Underneath it, at a depth of about three feet, we found
several things. One of these was an ancient stone fetish that was
rudely shaped to the likeness of a monkey and wore a gold crown. This
object, which was small, I still have. Another was a bed of charcoal,
and amongst the charcoal were some partially burnt bones, including a
skull that was very little injured. This may have belonged to a woman
of a low type, perhaps the first Mother of the Flower, but its general
appearance reminded me of that of a gorilla. I regret that there was
neither time nor light to enable me to make a proper examination of
these remains, which we found it impossible to bring away.
Mrs. Eversley told me afterwards, however, that the Kalubis had a
tradition that the god once possessed a wife which died before the
Pongo migrated to their present home. If so, these may have been the
bones of that wife. When it was finally clear of the ground on which
it had grown for so many generations, the great plant was lifted on to
a large mat, and after it had been packed with wet moss by Stephen in
a most skilful way, for he was a perfect artist at this kind of work,
the mat was bound round the roots in such a fashion that none of the
contents could escape.
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