The Country of the Dwarfs 6

The Country of the Dwarfs 6

All my gloomy fancies were soon forgotten, and I got up and dressed

myself as quickly as possible. As I opened my door, whom should I

see, as quiet as a statue in front of my hut, but King Quengueza, the

venerable chief. He opened his arms to receive me, and we hugged each

other without saying a word. The great and powerful African chief, the

dread of the surrounding tribes and clans, the great warrior, held me

in his arms, and after a while he said, "Chally, I would have staid

before your door all night if I had not seen you. I could not go to

sleep without embracing you, for you do not know how much I love you.

You do not know how many times I have thought of you, and many, many

times I have said to my people, 'We shall not see Chally again.' And

first, when Sholomba told me you had come, and had sent for me, I said,

'Sholomba, this is a lie; Chally has not come. Four rainy seasons and

four dry seasons have passed away, and if he had intended coming he

would have been here long ago. No, Sholomba, why do you come and make

fun of me? It is a lie; Chally has not come--Chally has not come, and

he will not come any more to the country of the black man.'"

 

"Here I am," I said, "friend Quengueza; your friend Chally is before

you. He has thought of you many and many a time in the white man's

country; he has not forgotten you;" and I whispered in his ears, "He

has brought you a great many fine things which no black man has seen

before, and which no black man will have but yourself."

 

Then the old chief ordered his attendants to retire, and when he had

entered my little hut I lighted a torch, and he looked at me and I

looked at him without our saying a word. Then I seated myself on the

edge of my bed, and the king seated himself on the little stool close

to me, and filled his pipe with native Ashira tobacco, and we had a

long talk.

 

I said, "Quengueza, I have come. Since I saw you a great many things

have happened. I have been in different countries of the white man.

Many know you, many love you, for I have told the white man what great

friends we were--how much we loved each other. I have told them how

kind you were to your friend Chally; that every thing he wanted you

gave to him, and that not one of your people ever took any thing from

Chally--if he had he would have had his head cut off or been sold into

slavery. Many white men and white women, boys and girls, know you, and

I have presents from them for you, which you shall see in a few days.

I have told them what we did together, how we went into the woods

together, and how we cut that big ebony-tree"--here I stopped a while,

and presently said, "how I hope to go farther inland than I have ever

been, and will come back again by the sea."

 

Then I remained silent, and the old chief rose up, the shadow of his

stately form falling behind him. For a few moments he did not utter a

word, and then he said,

 

"Chally, my town is yours; my forests, my slaves are yours; all the

girls and women of my village are yours; I will have no will of my own

when you are with me. You shall be the chief, and whatever you say

shall be obeyed. You shall never know hunger as long as there is a

plantain-tree on our plantation, or a wild animal in the forests. And,

Chally, when you shall say 'I must go--go far away, where nobody has

been,' I will let you go; I will help you to go, though my heart will

be sad when you depart."

 

I found Quengueza still in mourning for his brother, whom he had

succeeded, and that he had taken his brother's name, "Oganda," which is

the name taken by every chief of the Abouya clan. What a queer custom

they have! The law of inheritance there is from brother to brother, and

Quengueza's name had been Ratenou Kombé Quengueza, and now came the

last, which he was to carry to his grave, OGANDA.

 

I said, "Friend Quengueza, it will be hard for me to call you Oganda,

for the name by which I have learned to love you is Quengueza."

 

"Never mind, Chally, call me Quengueza," said he; and, as he left my

hut, he implored me once more in a whisper not to tell any one that I

had brought him presents, "for," said he, "if the people knew that you

had brought me many fine things, they would bewitch me, and I should

die."

 

I saw that poor Quengueza was as superstitious as ever.

 

The old chief then went to the hut that had been prepared for him

during his visit to me. By this time it was four o'clock in the

morning, and the cock in the village had already begun to crow when I

lay down to sleep.

 

[Illustration]

 

 

 

 

[Illustration]

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV.

 

HONEST AFRICANS.--DISTRIBUTING PRESENTS.--QUENGUEZA'S

DIPLOMACY.--ANOTHER PALAVER.--A NEW SETTLEMENT.--RABOLO'S

MONDA.--RANPANO'S SUPERSTITION.

 

 

THE day after the arrival of Quengueza, word was sent to me by the

canoe-men on the shore that the surf was quiet, and that canoes could

go to sea and return in perfect safety.

 

During the day seven large canoes were carried over the narrow tongue

of land to the beach, and twenty-one remained on the river-side to take

to my new settlement the goods that would be landed.

 

It was important to expedite as much as possible the landing of the

goods, for this would only be safe for a few days, till the change of

the moon.

 

The next morning, at daylight, seven canoes left for the vessel, and

each canoe made that day three trips, so that twenty-one canoe-loads of

goods were landed and carried across to the canoes on the river. Then

we got ready to go home, but not before hauling high up on the beach

our seven sea-canoes.

 

After four days' hard work, seventy canoe-loads had been landed, and

the cargo was all ashore. I breathed freely once more; not a load had

been swamped. We had just finished when the breakers became dangerous

again, and in a day or two more it would have been impossible to go

through them.

 

Not an article was missing. Captain Vardon was amazed. I said to him,

"Did I not tell you that my Commi men would not steal?"

 

You would have laughed to see the miscellaneous articles which formed

part of the cargo. Many of them were specially manufactured for the

African market, and the heavy goods were to be given to Quengueza,

Ranpano, Olenga-Yombi, Obindji, and the chiefs living on the banks of

the Rembo and Ovenga rivers.

 

The great trouble was to put all the goods under shelter. They had to

be stored in several huts. There were no locks on the doors, but I was

not afraid of the people, and my confidence was justified, for not an

article was stolen. Captain Vardon wondered at it; he had been a trader

for a good many years on the Coast, and said it was marvelous. So it

was; there is no city in any Christian country where these thousands of

dollars' worth of goods could be as safe. I loved the Commi, and the

Commi loved me.

 

After every thing had been housed, I thought it was time to make a

distribution of the presents I intended for my friends. Quengueza's

presents will give you a fair idea of the articles I had brought into

the country.

 

So one afternoon I went for friend Quengueza when every body was taking

their afternoon nap. He followed me, accompanied by several of his

great men, nephews, and wives; for a great king like Quengueza could

not walk alone; he must have a retinue, or escort. Quengueza was very

fond of this sort of thing, but that day he did not like it a bit; he

did not want his people to see what I was going to give him, but he

did not dare to send them away, so he whispered into my ear, "Chally,

send them away when you come to your house, for I do not want any body

inside."

 

So I dismissed Quengueza's people, and, after Quengueza and I had

entered the hut, he closed the door himself, to make sure, and peeped

through the crevices to see that nobody was trying to look in. Then he

seated himself and awaited developments.

 

I opened a chest filled with presents for him. The first thing I

displayed before his wide-open eyes was a huge long coat, similar to

those worn by the London beadles. This coat had been made specially for

his majesty, and to fit his tall figure, for Quengueza was over six

feet high. It was of the most glaring colors--blue, with yellow fringe,

and lined with red. There was also a splendid plush waistcoat, with big

brass buttons. His coat fell to his feet. I gave him no pantaloons, for

Quengueza never liked to wear them.

 

After Quengueza's admiring eyes had looked with amazement on his

splendid coat and bright yellow waistcoat, he must try them on; but,

before doing so, he went again to see that no one was peeping in. I

wondered why his majesty, who was a perfect despot, was so much afraid.

 

Having put on his robe or morning-gown, I gave him an enormous

drum-major's cane, with a tremendous gilded head, to be used as

a staff.[2] He stiffened himself at the sight, and asked for a

looking-glass, in which he regarded himself with an air of supreme

satisfaction. Then I took out of my trunk my opera hat, which of

course was flat when shut up, and gave it a slight punch, when

the springs immediately threw it out into the shape of a splendid

_stove-pipe hat_, to the utter astonishment and bewilderment of King

Quengueza. Then I put the hat on his head, and his majesty walked to

and fro, drawing himself to his full height. After some minutes he took

off his imperial costume, putting the clothes back in the chest where

they came from, and proceeded to inspect the other presents, among

which were

 

6 pieces of silk, of different colors.

100 pieces of calico prints.

6 silver spoons, knives, and forks.

1 silver goblet.

1 magnificent red, blue, and yellow silk umbrella.

Among the larger articles were

1 common brass kettle.

100 iron bars, 6 feet long, 1-3/4 wide.

50 large copper plates 24 inches in diameter.

50 small brass kettles.

50 iron pots.

50 guns.

50 kegs of powder.

25 wash-basins.

12 dozen plates.

6 dozen glasses.

300 pounds of beads, of different colors and sizes.

50 pine chests.

200 pairs of ear-rings for his wives.

Several chests containing trinkets, mirrors, files, forks,

knives, etc.

A chest filled with nice presents sent to him by some of my friends.

 

[2] See Frontispiece.