CHAPTER XLII
THE MBOYOS, OR JACKALS
A large pack of mboyos with long grayish hair, darker on the back, and with straight ears (they might have been taken for wolves or big hairy dogs at home), were restless. Their leader, who was older and somewhat larger and more powerful than his followers, was standing still and thinking.
“Chief,” said the mboyos, “we are hungry, and as we look from the border of the forest where we hide, over the big prairie, we see no prey; no kambis or ncheris or any other animals. You are our chief; lead us where there is food.”
“Be patient,” said the old chief to them. “You know well that we have to work for our living, and we have been unlucky of late. Prey has been very scarce. I am thinking where to lead you. I have been your chief for several rainy seasons and have led you many times to success. He who waits and is patient gets the game.”
Suddenly one of the mboyos gave a peculiar shriek, which was immediately taken up by all the pack. It was the signal for a long general chorus of fearful dismal screams that filled the air with unearthly noise. They continued to make this horrid din for quite a while; then, as by one accord, they all stopped at once. What this noise means, only the mboyos know. The other animals that were in the forest said, “The mboyos speak. What is the matter with them?”
After this howling, they looked inquiringly at their chief, again ready to obey his orders. “Follow me,” he said to them, in the silent talk of the mboyos.
He took the lead, and they followed the border of the prairie, hidden by the forest. They walked against the wind, so that they could scent prey afar off. They travelled a long way, the old chief walking ahead. Suddenly he stopped, and all the mboyos stood still. He spoke to them, saying, “I scent game far away. Kambis are pasturing in the prairie. Surely I am not mistaken.”
So they continued their march, and after a while they saw a herd of kambis. There was great joy among the mboyos at the sight. Their appetites, which had already reached starvation point, seemed to increase tenfold. A good meal was in sight.
“Let us be wary,” said the chief. “Let us be true mboyos and use all the cunning that belongs to our tribe. Otherwise we shall miss our game, and then we shall have to fight with hunger.” The mboyos prepared themselves to act as they always do when they attack their prey. They left the woods and entered the prairie, one by one, led by their trusted leader. They were hidden by the grass as they manœuvred to approach the unsuspecting kambis. The mboyos were far apart at first. They crept into the lee of the kambis, then turned and at last succeeded in making a large ring about the game. At every circle they made, the ring became smaller and smaller. Suddenly one of the kambis, looking at the others, said, “I scent mboyos; let us flee.” They started, but soon scented mboyos around them everywhere, no matter where they went. In the mean time the ring of the mboyos became quite small, then closed together and succeeded in corralling the kambis. Several kambis were paralyzed with fear; they were hypnotized by the mboyos. The whole pack of mboyos divided in two, overpowered some of the kambis, and soon were tearing their poor prostrate bodies. After their meal, followed by their chief, the mboyos retired once more to the border of the forest, and then thanked and praised him for his great cunning.
[Illustration: [Hyenas]]
After this they made their toilet, and licked the blood from their chaps. They laughed as only mboyos do, saying, “How well we corralled the kambis! only a few of them escaped. How sweet they tasted! What a pity we could not eat all those we killed, and had to leave so much meat! but mboyos can only eat so much and no more.”
Looking toward the place where so much of the kambi meat had been left, they saw two large vultures alighting upon the carcasses and said, “How keen is the sight of the vultures! we have left them a good meal.” The two vultures made a bountiful repast and said to themselves: “Soon it will be sunset. To-morrow we will come again.”
In the mean time the mboyos had departed for the thickest part of the forest.
That same night could have been seen at some distance through the dim moonlight, for the moon was on the wane, a pack of ugly-looking striped hyenas. As they walked along, they looked queer, with their forelegs higher than their hind ones; they were prowling in search of food. Twice they all gave a peculiar cry, horrid to listen to, which filled the country for miles with its reverberations.
They walked silently, sniffing the air as they went along. Suddenly they scented meat. At this discovery there was great excitement among all of them, for they wanted a meal badly, being very hungry. The meat they scented was that of the kambis which the mboyos had killed.
[Illustration: “_A pack of ugly-looking striped hyenas_”]
They hastened their pace and reached the carcasses of the kambis, and soon all were busy tearing the flesh, holding the pieces firmly on the ground with their forepaws, which are armed with big heavy claws.
They ate every particle of the meat; only the bare bones were left. Then they departed, grinning and saying: “If other hyenas come here, they will find only bones. We do not care. We have had a bountiful meal.” Then they went toward the forest and disappeared in its depths, not stopping until they came to a very dark, dense region. Suddenly, like the mboyos, they gave in chorus a hyena concert which was something unearthly and fearful.
Early the next morning the two vultures left the tree where they had spent the night, to return for the rest of the kambi meat. They felt very happy at the prospect of getting an early breakfast, and said to each other, “We will not leave this neighborhood until we have eaten all the flesh, and this will take us several days.”
Great indeed was their disappointment when they reached the place and saw nothing but the bare bones of the kambis; they looked at them and walked slowly around them, but not a bit of flesh was to be seen. “Oh,” said the vultures, “these horrid hyenas have been here during the night, and have eaten everything. They have not even left a morsel for us;” and they rose, soaring high in the air in their beautiful flight to see if they could discover elsewhere the remains of some dead animal.