The world of the great forest; how animals, birds, reptiles, insects talk, think, work, and live

Front matter

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''■ Here I a,n^ dear^ waiting for \ou''

How Animals^ Birdsy Reptiles^ Insects Talky Thinkj Work^ and Live

Introduction

THE World of the Great Central African Forest is a remarkable one. Its denizens range from the huge elephant to the smallest ant, and in its dark recesses and almost impenetrable jungle I have studied the life of these creatures.

From close observation and persistent study I have arrived at the conclusion that animals, birds, reptiles, ants, spiders, etc., possess great power of apprehension and prevision ; that creatures of the same species have understanding with one another, either by voice, sign, or other ways unknown to man ; otherwise they could not act with such harmony and deliberation.

It is not reasonable to say that animals do not converse because we do not understand or hear the sounds they make. The fault is ours, not theirs. Do we not always say, when we are learning a foreign language and begin to speak with the natives, that they talk so fast we cannot follow them .? The articulation and the words seem to be blended together, and it is only after a time that we catch separate words.

INTRODUCTION

Everything that lives is born with wonderful gifts suited to its mode of life. The shape and appearance of animals are designed to enable them to lead their special lives. Many have great power of scent, much keener than that of man. This particular attribute enables them to approach their prey and avoid danger. For example, the animal that preys upon others knows enough to move against the wind on his predatory expeditions. Those that feed on fruits and nuts know exactly at what season, in what month or week of the year, these are good to eat, and where they are to be found. They know how far distant is their feedingground, and the time needed to reach it. They all know their way, whether through the air or in the jungle, and nothing escapes their observation.

When animals or birds are taught to speak, or to do special tricks, it is clear that they must exercise memory, and memory means thought, and thought means reason.

The destruction of life, the battles that take place among the creatures of that great African Forest, the millions that are killed and eaten up every day, are beyond computation. Life, to sustain itself, must destroy life; such is the economy of nature. It is a struggle for existence among all. So the great gift given to every creature is knowledge of how to protect itself from its enemies, and how to approach its prey. If it were not for constant destruction, the animal world

INTRODUCTION

would increase so fast that there would be room and food left for none.

To enable the reader to enter into the life of the great African Forest, I have made the animals tell their own stories and explain their own actions as if they were endowed with the power of speech. And I have given to them native names. A number of the animals mentioned, I discovered myself.

PAUL DU CHAILLU.

August 15, igoo.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. The Guanionien, or Giant Eagle i

II. The Guanioniens' Departure for the Land of

Chapter I The Guanionien, Or Giant Eagle

AGUANIONIEN, as he soared between the great forest and the sun, said to himself: " I am the lord of the air ; 1 am the largest and most powerful of all the eagles of the land. I am called the leopard of the air. I feed on monkeys."

Then he chuckled, the way the guanioniens do, and rose higher and higher in the sky at each circle that he made. It seemed as if he were going directly toward the sun. At last he flew so high that no eyes from the forest could see him.

After a while he reappeared; he was coming down again in a series of circles to the forest. At times his huge wings spread their full length and then stood still. He seemed to hang motionless in the air. When he had come down near enough, he scanned the great sea of trees all over, to see if their branches were moving, for this would show that there were monkeys upon them feeding upon their fruit, nuts, or berries. But all was still ; not a branch stirred, and there was no wind. His eyes looked down perpendicularly and could see any object right under him. There was no monkey in sight.

He said to himself: " Why have the monkeys been so shy of late, and kept themselves in the middle of the trees, never coming to their tops ? Surely other guanioniens must have been here before me and scared all the monkeys : they are afraid and keep out of sight ; they know that we cannot pounce upon them. How cunning they are ! "

He saw a giant tree about four hundred feet high, rising twice as high as the other trees of the forest, and meditated : " The creatures of the forest know the favorite trees upon which I perch and eat my prey, only by the skulls and bones of the monkeys I have torn to pieces and devoured lying at their feet on the ground. — But," he added, " it is not every day that I get a meal."

He laughed : " No harm can ever befall me, for no enemy can frighten me ; no bird is strong enough to fight against me ; the spears and arrows of human beings can never reach me and hurt me, for I fly and perch so high ; men cannot even see the tops of my trees on account of the thick foliage which shuts off from them even the sun and the sky."

After he had rested, he flew away and soared over the dark green forest, which was so large that it seemed to have no beginning nor end, and once more he watched for monkeys. But his piercing, far-sighted eyes saw nothing, — not a branch of a tree

THE GUANIONIEN

was moving. I'hen he thought it was time to seek his mate, for they had agreed when they parted in the morning to meet on a certain tree upon which they were accustomed to rest during the day after their noon search for prey, and tell each other what had happened.

Before long he saw the tree he sought. It was easily recognizable by the peculiar shape of its branches. Soon he was soaring over it, uttering peculiar sounds belonging to the language of the guanioniens, and meaning, " Are you there, dear ? I am coming; " and his mate, already at the rendezvous, replied, " Here I am, dear, waiting for you."

Soon after, the big guanionien had alighted upon a branch close to hers, and the two looked at each other with affection, for they had not seen each other since they had parted a little after daylight.

They uttered sounds which seemed strange, for these were words belonging to the guanionien language, which meant, " How glad, dear, I am to see you ! How are you ? " or, " How have you been since this morning ? "

After their greeting there was a short silence, then the big guanionien said to his mate, " Dear, what is the news? Have you been lucky to-day ? Have you had a meal ? "

" No," she replied. " Not a monkey came in sight to-day. They were afraid to come to the tops of the trees to feed, though I heard many of them talking among themselves several times. I am starving. Surely guanioniens have been in the region before us, and that is the reason why the monkeys keep away."

In her turn she inquired, " Have you good news to tell me ? Have you discovered a place where monkeys are plentiful ? Have you had a good meal ? "

" Only bad news have I to tell," he replied. " I have seen no troops of monkeys. Bad luck continues to follow us. I am starving, too. For three days we have soared over this great forest and have seen and caught nothing." And with a sigh, " How hard we have to work for our living!" said both at the same time. " Oh, how fortunate it is that we guanioniens are so constituted that we can starve for days without dying ! This great gift has been given to us to suit our mode of life. Hunger is our enemy ; but old age is our greatest one."

They left their tree and agreed to come back in the evening to sleep upon it, as had been their custom for some little time. They flew a long way off, in a bee-line at first, keeping in sight of each other for a while, then parted.

Toward sunset they were once more perched on the tree, and each inquired for the afternoon's news.

The big guanionien said: " Several times I saw branches moving, with monkeys upon them. At this sight my appetite grew more voracious than before, and I thought that I was going to have a good meal.

THE GUANIONIEN

1 soared over the trees, but the monkeys never came to the tops so that I could swoop down upon them. They seemed to dread danger, although I was so high in the air that they could not see me. But experience has taught them that it is not safe for them to be on the tops of the trees ; ugly, suspicious monkeys, we have to be very cunning to capture them."

After he had finished, he asked his mate what she had to tell. She replied : " During my flight I came to a place where I saw the tops of several trees covered with big red fruit. Surely, I thought, monkeys will be tempted when they see this, and will come out to eat. I soared over them until it was time to leave to meet you, for sunset was fast coming on. At the dawn of the day we must fly to that place, for I believe that some wandering troops of monkeys will surely come there to feed."

" If I capture a monkey, he will never drop from my claws," said her mate.

"Neither will one from mine," she replied. "Oh, dear, how hard it is to work for nothing ! "

The sun had set, and darkness came over the land, and the two guanioniens fell asleep. They felt safe, for the tree was large, and its first branch was so high above the forest that nothing but winged creatures could get to them.

At daybreak the two guanioniens left, travelling in the direction of the fruit trees as fast as they could. They remained in sight of each other, but did not talk or hail each other, as was their wont, for fear the monkeys might hear them and become more wary than ever.

At last, to their great satisfaction, after travelling about one hundred miles, they saw in the distance the bright red tops of the fruit trees they sought. At the sight the two guanioniens came together and whispered : " Surely some troops of monkeys will come and feed upon these trees. Let us soar above them all day, if necessary. Patience is often rewarded. Sometimes the prey comes when we are ready to give up."

Then they flew very high and soared above the fruit-bearing trees. They soared a long time, looking down in that peculiar manner which belongs to the eagle, their eyeballs moving so that they can see directly under them. Suddenly they heard monkeys chattering among themselves. The reason of this loud talk was that two troops of different species of monkeys were quarrelling, daring each other and ready to fight. One troop was trying to drive the other away.

The two guanioniens, by peculiar motions of their wings and other silent ways of communication only known to their species, told each other the news about the monkeys.

Great indeed was the joy of the guanioniens at the prospect of a good hearty meal. They bided their time and watched for their opportunity. They were not going to be rash and run tne chance of missing their prey.

THE GUANIONIEN

It happened that two or three days before, troops of monkeys had come to those same trees and had eaten up all the fruit that was on their lower and middle branches, thus leaving that on the top. The monkeys looked up, and when they saw the bright red, juicy fruit, they forgot all about guanioniens, and soon were all over the tops of several trees eating away to their hearts' content, unaware of the presence of their enemies soaring above them and waiting for the opportune moment to pounce upon them.

Suddenly, like a flash, the two guanioniens swooped down perpendicularly from their height, and before the monkeys were aware of their presence, they had seized the two largest in their talons, clutched firmly by the neck and back, and rose in the air with them.

Chapter II The Guanioniens' Departure For The Land Of Plenty

ONE evening after the guanioniens had returned to their tree to spend the night, and as they stood close together on a branch upon which tliey had perched, the big guanionien said to his mate: " Dear, it is time to prepare ourselves tor the long journey we take every year at this season, to go to our nest and repair it. The country where we have built our nest will soon be a land of plenty; there will be berries, nuts, and fruits in abundance. By that time little guanioniens will break out of their shells into the world. The monkeys will come in great numbers to feed on the ripened fruits or nuts, and," with a laugh peculiar to guanioniens, " then we shall be able to feed ourselves and our dear little ones quite well."

" It is so," replied his mate. " The height of the sun, the intense heat, dry moons and rainy moons that have passed away since we were in the Land of Plenty tell us that it is time for us to go to our nest, repair it, and raise a brood of guanioniens."

Then came a long silence ; the guanioniens were fast asleep.

The following morning they greeted each other, then started for the Land of Plenty to visit their nest, which they had done every year for a long time past. They flew in a bee-line. They knew their way perfectly well through the air; but how, no one in the forest could tell but guanioniens themselves. They had to travel over a thousand miles before reaching their nest. Now and then they looked down upon the forest to see if any branches were moving at the tops of the trees. This would be a sign that monkeys were there. When they suspected that it was so, they would soar above them, peeping deeply into the branches, but that day they were unsuccessful.

Toward sunset they saw two giant trees growing close together, well known to them, and upon these they perched for the night. After they alighted they looked all around. They saw some nut-bearing trees, and the big guanionien said to his mate, " Let us soar over these trees to-morrow morning ; perhaps we shall discover monkeys feeding on their tops. We shall have to be patient, for as you know, dear, prey sometimes shows itself at the last hour and when least expected. We cannot well undertake this long journey without food."

Then they went to sleep. Early the next morning they saw from their resting-place branches of trees moving in several places, and knew that troops of monkeys were feeding. At once they left and soared over the monkeys and succeeded in capturing two, which they carried to the tree where they had spent the night, and devoured them.

THE GUANIONIENS' DEPARTURE

After this bountiful repast they said, " Now that we have had a fine meal we can reach our destination without difficulty,"

In the afternoon a small black spot rose above the horizon in the east. It gradually grew larger and larger against the sky, in spite of the wind which blew against it.

The old guanionien flew to his mate and said: " Dear, by the look of the sky a tornado will soon be upon us ; the wind will blow fiercely. Let us find a tree upon which we can shelter ourselves, for we are not strong enough to fly against the tornado, and we could not possibly go with the wind, for we do not know where it would take us. It might carry us to a country we do not know."

They looked around them and saw a tall tree, and flew toward it as fast as their wings could carrv them, and soon were perched in its centre, being protected thus by its big trunk and many branches. They knew that these would partly break the force of the fearful wind. They had met with many tornadoes during their lives.

They faced the black spot, for they knew that the tornado was to blow from that direction, then sunk their huge talons deeply into the wood on the branch on which they were perched, so as to have a powerful hold and not be carried away when the tornado fell upon them. They made themselves as small as they could by bending their legs, and shortening their necks.

They had hardly prepared themselves for their con-

II flict with the tornado when the wind blowing against the black spot stopped, then came a calm, the precursor of the tornado. A white spot rose from the horizon under the now huge black mass that had gathered. It was the tornado. In the twinkling of an eye with

terrific force it struck the tree upon which the guanioniens were.

The wind hissed through its branches, many of which bent as if ready to break, -' but the

guanioniens had chosen a good place. Nevertheless, they had a hard time to hold on and not to be blown away.

Then the wind subsided, and terrific vivid lightning accompanied by claps of thunder filled the open spaces and the great forest. It rained in torrents and such rain as is only known under the mountainous equatorial regions of that great forest.

THE GUANIONIENS' DEPARTURE

It stormed and thundered the rest of the day and during almost the whole of the night.

The guanioniens had pressed their feathers close together. Fortunately they were well oiled and the rain ran off over them, so that their skins escaped a drenching.

In spite of the great storm, the guanioniens had short naps, at times being awakened by the vivid lightning and terrific peals of thunder, re-echoed from mountain to mountain.

At daybreak they awoke, and one said, " Dear, we have had a very uncomfortable night, buc at this season of the year we shall meet many more of them." Before leaving their tree for their journey, they made their toilet, and it took them quite a while.

Not only the guanioniens, but all the birds have a bag or pouch just at the end of the spinal column near the tail, full of an oily or fatty soft substance, which they take from the opening with their beak and with which they oil their feathers. The guanioniens had a big one indeed, making a large protuberance.

They began to take the oily substance from their pouches, and their beaks went through almost every feather, these being placed one upon another as shingles on a roof They were, in a word, combing themselves. When no more oil was left, then they went back to their pouches for more. They had plenty to do, for the heavy rain of the night had taken almost all the oily matter from their feathers. When they had finished they said to each other, " Now our skins are protected against the rain." It was just as good as if they had had on india-rubber coats.

After their toilets, the guanioniens continued their journey, looking for prey as they went along, soaring after a long time above the place where monkeys were likely to come.

One day they saw and recognized in the distance the giant tree upon which was their nest. They flew toward it and shortly afterward perched upon one of its branches with much satisfaction.

Looking at their nest, the big guanionien said to his mate : " Dear, our nest requires much repairing : it is terribly weather-beaten ; it is getting quite old, and soon we shall have to make a new one. We have raised many little guanioniens in this dear old nest of ours, two or three at a time. Since we mated we have been true and faithful to each other, for we guanioniens always keep true to our mates. What care these little ones have given us ! How we have had to protect them with our wings from cold and from the rain ! How hard we have had to work to feed them, and to raise them until they could get a living for themselves ! I wonder where they all are now, and if they sometimes think of their parents."

The following day they began to work in earnest at repairing their nest. They went in search of small twigs of trees and interlaced them and put them where they were needed. Then three eggs were laid in it by Mrs, Guanionien.

THE GUANIONIENS' DEPARTURE

The guanioniens had a hard time while they hatched their eggs, and became quite thin, for only one could go after monkeys at a time, and these were not plentiful.

They watched the trees and could see the fruits, berries, and nuts getting larger every day, and saw them changing color and coming to maturity, and they were overjoyed, for their lives had indeed been hard since they had come to their nest.

Chapter III The Ngozos, Or Gray Parrots With Red Tails

THERE are many kinds of birds in the great forests. Among the most numerous and most intelligent are the gray ngozos with red tails.

These ngozos, when young, have very black eyes, but as they grow older a yellow-whitish ring forms itself round the black. Many of them live to be more than a hundred years old.

They live in flocks of tens, twenties, thirties, sometimes even fifties, though seldom more. Each flock has its leader, whom it obeys implicitly. He is chosen to be chief because he is supposed to be wise, and to know the forest and where food is to be found at the different months or seasons of the year. Hence he is old and has had more experience, and is the first to give the signal of danger.

It is the custom of the ngozos to meet every evening, sometimes before sunset, to tell the news, — what has happened and where food is to be found. Then after this they go to sleep.

The ngozos and the monkeys are not good friends. The ngozos hate the monkeys with all their hearts, and have good reason to do so, for they both are fond of fruits, berries, and nuts; and it often happens

i6 that when a flock of ngozos is upon a tree, enjoying its delicious meal and very happy, a troop of monkeys suddenly makes its appearance, succeeds in driving the ngozos away, takes possession of the tree, and eats up the fruit so that when the ngozos return they find nothing left.

Sometimes they have regular fights, but the ngozos generally get the worst of it, and have to fly away, saying all kinds of saucy things to the monkeys. 2 17

One evening, flock after flock of ngozos arrived at their place of meeting, which was on an island situated in a large river. There they felt more secure from their enemies in the forest. Many had travelled a long way, but they knew exactly how long it would take them for their homeward journey, and though their wings were tired, they were not exhausted.

After they had alighted, all the ngozos greeted one another, exclaiming, " Glad to see you ! Glad to see you ! Welcome to our place of meeting."

Such a pandemonium of ngozos' voices was heard far and wide in the forest, for at least ten thousand of them were there perched on three or four trees that were close together. They jabbered away at a great rate. A stranger would have thought that they made too much noise to understand one another, as their voices were so confused, and as they were apparently all speaking at the same time. But to the ngozos it was not so ; they held a conversation, and one ngozo was talking to one of several of his friends who were listening to him.

Though there were five or six hundred leaders of flocks in this great army of ngozos, each leader knew every member of his flock, and every ngozo knew his leader and recognized his voice, just as he recognized their voices also. He knew the number of his flock, and if one were missing he could tell which, and the other members of the flock likewise. No doubt each ngozo had a name known to the others of the flock.

As they were telling the news, the leader of one

i8 flock of ngozos said : " We have come back hungry this evening, for when we came to the trees we had seen loaded with our food of berries and nuts, we found they were all gone, for the monkeys had been there and eaten everything in sight. We were very angry, and during the day we had to fly over the forest and alight here and there to pick what we could. But almost everywhere the monkeys had been before us, and left only unripened berries or nuts, and we had to content ourselves with these, and few at that."

After hearing this tale of woe, all the ngozos with one voice cried, " We hate the monkeys ; ugly monkeys ! " The noise was terrific when they said this, for they said these words all at the same time and they repeated them several times in succession, with anger. Oh, what a noise they made !

The ngozos of another flock, when they heard this, said : " We are sorry for you, dear ngozos ; it is too bad that you came home hungry. We came to a part ot the forest where all the tops of the trees were covered with beautiful ripened fruits ; they were fine, and we ate them all day long, and no horrid monkeys came to disturb us. They were busy somewhere else eating our food."

They called it " our food," for the parrots considered the berries, nuts, and fruits of the forest as their own, and thought that the monkeys had no business to eat them. The monkeys thought likewise of the ngozos.

Then some ngozos belonging to another flock said:

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" We flew over a village of human beings, and saw a number of our kin in the place. They could not fly ; their wings were cut ; we spoke to them, but they could not understand us, neither could we understand them."

The reason they could not understand each other was because the ngozos in the village of the human beings had been captured in their nests when their bodies were covered with down, and had only learned the language of the human beings. They had no ngozos to teach them the language of their kin living in the forest. They had invented a jargon of their own, which they used when they did not speak the human language.

Some flocks advised others not to go where they had been, for there was very little food to be found ; others told where monkeys were numerous, or where they were not.

It was getting late, near sunset, and all the flocks ought to have arrived ; but the ngozos noticed that two were still absent. They were very much excited, and began to be afraid some great misfortune had happened to the missing ones, and talked loudly to one another. They wondered why no stragglers had arrived.

Suddenly they heard voices above them. It was one of the flocks arriving. " We are coming ! " said the belated ones ; " we are coming ! " and they alighted. " Welcome ! " said all the ngozos at the same time.

" What makes you so late ? " cried all the ngozos.

" Well, we have come from a long way off, and our wings are tired. We had great trouble to find food enough to-day to satisfy our hunger, for the monkeys had been there before us this morning. We went a great distance, and, guided by our leader, we came to a region in which food was plentiful, and which the monkeys had not found out. Several flocks can find plenty of food there to-morrow, provided the ugly monkeys do not find the place."

" Horrid monkeys ! " chattered all the ngozos at once.

The ngozos waited anxiously for the only flock missing. They were much distressed. Had the flock left them to go to another place ? The sun had set, and it was fast growing dark, for in the forest darkness comes soon after sunset. Soon, to their great joy, they heard above their heads the voices of the missing ones, and a great cry arose among them. " Welcome ! " they shouted with one voice.