11 This story is dedicated to the gentle creatures of our Universe.
Father would be appalled.
Here I sit within an ebony walled room. The air is laced with woody scented incense. Candlelight dances on the gilded tablecloth covered with ancient runes(1). I accept the weathered Tarot(2) and ask my question aloud.
~
�Will the heart of Africa welcome me as it had in my childhood?�
~
As the divining(3) ensues, the sable-haired seer(4) assures safe passage with an exceptional journey. The air is heavy with shrouded light. Sounds become eerie as I draw the High Priestess Card(5).
Istand between two worlds. The choice is mine. The light summons me to come forward.
������������������������������I ���������������tumble �����back.
����The pleasant scent of heliotrope fills a child�s room. I am surrounded by over-stuffed bears�calico dressed dollies�a well-kept dollhouse�a wind-up carousel with ten horses�books, all kinds�an old Lionel. Feathery curtains waltz with the Summer breeze as sunrays doze on a well-worn linen bedspread�an embroidered parasol with a tattered handle naps in the corner�high button shoes with scuffed toes peep, sleepy-eyed, from under the bed ruffle�a carved spool box filled with thread is toppled on the nightstand��Jinx� jumps onto the windowseat.
�I�m home!�
�����Walking across the creaky plank floor, I approach my dresser. There�s a photo of all of us�Mother, Father, Michelle, Louis, me, and Gracie�an old ivory handled brush filled with strands of long blonde hair�a black and gold lacquered mirror with a piece missing from the lower left corner�a tall atomizer half filled with freesia cologne�a jewel box with a dancing ballerina.
�����Ipop open the top drawer with a tug. The key never did work! Exactly as I left it, I see my canvas covered journal neatly tied with a green velvet ribbon. Picking it up, I open it. I begin to read a page, written so long ago�
Dear Diary�
�I had visited five continents by the age of nine, three of them twice � Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Summer after my fourteenth birthday we traveled, once more, to Africa - the rain forests of present day Rwanda, Congo, and Uganda.
Mother and our baby sister, Grace, both had died in Japan three years ago. Together, they were laid to rest within site of Fuji-san
�The Reverend, my Father, continued his missionary work but had a great �change of vision�.
He decided to join with the newly formed primate conservancy that was being initiated in central Africa. Their purpose was to study and hopefully help the mountain gorilla facing extinction due to poaching and destruction of native habitat.
He spoke with passion of the �great need to preserve and protect God�s most gentle creatures�.
My twin brother, older sister, and myself chose to go with him on a life-changing journey. He with Mother, and then us kids had been helping the poor families of the world for about twenty-three years. It was, at most, a very rewarding experience. The world became our school and life, our teacher.
While America was coursing through its �Depression� and the rest of the world challenged by Communism, the rain forests of Africa were facing the extinction of its most intelligent mammal as well as of itself.
I believe that Father, with memories of Mother and Grace, had to start a new chapter with Michelle, Louis, and me at his side.
All of us made the decision to help the lesser creatures of Earth. Little did we know, at the thought of this journey, how it would begin, let alone how it would end. We were together, companions on this blessed journey.
...Father sold our house and the old wagon. We looked forward to making a new start among �God�s gentle giants�.
I believe Father disposed of all his tangible memories except for his two Remingtons
Used to travel, we readied only our necessities and departed the States on time from Boston harbor on the 28th of July.
Crossing the Atlantic took well over a week; it seemed like two. During the daylight hours, over the next week or so, we boarded trains, mountain cars, and ultimately, it was our own two feet that landed each of us in the Bamboo Belt that now is known to lie between Kabara and Visoke in the Hagenia Woodlands of central Africa. We did not yet have the convenience of air travel.
I had done quite a bit of reading before we started our journey.
Father was quite pleased that I could name some of the native vegetation. What fascinated me were the vastness of the papyrus swamps and the mammoth size of the Bamboo. I knew we were in gorilla territory!
We saw some elephants, duikers
...Then I saw it�
I believe I felt the way Mother did years ago when she first saw Fugi-san�I couldn�t take my eyes off of this �vision�. It was beyond words, beyond beauty.
Looking outward, toward the volcanoes, it was a different world, all shrouded in a veil of fog.
Our tracker, Kiri, explained that, �It is actually �nyunyu� - how you say - small rain, with bands of wind and sun you see and what makes so how you say, �zuri�? beautiful? That holy place of the �N�gagi�. We go there soon, in few days if that OK �Katiti�.�
�Katiti� - I kind of liked that and it stuck. In Swahili it means �very little�. My real name is Louisa.
Kiri was a wonderful tracker and guide. A very kind and sharing person, he became as part of our family.
I was getting anxious to visit the home of the �N�gagi�, as Kiri called the great ape in his dialect. He would tease me that I looked like �N�gagi� and make pouting faces, laughing with his bright white teeth glaring, while beating his chest with his fists. He was a funny man.
He showed me how the gorilla can bend its digits and walk on its knuckles. We had great fun playing that game!
He showed me how they jump up and down, scream, grab, tear up and throw things, (this sound like Louis!) stuff food in their mouths, stomp their feet, hit the ground with the palms of their hands, gallop on all fours, and many other actions.
He told me that a gorilla has never been known to attack a human and when you do come across one - "DO NOT RUN" - to look slightly down, not directly into its eyes.
Kiri made my interest in the species grow beyond measure. He had seen many of them throughout his lifetime and felt sad that there were not many left in the great wet forest.
Six days passed and we didn�t do much of anything or so it seemed to me. All I wanted to do was see the �N�gagi�. These days were spent getting used to our surroundings, learning how to breathe the heavy, moist air, and what around us could be eaten raw, cooked, or not eaten at all. Crickets?? Yum! There were many things to learn and Kiri was a great teacher.
...Finally, the time came to travel to the mountain. I cannot write what date it was or even the day of the week. If I think about it, it must have been around mid-August. The Moon appeared very silvery-green. I do not believe it was yet September.
(There were twenty-one people in the group. That number included six male guides, four women, eight men, and the three of us kids. We would join eleven scientists already working on the mountain.)
We walked through a lot of tangled ground vegetation. The trees were huge. I recognized a few as being Lobelia. These looked like the huge Yucca I had seen in photographs and magazines. There were other trees - all distorted looking. Kiri told me they were called Senecio. Weird!
After three days travel, it got to the point where I thought this journey was going to be totally useless. All I wanted was to see a gorilla.
You could say I was being very impatient.
�Katiti�you think they just come to you to shake your hand?�
Kiri was great. He always made me laugh. I suppose I did think the gorillas would greet me with a happy �Hujambo!�
The air quality was changing quickly. Breathing became difficult. We needed to slow down to make it out of the valley.
I never experienced changes of weather anywhere on Earth as I did here. The days would begin warm and breezy. Then it would rain on and off with the sun still shining. Later, towards evening, it would become cooler as the air became heavy and damp. It rained, heavily, each day and every day�s weather was the same.
...As we approached the foot of the �mlima wa moto�
Michelle and I bunked with the women and Louis stayed with Father and the other men. It seemed that the guides never slept. They were our guardian angels.
We all took turns cooking as it was needed.
There was so much equipment I wouldn�t know where to begin to explain it all. I was happy that I was able to have a small lamp by which to read.
...Looking upward, I experienced a spellbinding feeling. The beauty of this space mesmerized me. I realized that I was at the foot of a hallowed site. It was beautifully mysterious.
�See one yet, Katiti?�
Kiri broke my meditation and I had to laugh. He laughed too, a laugh that shook the silence surrounding us. It was exactly what we all needed.
�Wallah!�
Kiri gave the orders.
It was a quiet and very cool night. Monkeys chattered and cried, insects buzzed and landed in the firelight, and the �nyunyu�(16) started.
The sounds lulled me off to sleep.
...As I awoke, the Sun was slicing through the trees. Its power lifted the veil surrounding us. The �nyunyu� had stopped, leaving crystal droplets of cool water on everything in sight.
We gathered our necessities and bravely headed toward the unknown.
I looked up one last time and said �Asante sana!�
...I was not afraid, but the sense I had was odd. Father told me this feeling is called �awe�
Our mission, for as long as it would take, was to find the nesting places of the mountain gorilla and try to get specifics about their number, sex, young, and well being. We were warned that we could see some horrible sights along the way such as slaughtered gorillas or amputated body parts strewn about. Gorilla poaching was at an all time high and government funds were low.
I thought that just our presence on the mountain would at least hinder some of the poaching activities. Until this day, I believe I was right.
The biology specialists who had arrived months before were studying a particular troop
We walked about three kilometers, perhaps more, and it became different terrain. Mists hung in the trees overhead placing shadows where there were none before. Traveling upward, the mists became heavy, fog-like. Breathing was becoming more difficult. I thought I would rest awhile, being at the end of the group. Kiri demanded that I not rest too long and showed all of us how to steady our breathing.
...Onward and upward we traveled. We saw amulets, bells, and human figures tied here and there, hanging from trees and vines. Kiri explained about native beliefs and how those who placed amulets here asked protection from the gods for all of the area and the �N�gagi�. It was also believed that if the poachers saw them, the amulets would scare them away.
The poachers would set up traps, supposedly for the native deer or gazelles. It was known throughout the area that the traps were meant to maim the gorillas rather than trap deer. Kiri and the other guides snapped quite a few traps during our travels. We needed to move very slowly and cautiously.
I believe three night's Moons had passed and we were drawing very close to where we would begin our observations.
This night was very different. There was no mist, no rain, no wind, and it was pleasantly cool. The Green Moon
Sitting outside of the tent, I just sat and stared into the moonlit, greening thicket. It seemed as if hours had passed.
I was bored.
The Moon had changed Her position.
Suddenly, I saw some of the ground cover stirring. I remained still, frozen where I sat. I saw the motion again. I did not move. A long time passed, as the Moon grew brighter and larger. Her brightness helped me see �something� but I was too far off to see clearly. It took a long time for me to decide if I should investigate. I looked about and saw that Kiri and the other guides were fast asleep, propped against a tree. Father�s tent was dark. I was the only one awake. I waited a while to gather up my courage.
I remembered all that Kiri and my books had taught me about the �N�gagi�.
It took all the courage within me to stand up. All was still.
I continued talking to myself and it took forever to walk only a few steps.
Looking upward, the early morning mist began to shadow the Moon�s light. The Sun would be rising soon. I had that awed feeling again.
As the mist moved, I moved with it, toward the thicket, carrying my lantern high in front of me. I checked that I had my pocketknife and some rope.
My vision was obscured as I entered the eerie grotto.
I walked straight ahead for a very long time. My lantern quit on me but daylight was nearing. I could see pretty well as long as I moved slowly.
I heard something stir and froze my steps.
I waited.
Nothing.
I continued straight ahead.
Without any warning, I fell into what seemed like a shallow
pit. I cried out, knowing full well that no one was there to hear me.
As I did, my hands touched something cold, sticky, and
bristly.
As my eyes cleared I saw it.
�HELP!
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I was alone.
I vomited and I believe I passed out for a time.
When I came to my senses I was more composed and quieted. I began to cry.
I determined that it was female. She had been decapitated and her hands amputated. Tear drops, like blessed, light rain, fell upon her. I could have run back to camp but there I lay, sobbing and hugging this departed creature.
The bushes in front of me moved.
I became very frightened and clung to the dead animal for my life and tried to hide next to her body. I could not control my sobs.
From out of the green, like a flash of lightning, sprung a huge silver back screaming and wailing�..I cannot describe the scene. I became terrified but I remembered what Kiri had told me.
I did not move. I observed the silver back out of the corner of my eye. I tried to be as still as I could.
It seemed like forever had passed.
Silence.
I looked up.
He was gone.
...I felt a gentle squeeze on my right shoulder. I moved very slowly and turned around.
It was a very tiny gorilla that was turning my head toward his and looking right into my eyes, nose to nose! He crawled right next to me wanting to warm himself. He kept �petting� me from head to toe. My tears would not stop.
He was so beautiful. His eyes were blacker than midnight and his nose was as patent leather. He didn�t have too much hair and he sucked his thumb!
I sat up slowly and held him in my arms, as I know his mother would have. He could not have been more than a month old. He clung to me as I named him �Simbi�. I rocked him, cuddled him, and when I would let go, he would come back. We played in the thicket for a long time and a friendship began. We needed each other.
Part of me wanted to return to camp yet part of me knew I must help this gentle creature. I knew I could be in grave danger of
other male gorillas and even the poachers themselves. I didn�t want to worry about that and I walked on holding Simbi�s hand.
He tired quickly so I carried him.
We didn�t walk far when we spotted the great silver back gathering. As soon as I spotted him I stopped and sat down in the tall grass. I wanted to make him come to me.
It worked � somewhat.
He appeared on the edge of the grass border and plopped quite a bit of torn vegetation onto a small clearing.
He seemed quite shy. He didn�t come too close. He kept grunting and making gestures. I assumed he wanted us to �eat�. I was right.
I did not want to eat any of this because I didn�t know what I could eat. Simbi nibbled only a little. I starting tearing leaves and stems a bit smaller than the great ape had done. I had my canteen with me and offered Simbi some water. He didn�t drink much. I began to worry about the baby ape�s well being. I needed help � Simbi needed milk.
...From behind me, I heard a voice. �Katiti, you OK?�
It was Kiri!
He had left the others behind and came looking for me. I thought I would get a good reprimand but had the opposite reaction. Kaba, the dead Gaia, and my Simbi were the family the scientists had been looking for.
Kiri was proud of me and stayed with my new �friends� and me.
Kaba and his little son spent the day doing what gorillas do.
Simbi ran back and forth to me but it took many hours for Kaba to even attempt an approach.
I am grateful that Kiri brought a bit of fruit. Grass, plants,
and ants were never my favorites.
Kiri told me that Kaba�s behavior was not the usual for a silver back. The females usually take care of the young, even the young of a lost female.
We slept well through that night. Kiri said he would backtrack in the morning to cover the female gorilla. I was grateful for that.
When we awoke, Simbi was nowhere in sight. I was devastated but Kiri began to laugh. He pointed toward the base of a huge tree. There, rocking his baby son, was the great Kaba.
�Ah, �Kaba� good Daddy.� Whispered Kiri. �Go, see if he let you help.�
Now, I was not about to approach a gargantuan male gorilla, let alone a gargantuan male gorilla with his baby.
Kiri must be out of his mind!
�Go, Katiti, he want you to come.� Kiri pointed me toward the two.
...I walked slowly�very slowly.
Kaba stood up. He was huge! He took Simbi, walked farther from me, and sat beneath another tree. He picked up some grasses and greens and continued to feed Simbi.
I walked on and then stood quietly about twenty-five feet behind Kaba. His back was to me.
He turned toward me on his knees, placing Simbi behind him.
He stood up.
I closed my eyes thinking that whatever was going to happen would happen.
He grunted several loud grunts. Hearing him jumping, all kinds of sounds emerged from him. I opened my eyes. He sat down. Simbi was walking toward me now with Kaba farther away.
The little gorilla ran toward me so quickly waddling back and forth trying to hold his balance. I laughed until I cried.
Simbi jumped into my arms and began patting my face. He beat his chest ever so slightly. I beat my chest. We were playing a game! What fun!! Holding hands, we played a game of �Ring around the Roses�. He tired quickly and fell asleep in my arms as I sang to the forest�.
...His sacred burial task completed, Kiri returned.
I had a new found courage. I felt safe.
Looking up, I saw Kaba mimicking us. He began pounding his chest, not at all threatening.
He came closer.
I moved closer.
We played at this ring-a-round for about an hour.
Shadows approached.
As the sun was sinking below the great forest it began to rain.
�����"The great ape approached. Tiny Simbi awoke and leaped from my hold. He scurried toward his father and the great Kaba lifted him up. He tenderly hugged his firstborn son. I waited. With his free arm, Kaba reached and placed his heavy hand on my head. He traced swirling lines on my face and lifted my chin. I resisted. He tried again. As I raised my head, I gazed into his deep, mystical eyes. There I saw the hope-filled future of this mountain - a happy ending. For this the �N�gagi� will die and therefore, new generations will survive.
�����Kaba placed his broad nose against my cheek. It was warm and soft. He smelled like musty, misty rain. Running his fingers down my left arm, he touched my hand and held it. Placing my right hand on his leathery cheek, I felt a teardrop. Like a diamond,it adorned the center of my wrist. My world came alive and my heart sang!"
I opened my eyes and drew the Fool Card(23).
The ebony(24) walled room seemed brighter as I rose and opened the door.
As I crossed the threshold I heard, �Go, Simbi waits to hear your heart sing.�
I closed my eyes.
�����Teardrops, like cloudless gemstones, fall on the verdant earth and reflect
�Simbi, I�m home!� �The great ape approached.
for August
WORD LIST FOR THIS STORY
(1) RUNE - small tiles, each having a 'secret' letter; used in fortune telling
(2) TAROT - a deck of cards having 'special' traditional pictures or drawings on them; used in fortune telling
(3) DIVINING - looking into the future
(4) SEER - one who looks into the future
(5) HIGH PRIESTESS CARD - a Tarot card of the Major Arcana (II); symbolizes dreams, intuition, and knowledge; signifies the learning of new lessons and insight into the world
(6) SPIRIT - all that is good in the Universe
(7) FUJI-SAN - Mount Fuji, Japan
(8) REMINGTONS - rifles
(9) DUIKERS - small African antelopes; small deer
(10) "Hujambo!" - (Swahili) Hello! - How are you?
(11) 'mlima wa moto' - (Swahili) volcano mountain
(12) 'nyumbani' - (Swahili) home
(13) 'makao makuu' - (Swahili) headquarters
(14) "Wallah!" - (Swahili) "By God!"
(15) KILO - a kilometer; approximately 5/8 mile
(16) 'nyunyu' - (Swahili) light rain
(17) "Asante sana!" - (Swahili) "Thank you, very much!"
(18) BWANA - (Swahili) God
(19) AWE - a mixed feeling of reverence, wonder, and fear; caused by the presence of something majestic or sacred
(20) TROOP - family
(21) SILVER BACK - As a male gorilla ages, the hair on his back will slowly turn gray. By the time he has grown old enough to take care of his own family, his back hairs will be totally silver.
(22) GREEN MOON - August Moon; sometimes called the Wyrt Moon
(23) FOOL CARD - A Tarot card o the Major Arcana (0). Represents someone who is beginning a new journey, perhaps into the unknown; the card of fresh starts laced with optimism; the voyage being taken usually will require a 'leaf of faith'
(24) EBONY - black streaked with deeper shades of black
SableHawk
"N'gagi!"
�
I become entranced within a circle of light. The Spirit(6) is with me.
"Calm down�you�re fine�just scared"..."breathe"
I tried to get up.
SOMEBODY HELP!
PLEASE HELP!
KIRI, COME�
HELP!�
Momma�s gonna sing you a lullaby��
into the mountain mist.
�����With my youngest son at my side, I call into the fading daylight,
�Simbi, are you here?�
�Simbi!�
Behind him frolicked his mate with their firstborn, twin sons!�
(and one was sucking his thumb!)
� 2001. All rights reserved.
The Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20559
USA