"On the 6th November, 1872, we landed at Souakim, where, thanks to the Governor, Muntas-Bey, a charming man, by-the-way, we were enabled to lodge both ourselves and our servants in a tolerably presentable brick house.
"I must tell you that Souakim has become a place of considerable importance since Egypt acquired it from Turkey, and became its sovereign mistress. There is actually a bakery in it, an inestimable boon in a country where, ten years ago, the Governor alone ate wheaten bread. But, from a moral point of view, the most complete change in Souakim has been brought about by the new aqueduct. The women will no longer be beasts of burden, destined to seek for water outside the town, and the Bedouin will have other things to think of than the capture of some poor slave-girl, to fill the degrading post of water-carrier. You cannot imagine how sad a sight it is to a European to see these old women, often infirm, wearily dragging themselves along the deep and burning sand, with heavy water-bottles on their heads. Nor are the young and pretty spared; their flexible figures, their backs still weak, are bowed, beneath their heavy burden, and remain so. Why, you will say, are not animals employed on this work? For the simple reason that they are more expensive to keep than slaves.
"Other customs have also undergone considerable modification since the country has been annexed by Egypt. Our European dress, which formerly would have caused a regular commotion, now scarcely attracts any attention. I do not mean to say by this that the Europeans and Egyptians are in a majority here. In the rainy season, hosts of Bedouins, followed by their flocks and herds, come down from the neighbouring mountains, and pitch their tents to the south of the town. But that is more like a suburb situated on the mainland, because Souakim proper is on an island, and it is in this part alone that any noteworthy buildings are to be seen, such as the custom house, the English postal telegraph office, the divan and a few mosques. Of gardens, both public and private, there is an absolute dearth, and I have only been able to discover one solitary clump of date-palms, maintaining a struggling existence in the courtyard of a former Governor. To make up for this want of attraction, we have enough and to spare of the sun, and the heat is so great that we are longing, I can assure you, to get to the mountains.
"We are waiting only for camels and drivers, and it is not an easy matter to procure either, the drivers especially, seeing that every day seems to make them more extortionate and intractable. In consequence of the horror which Joseph now has of a camel, I have been obliged to procure him another sort of conveyance. It is a donkey, strong enough to carry his hulking body, but so small that his rider's legs almost touch the ground and make the animal appear six-footed. Joseph objects to the very mention of a bûrnus ever since his mishap, and he has invented for himself a fanciful costume, which, when he is mounted on his ass, gives him a resemblance to Sancho Panza. Please do not on that account, attempt to confound his master, physically, with Don Quixote, although, morally, I should be flattered by the comparison.
"Miss Beatrice Poles will have nothing to say to camel, horse, mule, or ass. 'I have my feet,' she says, 'they are quite enough for me, and I am only too happy to make use of them. You will never have to wait for me, for I shall go ever so much faster than you. A caravan, in these parts, is just like a lot of tortoises marching in single file, one after another.'
"Our camels, twenty in number, will therefore be reserved for our two interpreters, the three Nubian women-servants, and our personal luggage, the remainder of the luggage having, as I have already told you, been sent on direct to Khartoum. Excuse all these details, they are absolutely necessary if you wish to understand our trip and to follow us.
"We calculate on reaching the Nile, without hurrying ourselves, in about a fortnight. Beurman estimates the distance from Souakim to Berber at one hundred and thirteen hours' travelling, and Heuglin at one hundred and eight, much about the same thing. Schweinfurth calculates by miles, and puts it down at seventy-five. Do not forget, for it is a detail of great importance, that marine miles are meant, sixty to the degree, and representing 1,952 metres. You must not, as is so often done, confound the mile with the kilometre."
"We are off; the camels are loaded, and the drivers, armed with sticks, are beside them. Madame de Guéran is mounted on her mule, our two friends and myself on horseback, Joseph on his ass, and the remainder of the servants on their more gigantic steeds. Miss Poles, in a most picturesque travelling costume, with a cap on her head, a large green veil, a plaid round her body, a whole heap of useful articles pendant from a belt, her dress hooked up, and her huge feet in yellow boots and gaiters, moves to and fro, here, there, and every-where, gives a piece of her mind to one person, and an order to another, and winds up by setting out at the head of the caravan.
"'Good heavens!' says Delange, 'in that get-up she will scare away all the birds, and they tell me there are some splendid specimens to be seen on the road!'
"Some Arabs appeared to say good-bye to us, and overwhelmed us with theirKattar-Kherak(may God increase your happiness); we reply to their bows and scrapes in our most courtly fashion, and off we go.
"Before leaving Souakim we pass by the Foullah, the suburb favoured by the Nomads. They live in a camp composed of tents made of matting, and held up by poles of acacia-wood. Several of these people came to the side of the road to wish us a pleasant and prosperous journey. We noticed that their bûrnus differed from those worn by the inhabitants of the towns, being of some dark material, instead of white, and consequently not so liable to be soiled. Miss Poles, who was walking close to me, and never lets anything escape her, pointed out to me several very handsome men, of dignified mien, and small, but strongly-marked features.
"After leaving the town we came to a large plain, between the sea and the mountain ranges, interspersed here and there with enormous rocks of blackish hue, which every now and then bar our progress and cause us to make a detour. On the way I amused myself by watching our camels, and I find that they take from seventy to seventy-five paces per minute, and that if you hit them or shout at them, they do not increase the number but the length of their stride. You can see by this that Miss Poles, with her stilts, will have no difficulty in keeping up with us.
"Soon we begin the ascent of the mountain-range, the temperature changes almost at once, and, in spite of the sun, some puffs of fresh air meet us in the face and revive our energies, weakened by the suffocating heat of Souakim.
"The evening closes in and the day's work is over for us, our retinue, and our animals. The baggage is unloaded and carefully stacked with the double object of rendering theft difficult and forming an intrenchment round ourselves. Whilst the camels seek a repast in the neighbouring plain, their masters collect a few branches and, having made a fire with them, proceed to cook their evening meal, consisting of parched durra.
"We are more luxurious, and have made up our minds to feast sumptuously after this first day's march. Our choicest provisions are spread out on the grass, a few bottles of our finest vintage find themselves minus their corks, and we sit down to table—that is to say, we take our seats on saddles, packs, cases, or bales. Never, my dear fellow, was there such a cheerful meal. What the future has in store for us I know not, but, to quote the old proverb, this is so much saved from the enemy.
"We are on a plateau of remarkable fertility. Delange, very strong on botany, is in his element. He calls our attention to some magnificent dragon-trees, superb dracænæ, euphorbiæ, aloes, and gigantic tufts of salvadora. All these plants, crowded together and in full growth and bloom, clothe the verdant plain. The camphor tree, mint, and thyme fill the air with their fragrance, whilst the stars are just beginning to twinkle over our heads, and the moon, half hidden by the neighbouring mountain, sends us her rays of clearest light. It is like a July or August night in France. Nothing is wanting, for even the field-crickets are chirping down below there by the side of a track worn across the plain.
Whilst we thus give ourselves up to the enjoyment of the climate and the scenery, our tents are being pitched and furnished, for, after much wise counsel, we have, in order to protect ourselves from the dampness of the grounds brought with us several sets of frame work calledangareb, on four legs, and covered with a sort of lattice, made of thongs of bullock's hide; a mat placed on this frame serves as a mattress. You see, my dear fellow, that we have all our little comforts round us, and that we have no reason whatever to hanker after those pretty little boudoirs which it is your wont to frequent.
"We are at Singate, the summer residence of the inhabitants of Souakim, and an encampment of the Bedouins, of the tribe of Bischaris, commonly called Bishareen, situate in a large valley, shut in by the loftiest links in the mountain chain. Singate is considered as being one of the healthiest places in the country. The Governor of Souakim, when he came to say good-bye to us, told us that he would order his own residence to be placed at our disposal, and consequently we have in attendance upon us the commandant of the little Egyptian garrison which protects the district, and the greatest respect is paid to us.
"Our dinner is served under a sammor, an immense specimen of the acacia genus, whose branches extend far out and droop downwards in the shape of a parasol. The Commandant, during the evening, thought fit to present to us two Abyssinian ladies, whom a love of travel had brought to the Soudan. They belong to the upper ten. I was on the point of saying that they were women of the world. Their features are delicate, and approach the European type, their lips thick, without, however, reminding one of those of a negress, their teeth brilliantly white, their noses long and thin, and their complexion a golden yellow. Delange will persist in saying that they have lovely figures, but that impressionable young man was so smitten with the bayaderes that he is always thinking he sees replicas, so to speak, of those wonderful beings, who appear to have been an epoch in his life. I am quite content with giving you their portraits, and so I will complete them. They walk bare-footed, according to the custom of their country, where a Princess here and there alone allows herself such a luxury as red leather slippers, and their black hair shines so in the sun that I asked the Commandant to explain the phenomenon to me. He made no scruple about telling me that in order to obtain this sheen, which is quite the fashion, they put a small piece of butter on their heads, and this, melting quickly, anoints their hair from its roots to their shoulders inclusive.
"The Doctor who, I thought, would be interested in this little detail, did not seem in the least degree affected by it, and, in spite of the melted butter, to which, in his admiration, he shuts both his eyes and his nose, flirts desperately with both the fair strangers, to the great disgust of Miss Beatrice Poles.
* * * * * *
"This morning, when we wanted to start from the Wady Kokreb, near which we had passed the night, it was impossible to find Miss Poles. We shouted, we searched, we sent the interpreters out in all directions, but in vain—no one could give us any tidings of her. A camel driver said that he had been awake nearly all night, and that he had not seen her go into her tent.
"Has she been carried off by some too inflammable Bedouins?
"That would indeed be a misfortune—for them."
"We waited one hour more for Miss Beatrice Poles, and then we gave the order to start.
"Had she not told us over and over again never to be anxious on her account, that she was not the sort of woman to lose herself, and that, if she did, she would very easily find herself again? However, it was by no means probable that she had retraced her steps. It was far more likely that, under the influences of one of those impulses to which she is subject, or of a locomotive fit which she could not repress, she had set off in the middle of the night, and was now ahead of the caravan. We had, therefore, a much better chance of finding her by continuing our journey than if we remained stationary.
"Nevertheless, we could not shake off our feelings of anxiety, for Miss Poles, despite her eccentricities and her ridiculousness, is such a thoroughly good creature, and so courageous a woman, that she has quite won us over. So, when Périères proposed to me that we should gallop on in search of our companion, I jumped at the idea, and we left the caravan for several hours under the command of Madame de Guéran and the Doctor.
"We did not run any risk of losing our way. The Wady Kokreb, which we had just left, is at the entrance of a narrow valley, very easy to follow. Two lofty mountains, Badab on the right, and Wowinte on the left, imprisoned us after a fashion and showed us the way.
"We galloped along, for two hours at least, on an extensive plain, and, as we could not see a single break in the horizon, we were beginning to be seriously alarmed, when Périères rode up along side me and said—
"'Don't you see something down there at the bottom of the valley? Is it a tree, a rock, or a human being?'
"'It moves, whatever it is,' I replied, after a moment's examination.
"'Yes,' replied Périères, 'I think it does. Let us ride down this side. We shall, no doubt, find ourselves in the presence of some Bedouin, but we are already capable of saying a word or two of Arabic, and by supplementing them with a few expressive gestures, we shall obtain some information about the fugitive.'
"Without waiting for my reply, our friend made for the spot which he had been the first to discover, and I followed him.
"We were not mistaken. It was a human being, but of which sex? That we could not divine, as at a distance the bûrnus of an Arab might easily be mistaken for a woman's skirt. Anxious to settle this point without delay, we pushed on at an increased rate, but very soon we were obliged to confess, to our great astonishment, that we gained but little on the pursued. That the being was on foot was evident, but its pace was surprising.
"At length our suspense was at an end. It was Miss Poles, marching on in a quick time peculiar to herself and unknown to our finest troops, with an enormous stride, springy, rapid, but at the same time wonderfully regular.
"The whole of her body seemed to merge into her feet, and they never appeared to touch the ground, or to be together, but flew and whirled about to such an extent that it made one giddy to look at them. It was not a woman, it was the wandering Jew, traversing the earth, overleaping space, escalading mountains, striding over river and sea, passing from one pole to the other.
"And the nearer we approached, the faster went Miss Poles. Did she wish to flee from us? Was she pitting her speed against that of our horses, and did she think she could beat them? She could not hope to beat them for a short distance on the flat, but, perhaps, she thought her staying power was greater than theirs, and that over a long course she would wear them down.
"'Miss Poles! Miss Poles!' exclaimed Périères, 'for heaven's sake stop! Our horses will break down, and we shall never get to the end of our journey!'
"She did not even condescend to turn her head, but went on just the same, straight ahead, mechanically, for all the world like an automaton.
"'She is wound up for twenty-four hours,' said Périères, 'and if the main-spring does not smash, there will be no stopping her. We must smash her main-spring.'
"'So let us do,' said I.
"We set spurs to our horses, dashed on about thirty yards past MissPoles, and then, suddenly wheeling round, we bore down upon her.
"Impassible as ever, her long body, like a paper spill, glided between our horses, and on she went without the slightest deviation or alteration of her course.
"We had to begin again.
"After giving our steeds a little breathing time we set off once more in pursuit.
"This time, when we got up to her, Périères attacked on her right, and I on her left, each of us simultaneously seizing an arm.
"The main-spring gave way, it was true, but it went on from force of habit, and made one revolution more. She dragged us onward for about half-a-score yards, and our horses, in spite of our efforts to stop them, could not resist the impetus.
"At last she stopped. With a sudden wrench she disengaged her two arms from our grasp, and crossing them on her breast, she said in an angry tone—
"'What do you want?'
"We were non-plussed. What was the matter with her? Why did she speak to us in that way? Why cast on us such furious glances from behind her blue spectacles?
"I replied timidly—
"'Miss Poles, we were anxious about you, and did not know what had become of you.'
"'Ah!' said she, bitterly, 'you are anxious about me now that thoseAbyssinians no longer form part of the caravan.'
"This was a revelation for Périères.
"The Abyssinians had, in fact, asked, when we left Singate, permission to proceed with us as far as Kokreb. We willingly gave our consent, and they availed themselves of it in the most considerate manner possible, keeping themselves to themselves throughout the journey. But, very probably, during the evening we passed near the Wady Kokreb, Delange, ever eager in the pursuit of knowledge, paid the Abyssinians a visit for the purpose of obtaining from them some information about their country. Miss Poles, whose heart, after having for a long time wavered between Delange, Périères, and myself, had appeared of late to be fixed on the Doctor, had naturally suffered cruelly at finding herself neglected for these strangers, and in her spite, anger, and despair, she had hurled herself into space to get out of the way of the faithless one.
"Her first answer to our further questions was enough to convince us that we were not, mistaken.
"'But, Miss Poles,' we asked, 'why go so fast, and fatigue yourself to such an extent?'
"'To tire out my body,' she replied, casting down her eyes; 'bodily suffering sometimes has the effect of relieving the soul's agony.'
"'You suffer then?' asked Périères, trying to keep his countenance.
"'Suffer!' she exclaimed.
"At the same time, as if to call heaven to witness, she turned her eyes upward, and we saw the eye-lashes of her upper lids standing straight out above her spectacles.
"'Miss Poles,' I resumed in a mild tone, 'it is not right to flee from your friends because you are suffering. Périères and I have not done anything, and yet, ever since this morning you have put us in a terrible state of anxiety about you.'
"'It is true,' said she, touched by my eloquence. 'I have been unjust. Forgive me.'
"She put out her hand, and we shook it heartily.
"'Suppose,' suggested Périères, 'that whilst we are waiting for the caravan we take a short rest below there, under that magnificent sammor, which reminds me of the one in the garden of the Governor of Singate? We know that you are not tired. Miss Poles, but our horses are blown, and I am sure you will have mercy on them.'
"'Be it so!' she replied, 'especially as I am rather hungry!'
"'Our ride has given us an appetite, too, but all the provisions are with the camels.'
"'Oh! she replied, with a still broken voice, 'I always carry my lunch with me.'
"She produced a sort of cartridge-box, which she carried on her belt, wherein was a supply of excellent viands, and we soon came to the conclusion that if her heart was affected, her digestion was unimpaired.
"When our caravan appeared in sight, Périères mounted his steed and trotted off to tell Madame de Guéran that her travelling companion had been recovered.
"As soon as I was alone with Miss Poles, I made a trial of moral homoeopathy; I put in force the system of like to like,similia similibus. I tried to cure her one love by another, and to substitute our friend Périères for the too volatile Delange. It was doing poor Périères a shabby turn, but it was absolutely necessary to console our companion and to replace one weakness by another. I sang the praises of Périères to such an extent; I depicted him in such tender, sentimental, plaintive colours; I so delicately hinted at a supposititious weakness on his part for Miss Poles, that at the end of an hour's conversation, a smile once more spread itself over our Englishwoman's lips, and her heart caught glimpses of a new horizon.
"'All right, my friend,' said Périères, when he heard how I had disposed of him, 'I owe you one for that.'
"At our evening's halting place, near the well of Roway, the inhabitants of a neighbouring encampment very unexpectedly made an inroad upon us in search of medicine.
"This was a matter for Delange, and he entered thoroughly into the spirit of the thing, causing the people to form a circle round him, and endeavouring, with the assistance of an interpreter, to question each one in turn about the particular malady from which he imagined himself to be suffering. But the Doctor's new patients spoke all at once, with no end of gesticulations and shouting. They pushed, they struggled, they hustled each other, they fought for the position nearest to the Doctor, and to attract his attention. It was an awful row, a regular hubbub, a riot in fact.
"Our friend very soon saw that doctoring in earnest was out of the question, and therefore, in order to get rid of these people, show them his good will, and at the same time play his part as medical adviser, he ordered them all simultaneously to put out their tongues. They obeyed. Thirty tongues of all shapes, sizes, and hues were at one and the same time pointed at the Doctor. He inspected the whole line with the utmost gravity, his patients remaining during the whole process open-mouthed, and with their tongues, as the soldiers say, at the 'ready.' He then sent to his tent for a leather bag, labelled 'medicine,' and from it he took a small box filled with Cockle's pills, one of which he solemnly dropped down each expectant throat.
"During this operation we heard him murmur these words, which his patients evidently looked upon as an incantation. 'If it does not do you any good, it will do you no harm.'
"We could not restrain our laughter, but these unsophisticated beings, perfectly satisfied, returned to their encampment, showering blessings on the Doctor's head, and we were left to our well-earned repose.
"To-day, ever since sunrise, the heat has been stifling, one of our horses seems out of sorts, and Joseph's ass, weary of his rider, is wallowing on the plain and obstinately refuses to be coaxed on to his legs again. Our camel-drivers, too, have turned sulky, and, instead of assembling their beasts as usual, loading them, and putting them in marching order, they are chattering, quarrelling amongst themselves, and wasting their time and ours. They might very well be supposed to have entered into a compact with the sun, the horse, and the ass, to make sure of a day's rest, or, at all events, to delay us on our journey to the extent of one stage.
"'Shall we give in to them this once?' proposed Madame de Guéran.
"'It would be a bad precedent,' said Périères.
"'Never mind that,' I replied, 'I will undertake to re-establish discipline whenever it may be necessary."
"'Very well,' replied the Baroness, 'but so that we may not appear to be frightened of them, let us anticipate their wish, and give them, of our own free will, the holiday they seem to want."
"'In that case what are we to do with ourselves this morning?' asked the Doctor. 'If I only had as many patients as I had last night! But my treatment has, no doubt, cured them, and they will not return.'
"'I propose,' said Miss Poles, 'that we should make the ascent of that magnificent mountain which overhangs the valley. The map I have before me styles it Djebel-Gurrat, and the inhabitants of this region call it Beit-el-Pharaon, the House of Pharaoh. It is a granite rock, they say, and remarkable for its numerous natural reservoirs. It is only a two hours' walk, and, in the meantime, both servants and animals can rest.'
"'The suggestion of Miss Poles is an excellent one,' said Périères, 'and we may as well take advantage of this opportunity of visiting one of the last mountains we shall come across.' All five of us were soon on the move, accompanied by our interpreter, Ali, and two bedouins, who knew the country and carried our lunch.
"Joseph, as might have been expected, had, at the last moment, begged to be excused from this walk, and we left him tranquilly reposing close to his donkey.
"The mountain, like most other mountains, was much farther from us than we thought it was, and the heat grew so intense as to be almost unbearable. But we were determined not to be daunted by any obstacles, but, in view of what we had to undergo, to inure ourselves to the fatigue of walking and the burning rays of the sun. Towards one o'clock in the afternoon, when we had calculated on returning from our expedition, we had only reached the first precipitous slopes of the Djebel-Grurrat, and as we were climbing the ascent the two Bedouins called our attention to some heavy clouds which were gathering in the horizon, and attempted to dissuade us from proceeding any farther. Our only answer was to order one of these men to show us the way, and the other to return to our camp and bring to the foot of the mountain five camels to carry us back thence, when our excursion was over. By so doing we were able to reconcile our upward ideas with the consideration due to limbs destined, as ours were, to severe exertions.
"The sky grew more and more overcast as we toiled up the mountain, but, at the same time, the clouds held out a promise of refreshing rain, over which our hearts rejoiced in advance.
"'What a jolly shower-bath we shall have,' exclaimed Périères.
"'I am delighted at the prospect,' said Delange, 'and it seems to me that I am cooler already. What a marvellous thing imagination is!'
"It was no imagination! Atmospheric currents, heralds of the storm, were refreshing the air, and very soon the thunder, which had been rumbling in the distance for an hour past, became louder and louder, each clap taken up by all the echoes of the hill, and reverberating incessantly.
"Close on the thunder followed the wind, bursting its bonds with irresistible impetuosity, and hurling around us stones and masses of rock. The clouds had come down from their lofty eminence, and reaching the ledge on which we stood, surrounded us with vapour and enveloped us in gloom.
"All nature seemed to bend, and break, and succumb under the violence of the hurricane; and, lost as we were, in the midst of this enormous mass of granite, blocks of which were every now and then detached from the main rock, we were in imminent danger.
"The gale passed over our heads without touching us, but fresh clouds appeared and burst into torrents of water. Our interpreter, Ali, who had left us for a few moments, now hurried towards us. He had found a shelter, and led us to it. It was one of those natural reservoirs of which we had been told, a cavity several yards deep and wide, and overhung by a rock. This yawning cavern was perfectly dry, and a natural projection here and there afforded an easy means of descent.
"The two ladies, accompanied by Périères and the Doctor, followed Ali without hesitation, congratulating him on his discovery.
"'Are you not coming, too?' called out Périères to me.
"'No,' said I, 'I have no love for caverns. And, besides, I am wet through already, so why should I take shelter?'
"I remained on the ledge, some twenty yards from the cavern in which my friends had found refuge.
"The rain fell with redoubled force, the darkness increased, and the hurricane, which had apparently left us, came back upon us with more menacing and impetuous fury. Suddenly I heard a fearful crash, whole trunks of trees were carried past me down the mountain, and, at the same time, a huge volume of water, bursting through all the obstacles which had confined it to the higher level, rushed down with lightning speed, and poured itself headlong into the reservoir where my friends had taken shelter.
"You would have rushed to their assistance, would you not? I fell on my knees, hurled down by the tempest, crushed with grief, mad with despair."
"I soon recovered from my passing weakness, and, crawling on my hands and knees, I made my way, as quickly as possible, to the reservoir, and, as I feared, the grave of my friends.
"The flood, now that it had vanquished every obstacle, seemed to have abated its fury. A moment before, it had thrown me down to the ground and carried me away; now it drew me onwards and swept me along its granite bed, but I was master of it. I did not lose my breath, and I was no longer helpless.
"When I reached the reservoir I clung to the trunk of a tree which had been overthrown by the hurricane and I peered down into the whirlpool.
"It was surging, boiling, lashing itself into fury against the walls of its prison, and looked like some sea let loose by the tempest, which, confined once more in limits too narrow for it, sought for freedom.
"And in this whirlpool I saw nothing—nothing; the dead bodies of my friends rose not to the surface, were nowhere to be seen. Some eddy, doubtless, had formed and held them captive below.
"Ah! there was no hesitation now. I have told you that I was mad with grief. I had but one wish—to join them, to be buried with them in their watery grave.
"But, at the very moment when my hands were loosening their grasp of the tree they had so eagerly clutched, at the very moment when my body hung over the abyss, I heard a voice. I stopped and listened.
"It was Ali calling me.
"What was he to me? More fortunate, more calculating than my companions, he doubtless had not taken refuge in the cavern and was saved.
"Once more I hung over the abyss, but fresh voices sounded on my ear, a few paces from me, as if from the ledge I had just left.
"I listened—it was Delange's voice—and then Périères spoke.
"How came they there, behind me, instead of being below my feet, at the bottom of the abyss? By what miracle had they been saved?
"I could not think—I imagined I was dreaming—I was mad.
"I turned round, crying out, 'here I am, here I am!' and toiled painfully up towards the ledge, struggling now against the current, but buoyed up with hope and courage.
"At last I managed to crawl out of the bed which the torrent had hollowed out, I stood once more on my feet, and made my way towards the place whence the voices came.
"I saw Périères and Delange.
"As soon as they caught sight of me they rushed towards me.
"'Ah!' I exclaimed, looking round in all directions, and with my voice trembling with emotion, 'Madame de Guéran is not with you! She has perished?'
"'No, no,' said Périères, 'she is saved!'
"'Nobody has perished,' added Delange, 'neither Madame de Guéran, norMiss Poles!'
"'Where are they?' I asked.
"'Close by, under the care of our guide; they are bruised and battered about, but they have not sustained any serious injury.'
"Then I raised my eyes to look at our two friends, and I saw that their hands and faces were bleeding.
"'What is the matter with you? What has happened?' I exclaimed. 'Tell me all—I do not understand. Is it really you? Are you alive, and how is it that you, by some blessed chance, were able to leave the cavern, without my seeing you, before that terrible accident happened? And, then, how comes this blood, these wounds? Why are you hurt?'
"'We were under the rock, in the reservoir,' said Périères.
"'Impossible.'
"'Quite true,' said Delange.
"'But how?'
"'How?' he replied. 'At the bottom of the reservoir, and at one end there is a large opening, a sort of subterranean passage debouching on to a lower ledge. The torrent, rushing into the cavern, hurled us towards this opening, dragged us into the passage, and, after a second or two, threw us back, half-suffocated, wounded, bleeding, as you see us, but alive—very much alive, as you may perceive.'
"I began to understand, my head became clearer, I could collect my ideas, and I had no more fear for my reason.
"'You are certain,' said I, 'that Madame de Guéran is not seriously injured?'
"'I assure you,' replied Delange, 'that her forehead and wrists alone are hurt. Miss Poles has always some plaister with her (rather stiff from the bath it has had), and at this moment she is dressing the wounds of the Baroness as skilfully as I could do it myself.'
"'And you may add,' continued Périères, looking at me with a somewhat mournful smile, 'that Madame de Guéran is very anxious about you, my dear friend, and is wondering if you have not been crushed by the trees, carried away by the torrent, and, moreover, has insisted on our coming to look after you.'
"'Then,' I exclaimed, 'let us hasten to set her mind at rest.'
"'Come along, my rival,' whispered Périères to me.
"But as he spoke, his unwounded hand sought mine, as if the brave fellow were asking for pardon for the momentary impulse of jealousy to which he had given way.
"'Ah,' said I, as we all made our way towards the lower ledge, 'your safety is indeed, a source of joy to me; but I should be happier still if it were not for one thing—I have a revenge to take, and I do not see my way to it.'
"'You have plenty of time before you,' replied Périères; 'ourrôlewill, perhaps, speedily be reversed, and you will be the foremost.'
"'That is what I long for.'
"'De Morin,' said Delange, suddenly, 'suppose we have our little game?'
"'Surely, Doctor, you are not serious?' said I.
"'No, my dear fellow, I am too damp.'
"'And a good thing, too,' I replied; 'for if you had been in earnest I would have throttled you, and so have got rid, once and for all, of you and your cards. I have no right to break my word, or to fail to carry out my engagement, but nothing prevents my putting an end to you.'
"'Nothing, I admit. Only, you would not be placed in such an extremity. You lost yesterday, and it is I who have to meet your wishes.'
"'True, I forgot it. Then I substitute a bet for the cards.'
"'What?'
"'That I will reach the rock near which I see Madame de Guéran before you do.'
"'Done,' said Delange, 'it will warm me.'
"He started off in the required direction in such earnest as to convince me that, however seriously his hands and face were damaged, his legs were intact. I left off running, for I did not want to come upon Madame de Guéran like an avalanche, though I was very anxious that she should see, as quickly as possible, that I was safe and sound. Delange thus became my unconscious messenger, and his run cost me a thousand francs.
"When I reached Madame de Guéran, in due course, I held out my hands, which she grasped warmly, and as I looked at her I saw that she was pale and agitated.
"'We escaped rather well!' said she, smiling.
"'I thought you were dead,' was my reply.
"'And what would you have done?' said she, turning towards me with that frank look which you one evening noticed.
"'I should have died, too.'
"'Truly?' she asked, still looking at me.
"'Truly.'
"'I believe you,' she said, and she once more held out her hand, which, carried away by an irresistible impulse, I raised to my lips.
"Périères came up at this moment, and then I remembered Miss Poles, who might be hurt at my not having enquired after her. I went to her, and found her sitting, leaning against a rock, with Delange on his knees before her, binding up her foot.
"'Are you hurt?' I asked, concernedly.
"'A sprain,' she replied, and, holding out her foot, she added, with a smile, 'according to my sin am I judged.'
"The storm had passed away, and the sky was as clear and tranquil as it was in the early morn. A glorious sun, which now we blessed, dried our sodden garments. We commenced the descent, step by step, picking our way cautiously, like people who are not quite sure whether they are alive or not. Miss Poles also retarded our progress, in spite of all her efforts to keep up with us and cause us no inconvenience.
"But the Doctor expressly forbade her walking a single step, and so she was compelled to allow herself to be carried in turn by Ali and the Bedouin, Périères and myself.
"At the foot of the mountain we found the camels, which, by a happy thought, we had ordered. Miss Poles was hoisted, notwithstanding her resistance, on to the back of one of these animals. We mounted the others, and, two hours afterwards, we reached our camp.
"Our three Nubians were asleep, as is their wont, and Joseph was revelling with his donkey on the plain."
"This morning, at daybreak, we commenced our preparations for departure, for, come what may, we must make up the time we have lost.
"Miss Poles is better already, but, nevertheless, we begged her to make use of a camel. As she has but one idea, that of recommencing as soon as possible her gymnastic exercises, she yielded to our entreaties.
"Her long, thin figure, perched perpendicularly on the camel's back, lofty enough by nature, produces the drollest possible effect. But we seize upon the particular weakness of Miss Beatrice, heramour-propre, and assure her that her appearance on the gigantic steed is at once full of majesty and grace, and that the camel becomes her admirably.
"The sick horse is also improving, and, as for Joseph's donkey, he spent such a day of luxurious idleness yesterday that his hard-working propensities are again in full swing. Out of pity for the poor beast, weighed down by that lump of vanity, his rider, I have decided that he shall be ridden only a part of the way.
"In case you should be tempted to ask why I do not send this idle servant of mine, so cumbrous a travelling companion, to the right-about, back again to France, I must recal to your recollection a charming comedy, once performed at the Gymnase, called 'La Voyage de M. Perrichon,' which is based entirely on the eminently true idea that our attachment for others depends more upon what we do for them than on what they do for us. You will, therefore, readily understand that, having, at the risk of my life, saved Joseph from death or slavery, he has become proportionately dear to me.
"He amuses me, too, I confess, by his mixture of stupidity and self-sufficiency, and I must admit that when, perchance, he does condescend to wait on me, he does it, to use his own expression, in a most correct fashion. It is quite a treat, I assure you, in this country, almost a desert, in the midst of this semi-barbarian existence, and under the tent where I have just passed the night, to set eyes on a clean-shaven, neat-looking valet, with my clothes over his arm, my boots blacked and in his hand, and himself in readiness to give me my slippers. I forget Africa, Bedouins, mountains, camels, my tent, the board which serves me for a bed, and I imagine that I am in the heart of Paris, in the Rue Taitbout, in my own snug little bedroom.
"To-day we have turned our backs upon the verdant plains, the splendid clumps of trees, and all the superb vegetation which has charmed us up to the present time. In the neighbourhood of the well of O-Back (the great well, I mean) the country is one mass of sand, the precursor of that twenty league desert which we have to traverse before we reach the valley of the Nile. Yes, my dear fellow, twenty leagues of sand, a fine and shifting sand, which the wind, according to its fancy, either leaves as level as a billiard-table, or heaps up in huge hillocks, and which the burning rays of the sun cause to sparkle like mingled particles of gold and silver.
"For three days we passed through these gloomy solitudes, compelled half our time to travel on foot, for our horses sank into the sand up to their knees. Even the camels began to show signs of fatigue; they staggered under their loads, and their drivers, dragging themselves wearily along after them, in vain repeated their customary cry of 'hot, hot, hot,' meant to rouse and stimulate them to fresh exertions.
"In spite of all these delays we reached the well of Abou-Tagger, and, after having come upon an alluvial plain, our eyes rest at last upon the Nile, to which, nearly a month ago, we said au revoir at Cairo, about three hundred miles north of our present position. We hasten to the stream with almost childish glee, and we seem as if we have once more met an old friend with whom we are destined to spend many a long day.
"The Nile, out of gratitude, no doubt, for our hearty greeting and effusive welcome, regales us with a curious spectacle. Picture to yourself anal frescowashing establishment, a congregation of copper-coloured washerwomen, young and pretty, and boasting no other garment than a short, petticoat reaching from the waist to the knees.
"These pretty girls were doing their washing to an accompaniment of song and dance, using their feet, instead of their hands, as 'dollies' to press out the clothes after they have rinsed them in the river and spread them along the bank. They stand first on one foot and then on the other, never on both at the same time, and stamp in unison in slow and measured time.
"Our arrival did not discompose them in the least; they continued to perform their little operation, laughing the while and showing us their white teeth. This unexpected tableau was all the more pleasing to us, as, since we left Souakim, with the exception of our Abyssinian travellers, we had not met amongst the Bischaris tribes any but very unprepossessing specimens of the female race.
"And so at last we rest at Berber, or El-Mecherif, on the right bank of the Nile, in a real house, a perfect palace to us, in real beds, with real mattresses, an accumulation of comforts which, I assure you, plunges us into a sort of ecstacy.
"And now we see what an able leader we have in Madame de Guéran. With what skill she has traced out our route for us! How well she has prepared us for long journeys and severe exertion! How excellently she has arranged our various transitions! If, at one fell swoop, she had compelled us to traverse some far-stretching desert, if she had led us far away from all civilization, straight into the centre of barbarism, without any chance of resuming our wonted habits, she would have run the risk of disgusting some of us. Périères and I, it is true, would have certainly followed her, but with a certain amount of uneasiness, and, possibly, discouragement. But Delange would have been quite capable of cancelling our contract and hurrying back to Paris to start a baccarat bank. The Baroness, however, had let us see just so much of Africa as was calculated to arouse our curiosity without satisfying it, to tire us without affecting our health, to inure us to fatigue without wearing us out. She introduced us to a little bit of a desert, which, so far from frightening us, whetted our appetites and gave us visions of horizons more vast, of plains more extended, of dangers more serious. As yet we only know a kind of toy Africa, harmless and without churlishness, spring-like and temperate, with its oases, its wells, its mountains, its miniature storms, all that makes life agreeable, variety, accident, everything to inspire a love of travel and incite to great discoveries.
"It is in this spirit that Périères, Delange, and I, full of confidence and utterly devoid of fear, more daring and audacious day by day, are undertaking the conquest of Africa. It may rebuff us, may weary us, may terrify us with hardships, but we shall merely halt, rest a while, to-day at Berber, to-morrow at Khartoum, troubled only by the eager longing to go onward, to surmount fresh obstacles, to brave new dangers, and attain our settled goal.
"Do not think from all this, my dear fellow, that the town where we are is an Eden. This halt is pleasurable solely by comparison with the recent ones we have made in the desert. Berber consists simply of a long string of rather low-pitched houses, situate on the right bank of the Nile—a collection of shops and stalls, where European merchandize is exposed for sale at ruinous prices. The market, or bazaar, is very badly supplied, and it is with considerable difficulty that we succeeded in laying in the stock of provisions necessary for us during our journey as far as Khartoum. Fortunately for us, a French merchant, standing very high in these parts, and courteous to a degree, placed himself completely at our disposal, and smoothed away all our difficulties. Thanks to his kind offices, we have chartered a large vessel in which to ascend the Nile, and, acting on his good advice, after getting rid of our camels and their drivers, instead of parting also with our horses we have added some more to our stable. We shall in this way perform our journey, half by land, and half by water—on the Nile so long as it has any features of interest—on horseback, whenever our maps tell us that there is anything worth seeing in the neighbourhood.
"Our vessel is one of eighty tons, and we muster in all, masters, servants and crew, twenty-five souls. We certainly cannot complain, seeing that most of the boats on the Nile carry a hundred people, all told, without mentioning those which are laden with a cargo of two or three hundred slaves, packed together like herrings in a barrel, or perched like fowls on planks laid horizontally from one mast to the other.
"Happily we shall not meet on the river with any vessel employed in the slave trade. Baker is at this moment at Gondokoro with his river police. His is a noble task, but it will not have the results anticipated from it, so long as he does not exercise the same amount of surveillance over the land routes that he does on the Nile. The Governor of Kordofan, I am told, has in this present year allowed more than five hundred slave-dealers to pass through his territory. The majority of thesemoudirsare slave-dealers themselves, and so far from hindering the traffic, against which Baker is protesting so energetically, they encourage and protect it.
"In the fore-part of the vessel, a sort of horse-box has been constructed for our horses, and in the after part, a partition separates us from the servants and crew, and furnishes us with a cabin, itself divided again into two compartments, one for Madame de Guéran and Miss Poles, and the other for us. These vessels, constructed for the navigation of the Upper Nile, are callednegghers. The one we have chartered has been sent to us from Khartoum, and in all probability we shall retain it for the remainder of our journey along the river, that is, if we shape our course towards Gondokoro. It has only one mast, about twenty feet high, with an enormous yard and a lateen sail.
"We have set sail! The north wind, which prevails here throughout the greater part of the year, is in our favour, and we take advantage of its good-will to embark.
"Very soon we make out, on the left bank, El-Obisch, about two kilometres from the river, on the right bank, Kennour, and, some hours afterwards, our attention was called to the mouth of an important river, the Atbara, which rises on the confines of Abyssinia.
"The breadth of the Nile is imposing in the extreme; enormous forests stretch out into the distance on the one hand, and on the other may be seen, beyond the vast plains or savannahs which border on the stream, the desert of Bahiouda. At sunset this desert, lying on the western side, has the appearance of being enveloped in a vast conflagration, which is reflected on the tops of the lofty trees on the eastern bank. Our vessel glides slowly on, and seems to be complacently regarding itself in the calm, clear water, whilst large flocks of goats and sheep, and herds of oxen and camels wend their way to quench their thirst in the stream.
"And now the scene changes, the trees give place to plants; clumps of calotropis, bushes of acacia, thickets of salvadora, plantations of durra. Turtle doves, white-throated swifts, widow-birds in their sombre dress of velvety black with yellow epaulettes, and Numidian cranes flit to and fro in this ocean of verdure.
"To-day we disembarked, after having ordered the captain to sail on and pick us up at Chendi. We wanted to ride a few miles by way of varying our pleasure.
"A gallop of two hours brought us to the ancient town of Meröe, remarkable for its handsome ruins and its pyramids. Meröe, some thousands of years ago was, as you no doubt know, the capital of a flourishing kingdom, renowned for its commerce, its sacred college and its monuments. In this country, despised in our day, a gigantic past springs up every now and then from the ground beneath your feet!
"At sunset we had to seek a halting-place, and this was offered to us by the Djaalin Arabs, who placed two very comfortable tents at our disposal. Just as, after a somewhat light supper, we were going to retire to our sleeping apartments, a peculiar odour, for which none of us could account, suddenly reached our olfactory organs. Our interpreter, Ali, who had accompanied us, was despatched for information, and without any loss of time he edified us by a description of a very curious custom. The women of this country, in order To render themselves as pleasing as possible to their husbands, and to replace those charms of which time may have robbed them, have conceived the idea of attraction by means of perfumes, with which they impregnate themselves to such an extent that the odour appears natural to them. To arrive at this result, they dig a ditch, fill it with live charcoal, throw in fragrant plants and sweet-smelling wood, and, then, covered from head to foot in a huge sheet, they seat themselves over the ditch, and thus take an aromatic bath. Their husbands, deeply sensible of this delicate attention, forget in the power of their perfume, their weakness in the matter of beauty.
"'I suppose,' remarked Périères, 'that in this country a man would never say that his better half was pretty. He would dilate his nostrils, take a voluptuous sniff and exclaim, 'How nice my wife does smell!'
"This morning we went once more on board our vessel, which had kept moving all night, and awaited us at Chendi. This place recalls many an ancient glory; it was, they say, the famous island of Meröe of old, a powerful state of which even Thebes was a tributary. All this splendour belongs to the past, but Chendi, anxious still to be talked about, has for a long time been a slave depôt.
"Our vessel now lands us on the other side of the stream, the left bank, at a place far less ancient, in which the houses are crowded together without any regularity or design, very much like ant hills, but thickly inhabited and often visited by slave and ivory merchants; it is called Matamma. Still under the charm of our last evening's excursion, we not only make an inspection of the town on horseback, but we venture as far as the edge of the famous desert of Bahiouda, of which, up to the present time, we had only seen the undulations from the deck of our vessel. This excursion led to an adventure, a very dramatic incident, which made a great impression upon me, and will, I feel sure, have a similar effect upon you."
"What induced us, I wonder, to venture thus into the open desert? Instead of galloping straight ahead it would have been more according to reason to follow the banks of the Nile and continue on our way towards Khartoum.
"Périères and Delange, recalling their sensations when in pursuit of the Nomads in the valley of El-Hejaz, doubtless longed for another taste of the desert. They set off at full speed, and we followed them without, or, rather, after reflection, to see if we in our turn could enjoy those sensations, whose praises they have so continually sung. Miss Poles, as usual, was actuated by heramour propre; she wished to appear and be admired as a horsewoman, and I am bound to confess that, if she did ride in a most break-neck and ungraceful fashion, she was at all events very firm in her saddle and intrepid to a degree.
"Very soon our guides begged us to moderate both our speed and our ardour. We obeyed, under protest, for we had lost all consciousness of time and distance, and we did not think we were as far from Matamma as they pretended we were. Omar, in self-defence, called on us to observe that we were on the direct route of the caravans, and, in support of his assertion, he pointed out to us, in the distance, a long brown streak which stood out in strong contrast against the sun-illumined yellow of the sand and the clear, blue sky.
"'What is that?' asked Madame de Guéran. 'A town or a hillock?'
"'A cloud, more likely,' remarked Périères. 'It is not stationary, but moves in one direction.'
"'It is neither a hill nor a cloud,' replied the interpreter. 'That shadow on the horizon is produced by a long caravan coming from Kordofan, and making its way to Nubia across the desert of Bahiouda.'
"'And it is a caravan of slaves,' added the second interpreter.
"'How do you know that?' I asked.
"'Free men would not so uselessly brave the hardships of the desert; they would travel nearer to the Nile. Their keeping at such a distance from the stream shows that down south they have heard of General Baker, and they fear an attack and the consequent loss of their slaves.'
"'Suppose,' I exclaimed, with that want of reflection for which you always find so much fault with me, 'suppose we take Baker's place with these poor wretches?'
"'That would be a senseless proceeding,' said Delange. 'We have not come to Africa to fight at every turn, and we five can scarcely set ourselves up to reform the morals of the country.'
"'The Doctor is quite right,' said Madame de Guéran. 'We are, I fear, destined to witness some sad scenes. We must, alas! stand by, and exercise sufficient self-control to abstain from all interference which may seem to us futile and involving too great risk.'
"'And I,' said Miss Poles, 'will add, if you will allow me, that it is not on the Nile, as my fellow countryman, Baker, is doing, nor in the desert, as you propose to do, that the struggle should be made against the slave trade. The blow must be struck at the source—in Turkey, in Asia, Arabia, Persia, and certain places in Egypt. It is the insatiable luxury of these countries which must be put down. If the Sultans, their ministers, their wives, the petty governors of provinces, however small, and every man of more than ordinary wealth, did not make a point of possessing as many slaves as possible, if two thousand wretches in their pay did not continually penetrate into the interior of Africa for the sole purpose of collecting this article of luxury, which is a part of their ambition, the slave trade would have noraison d'être, and civilization might permeate throughout these lands. When I was with poor Alexina Tinne, I studied this question thoroughly, and I assure you that I am not mistaken.'
"Conversing thus, we drew near to the caravan, and saw a long line of beings, who, according to the calculations of our interpreters, must have mustered between two and three hundred.
"'I am more than ever convinced,' said Ali, 'that this is a caravan of slaves.'
"On our asking the reason of his conviction, he replied—
"'I do not see any camels: the slaves take the place of beasts of burden.'
"'Ah!' I exclaimed, 'I want to be a closer witness of this, and since, Baroness, you say that we must harden our hearts, let us take advantage of this opportunity.'
"I put spurs to my horse, and the whole cavalcade followed me, quite as much to obviate my being left to myself as from motives of curiosity. Once on the move, there was no necessity for a halt; we were not riding haphazard, but we knew where we were going and what was the object of this excursion into the desert.
"After an hour's ride, we came up with the caravan, or, to speak more correctly, we reached a spot where it was bound to pass.
"It advanced slowly, step by step, appearing to wind along like a huge serpent tracing its sinuous course in the sand. At last it defiled in front of us.
"The leader marched at the head, enveloped in a large bûrnus, silently, deliberately, carrying his carbine on his shoulder. Five or six Arabs, clothed and armed like their chief, kept close on his heels, and, every now and then, turned round to take a look at the immense human herd which followed them.
"As they passed us they saluted us courteously, but without stopping or showing the slightest mistrust of us. Behind them the whole caravan wound along, composed of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred persons, marching one behind the other. A long cord, beginning and ending with the column, divided it into two parts, and to this rope each captive was fastened by means of a small iron chain attached to the left arm. Thus chained, and bound to each other, men, women and children appeared to form one and the same body, obeying the same impulse, and having but one life.
"There was a gap of about sixty centimetres between each group, so that the whole of this living cluster extended over a hundred metres. A rear-guard of three or four armed men closed the column, whose flanks were watched by ten more Arabs, five on each side.
"All the slaves, half-naked, had heavy loads on their heads, some laden with durra and rice, others with large leathern bottles filled with water, and a few, whom their masters evidently considered as being too anxious for freedom and thereby liable to punishment, had still heavier loads, although their necks were firmly fixed in a species of large yoke which prevented them even from turning their heads.
"If their masters had passed us in a careless fashion, the slaves, on the contrary, cast on us timid and despairing glances. It was a heart-rending sight, I can tell you, and despite all our efforts to be calm, we could with difficulty restrain our emotion. Périères tugged at his long moustache, Delange stroked his beard. Miss Poles wiped her spectacles, and tears coursed down the cheeks of Madame de Guéran. Nevertheless, we remained motionless and silent. In rear of the column walked the women, the sick and the children, with their left wrists enchained, and loads on their heads. One woman of about twenty, with attenuated frame, haggard face and weary look, attracted our attention. She seemed to bend beneath her burden, which was weighing her down; her limbs tottered, her bosom heaved, and large, scalding tears welled from out her eyes.
"She did not make any effort to arouse our sympathy; on the contrary, she appeared to wish to conceal her weakness, her misery and her degradation; she turned her head as she raised it, and made futile efforts to walk upright. But, when a few paces from us, her strength failed her, her limbs gave way, and she sank to the earth. Her companions did not notice it; the impetus was there, and the fall of one person could not influence the onward march of two hundred others. Fastened by the wrist to her companions, she was dragged along with them, or, rather, by them, and was carried on by the human stream.
"We looked on, still silent and without stirring, but more excited than ever, and trembling in every limb.
"Suddenly, one of the overseers of the caravan caught sight of this slave, whose load had fallen to the ground, and who, instead of walking like the rest, half-fainting, half-dying, allowed herself to be borne onward by the crowd. He went up to her, spoke to her harshly, and, as she did not reply, he uplifted a leathern strap, and struck her.
"At that moment, my dear fellow, we one and all experienced a species of electric shock; a shudder went through our frames, to our silence succeeded shouts of indignation, and from being motionless as statues we became alert with fury. You shall soon know how."
"Obeying one common idea, and swayed by one common impulse, we rushed to the rescue of the unfortunate slave. In an instant the man who had struck her was on the ground and disarmed by Delange, or Périères, or myself, or, possibly, by Miss Poles, for I cannot tell you exactly what passed. But the column still moved on, and the woman was dragged along with it. We saw at once that we must not confine ourselves to avenging the poor creature—we must aid her and save her.
"I forced the man to follow me to where she was, and release her from her chains. My revolver had an eloquence of its own, the woman was set free, and Madame de Guéran and the Doctor having dismounted, were soon paying her every possible attention.
"This little scene had not, of course, escaped the notice of the men who composed the escort, nor of the leader at their head. The calm indifference which they had showed towards us was all assumed, for they certainly watched us out of the corners of their eyes and took account of our slightest movement. But the leader of the caravan, an old Portuguese trader turned Mussulman (one of the interpreters had recognized him) thought it more prudent, for commercial reasons, to appear not to see what was going on. What did one half dead slave matter to him? A few miles more, and she would be incapable of walking, and he would be compelled then to leave her to her fate in the desert.
"Consequently, not only did he make no attempt to bear down upon us with his men, but he increased the speed of the column, so as to escape as soon as possible from the small band of Franks. (That is the name given by Mussulmen to all Europeans indiscriminately.)
"But our first success had emboldened us; as far as I was concerned, I was fairly launched, and, in this respect, I bear some resemblance to Miss Poles; when once I am launched, or have started, whichever you like, there is no stopping me. I was, at the same time, struck by one of those ideas which I will modestly describe as sublime. I imparted it to my friends, and the very people who, half-an-hour previously, had overwhelmed me with incontrovertible arguments to prove that we ought not to meddle with the slave trade, but that the dealers in human flesh should be allowed to ply their nefarious traffic unmolested—these very people now adopted my idea enthusiastically, and helped me to put it in force.
"Périères, Delange, and I went off at full speed without any warning whatever, leaving the two interpreters near the ladies as a protection. We three, each taking a separate course, reached the caravan at three different points, and so soon as we could get hold of the long rope to which the slaves were bound, we cut it through with our knives in several places.
"The line had no longer one body and one life, its unity, in which consisted the safety of the escort, had disappeared, the disunited fragments only could be seen of the huge serpent which, a few seconds before, had been tortuously gliding along the sand.
"By this time, as you may well imagine, the chief and his men abandoned their inactivity and thought it was high time for them to interfere, so, after having ordered the slaves to halt, they made straight for us, and, on our side, we awaited them without flinching.
"The party which advanced against us was composed of about ten, the remainder of the escort remaining with the slaves to frustrate any attempt to escape.
"'Why do you attack us?' exclaimed their leader, in a rage, 'we have not done you any harm.'
"Périères was on the point of replying, but I begged him to allow me to speak, and advancing towards the chief, I said—
"'I am carrying out the orders intrusted to me.'
"'What orders? Who are you?' asked the trader.
"'We are officers and friends of General Baker,' I replied with the utmost assurance, 'and we have been delegated by him to put a stop to the slave-trade.'
"'You! it is not true—you are not in uniform.'
"I might have expected this remark, for in these parts greatprestigeattaches to any uniform, and everybody representing any authority whatever ought either to be decked with lace, or ornaments, or a forage cap, or a fez, or, better still, a sword, which is the insignia of command. But I was not to be frightened.
"'Our uniforms are at Matamma,' I replied, 'we had simply come out for a ride on the sand, without dreaming that you would have the audacity to show yourselves. And in proof of what I say, here is my commission,' and so saying, I took out of my pocket the letter of the Governor of Souakim.
"I had read somewhere, either in Schweinfurth's or Barth's works, that in Africa letters either sealed or stamped have a wonderful effect on the people, an effect which is heightened in proportion to their inability to understand them. So I opened my letter, and instead of reading the contents, I recited from memory, with certain additional and personal details, the latest firman of the Khedive, which I had seen posted up in Cairo.
"'We, Ismael, Khedive of Egypt, considering the savage condition of the tribes who inhabit the Nile Basin, considering that humanity imposes on all the duty of putting down the slave hunters who occupy those countries in great numbers—We have decreed and hereby do decree as follows—An expedition is organized for the suppression of the slave trade, and the introduction of a system of regular commerce.
"'The Command-in-Chief of this expedition is entrusted to Sir SamuelWhite Baker, for four years, commencing from the 4th April, 1869.
"'And we invest him, and all his officers, with the most absolute power, even that of death, over all slave-traders or slave-merchants who may resist this authority.'
"My reading ended, or, if you prefer it, my lesson recited, I calmly re-folded the letter of the Governor of Souakim, converted under my hand into a firman from the Khedive, put it in my pocket, and looked up to enjoy the effect I hoped I had produced on the bystanders.
"Périères and Delange smiled behind their moustaches, the men of the escort were dumbfounded, but their rascally leader, in his character as a wily old Portuguese, did not appear in the least moved by my reading, either because he did not care two straws for the official document, or because he considered that we were not in sufficient strength to enforce it.
"After a glance around him to assure himself that the slaves were not making any attempt at escape, and after having reckoned up his escort, he complacently stroked his scanty beard land, looking at me with blinking eyes, he said—