CHAPTER XXXVIII

THE NJOKOOS, OR ELEPHANTS

Several herds of njokoos that had been hunted mercilessly by men in the immense shrub-covered country in which they had lived all their lives, encountered one another one day. Wherever they went, the hand of the human beings was against them. If they went one way, they met them; if they went another, they met them again. They had no peace, and were relentlessly pursued everywhere.

So the njokoos hated human beings, and wondered how a creature so small, compared with their huge bodies, often slew them, and why they were so full of evil devices to set snares to kill them. The old njokoos, who had seen nearly one hundred rainy seasons, remembered the time when they could roam in peace in vast herds over a great part of the land. But now it was not so, and every year the herds became smaller and smaller, so many were killed. Every njokoo missed some friend who had been his or her constant companion. They were all filled with sorrow, which they expressed by trumpetings. These were followed by a long silence. The njokoos were all thinking.

Then they gave shrill, piercing trumpetings of anger, so much dreaded by human beings, their huge bodies swayed to one side, then to the other, faster than usual, their big ears (the African elephants have much larger ears than their cousins from Asia) moved quickly, like fans, flapping against their heads, and their tails with their thin, short, coarse, and stiff black hair striking against their bodies.

An old bull njokoo, the oldest of them all, and who had been lucky in escaping thus far with his life, suddenly broke the silence and said to the others:

“Those of us who have seen many seasons, have killed many of the human beings that came to attack us. I have trampled upon many, and crushed their bodies as flat as the fallen leaves that cover the ground.”

“Yes,” shouted all the elephants; “we have defended our friends, and killed many of these human beings.” Then all the njokoos uttered again trumpetings of pride.

Another njokoo then said: “I have also trampled upon several of our enemies, the human beings, but I have killed most of them by seizing them with my trunk and dashing them against the ground.” After saying this, he also trumpeted loudly. This was followed by all trumpeting together, and there was again a short silence.

Then a fierce-looking njokoo, with long heavy tusks, each weighing over one hundred pounds, said: “I like to impale the human beings I attack. I have never forgotten that one of these once wounded me badly. He made a terrible noise; it was like a clap of thunder [the firing of his gun], and I felt a sharp pain. I charged and impaled him to the whole length of my tusks.” After saying this, he also gave that peculiar shrill trumpeting of pride and satisfaction, and again all the njokoos uttered trumpetings of delight.

There was silence again, and then another said: “I charged one of those horrid human beings some time ago, at full speed, but he was very cunning, waited for me, and as I was on the point of putting my tusks through him, he stepped backward and I missed him and passed by. Unfortunately we njokoos cannot turn back quickly. Our weight and speed are so great that we have to go a considerable distance before we can stop, and he escaped.” After saying this, he gave a peculiar trumpeting which meant how disappointed he was. Then all the njokoos said: “Would that you had killed this human being! But if the human beings escape with their lives when we attack them, we often also escape from them and their wiles.”

This conversation ended, the different herds of njokoos went to pasture among the shrubs, but did not remain in peace very long, for a new set of human beings made their appearance. But the njokoos had been so much hunted that they were always on the alert, and were not to be caught napping. Their little piercing eyes were always on the lookout. Trumpetings of alarm were given by those who had seen the enemy, and the njokoos fled in the opposite direction, and by night they were out of danger.

Two days afterward, as the njokoos were quietly feeding, they saw in the distance far away three or four black spots. They knew they were not human beings, but to their utter consternation they soon recognized them to be rhinoceroses, and said: “Let us flee, for those rhinoceroses are our worst enemies after the human beings. They are not afraid of our great size and attack us and often impale us with their tusk-like horns growing on their snouts.”

So the elephants fled from the rhinoceroses. The following day those who were ahead saw toward the west a dark line far away, rising upon the horizon against the more or less open country. All the njokoos met, and they all journeyed toward the dark line which they knew to be a forest, and when they reached it, great indeed was the noise of their trumpeting. But they decided to remain outside that night and think the matter over before making the forest their home. Nevertheless, they were glad to have it so near at hand, for they knew they could escape the rhinoceroses and would live in the forest in peace, for they did not think human beings lived there.

At daylight the njokoos entered the big forest, the largest one they had ever seen. After two days’ wanderings, they said: “Never have we seen such a thick forest before: the trees crowd on one another; the foliage is so thick that we cannot see the sky; only flickers of the sun, piercing through the leaves, appear in small spots here and there on the ground. Dark indeed is this forest. The leaves of many of the trees, and of the jungle, are so tender and sweet that we shall thrive in our new home.”

Then there was silence, and a wise njokoo said: “Surely there are no human beings here. We shall be happy for the rest of our lives.”

They advanced farther into the heart of the forest every day. It was a new world to them, and they met creatures they had never seen before, and said, “Strange, indeed, are the animals of this land.”

One day, the new-comers met a herd of their own kin and found out that they spoke the same language; that these had all been born in the forest, as well as their forefathers for many generations, and did not know of any other country but this great land of trees. The new-comers asked of them many questions about their adopted home. They told them that there were great mountains, large and small rivers and lakes; that here and there there were prairies, some large and some small, but always surrounded by the forest; that it rained a great deal and that there was terrific thunder and lightning, and that tornadoes were frequent; that during the rainy season the rivers overflowed their banks; that there were many bogs in which often njokoos lost their lives, and of which they must beware.

The new-comers inquired also if there were any rhinoceroses; and as these njokoos of the forest had never seen them, the new-comers had to explain what sort of animals they were, and were told they did not live in the forest. Also they asked if there were human beings in the forest. They said, “We have run away from the open country, for there were so many of them there. They left us no peace and have killed many of us.”

The njokoos of the forest replied: “Yes, indeed, there are human beings in this forest, and they have made all kind of evil devices, traps, and pits, and snares to kill us. They are the greatest enemies we have, and we have had continually to flee from them and live in the secluded parts; but even there they have hunted and killed us.”

This grieved the others, and all the njokoos uttered trumpetings of sadness and said, “Hard indeed is our life.”

The forest njokoos continued: “We have also another enemy in the forest from whom we have constantly to flee. They are very small, but appear suddenly and in countless numbers. These are the bashikouay ants. Beware of them.”

They told them also of the ngina, of the men of the woods, and of the great numbers of snakes.

Then the forest njokoos and their new friends parted.