10 Gorilla Adventure (8 page)

‘But you have waterholes.’

They have dried up,’ the chief said sadly.

Hal tried to remember something he had read about the baboons and water. These animals didn’t require much water. They usually got enough out of the green stuff that they ate. But they had the rare ability to detect the presence of water beneath the soil. If they became very thirsty they would locate water and dig down to it. But how to make a baboon thirsty enough to want to dig?

‘Do you have salt?’ he asked.

‘Salt we have. But it only makes us more thirsty.’

‘Then it would make a baboon thirsty,’ Hal explained. ‘Perhaps thirsty enough to dig a well for you in your own garden. I’m not promising that it can be done. But would you like us to try?’

The old man nodded gravely but seemed to have little faith in the experiment. ‘We thank you for your thought,’ he said. ‘It will do no harm to try.’

‘We shall need a rope,’ Hal said.

The chief sent one of his women for a line. She brought a rope that was not a rope. But it would do. It was one of the lianas that hang from the great trees.

Hal called together his men. ‘Catch the biggest, strongest baboon you can get. Bring him here.’

The men, puzzling over this strange order, proceeded to the garden. The baboons did not run. Being the boldest of the primates, they kept on rooting out and devouring vegetables even when the men closed round them.

In the meantime, one of the chiefs women brought a large gourd filled with salt. It was not good clean commercial salt, for it had been scraped from a forest salt pan, but it was good enough for the purpose.

The baboon was brought. ‘Now, lay it out,’ Hal said, ‘flat on its back - hold its arms and legs down - prise its jaws apart with that stick.’

The baboon struggled but the odds against it were too great. Hal began to force-feed it with salt. He felt a little guilty for doing this even to a baboon but after all, the animal should pay for damaging the gardens. Hal did not stop until the gourd was empty and the baboon was full.

‘All right. Let him go.’

Perhaps any other animal would have made straight for the forest. The baboon only joined its companions, then turned and made faces at the men who had tormented it. How long it would take for the salt to do its work, Hal did not know. Perhaps the experiment would not work at all. The baboon sat sulking among the vegetables. With a stuffed stomach, he had no desire to eat more.

Hal waited and wondered. When the animal became thirsty he might wander off into the forest, perhaps many miles away, before he began to dig for water.

But Hal didn’t think so. A baboon rarely goes off on its own. Besides, the ground in the forest would be full of roots and digging would be difficult if not impossible. In the garden the soil was soft, and clear of roots and stones.

It was nearly an hour before the baboon rose and began to explore. Then he walked about with his head down, using whatever mysterious senses elephants, rhinos, baboons, and other animals employ to locate underground water.

Then he fixed upon a spot that suited him and began to dig. His great claw-like hands made excellent shovels. He soon had help. Baboons have a strong instinct for teamwork. In this respect they are quite different from some other animals, such as the hyena which is a loner, and seldom co-operates with other hyenas. If one baboon, especially a leader, starts a job the others will promptly join him.

So a dozen hands scooped away the dirt and the well rapidly deepened. They kept at it until at a depth of about twelve feet water began to ooze into the pit. It was muddy at first, but the salt-filled male did not wait for it to clear. He drank deeply.

The people of the village ran to get their calabashes and climbed down the sloping side of the well to capture the water that was now nearly two feet deep.

The old chief thanked Hal and the villagers looked at him as if he were some sort of magician.

There was only one thing wrong with that well. It brought in other baboons from the forest. Soon there were twice as many baboons as before, enjoying the water and eating the growing vegetables. People beat gourds and pans to frighten them off, but baboons do not frighten easily. Instead, they nipped the legs of their tormentors with their strong, sharp teeth.

They even tore down a scarecrow that had been erected in the gardens to frighten them away. It had worked on most animals, but not baboons. The people looked again to Hal, the great magician. But the wizard had used up all his wizardry. He had no idea how to cope with this new situation.

Help was to come from an unexpected quarter. It was the great Andre’ Tieg who would step in at the right moment to save the gardens and save the day.

The huge wooden drum of the village began to boom. It was time for the ceremony when the new chief would replace the old.

The people left the gardens and gathered in the open space at the centre of the village.

The aged chief made a long and beautiful speech that brought tears to the eyes of those who listened. They loved him and were sorry to have him step down. But when his son came before them they welcomed him as their new master with a great clatter of gourds and pans. He made a short and modest speech praising the work of his father over the years and promising to do everything in his power to carry on his father’s work.

There was good reason for the shortness of his speech. He was interrupted by the arrival of Tieg.

Hal’s men were disappointed to see that Tieg brought no honey. As for the villagers, they were amazed by the appearance of this huge fellow with his bristling yellow moustache, his cockatoo hair, and his glass eye.

But most of all they were conscious of a penetrating odour that seemed to bum the inside of their nostrils and start a fire in their heads. Those nearest to Tieg realized that the stench came from the big man’s tattered and stained clothing. They shrank away from him as if he had the plague. They held their noses - but they must breathe and when they did they were almost suffocated by the evil smell.

They looked to Hal for help, but Hal was helpless. They turned to their new chief. Here was his first problem as headman of the village. Here was a test case. He must do something. If he succeeded he would be respected. If he failed he would start his rule with a black mark against him. Another even more serious problem confronted him - the problem of what to do to save the gardens from the baboons.

The young chief, urged on by his people, approached Tieg. But when he came within ten feet of him he stopped. It was as if he had come up against a stone wall - an invisible wall of smell so sickening that he could not go farther. He looked around helplessly. He knew he was making a poor spectacle of himself as leader of his village.

‘I wish we could do something for him,’ Hal said.

1 think I can,’ said Roger.

Hal was amused by his young brother’s courage. ‘Well, if you can, go to it.’

Roger called Joro. ‘I want to speak to the chief - privately - in his own house. Will you interpret?’

Joro smiled and nodded. He did not think it strange for this fourteen-year-old boy to expect a private conference with a village chief. Roger had already won the respect of the crew by his single-handed capture of the gorilla and the white python.

Joro introduced Roger to the chief, who looked at him curiously and a little impatiently because he did not care to be bothered by a boy when there were important matters waiting for his attention. He reluctantly consented and the three entered his house and closed the door.

‘Now, what is it?’ demanded the young headman. ‘I can’t give you much time.’

Some fifteen minutes later they emerged from the house, the chief carrying a blanket. He came within ten feet of Tieg and threw the blanket at his feet.

‘You will remove your clothes,’ he ordered. ‘You will wear this instead.’

Tieg glared at him. ‘I will do no such thing.’

Hal said, ‘Mr Tieg, please do as he says.’

Sulkily, Tieg drew the blanket around himself and slipped off his rags beneath it.

‘Now,’ said the new chief, ‘you will carry your clothes and put them on that scarecrow.’

Tieg threaded his way through the crowd of feeding baboons and the people followed to watch him clothe the figure in the field.

Immediately there was a commotion among the baboons. They stopped feeding and began to give signals of acute distress. Their sense of smell, more acute than man’s, was all the more tortured by this frightful stink that the civet used so effectively against all enemies from baboon to elephant.

Chattering angrily, the baboons made off into the forest.

The villagers roared with laughter and relief. Their new chief was pretty smart, after all.

‘Where did you pick up this smell?’ Roger asked Tieg. Tieg described the spot, the hollow stump, and the odoriferous cat.

‘Yes, yes,’ said the headman. ‘I know the place. And I know the ways of the spotted cat. The smell will not last for ever. When it is gone we can go back to the spotted cat for more.’

The people were dancing in honour of their new chief, young in years, old in wisdom. The village medicine man led them in a chant praising their new leader who on his very first day rid them of the baboons that had troubled them for years. Truly, a great man.

Roger was satisfied to leave it that way. He didn’t want the credit. Not that he didn’t like credit, but he thought it must be tough for a young fellow to take over the control of a village after it had been so well ruled for many years by his father. At such a moment the new man needed all the credit he could get.

But how about Nero, the man whose gang had that day killed sixty gorillas in order to steal their babies?

Hal expressed his disappointment that the fellow had not shown up. ‘I’d like to have told him what I think of him,’ he said to the ex-chief.

‘He was here,’ the old man said. ‘But when he saw you he went away.’

‘Why didn’t you tell me he was here?’

‘Because I didn’t want any fighting on this day when my son became chief.’

Hal could understand that. ‘Perhaps you were right,’ he said. ‘But I’ll get him yet.’

‘Unless he gets you first,’ said the old man. ‘He won’t hesitate to do to you what he did to our sixty friends in the forest. Watch out for him.’

Upon returning to camp, the first order of business was to feed Lady Luck, Snow White, and the two babies.

The youngsters still clung to Roger’s shoulders.

‘There’s a cage about the right size for them on that Powerwagon,’ Hal said.

But when the two little orphans were put into the cage they immediately began to wail.

‘They want their mother,’ Hal said. ‘And that’s you.’

‘You mean to imply that I’m an ape?’ Roger said.

Hal looked him over carefully. ‘Well, you don’t look like one to me, but you can’t fool the babies. They know a gorilla when they see one.’

Roger laughed. ‘That’s all right. I don’t mind being a gorilla. They have better manners than some people I know.’

He went back to the cage and opened it. At once the two youngsters scrambled out and climbed up to his shoulders. Their wails died down to little whimpers. ‘Well take them into the room with us,’ Roger announced.

‘Our room is no zoo,’ objected Hal.

‘It will be, with four gorillas in it.’

‘Four?’

‘Of course. You say I’m an ape - and you’re my brother, aren’t you?’

The four apes entered the cabin. The two little ones were shivering a bit from the cold of late afternoon. Roger tucked them into his own bed. They clutched the pillow just as they had clutched his shoulders. They were forlorn little things and must have something to hang on to.

‘Gorillas love fruit,’ Roger said. ‘I’ll get some out of the supply truck.’

Hal stopped him. ‘I don’t think they’re old enough for it. It would give them colic and perhaps dysentery. When they’re a little older they can eat mashed bananas, bamboo shoots, wild celery, and such.’

‘But they can’t wait until they get older. What do they eat now?’

‘Perhaps Pablum and wheat germ. Even that might upset them. What they really need first is mother’s milk. Since they’ve adopted you as their mother, it’s up to you to nurse them.’

‘And you think I can’t? Wait a minute.’

Roger left the room. He walked over to the cage containing Snow White and Lady Luck. He spoke to Lady Luck, the gorilla, in low quiet tones. She snarled at him, slapping the floor of the cage with her hands.

For half an hour he stood there in the growing cold, talking to her. Then he ventured to put his hand between the bars, but made no attempt to touch her. She drew back from the hand, smelling it suspiciously. After some minutes he moved his hand directly in front of her face.

Suddenly her jaws opened and her great teeth closed on the hand. Roger controlled his desire to pull it free. He let it lie between the sharp teeth and continued speaking, quietly. The jaws did not tighten on the hand.

Some of the men had gathered to watch this peculiar performance. They had watched Roger work with animals before this, and had no fear that he would be hurt. All the same, they stood ready to help him if he needed help.

Lady Luck’s jaws relaxed. Roger slowly withdrew his hand but left it directly in front of those great teeth where it could be seized again if the gorilla so wished.

After a few minutes he slowly extended his hands towards the gorilla’s neck. She seemed to take no notice. He caressed the back of the head and the neck. The Lady wouldn’t admit that she liked it, but she plainly did not dislike it.

He went around to the cage door. He told the men, ‘Stand by, in case she tries to escape.’ He opened the door, went in, closed the door.

The gorilla stood up to her full height and slapped herself with her cupped hands, warning this intruder to behave himself. But it was a very poor show of anger. Plainly, she was not really angry, but only a little nervous.

Snow White, the python, was coiled in the corner. Roger stepped lightly to avoid disturbing her. He opened the door and stood in the opening. When Lady Luck moved towards the door, he did not try to stop her, but stepped aside to let her pass. She hesitated. He took her great hairy paw that could have laid him flat with one blow, and led her out, closing the door behind him. The men circled around him, but did not come too close.