Women and children
in lonely places saw their flitting forms, or in the dusk were
knocked down by their
Spring, or heard their growl in the thickets.
It is difficult to decide in many of these reports whether it is a
real leopard or only an Uvengwa - to native fears they are
practically the same, - we were certain this time the Uvengwa was the
thief disguised in leopard's skin, as theft is always heard of about
such times."
When I was in Gaboon in September, 1895, there was great Uvengwa
excitement in a district just across the other side of the estuary,
mainly at a village that enjoyed the spacious and resounding name of
Rumpochembo, from a celebrated chief, and all these phenomena were
rife there. Again, when I was in a village up the Calabar there
were fourteen goats and five slaves killed in eight days by
leopards, the genuine things, I am sure, in this case; but here, as
down South, there was a strong objection to proceed against the
leopard, and no action was being taken save making the goat-houses
stronger. In Okyon, when a leopard is killed, its body is treated
with great respect and brought into the killer's village. Messages
are then sent to the neighbouring villages, and they send
representatives to the village and the gall-bladder is most
carefully removed from the leopard and burnt coram publico, each
person whipping their hands down their arms to disavow any guilt in
the affair. This burning of the gall, however, is not ju-ju, it is
done merely to destroy it, and to demonstrate to all men that it is
destroyed, because it is believed to be a deadly poison, and if any
is found in a man's possession the punishment is death, unless he is
a great chief - a few of these are allowed to keep leopards' gall in
their possession. John Bailey tells me that if a great chief
commits a great crime, and is adjudged by a conclave of his fellow
chiefs to die, it is not considered right he should die in a common
way, and he is given leopards' gall. A precisely similar idea
regarding the poisonous quality of crocodiles' gall holds good down
South.
The ju-ju parts of the leopard are the whiskers. You cannot get a
skin from a native with them on, and gay, reckless young hunters
wear them stuck in their hair and swagger tremendously while the
Elders shake their heads and keep a keen eye on their subsequent
conduct.
I must say the African leopard is an audacious animal, although it
is ungrateful of me to say a word against him, after the way he has
let me off personally, and I will speak of his extreme beauty as
compensation for my ingratitude. I really think, taken as a whole,
he is the most lovely animal I have ever seen; only seeing him, in
the one way you can gain a full idea of his beauty, namely in his
native forest, is not an unmixed joy to a person, like myself, of a
nervous disposition.
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