;
but new school buildings are being erected ; then
the classes will be very largely augmented. The
children are taken entire charge of by the Govern-
ment during the time they are at school. A small
daily sum is allowed each child for food and lodging,
this being handed over pro rota to certain approved
native women living in the village, who undertake
in return to board and sleep so many of them.
Each child is also given by the Government a little
blue smock, and books, slates, pencils, and so forth
are of course provided free.

On the evening before the day we had fixed
for our departure, Herr von Parpart asked us to
dinner. This gentleman, by the way, was not at
Sokode when we were here on our upward journey.
If he had been, we certainly should not have stayed
at Paratau. He is a most courteous, considerate
man, who radiates energy, kindness, and good-
nature ; altogether a splendid example of the best
type of German official. At the dinner-party were
a Mr. and Mrs. Dehn, who were going up to Bassari

291

BACK IN SOKODE

to relieve Mr. Mucke, who was going home on
leave. It follows, therefore, that she will be
the second white woman in Togoland north of
Sokode.

Prior to going in to dinner, we were seated out-
side the house on a little hillock, the top of which
had been artificially flattened, chatting together
and enjoying the cool evening air. It was a dark
night, with very little moonlight. Suddenly, from
a grove behind us, came the sound of children's
voices singing an old German part-song. It was
a choir of Mr. Kuepers' little scholars, and the
musical treat had been arranged by him in our
honour. I never heard anything more beautiful ;
or, under the circumstances, more affecting. Song
after song of our childhood's days the young
choristers reeled forth. Mrs. Dehn, who had only
recently come out, started to use her handkerchief ;
and I think I should shortly have followed suit,
had not our host come up at the crucial moment
and led me into dinner.

The meal was a grand success, reminding me
of the one Baron Codelli had treated us to on our
arrival at Kamina from the coast six months pre-
viously. There was the same beautifully arranged
table, the same sheen of damask and glitter of
silver, the same noiseless, trained service, the same
carefully chosen and perfectly cooked food. Every-
body was in the highest spirits, and I enjoyed myself
immensely. We sat late, and should have sat later
at our host's urgent invitation, only that the motor-

292

BACK IN SOKODE

car had arrived that day from Atakpame, and we
were due to start early in the morning. It seemed
strange, by the way, to find my hammock thought-
fully provided by my kind host waiting at the door
to take me home, in the same way as the electric
brougham belonging to the house waits at home
to whisk away the late-departing guest.

We had told our boys to call us at 5 A.M., but
I confess that, for my part, it required no small
effort of will to induce me to rise and dress. Out
in the bush one is not used to dissipation. I wished
now that I had refused that last half glass of cham-
pagne, or had dispensed with the liqueur. I will
say no more.

Outside, the cold morning air acted as a tonic.
There was the big car, panting to be off. It held
seven people comfortably, and our ten boxes. Soon
we were speeding along our homeward road, and
my spirits rose with each succeeding mile. It was
grand to fly along down the route up which we had
toiled so slowly, to cover in an hour a stage that
had taken us a whole day to traverse on cycles
or by hammock. At Djabotaure, however, there
came a sudden halt. Our left-hand hind wheel
tyre burst with a loud report, and my heart sank
within me at the prospect of being stranded here
in this desolate spot, two days by carriers from
Sokode and five from Atakpame. Luckily we
carried a spare tyre, but it was a non-skidder,
and from now on our driver had to be very
careful.

293

BACK IN SOKODE

The road in the Sokode district was perfect,
that in the Atakpame district was not quite so
good ; and we were all more or less anxious, for
we carried no more spare tyres, and another break-
down would have meant several days' delay. The
bridges of planks, covered in some instances with
clay, were negotiated in fear and trembling, for
they had, of course, not been constructed for heavy
motor traffic, and our big car, with its load, weighed
a good bit over a ton. The natives we met seemed
greatly interested in the new machine, which had
not yet lost its novelty for them, and stood gaping
after it much as the rustics used to do in Europe,
I am told, when motor-cars first began to be used
there. One big negro varied the ordinary pro-
ceeding by standing facing the car in the middle
of the road, and backed as we approached, at the
same time edging sideways. As a result he tumbled
over backwards into a ditch, and the last I saw of
him, as we sped by, was a pair of big flat feet pro-
jecting upwards, and waving wildly from the side
of the road.

We overtook our horses at a village en route,
and paused to see that our instructions were being
properly carried out. At Blita, too, we stopped
for breakfast, selecting this particular rest-house
because it is the only one between Sokode and
Atakpame that boasts a table. Here we used up
absolutely the last of our provisions, and I re-
member thinking to myself that if a breakdown
were to occur now, we should not only be subject

294

BACK IN SOKODE

to an irritating and vexatious delay, but that we
should probably go hungry into the bargain. How-
ever, nothing happened ; mechanism and tyres
both held ; and shortly after noon we rolled into
Atakpame, and thence to Kamina.

295

CHAPTER XX

KAMINA LOME HOME

WE were expected in Kamina by our old friend
Baron Codelli von Fahnenfeld, and by the
baroness, his wife, a young woman of about
my own age, whom he had recently brought out
from Europe, a new-wed bride, to share his home
and fortunes in this out-of-the-way corner of the
German colonial empire.

All the week long I had been looking forward
to this meeting with the wife of one of my best
friends, and picturing it in the rosiest colours. We
should have so much to say to each other, I said
to myself, for I had been so long cut off from all
association with my own sex the meeting with
Mrs. Dehn at Sokode being only a casual one
that I was simply dying for a good long chat about
well, about the things women love to talk of.
Yet now, when the hour had come for our mutual
introduction, I felt a strange kind of bashfulness
creep over me. I had been so long in the bush,
practically cut off from civilised society. True, I
had met a few men. But then men friends and
acquaintances are so different from women friends
and acquaintances. They are less critical ; more
apt to take one at one's own valuation.

296

KAMINA LOME HOME

Shall I like her ? What is she like ? Shall we
get on together ? The questions one woman al-
ways asks herself of another woman whom she
hopes to favourably impress, surged uppermost.
But my doubts and fears were quickly dispelled.
A tall, graceful girl, golden-haired and blue-eyed,
advanced towards me with hands outstretched in
warm welcome. Soon we were deep in an earnest,
animated conversation ; she asking all sorts of
questions about the " back of the beyond " of the
country that was now her home ; I anxious to
hear the latest "gup" of Berlin, of Paris, of
Vienna. But there was one piece of information
that I wanted to acquire, now and at once, that
to me was all-important, and at the risk of being
thought ill-mannered, I blurted out the personal
query : " My boxes ? My treasured boxes ? What
had become of them ? "

It will be remembered that a wire had been
forwarded to us by post-runner from Mangu, telling
us of their destruction by a fire that had burned
down Baron von Codelli's house at Kamina while
he was away in Europe. Since then we had re-
ceived several more or less contradictory reports
from his employes. Some personal luggage had
been rescued from the flames, we were told at one
time ; at another, the rumour reached us that
everything that was on the premises when the
fire broke out had gone up in smoke. Now, to my
unbounded relief and delight, I learnt that all the
boxes containing my personal belongings were
safe ; only a few parcels containing hats, lingerie,

297

KAMINA LOME HOME

and comparatively valueless articles of personal
apparel, had been burned.

I owed their safety, it transpired, to the efforts
of my black boy, Kabrischika, who had been with
me during our stay at Kamina on the upward
journey, and who had become very much attached
to me. It appeared that a big grass fire was burn-
ing near Kamina, and that a sudden change in the
strength and direction of the wind had sent it,
roaring and raging, straight for Codelli's house,
which was of wood, thatched with many thick-
nesses of straw for coolness. The house was un-
occupied, of course, and, it being the end of the
dry season, about as inflammable as a box of
matches. Kabrischika, quick to realise the danger,
had dashed through the flames and smoke and
lugged my boxes out of danger. He knew them,
it seemed, because they were new ; my name,
which was stamped in big letters upon each one of
them, meaning nothing to him.

We spent ten days in Kamina, recuperating,
and filming the big wireless station which Codelli
is building there, and about which I wrote in an
earlier chapter. I was amazed at the progress
which had been made during our six months'
absence. Kamina itself had changed utterly ; had
grown tremendously. Everywhere were substan-
tial stone houses ; mostly finished and ready for
occupation, some few in course of erection. The
great steel towers, and the immense power-station,
were finished, contrasting curiously with the little
wattle and straw huts that had lodged the hundreds

298

KAMINA LOME HOME

of workmen, whose labours were now nearing com-
pletion. When the dynamos and turbines are in-
stalled, which they will be by the time this book
is in print, Kamina will be able to talk direct with
Berlin, 3450 miles distant. Even during my stay
there, although messages could not yet be trans-
mitted, they could be received, and each morning
on our breakfast-table there lay a little type-
written broadsheet, our morning paper as it were,
summarising for us the news that had come through
to the station overnight. In this way we knew
what was happening in Europe, almost as quickly
as if we had been living in, say, London, or Paris,
or Berlin.

I need hardly say, however, that it is not for
such comparatively trivial purposes as these that
this powerful installation has been erected in the
heart of the wilderness. The wireless station at
Kamina is intended to be the chief receiving and
distributing centre for the whole of Africa ; so
far, that is to say, as Germany is concerned. It
will communicate with the similar but smaller
wireless station in the Cameroons, and also with
that at Windhuk in German South- West Africa, as
well as with Tabora in German East Africa. Fur-
thermore, it will in course of time constitute one of
the principal links in the chain of wireless stations
with which Germany, like Britain, is seeking to
girdle the globe ; connecting her East and West
African possessions with German New Guinea, with
Samoa, and with the German protectorate of Kiao-
Chau, in the Chinese province of Shantung, which

299

KAMINA LOME HOME

she holds from China on a ninety-nine years' lease
since January 1898.

A little railway connects Codelli's house with
the northern part of Kamina, where the receiving
station is, and we used frequently to remark, after
dinner : " Now let us go up and listen to what
they have got to say in Berlin." It was, to me at
all events, very weird and wonderful to be able to
place the receiver to my ears, and listen to sounds
having their origin at a point between three or
four thousand miles away. No words, of course,
were audible, only the short and long sounds of the
Morse code ; but I soon learnt enough to be able
to understand the purport, at all events, of what
was coming through. The signals sound very much
like musical notes a series of notes all of the same
tone and pitch played on an ordinary whistle.
This particular brand of wireless is called in German
the telefunken, meaning " sounding spark " ; and
this exactly describes it. Sounding sparks ! That
is what you are listening to.

The temporary receiving station, by the way,
is the same building that served me for a house
during our stay in Kamina on the upward journey,
six months previously. It gave me quite a shock
on my first visit to it this time, to find the little
home I had decorated and fitted up so comfortably
we rigged up our studio here, you will remember
now all bare and desolate, and filled with com-
plicated wireless instruments. Presently, I got
another kind of shock, an unpleasant one. I re-
marked to Codelli how dusty everything was, and

300

KAMINA LOME HOME

he replied quite gravely that that was so, it wanted
a woman's deft hand ; and, handing me a cloth,
he asked me if I would be so good as to wipe things
over a bit with it, while he adjusted the instruments.
At the same time he pointed to two little metal
points, saying that it was important that every
speck of dust should be removed from these if
the working was to be satisfactory. In my inno-
cence I did my best to carry out his instruc-
tions, with the result that I suffered a mild sort of
electrocution. It was merely a practical joke of
Codelli's, and not enough electricity passed through
me to hurt me, but it gave me a rare start never-
theless.

I was, as I have already said, greatly interested
in this wonderful wireless installation ; but I fear
that I was also fully as much interested trivial
though the confession must sound in a new
nickel-plated collapsible dressing-table that the
Baroness Codelli had brought with her from Berlin.
It was the first time for six months that I had been
able to see myself full length in a large mirror,
and only a woman can realise what this means to
a woman. When I was first left alone with it, I
scrutinised myself closely and anxiously, turning
this way and that, peering close and drawing back.
On the whole the inspection was eminently satis-
factory. My figure was fuller, rounder, and harder,
my face also had filled out ; otherwise, I was sur-
prised to find how slight a difference half a year's
roughing it in the wilds had made in my personal
appearance. Why, I have frequently been more

301

KAMINA LOME HOME

sunburnt after a week at the seaside, than I was
by this long trek through tropical Togoland. One
reason for this was the care one always takes to
shade one's face from the sun's rays while on the
march ; not, however, in order to preserve one's
complexion, but with a view to avoiding sunstroke.
During the first part of my journey, I always wore,
when in the saddle, or out-of-doors even tempo-
rarily, a big slouch hat of the cowboy type, but
afterwards I discarded this for the pith helmet,
than which no more effectual safeguard against
heat apoplexy has yet been devised.

While their new stone house was in course of
erection, the Baron and Baroness Codelli had taken
possession temporarily of the " Stranger's House,"
a building set apart for the use of stray visitors to
the place who may be in want of accommodation,
corresponding, in point of fact, to the rest-houses
of the up-country stations, but somewhat more
solidly constructed, and having a cement floor.
There were, however, two rooms completed in
their new stone house, and these Codelli very kindly
placed at our disposal. But I, with the lately
awakened instinct of the bush woman, preferred
to camp out in a small grass-and-wattle hut, with
only a mat curtain between myself and the outer
air.

This was all very well for a couple of days.
But the rainy season was now near at hand, and
on the third day one of those tornadoes, which
always precede the great rains, came on to blow.
The wind set in motion great clouds of dust, which

302

KAMINA LOME HOME

filled my frail dwelling, and after a short, sharp
struggle between pride and inclination, the latter
won, and I took refuge behind stone walls. A day
or two later great black clouds came rolling up,
threatening to break in one of those terrific tropical
thunderstorms of which I had heard such lurid
accounts. Still, however, the rain held off ; in-
deed, I was assured, that Kamina had been ex-
ceptionally fortunate in respect to its freedom
from these storms since the wireless station had
been erected, the theory being that the nine great
steel towers in some way repelled the electric fluid.
Whether this theory has any scientific foundation
in fact, I am, of course, unable to say, but every-
body seemed agreed that though all round the
station might be black, the sky overhead of Kamina
was for the most part clear.

At length the time came to say good-bye.
Our heavy baggage had arrived from Sokode, and
all was ready to entrain. Our horses, none the
worse for their journey through the fly belt, had
already been sent by rail to Lome, there to await
shipment to Accra. The two ostriches had been
sent on by road, in charge of their boys. There
remained only our pet monkey, Anton, and him I
presented to the Baroness Codelli. This time we
took care to lay in a proper stock of provisions for
the train journey, so that it was at least endurable,
if not enjoyable ; and the rain coming down just
when it was beginning to get uncomfortably hot,
still further helped to mitigate the discomfort of
what is at best a somewhat tedious and trying trip.

303

KAMINA LOME HOME

At Lome we were to film the opening scene of
our drama, The White Goddess of the W 'angora. We
had already filmed all the other parts, but the reader
will of course understand that in cinema work the
scenes are not photographed consecutively ; at
least not necessarily so. In this first scene, it will
be remembered, I am supposed to be cast up by
the sea from a wreck as a baby and found by some
black savages, and the problem was whereabouts
along the Togo coast were we to get a white child
of the proper age. It was the problem that had
been haunting us at the back of our minds ever
since the beginning of the trip. Now it had got
to be solved somehow or other.

Various suggestions were brought forward, and
gravely discussed. Could we use a doll ; and if
so, could a sufficiently large and lifelike doll be had
in Lome ? Would it be possible to paint a black
baby white without injury to the infant ? Mean-
while Alfred, our interpreter, had spread the news
of what was wanted throughout Lome, and soon
babies of all sorts and sizes, accompanied of course
by their mothers, began to roll up. None of them,
however, suited our requirements. Some were too
big ; all were too black : nor were we able to find
any mother who could be induced to regard the
whitewashing scheme in a sufficiently favourable
light to lend her own offspring for the experiment.
They all knew somebody else who had a baby they
would no doubt be willing to lend for the purpose,
but when it came to the point the " somebody
else " invariably declined most emphatically to do

304

KAMINA LOME HOME

anything of the kind. It really looked at one
time as if we should have to film the scene at some
English seaside resort, with a squad of burnt-cork
beach " niggers " as supers, an obviously most
unsatisfactory alternative. Just, however, as we
were beginning to despair, a coast girl turned up
with a half-caste, khaki-coloured infant, of about
the right age ; and which Hodgson opined might
be made, by the liberal use of a powder puff, to
come out white on the film.

But when the scheme was explained to the
mother, I could see that her enthusiasm for it
waned rapidly. The baby was to be hidden in a
box close to the edge of the surf. Yes-s-s ! That
was all very well. But suppose one big wave come
roll up, sweep baby away ? What then ? Oh !
No ! No ! No ! And she clasped the little choco-
late-coloured coon to her bosom. There was a lot
more palaver, but at length she gave a reluctant
consent. She was to be paid a sovereign for the
loan of the infant, and the clothes we provided,
and which cost another ten shillings, were to be
hers to keep when all was over. Moreover, while
the scene was being filmed, she was to stand on
one side of the camera, and I on the other, so that
we could both rush into the sea together to the
rescue in case of anything untoward happening.
As a matter of fact nothing did happen. The scene
was filmed on the beach outside Lome, a time being
chosen when there was nobody about. We were,
however, honoured by the presence of the Governor,
H.H. the Duke of Mecklenburg, who expressed

305 u

KAMINA LOME HOME

himself as being both surprised and pleased at the
way we had drilled our black supers to act their
parts.

Our time passed very pleasantly in Lome. We
had horses lent us by a friend of ours, Lieutenant
Manns, and used to go for rides round the neigh-
bourhood. The sea, too, was a source of never-
ending pleasure and delight to me, since first I
caught a whiff of it towards the end of our railway
journey from Atakpame. We used to take walks
along the beach by moonlight, and Lome, beneath
its silvery enchantment, seemed to me an altogether
ideal place of residence. In the daytime, when
the sun beat down upon it, and all was glare and
dust, I held quite the reverse opinion.

Herr Vollbehr, the famous Munich portrait
painter, happened to be in Lome while we were
there, and he expressed a wish to paint me in the
native dress I wore whilst playing in the White
Goddess drama. So I gave him some sittings in
the gardens of the Duke of Mecklenburg's palace,
and I am told that the picture turned out very
well, and has been much admired at Munich, where
it is now on exhibition. The Governor's palace,
by the way, is quite the finest building in Lome, as
indeed is only right. It is four-square, built round
a central courtyard, and must have cost no end
of money. It is quite new, like all the other build-
ings in Lome, for not so very many years ago-
some seventeen or eighteen, I believe this town
had no existence, at all events as the capital of
Togoland, which was then fixed at a place called

306

KAMINA LOME HOME

Little Popo, at the eastern extremity of the Togo
seaboard.

The great drawback to Lome as a port is the
heavy surf which breaks almost incessantly on the
low sandy beach, as indeed it does all along the
West African coast. Different methods of mini-
mising the inconvenience caused by this hindrance
have been adopted at different places. At Accra
they have built a breakwater, which has cost a
small fortune, and is not, I hear, a great success.
At Lome they have gone the other way to work,
and have erected a pier, or bridge, right out into the
sea, a third of a mile long, and connected with a
massive wharf, or quay, at the seaward end. This
simplifies greatly the problem of landing, although
it has its drawbacks. One is that there are now
no surf boats there, or very few at all events, and
the natives, I am told, are forgetting how to handle
them, even if any were available. So when, some
years back, the bridge which connects the wharf
with the shore was destroyed by a tidal wave,
supposed to be due to some great submarine vol-
canic upheaval, Lome was almost entirely isolated
from the outside world for a while. However, with
commendable energy, the authorities there soon
set to work to rebuild their bridge ; but because
they could not build it over the old foundations,
it now takes a curved course, which gives it a some-
what curious, lopsided appearance.

For the rest there is not much to say about
Lome. It is a clean and neat little place, like
most of our German colonial towns, with well-laid-

307

KAMINA LOME HOME

out streets shaded by palm and other trees, and
bordered by pretty little bungalows, or, in some
cases, more substantially built stone houses, set in
well-kept tropical gardens. The native population
of Lome, however, did not impress me favourably.
The up-country native is a gentleman; the coast
native is, too often, a caricature of the street
" corner boy " of London or Berlin. Far be it
from me, a mere girl, and a stranger and a sojourner
in the colony at that, to set myself up as a judge
in such matters ; but it seems to me that the negro
is not fitted for education, in the sense that we
in Europe generally understand that much-abused
word. Certain it is that no white man I ever
came across, who knew his Africa, would hire as a
" boy " one of the mission-school type of negro ;
he would infinitely prefer the wildest bush native
from the remotest part of the hinterland.

At last the morning of the 13th of March
dawned, the day on which we were to say good-bye
to Africa. Frankly I felt sorry. I had come here
six months previously, timid, and not a little
apprehensive. There had been times since, up in
the lonely bush, when, weary with travel and
weakened with fever, I would have given anything
to have gone to sleep and waked in Europe. But
not now. All these feelings were over and done
with, and in their place was a consuming regret
for the things I was leaving behind, that were
passing out of my life ; the long lone trail leading
onward, and ever onward, through lands new
and strange ; the black peoples of the far interior

308

KAMINA LOME HOME

unspoilt by civilisation, an interesting study always ;
the stillness of the tropic night, the stir of the
tropic dawn.

We had previously paid off our boys, of course,
but all those that were in Lome at the time came
down to the pier head to see us off. They were
sorry to part with us. One could see it in their
black faces, for the negro is nothing but a big child,
and his features reflect every passing mood. " You
will come back, little mother," they called out in
unison, as the screw began to revolve. " Yes," 1
answered gravely, " I will come back." And I
meant what I said. Shall I ever be in a position
to redeem my promise, I wonder ? Well ! well !
Time will show !

One thing rather pleased me. None of our boys
were left stranded ; they all got jobs. Alfred, our
interpreter, and Asmani, Schomburgk's personal
servant, took service with Baron Codelli at Kamina.
Messa, the cook, got employment in the Duke of
Mecklenburg's kitchen. Indeed, no boy who has
been for any length of time with Europeans, and
has a good character, need be long out of employ-
ment in Togo. A character, however, is an essen-
tial thing ; and curiously enough they all seemed
to prefer my written recommendation to Schom-
burgk's. I suppose it was because they had other
characters from European men, and wanted to add
to their collection one from a European woman, in
case others of my sex wanted their services later.
Schomburgk, however, said that a woman's recom-
mendation always goes further than a man's, be-

309

KAMINA LOME HOME

cause prospective employers argue in this way :
" Oh ! so this boy has served under a woman, has
he ? Well, I'll engage him, because a boy who can
stick a woman, can stick anybody even me."
Of course, this was said by way of a joke ; but
like a good many words spoken in jest, there is a
certain amount of truth underlying these. Anyway,
I believe it to be a fact that West African personal
boys, kitchen boys, and so on, do not care over
much to take service with a woman.

The ship that bore us back to England was
named the Eleonore Woermamm. She was a good
staunch boat, and very seaworthy and steady, like
all those belonging to this fine line ; but as we were
steaming against " the trades," we had a rather
rough passage to Las Palmas. There was a pleasant
break here, and I went ashore to the " Stranger's
Club," where I played roulette for the first time. I
knew nothing whatever of the game, and threw
down a coin at haphazard, and with the usual luck
of the novice I won again and again. In ten
minutes I was the richer by 7, and was already
beginning to have visions of a golden fortune ahead,
when the screeching of the ship's siren called me
hurriedly aboard.

The rest of the voyage was uneventful up to the
last day. Then, when we were nearing Southamp-
ton, we had the very narrowest escape so I was
assured of going to the bottom. We were seated
at dinner, all in the highest spirits at the successful
termination of our trip, when the steamer suddenly
sounded three sharp, angry blasts, then started to

310

KAMINA LOME HOME

heel over to starboard, sending all the plates and
dishes with their contents flying into our laps.
Another steamer, it appeared, had come right across
our bows, and only the presence of mind of the
officer on the bridge of the Eleonore Woermamm in
putting the wheel hard a-port, and so causing our
ship to describe a circle to starboard, had averted
what would otherwise almost certainly have been a
very terrible disaster.

INDEX

ACCRA, 286, 303, 307

Agbandi, 62 ; native giant at, 63

Aledjo, beauty and healthfulness

of, 85 ; mission station at, 86 ;

grass fires at, 87, 281
Alfred, our interpreter, 54, 102, 103,

169, 244, 309

Ana, native village, 57, 60
Antelope, 134, 151, 152, 153
Arrows, poisoned, European shot

by, 142
Ashantis, 159
Asmani, Schomburgk's personal

"boy," 179, 229, 309
Atakpame, 28 ; Catholic Mission

at, 50; 63, 186, 275, 284, 286,

295
Audassi, 66

BABIES, native, 270

Bafilo, the bairam festival at, 90 ;
cotton industry at, 92 ; artificial
" pearls " made at, 95, 251

Banjeli, 237 ; beautiful situation
of, 238 ; arrival of mail at, 241 ;
a pig purchased at, 242 ; pun-
ishing carriers at, 244 ; chief of,
245 , 249, 260

Bapure, 112

Bassari, 239, 241 ; iron market at,
247; 250, 251; station house at,
252 ; Mr. Mucke, Sub -District
Commissioner of, 262 ; our
house at, 253 ; I entertain the
wives of the Mallam Mohammed
at, 257, 291

Bats, a plague of, 139 ; as food,
225

Beapabe, native town, 251

Bedford, Duke of, 19

Beer, native, 111

Bees, wild, 259

Beetles, beautiful, 240

Berger, Dr., 57 et seq.

Betrothals in infancy of native
girls, 264

Birds, valuable feather-bearing in

Northern Togo, 149, 150, 154
Bremen, S.M.S., 26
Buffalo, 20
Butter, native, 139
Bwete, native village, 145

CAMERAS, damage to by heat, 136

Cameroons, wireless station in, 299

Chameleons, 209

" Chief's mail," 184, 185

Childbirth amongst native women,
268

Children, native, government edu-
cation of, 290

Cinema acting, on board ship, 21 ;
in Madeira, 24 ; at Kamina, 33 ;
at Paratau, 77 ; at Lome, 305

Cooking, native, 275

Corn-bins, curious, at Tschopowa,
224

Cotton industry, native, 92 et aeq.

Cowrie shells, as money, 97

Crocodiles, 145, 189, 190

DAGOMBA tribe, 214

Dahomeyans, 159

Death, native ceremonies at, 261,

262

Dedaure, Mallam of, 288
Dehn, Mr. and Mrs., 291
Djabotaure, 64 ; adventure at, 65,

293
Djereponi, 208

Elegante Welt, German fashion

paper, 241
Eleonore Woermamm, mail steamer,

310, 311
Elephants, 18 ; old spoor of, 121

FAHNENFELD, Baron Codelli von,
29, 31, 36, 47, 196, 292, 296;
Baroness Codelli, 297, 301, 302

Fetish groves, hidden practices in,
273

313

INDEX

Fever, 36, 101, 108

Films, industrial, at Bafilo, 92 et

seq., 97 ; ethnological, at Mangu,

136; travel, at Sumbu, 191;

historical, at Mangu, 200, 201 ;

Konkombwa, 218 ; hippopotami,

225 ; iron industry, at Banjeli,

246 ; at Bassari, 257
Fishing by natives in the Oti, 135
Francolin, a kind of partridge, 134,

149

Fulani, 137, 156, 159, 180
Fulbe, 137

GERIN-KUKA, boisterous welcome
to by the Konkombwa people,
115; rest-house at, 117; native
"songu"at, 118

Gourma, 138, 141, 142, 168, 176

Grass fires, 143, 146

Grey, Hon. W. H., 286

Grouse, remarkable incident in
connection with, 206

Gruner, Dr., 140

HAGENBECK, Carl, 19

Hammock travelling, delights of in
the African bush, 61 ; being
" sea-sick " in one, 66, 185

Harmattan, 76 ; at Mangu, 131 ;
a meteorological mystery, 198

Hausas, 202, 203, 219, 225

"Hausaload," 243

Henny Woermamm, mail steamer,
21, 22, 26

Hippopotami, 123, 146, 185 et seq.,

225
pygmy, 19, 185

Hirschfeld, Captain von, 125, 127,
128, 132, 133, 137, 140, 143, 155,
199, 203, 205, 243, 253

Hodgson, James, our camera man,
20, 50, 52, 97, 99, 100, 101, 119,
123, 124, 135, 136, 148, 150, 152,
156, 172, 174, 187, 189, 203, 206,
216, 225, 233, 237, 250, 256, 305

Horses, our, waiting for us near
Sokode, 67 ; am badly kicked by
my favourite one, 83 ; accident
to one, 109, 195, 286

Hyena trapped, 138

IBUBU, native village, 233 ; " Ro-
man Fort " at, 233 ; trouble with
carriers at, 235 ; arrest of chief
of, 239 ; woman carriers from,
239, 243

Insect pests, 38, 134
Iron industry, native, at Banjeli,
245 et seq.

JEWELLERY, native, 260
Johnston, Sir Harry, 248
Joyce, Atho, Mr., 248

KABRE Mountains, 137

Kabrischika, native boy, saves my
baggage from fire, 298

Kabu, welcome hospitality at, 111

Kabures, native tribe, 63

Kaiser's birthday, 203

Kamaa, river, 253, 280

Kamina, wireless station at, 29 ;
my house at, 29 ; life at, 30 et
seq.; an adventure, 48, 196, 292,
295, 296 et seq.

Kara, river, 122

Katscha, river, 250, 251

Kersting, Dr., 70, 85, 90, 234, 252,
254

Kola nuts, 219, 259

Konkombwa, first contact with,
112; boisterous welcome by at
Gerin-Kuka, 115; 138, 147, 211
et seq. ; dancers, 217 et seq. / 231,
234, 236, 239, 247

Kuepers, Mr., Government school-
master at Sokode, 68, 278, 286,
288, 289, 292

Kugnau, native village, 227 ; in-
cident with the Konkombwa at,
231, 232, 237

LANGE, Mr., engineer, 57

Las Palmas, 25, 310

Leopard, adventure with a, 100,

194, 196
Lizards, 38, 194
Lome, capital and port of Togo, 21,

27, 184, 253, 284, 303, 304, 305,

307

MADEIRA, 21 et seq., 196
Magu, native village, 147, 197
Malfakasa, 280 ; the outlaw of, 283
Mallam Mohammed, of Bassari,
257 ; his house, 258 ; his wives,
259

Mangu, northernmost Government
station in Togo, 125 ; Moham-
medans in, 130 ; timber planta-
tions in, 130 ; new station house
at, 131 ; climate of, 131 ; Christ -

INDEX

mas at, 133 ; New Year's Eve
festivities at, 133 ; trees de-
stroyed by beetles at, 134;
prisoners, native, at, 137 ; stone
quarry at, 137 ; plague of bats
at, 139 ; native soldiers at, 199,
200 ; filming Togo history at, 201,
202 ; celebrating the Kaiser's
birthday at, 203 ; departure from,
205, 251, 278
Manns, Lieutenant, 306
Marabou stork, discovered in Togo
by Major Schomburgk, 154 ;
feathers, 154

Marriage customs, native, 264
Mashukulumbwe people, anecdote

concerning, 115
Massow House, at Bassari, 252
Mecklenburg, Duke of, Governor of
Togo, 28, 51, 141, 231, 232, 305,
306, 309

Messa, our cook, supposed deser-
tion of, 53 et seq.; returns with
a young wife, 55 ; he annexes our
dining-table, 84; 160, 169, 180,
230, 277, 278, 309
Monkey, our pet, 146, 243, 303
Monkeys, wild, 47 ; shooting a

" dog " monkey, 96
Mosquitoes, 31, 122, 144, 229
Moving Picture Sales Agency,

London, 184, 286

Mucke, Mr., of Bassari, 252, 254,
255, 256, 292

NATIVES, as " supers," 33 ; averse
to being photographed, 33 ;
views of on matrimony, &c., 42
et seq.; perversity of, 51 ; as car-
riers, 112 ; wars, inter-tribal, 200 ;
a,s handicraftsmen, 247 ; school
for at Bassari, 258 ; at Sokode,
288

Najo, native village, 197

Nambiri, 209 ; village chief of, 213,
249

Nebel, Mr. Kay H., 67 ; accident
while acting with, 77, 88, 89 ;
leaves for Europe, 91

Njamassila, 60

" ODD Man Out," dramatic film,

21 24 91 92

Ostriches, 203, 234, 246, 303
Oti, river, 122, 126, 134, 141, 144,

147, 148, 151, 156, 185, 188, 192,

227, 233

" Outlaw of the Sudu Mountains,"
dramatic film, 86 ; accident
while rehearsing in, 88

Oysters, fresh -water, in the Oti
River, 192

" PALAVER," a woman, 101 et seq.;

a man, 104 ; at Unyogo, over a

soldier's wife, 207
Panscheli, native village, 142, 185,

186, 188
Paratau, 69 ; native market at, 73 ;

children at, 74 ; an unhealthy

camp, 76, 278, 282, 291
Parpart, Herr von, 261, 285, 291
Plantations, timber, near Mangu,

130 ; near Bassari, 254
Poisons, kinds used by natives on

their arrows, 142
Polygamy, 267
Porteous, Dr., 143
Potatoes, a luxury in Togo, 278

QUININE, importance of in West
Africa, 50

RAMADAM, Mohammedan fast, 65
Rentzel, Lieutenant von, 28
Royal Anthropological Institute,

201
Royal Geographical Society, 201,

248

SALT, paying carriers in, 1 1 8 ; as
currency, value of in Northern
Togo, 161, 171

Schomburgk, Major Hans, 17 et
aeq., 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 40, 50,
52, 55, 57, 61, 72, 78, 85,
88, 89, 95, 97, 100, 102, 104, 106,
110, 113, 115, 121, 123, 131, 134,
139, 140, 141, 144, 146, 147, 149,
152, 156, 170, 190, 195, 196, 203,
211, 223, 225, 227, 233, 236, 245,
252, 287

Sleeping sickness, 287

Soap, native made, 267

Sokode, 68, 103, 159, 186, 234, 2O,
283, 284, 285, 288, 292 Ik

Soldiers, native, 199, 200

" Songu," native rest-house, 137 /

Sumbu, native village, 156, 164 et
seq. ; inhabitants of, 171, 177

Snakes, adventure with a venomous,
100, 183

Sudu Mountains, 284

315

INDEX

TABALO Mountain, 282
Tamberma Fort, 128 ; and people,

129, 130, 202
Tax, head, native, 129
Teneriffe, 25
"Tick-birds," 188
Tim plain, 284
Tschaudjo, native tribe, 69 et seq. ;

clever horsemanship of, 73 ;

mounted supers, 77, 265, 274,

285
Tschokossi, native tribe, 128, 141,

145, 147, 156, 168, 176, 185,

192, 201, 265, 274
Tschopowa, welcome by natives

to, 221 ; ceremonial dance at,

222 ; marabou feathers worn by

natives at, 222, 223 ; big baobab

tree at, 224 ; curious corn -bins

at, 225 ; bats at, 225
Tsetse-fly, 284, 287
Turtles in the Oti River, 190

UNYOOO, 205 ; a " woman pal-
aver " at, 207

Uro Djabo, paramount chief of the
Tschaudjo, 69 et seq., 213

Uro-Ganedo-Bo, 282

VILLAGE, native, remarkable forti-
fied, 161 et Seq.

Vultures as scavengers, 98, 139

Vollbehr, Herr, paints my portrait
306

WIDOWS, hard fate of, 274
Wedding ceremonies, native, 265
" White Goddess of the Wangora,"

dramatic film, 32 et seq., 90, 304
Windhuk, wirelfcss station at, 299
Wireless telegraphy between Ka-

miiia and Berlin, 300
Women and girls, native, 40 et seq. ;
a young philosopher, 45 ; film-
ing the life of a native wife, 46 ;
women weavers at Bafilo, 94 ;
" abduction " of a girl, 102 ; mod-
esty of, 105 ; wild at Sumbu, 164,
175, 200 ; Konkombwa at Nam-
biri, 215 ; a conjugal quarrel,
216 ; as carriers, 238, 239 ; slaves
as iron miners at Bangeli, 246 ;
marriage customs, 264 ; infant
betrothals, 264 ; illegitimate
births, customs regarding, 264,

265 ; wedding ceremonies, 265,

266 ; polygamy, 267 ; childbirth,
268 ; fetish women, 272 ; intro-
cision, rite of, 272 ; initiation
ceremonies at puberty, 273

" Zoo," London, two of Major
Schomburgk's pygmy "hippos "
in, 19 ; Hamburg, 187, 235

Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON
at Paul's Work, Edinburgh

Co.

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW

AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS

WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN
THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY
WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH
DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY
OVERDUE.

i vg~.v^ i^ L,|^y -

IftW O S! CC 10 in

PEB 15 1^34

JANzo 65-12M

FEE 23 1934$

TERUBRARY LOAN

>":'>

iff; 1 1990

^h $ iw

U AF f Ai IP RrfMf

" l.fTl

^5 ' '

NOV 1 3 2<M

|TV

: (L00$4J&*

r o^o G

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY