Notwithstanding this magniloquent discourse, the natives, as a rule, take to flight at the first approach of the huge beast, if he rushes out into the open and no safe cover is at hand. And this is exactly what happened at the beginning of the hunt we are about to describe. Whilst the Europeans were preparing to enter the forest, a loud noise was heard in the neighbouring thickets, out of which a female elephant, followed by her young one, emerged almost immediately. The natives, including the sorcerer, took to their heels at once in all directions, and left their guests to take care of themselves.
The elephant did not appear to be aware of the presence of the hunters. She was playing with her mammoth baby, about three years old, flourishing her trunk in evident enjoyment, fanning herself with her huge ears, and whisking her tail to and fro to show how thoroughly comfortable she was. When she was tired of these amusements she drew near a tree, called by the Arabs hegelig, and appeared to relish highly its fruit, known under the name oflalôb. Her appetite was, no doubt, rather tickled than satisfied, and very soon she was seen to wend her way towards a swamp, where, after having gambolled for a short time, she set to work on the seeds of the papyrus,soutebin Arabic, which the African elephants on the banks of the Nile prefer even to thelalôb.
M. de Morin, as the most experienced sportsman of the community, assumed the direction of the hunt, and, first of all, warned the escort not to fire until he gave the word. But a Dinka, more hot-headed than his comrades, disobeyed him and let fly with his carbine.
The mother at once suspended her repast, raised her head, and tried to discover her enemy. In that she could not succeed, for an elephant's sight is defective, though the keenness of their scent more than makes up for that deficiency. The animal smelt the powder, and without any hesitation or apparent fear of failure she rushed off towards the spot whence the shot had been fired, followed by her baby.
The noise made by an elephant in its angry rush is indescribable; the earth shakes and trembles beneath the tread of its huge feet. One might almost imagine that the ground was about to open and display to view some subterranean volcano, or that thunder was rumbling in the distance. Every obstacle in the way of this impetuous rush is broken, crushed, torn up by the roots; the sturdiest plants are destroyed, the thickets disappear, inequalities become smooth, enormous trees are sometimes uprooted, and the grain fields of a whole district ravaged.
The two elephants, large and small, passed close to the Europeans without paying any attention to them, or even appearing to see them. They doggedly followed the course they had marked out for themselves, straight against the invisible foe, whose incautious shot had announced his presence and betrayed his hiding-place.
All the negroes of the escort set off at full gallop, but the Dinka hunter, who had most need to flee, had dismounted, and his horse, alarmed by the shot, had broken loose and was careering over the plain. The unfortunate black, thrown upon his own resources, made off with surprising celerity, but, in spite of all his efforts, he was speedily overtaken. The elephant seized him with her trunk, raised him in the air, and hurled him to the ground with the evident intention of trampling him to death. It very seldom happens, indeed, that the animal we are discussing tramples down his enemy at the first onset. He prefers to make use of his trunk, as we do of our arms, and knocks down his antagonist before he proceeds to make an end of him.
A Nubian, or any other negro would have fallen down, half fainting and almost dead with fright, at the very feet of the huge assailant. But the Dinkas, whose courage we have already mentioned, understand the art of keeping cool under adverse circumstances. The man who, after having been so roughly lifted up from earth, had fallen on the ground once more, got up quickly and ran for refuge under the belly of the baby elephant. The mother, rather taken aback by this novel mode of procedure, hesitated for a moment, and then very leisurely seized her prisoner once more, keeping her eyes fixed all the while very affectionately on her offspring.
The Dinka executed his little manoeuvre a second time, and again he was removed, but very quietly.
But now the elephant, whose anger appeared to have subsided, became furious again, and, after lifting the Dinka up again with her trunk, she swung him to and fro violently in order to stun him and render him incapable of further flight.
Another moment, and the poor wretch would have been lost.
Suddenly, a shot was fired, and the baby elephant fell.
It was M. Périères who did the deed. Finding it impossible to fire at the female, without running the risk of killing the man whom she held straight in front of her, and thinking, justly, that if he merely wounded her she would only become still more furious and would at once despatch her victim, he, in sheer despair, fired at the baby to draw off the attention of its mother.
The stratagem succeeded. In terror and despair the unhappy brute, instead of crushing the negro beneath her feet, left him to run to the assistance of her wounded offspring. She bent down to it, went on her knees, and with her trunk searched along its back and neck for the wound. Having found it she expelled water from her stomach and bathed the place. Then, as if she wanted to stop the flow of blood and close the aperture made by the bullet, she clung to her little one, holding it close to her, trying to heal its flesh with her own. At the same time she uttered low plaintive moans, almost human in sound, and from her eyes, so expressive, though so small, one might have supposed tears to be falling.
But the little elephant struggled in vain against death. Its body writhed convulsively, it rolled on to its side, its limbs became stiff, and life was extinct.
The mother, after a last moan, a more heart-rendering cry than all, got up suddenly and looked about for vengeance.
The Dinka was still running, but he had already put a considerable distance between himself and the elephant, and had nearly gained the forest where he sought a refuge.
Pursuit was useless, and the animal understood that. Perhaps, too, its marvellous intelligence led it to suppose that the fugitive was not the only enemy, and that other hunters were lying hidden in the clearing behind the thickets. These must be found and killed.
Lashing with its trunk in all directions, and trumpeting loudly, its gaze wandered over the high grass, and at length it made its way directly towards the spot where Madame de Guéran, Miss Poles, and their companions still remained.
The danger was becoming imminent and terrible, for the animal was not thirty paces, distant, when three shots resounded in the air and the elephant, hit in the shoulder, rolled over.
The hunters then left the brake and advanced cautiously, as they had been warned to do. Elephants, thought to be dead, have been known to struggle to their feet, and, with a supreme effort, charge into the midst of their adversaries, to expire, a moment afterwards, on top of their mangled and bleeding corpses. But this one was so thoroughly deprived of life that even Joseph was not afraid to approach it, after having, first of all, shut his eyes and let fly with his rifle into space. He did not neglect any precaution, and was determined to show how brave he could be in face of an enemy incapable of defending itself.
The natives, on whose ground the hunt took place, had withdrawn to a convenient distance on the first appearance of the elephant, but they were not altogether disinterested spectators. Hidden away in all directions, they followed with their eyes every incident from afar, and as soon as they saw the huge beast fall, they rushed upon her from all points of the compass with a celerity quite equal to that shown by them when running away. In speed they rivalled the kites and vultures which had scented the prey from on high, and now flew down from the sky, where a moment before they had been invisible, to share in the feast.
"I have often," says Schweinfurth, "had occasion to notice a similar occurrence in a clear sky. Almost as soon as the quarry has fallen, you may see black specks in the sky increasing gradually in size, and followed by other specks which become enlarged in an equal ratio. They come nearer, and their shape can be made out; they are kites, and vultures, and other birds of prey coming to claim their share of the spoil. One might almost suppose, with the ancients, that the sky is divided into several stages, where the birds of prey, ever on the watch, swoop down from the various regions they occupy, as soon as they see a tempting morsel below."
Crowding round the elephant and disputing its possession with the birds of prey, the natives measured the beast they were about to cut up. It had reached its full development, and was nearly nine feet high, or almost as tall as the males of the Asiatic species.
Joseph's despair was most ludicrous when he learnt that his masters were not only going to hand over the body, but also the precious tusks to the natives. What! did they make so light of those precious tusks which had appeared to him in all his dreams, and for which he had given up his beloved Rue Taitbout, his friendships with the waiters at Tortoni's, his intimacy with the hunter of the Helder, his professor of Arabic, and his much-appreciated negress? This splendid ivory, out of which a Parisian shopkeeper would have made such a handsome profit, which might have been converted so easily into so many choice articles for the toilet, had been handed over, under his very eyes, to these wretched niggers, half naked and naturally ignorant of the use of a clothes-brush and rice-powder. Fortunately, however, the hunt was not quite over, and there was still hope.
The death of the young elephant, the distress of its mother, and the sufferings of these intelligent beasts, had made a lively impression on the hunters and had in some degree moderated their bellicose ardour. But wonderful tales were told them of the forest lying before them; they had never penetrated into these vast jungles, where Nature appears to have launched out into magnificent extravagance; they were attracted by these gloomy haunts, these mysterious depths, and were anxious to pay them a visit.
It was about two o'clock in the afternoon when the explorers entered the forest, followed by their escort of Nubians and Dinkas, who had by that time turned up again. Several natives, foregoing all claim to any share in the defunct elephants, volunteered to act as guides to the white folk, hoping that the strangers would persevere both in their successful hunting and their generosity in waiving their right to the spoil. The forest extended for some ten leagues in a south-easterly direction, and the marshy nature of the ground, though at this particular time it was dry enough, had imparted considerable luxuriance to the vegetation. The acacia, mimosa, tallan, tamarind and sycamore trees attained a noticeable altitude, and the sterculia, whose trunk tapers off gradually towards its top, reached a height of a hundred feet. The intervals between these trees, for the most part very large, were choked by papyrus tufts growing out of small pools of water, remnants of the former marsh, by sturdy climbing plants, by impenetrable patches of high grasses, and by the calamus with its formidable spines.
The heat beneath this dense foliage was excessive, resembling that of a hot-house, but the Europeans, lost in admiration of their surroundings, forgot to complain. For a short time they followed the course of a species of rivulet, clear as a spring, covered with a delicate net-work of creepers, and bordered by clumps of the amomum, with its scarlet fruit and yellow and white flower. The sun's rays flickered on the foliage and flowers, and sparkled in the rivulet. Suddenly the scene changed, and they came upon a clearing, rendered as green as a field in Normandy by the water which disappeared beneath it, and the leafy shade surrounding it on all sides. The Europeans and their escort halted here to rest, whilst the negroes disappeared in the thickets in search of elephant tracks.
After the lapse of half-an-hour, the scouts returned in a state of great excitement. The majority of them, without paying any attention to the strangers, fled in all directions towards the largest and loftiest trees, up which they swarmed with remarkable agility. Others, more mindful of their duty, ran to their guests, and told them that a very numerous herd of elephants was making for the clearing. Some said that there were a score of animals, male and female; others put the number down at a hundred, and a few went as far as to say that there were a thousand at least. This habit of exaggeration amongst the Africans is very curious, and, without having the faintest notion of arithmetic, they are wonderfully expert in multiplication. Whilst making due allowance for their exaggeration, it was nevertheless certain that a tolerably numerous herd of elephants was approaching the spot selected for a halt.
"I propose," said Delange, "to leave the elephants to their own devices, and to take to our heels with these people."
"What!" exclaimed Miss Poles, indignantly. "We have the chance of looking upon a tableau possibly unique, and as soon as the curtain rises, we are to leave our seats!"
"My dear Miss Poles," said Périères, "allow me to remark that we have not visited Africa for the express purpose of hunting the elephant. We have a rather more noble end than that in view, and we have no right to waste our strength, or expose our lives, until that end has been attained."
"Nobody mentioned a word about hunting," replied the obstinate Englishwoman. "I labour under the impression that I am not quite a fool, and I certainly never dreamt of opposing an army of elephants. But we may, I imagine, remain here for a few moments without any risk, and have a look at our visitors. If they seem disposed to attack us, our horses will very soon carry us out of harm's way."
"It is all very well to say so," replied M. Périères, "but our horses could never gallop through this underwood; to walk through it would be as much as they could do just at present. The elephants, on the contrary, do not care one jot for thickets, trees, or thorns, and they would overtake us in a second, if they were to take it into their heads to pursue us."
"Your remarks are so far true, my dear Périères," ^aid M. de Morin, who up to this time had refrained from giving any opinion, "that I do not intend to remount, having far more confidence in my own legs than in those of my steed."
"You are determined to stay here, then?" asked M. Delange.
"Certainly, if Madame de Guéran does not order me to move away."
"I assure you," said the Baroness, "that I should very much like to issue such an order, but it appears to me that it would be too late. Our horses are no longer intent on cropping the grass of the clearing. Their heads are all turned towards one point, their ears are pricked, and they are trembling in every limb. Their instinct tells them that a powerful enemy is advancing against them. See! they are careering off in all directions."
And so it was. The horses left, according to the Arab custom, at liberty in the clearing, were galloping off.
"There is still time to beat a retreat," said M. Delange. "You know I am no coward, but in some cases courage is useless."
"Evidently so," added M. Périères.
Madame de Guéran raised her eyes to the last speaker, and in her look there was something akin to reproach, as if she were annoyed with M. Périères for siding with the Doctor and declining to face the danger.
She, doubtless, was in that frame of mind which renders women bold. She was, perhaps, feeling the false position she occupied towards these two men, both of whom adored her and were yearning to tell her so, but whose protestations she was bound to repress. She was asking herself whether the ordeal which she had imposed and they were undergoing was not beyond both their strength and hers. Possibly she went so far as to confess to herself that she was in imminent danger, with a gloomy future before her. Would it not be better for them, for her, and even for him whom she was anxious to rejoin, that the situation should be brought to a head without further delay, at that very moment, in the forest, on the spot where they now were? Why brave fresh dangers to which they would succumb sooner or later? Was it not better to die a sudden death in that lovely scene than to waste away by inches from sickness and fatigue? At all events she could die now with an easy conscience, without remorse of any sort; could she answer for it that she would not in the immediate future have some weakness wherewith to reproach herself, some fault to deplore?
But all these thoughts we are, in our analytic character, ascribing to her, and which had, no doubt, occurred to her at some time or other, could scarcely have crossed her mind at this juncture, for she had scarcely raised her eyes to M. Périères in silent reproach at his desire to retreat, when that retreat became an impossibility, and the current of her ideas was rudely diverted into another channel.
From the other side of the clearing, rather more than two hundred yards from where the Europeans were standing, a loud, rushing noise was heard. It resembled the hoarse murmur of a tempestuous sea, the roaring of the waves, as impelled onwards by wind and tide they break on the rocks and engulf themselves in some vast cave. A continuous wail seemed to escape from the forest; the foliage, the very trees appeared to groan; all nature trembled and quivered in the air; flocks of birds, roused from their leafy nooks, flew screaming upwards; a herd of buffaloes, hidden hitherto in the long grass, sprang up with distended nostrils, and, snorting in alarm, took to flight with an impetuous rush. At length the earth itself seemed to tremble under the enormous weight it had to bear, and fifty elephants, with heads up-reared above the brakes, laying low the tallest plants, were seen to emerge into the open.
The elephants, apparently, had no idea of the proximity of any hunters. Lords of the land, monarchs of the country, and accustomed to see every denizen of the forest flee before them, the lion even included, for he never attacks them, they could not suspect that when they were assembled in so numerous a conclave, a few puny human beings would dare to question their territorial rights.
Having gained the clearing, whither they had wended their way, no doubt, for the purpose of seeking repose and relaxation, they broke their ranks, and, without the slightest symptom of fear or suspicion, they wandered at will in the tall grass. Some sought a green spot whereon to lie down, whilst others went in search of their wonted food, the foliage of the mimosa or arrouel, nick-named elephant's bread. Others, again, stopped wherever there was a pool, and, having pumped up the water with their trunks, squirted it all over themselves to wash off the dust and mud of the road, and the juveniles, infants of about sixty years of age, frisked hither and thither, flapping their huge ears in token of enjoyment, entwining their trunks by way of showing their fraternal affection, or chasing each other in the open.
They made a terrible uproar, but all was silent around them—the forest was dumb, its denizens had fled, and Nature herself was, as it were, hushed.
The Europeans, their interpreters, and three men of the escort who had stood their ground, were huddled together in a small space in the clearing. Hidden in the tall grass, they were invisible, and no one spoke; prudence counselled silence, and wonder forbade all speech. Indeed, the scene which was unfolding itself before their eyes had in it somewhat of enchantment; those gigantic masses of black moved about in a sea of verdure, and cast huge shadows on all around; the rays of the sun lighted up their ebon skins, and imparted a metallic lustre to them; and their gleaming yellow-white tusks contrasted vividly with the prevailing, tints of black and green. A serene, cloudless, deep blue sky spread itself out above the clearing, and, losing itself in the horizon, formed a magnificent curtain to the tableau. A species of quivering vapour, to be seen at mid-day in the tropics, rose from the earth, and rendered hazy the salient points of the surrounding scenery.
Nevertheless, in spite of their wondering admiration, the torpor produced by the heated atmosphere, and the powerful perfumes exhaled from the flowers of the marsh, Madame de Guéran and her companions began to be seriously alarmed. The circular space, limited enough to begin with, in which the elephants were revelling in ease and enjoyment, grew wider and wider; one half of the plain, notwithstanding its large extent, was already occupied, and the pioneers of the herd, daring spirits, were straying in all directions and drawing every moment nearer to the Europeans.
"We have seen all we want to see," whispered M. Delange. "There is nothing to keep us here any longer. Suppose we go."
"My curiosity is satisfied, and I agree with you," said Miss Poles, in her most subdued voice. "But the noise we shall make in breaking through this tall grass on our way to the forest will attract the attention of the elephants. They will make for us, if only out of curiosity, and will trample us to death with the greatest ease."
"The same fate awaits us," replied M. Delange, "if we stay where we are. These animals are taking possession of the whole clearing by degrees, and in a very short time will reach us."
"Let us drive them away," said M. de Morin, getting close to his friends.
They all in silence questioned him by a look, for none of them saw his drift.
"We have nine guns in our possession," resumed M. de Morin, "without counting the two revolvers in the ladies' hands. That is more than we need to get rid of these unfortunate visitors."
"What do you mean? Do you want us to attack fifty elephants of their calibre?" exclaimed M. Delange. "It would be madness."
"Who said anything about attacking them? I only want to frighten them. We will fire in the air, and I will lay any wager you like that they will all take to flight."
"And if they fly in our direction?"
"Impossible. The first impulse of all animals, whatever they be, is, when they are alarmed, to rush off by the way that they came."
A consultation,sotto voce, was held for some moments, but the enemy drew nearer and nearer, and as retreat was out of the question, seeing that it would have led to a pursuit, it was resolved that the advice of M. de Morin should be followed.
At a given signal the nine rifles and two revolvers were simultaneously fired in the air.
The elephants raised their heads, ceased their gambols, and, collecting themselves together in haste, formed in a mass at one spot in the clearing, and appeared to deliberate.
A momentary pause, a terrible suspense for the hunters, ensued. They were lost, condemned to death without the power of appeal, crushed in an instant, if the enemy resolved to charge and the living avalanche should burst forth in their direction.
Whilst they thus awaited the verdict of death or acquittal, the bravest hearts quailed. The three young men, despite all their courage, turned pale. Miss Poles clung to M. Delange, as if resolved to die with him. Madame de Guéran was, perhaps, the only one who trembled not.
The interpreter and soldiers were lying flat on the ground, making themselves as small as possible, so as to pass unseen, whilst Joseph, anthematizing the superfluous flesh which frustrated all attempts at invisibility, fell on his knees, with arms outstretched and eyes upraised to Heaven.
Suddenly, one of the elephants, the Nestor of the herd, the most experienced and most respected, forced a passage through the midst of his companions, and made off towards the forest. The others followed him.
The danger was disappearing, and M. de Morin triumphed.
Two of the beasts, however, of apparently energetic and independent character, declined to follow the example of their comrades. Possibly, they had already become acquainted with fire-arms, or had had some previous encounter with hunters, and wanted to pay off an outstanding score, to satiate a resuscitated longing for vengeance— who can tell? They not only declined to flee, but they looked round about attentively, whisking their trunks to and fro after a very menacing fashion, and giving utterance to shrill trumpetings.
They were two magnificent males, about ten feet high, and armed with gigantic tusks. After having looked all round the clearing, and at the moment when the Europeans, expecting to see them rush towards their hiding place, had taken a careful aim, and were preparing to fire, the huge beasts bent their steps towards a large mimosa, which grew about a hundred yards from the spot where the hunters were.
When they got to the foot of the tree they stopped, reaching up with their trunks, and endeavouring to crop the foliage. In this they could not succeed, for the mimosa was more than thirty feet high, and its branches only commenced to shoot out from its top.
Then were heard their screams of rage, echoed by cries of terror, which were uttered by one of those blacks who, half-an-hour previously, had announced the approach of the enemy and had fled in all directions. The unfortunate man had taken refuge in the mimosa, and the two elephants had just discovered him.
When they saw that their trunks would not reach the foliage, they decided upon uprooting the tree, and, thanks to their marvellous instinct, they set about one of those extraordinary operations, of which Jules Poncet, the famous elephant hunter, was a frequent witness. One of them went down on his knees at the foot of the mimosa, buried his tusk in the ground amongst the roots, as if he were placing a battering ram in position there, and slowly raised his massive head, his comrade, meanwhile, encircling the stem with his trunk, shaking it violently, and dragging it by degrees towards himself.
A few seconds sufficed to bend down the gigantic tree, and with it fell the man, who, if indeed he breathed after his terrible fall, was destined to inevitable death beneath the feet of his enemies.
The Europeans could no longer remain passive; they took aim, and fired simultaneously. Every shot told, but not one was mortal.
In fact, except from the streams of blood which flowed from their wounds, it was impossible to discover that they were hit, for they continued their work, without turning towards the hunters, but uttering all the time shrill and prolonged screams.
Then MM. de Morin and Périères unhesitatingly advanced a few yards into the open and fired a second time.
The elephant, whose trunk was round the tree, fell in a heap with a bullet in his breast. The other, whose tusk was buried amongst the mimosa roots, made a supreme effort, and, the tree, uprooted, after having described a circle in the air, fell on the ground.
Then the enraged animal, now free to work his will, rushed with uplifted trunk to the top of the fallen tree, and, ransacking the foliage, seized the negro and crushed him beneath his feet.
But his rage was not appeased, and now it was directed towards theEuropeans.
MM. Périères and de Morin, as soon as they saw that the negro was dead, rejoined Madame de Guéran, and ceased firing, wishing to keep their cartridges to defend themselves and make a last attempt to conquer their almost invulnerable enemy.
The animal had turned once more toward the hunters, whom the high grass, now trampled down, no longer hid from his view. His body, once black as ebony, had become red; the blood welled from out his wounds, and, after coursing down his limbs, trickled on the grass of the clearing, and formed a rivulet of blood. His ears, cut to ribands by the bullets, lay flat along his body. His trunk alone had escaped, but he was incessantly touching his wounds with it, as if to stanch them and ease his pain, and each time he withdrew it it was covered with blood. His shrill trumpetings awoke the echoes of the forest, and must have struck terror into the inhabitants of it. At length, with a terrible scream, more appalling than all the others, he rushed towards the spot where the Europeans had taken refuge.
They fired their last remaining cartridge.
The elephant stopped, appeared to waver for an instant, and then resumed his course.
When, a quarter of an hour previously, the first elephant had been seen to fall, and the second, bent on vengeance, had continued his work of uprooting the tree, MM. Périères and de Morin had imperatively ordered their companions to take to flight, and scatter themselves in the forest or the clearing. The Arab interpreter and the Dinka soldiers obeyed him; as for Joseph, he had anticipated his master's orders. M. Delange was desirous of remaining with his friends, but he had been made to understand that, as he was rather a bad shot, his rifle would be of more use in the hands of M. Périères or M. de Morin. In addition to this, if he refused to take himself off. Miss Beatrice Poles, who for the time being appeared inclined to exhibit a marked preference for him, would be loth to leave him, and it was necessary to get rid of her. This coquettish Englishwoman had, in order to make a startling impression on the colour-loving blacks, for some days past endued herself in a skirt of brilliant red, to which, by way of contrast, she had added the bluest of blue veils, and as the African elephant, like the bull of Spain, is driven wild with rage by garments of too vivid a hue, M. Delange, at the earnest request of his friends, and for the common safety, including that of the intrepid Miss Poles herself, withdrew with her to a convenient distance.
Madame de Guéran alone declined positively to seek safety in flight, and expressed her determination to share the fate of MM. de Morin and Périères. She maintained that she had no right to leave them in the hour of danger, and she affected to believe, with some show of reason, that they would defend themselves all the better if they had at the same time to protect her.
Consequently Madame de Guéran and her two friends, alone, were exposed to the elephant's attack. Notwithstanding his numerous wounds, the animal came impetuously on, and his strength did not appear to be failing him. As for his rage, it knew no bounds.
MM. de Morin and Périères, as we have already said, had fired away their last cartridge, and all they had to do now, as the time for flight was past and gone, was to await the onslaught of the elephant, as calmly as they could, trusting to their hunting knives to rid them of their assailant.
Laura de Guéran, whom they had placed between them, stood motionless and calm, her mouth half open, and her eyes fixed firmly on the advancing foe. She was marvellously lovely at that moment, and her two champions, in spite of the fact that death was staring them in the face, could not help looking at her with admiration. They seemed as if they were enjoying the prospect of dying by the side of her they loved, hand in hand, their eyes fixed on her's, joined to her in death.
The elephant rushed straight on, without wavering or deviating from his course, and already his three victims were flecked with the blood which he tossed into the air with his trunk, and which fell like rain drops in front of him. He no longer appeared to their affrighted eyes to belong to this world. He was some nameless monster, some supernatural mammoth, against whom mortals could not contend.
Suddenly the ground shook beneath them, as if struck by an enormous mass of rock which, loosened from a neighbouring mountain, had rolled impetuously down and buried itself at their feet.
The elephant, weakened by loss of blood, mortally wounded by the last shots fired at him, and, for some moments past, sustained merely by his angry rage, had fallen prone to the ground, at the very instant when his vengeance was on the point of being satisfied. For a moment Madame de Guéran, M. Périères, and M. de Morin remained almost in a state of stupefaction. Death had been so near to them that they doubted the fact of their own existence. It seemed impossible that they could have been saved so miraculously, and yet they were alive. And there, too, lay their enemy, so formidable, not a moment since, but now powerless, motionless, dead. His screams no longer filled the air, his tread no longer shook the ground, his life-blood was running in streams on the ground, and already formed an ensanguined pool around the Europeans.
And now, from all sides, there was a general rush to rejoin them and wish them joy of their deliverance, Miss Poles and M. Delange being the first to arrive. Notwithstanding the entreaties of MM. de Morin and Périères, they had not gone far away, but had halted in a neighbouring thicket, ready to die in their turn, if the elephant had sacrificed his first victims.
The fears she had entertained for her own safety and that of her companions, and hertête-à-têtewith M. Delange, at a time when their hearts were stirred with no ordinary emotion, had, as it were, softened Miss Poles. Her step was not so determined, her long neck had lost its stiffness, and her head was inclined towards the Doctor, ready to find a resting-place on his shoulder. Her very look, toned down by her blue spectacles, had in it somewhat of languor and indecision, as if she were regretting that she had once more returned to earth, instead of having taken to herself wings to fly with M. Delange to realms above.
The hunting party was once more complete, with the sole exception of Joseph, who had not answered to the summons to reassemble. Where had he hidden himself? That was a question which nobody could answer. He could not have taken refuge in the depths of the forest; he was too great a coward for that. Had he sought an asylum in some tree? That hypothesis was scouted at once, for his corpulence, and his absolute incapacity for anything approaching to agility, put any such gymnastic exercises out of the question.
For ten minutes he was shouted for in all directions, and real fears for his safety were making themselves felt, when he appeared, looking, for all the world, as if he were a victim to St. Vitus's dance, practising the most extraordinary contortions, raising his arms, only to let them fall again, and beating his shoulders, his chest, his legs, and even his too conspicuous stomach. Every now and then he gave himself a violent shake, just as a dog does when he comes out of the water. There was, nevertheless, no sign of damp about him; his white blouse looked perfectly dry; only it was dotted over with reddish blotches, which moved about and seemed alive. Not content with this gymnastic frenzy, he uttered a series of agonizing cries, not quite so terrible as those of the elephants, but far more shrill and discordant.
A general rush was made towards him, and it was then seen that he was being eaten alive by an army of red ants, the plague of Africa. They were swarming all over him, in knots or clusters, finding their way even into his beard and hair. They settled on his face, in his ears, crept down his neck and under his clothes, and, not satisfied with mere curiosity, were biting him viciously, tearing his flesh, and burying themselves in his skin.
When, an hour previously, he had run away, he did not know what direction to take. He was afraid of the forest because it was so dark, he dreaded the thickets on account of the thorns, and he shirked the long grass as not offering a refuge sufficiently sure. He was running here and there, having completely lost his head, when he caught sight of a hillock, about a yard high and three yards broad, near a tree. Towards this he plunged, head downwards, thinking, like the ostrich, that if he hid his head nobody would see him. Moreover, he thought he would be completely concealed behind the hillock, but, alas! as soon as he set foot on it it gave way, as if it were liquid, and in an instant Joseph disappeared from view.
He had, unfortunately, stumbled on one of those extensive ant hills which abound in the forests, in the midst of the high grass and always at the foot of a tree. All those who have travelled in equatorial Africa complain of these ants, of which there are some twenty species. Livingstone says that they do not know what fear is, and that they attack all animals, large and small, with equal fury. The Marquis de Compiégne, who died recently at Cairo, calls thembashikouais, and says that their nippers are like the hooks used in gudgeon fishing, and that they bite so viciously that, as a rule, their bodies alone can be pulled away; their heads remain in the wound.
Happily for Joseph the majority of the blacks are very partial to these termites. They fry or boil them, mixing them with grains of durra or eleusine, and eat them out of the palms of their hands with the greatest gusto. Consequently, the natives seized on Joseph with the double object of ridding him of his enemies and appeasing their own appetites. They carried their courtesy so far as to drag M. de Morin's valet behind a tree and strip him, first of all shaking out his clothes, and then reaping a second harvest from off his body. The spoil was then collected in a basket and reserved for the evening meal.
But night was coming on apace. It was absolutely necessary to gain the edge of the forest with all speed and seek a resting place for the night, and so the Europeans, preceded by their escort, set out on their return.
Towards seven o'clock they reached a village where shelter was offered them, and after a meal, of which the elephants killed during the day formed the standing dish, they were glad to seek repose in a tolerably roomy hut, placed at their disposal by the chief of the district.
Joseph was the only one who did not pursue this course of inaction. He could not console himself for not being able to take back with him to France, at all events as a trophy or souvenir of the hunt in which he had taken so active a part, the tusks of the elephant which had been handed over to the blacks. So, as soon as his masters had retired within their dwelling, made of wood and branches of trees, he set out in search of the interpreter Omar, and asked him to act as his agent in coming to some agreement with the natives. He offered them, in exchange for the longed-for tusks, five copper bracelets and some necklets of red pearls, with which he had taken care to provide himself.
The natives, after consulting together, declined both pearls and bracelets, but said that they would swop their tusks for guns. They had, during the day, arrived at a just appreciation of the power of fire-arms, and they hoped, with their aid, to become masters of the forest, to destroy the elephants wholesale, and thus to attain to speedy wealth. Joseph clinched the bargain, and it was agreed that if they brought the coveted tusks to the Meshera at Rek, he would hand over the guns they asked for. He had bought in Paris, for about ten francs a piece, a dozen old muskets, and he did a capital stroke of business, seeing that each tusk represented to him an average value of five hundred francs. Elated with the success of his first commercial speculation, he betook himself to rest, after having been rubbed all over with palm oil as a cure for the bites which the ants had inflicted on him.
On the following day the little band re-entered Port Bek, where Nassar had taken advantage of their absence to complete the caravan by engaging about a hundred and fifty bearers belonging to various tribes. These men were, for the most part, fine, stalwart fellows, between twenty and thirty years of age. Round the waist they wore a strip of calico, and the rest of their bodies was covered with ornaments of all sorts, brass, copper, ivory, and iron, the Nubians also wearing on their breasts amulets in the shape of small leathern bags, in which were placed some of the precepts of the Koran. In addition to these appendages each man carried a knife, a small scimitar, a bag containing his allowance of grain, and the wooden stool used for a seat, for the natives of the greater portion of the black continent never condescend to sit on the ground. As a rule these caravans are encumbered with a crowd of women, slaves or free, brought by the soldiers and bearers; but Nassar had, by a display of great firmness, curtailed this following to the narrowest limits, a few Soudan women alone having obtained permission to join their companions from Khartoum.
The caravan left Port Rek on the 14th February, 1873, and formed an imposing line of about three hundred and fifty persons, distributed in the following manner:—At the head marched Nassar, the guide, clothed, according to his own particular fancy, in a sort of scarlet tunic, and wearing a pair of huge leather boots, which were a source of great pride to him, although, from his not being accustomed to their use, they were productive of considerable inconvenience. These boots were the admiration of all the negroes, and contributed, in no slight degree, to inspire them with profound respect for the guide. With his head in the air, surmounted by a plume, and a set expression on his face, he looked as if he were about to pose as acavalier seulin a quadrille at a masked ball. In one hand he carried a carbine, and in the other the banner of the caravan, ornamented with a crescent and certain precepts of the Koran inscribed thereon in red letters. It would be vain for any European to attempt, in certain regions of Africa, to unfurl his national flag; the Nubians would refuse to follow him. They have no objection to serve a Christian, but on the express condition that they shall be protected by the standard of Islam.
Musicians marched on either side of the guide, beating their drums, clanging their cymbals, or clumsily blowing their cracked trumpets. This music, barbarous enough to European ears, is full of sweetness to the negroes. Baker says, in one of his works, that any traveller who would play persistently on the cornet, could traverse in perfect safety the whole of Central Africa. If he could go to the extravagance of a barrel organ, furnished with the entire repertoire of the Bouffes or the Renaissance, he would assuredly be followed by an enthusiastic crowd, and, protected by this dancing, ever-changing escort, he would be able to pass through the most hostile districts.
Behind the band came the soldiers, about forty in number, the remaining ten forming the rear-guard. Although they were innocent of boots, they marched as proudly as Nassar, gun on shoulder and lance in hand. They did not keep any sort of order, but constantly left the ranks, at the same time affecting to hold no communication whatever with the black bearers, whom they look upon as inferior beings.
Between the soldiers and the bearers a space was reserved for the Europeans, all of whom were on horseback, except Miss Beatrice Poles, whose prodigious feet resumed their wonted office, and Joseph, who was mounted on a donkey. A species of palanquin on two poles, and carried by four men, was set apart for Madame de Guéran, but it was very rarely that she made use of it. She was too energetic and active to ensconce herself under the mosquito curtains of this travelling bed. On horseback or on foot, she went from one point to another, hastening the onward march, giving advice to one and encouragement to another, asking after the health of some woman who appeared to walk with difficulty, interposing when any quarrelling was going on, and rendering herself of use to all. Thanks to this activity of mind and body, she did not notice that the caravan, as is usual, advanced at a rate not exceeding from two miles and a half to three miles an hour, and that in a mild atmosphere and with easy loads.
The servants followed their masters. First of all came the two interpreters, Omar and Ali, on horseback like their employers, because their assistance might be needed at any moment. To these succeeded the attendants of both sexes, Arabs, Nubians, and others hailing from Khartoum and the Soudan, laden with clothes, guns, ammunition, boxes of medicines, and eatables for their masters and mistresses. The Soudan girls, young and pretty, and dressed in red and white tunics, presented to them by Madame de Guéran, formed a picturesque and charming battalion by themselves. They did not appear to feel the weight of their burdens, for from time to time they turned a side-long glance on MM. Périères and de Morin, handsome men both, and to them the very incarnation of manly beauty. But these cavaliers, when not riding on in front, were ever close to Madame de Guéran, and they had no eyes for anybody else. So the fair damsels of the Soudan contented themselves with ogling M. Delange, who, braving the sighs and nudges of Miss Poles, returned their laughing glances with interest.
The bearers, properly so called, hired partly at Khartoum, but principally at Fort Rek, inarched next, two by two when the path was narrow, but any way they pleased when there was more room. These carried the bulk of the baggage, including all the various articles destined for presents or as payment for provisions, all of which were under the special charge of M. Delange.
Then came some Nubian women, and about a score of juvenile blacks, to whom were entrusted the care of the cattle, purchased from the Baggaras and used as beasts of burden until the necessity should arrive for converting them into food. This necessity, it was hoped, was far distant, for other animals there were none, except the horses and Joseph's donkey, and these might succumb to the climate at any moment. In that case the Europeans, if tired or sick, would be only too glad to get on the back of some complaisant bullock or amiable cow.
Last of all came ten soldiers of the escort, taken according to a roster from the company in front. These formed the rear-guard, whose duty it was to hurry on the laggards and prevent desertions. This latter evil is especially to be feared in case of meeting with a caravan returning from the interior towards the Nile. The African is passionately attached to his native soil, and notwithstanding the loss of the promised wages and the certainty of punishment, he is frequently seized with the desire to abandon his masters on the onward march, and turn back with the new-comers for the purpose of regaining his home as soon as possible. During the night there are no desertions, for fear of wild beasts and especially of Zomby, the "bogey" of the blacks, but in the day-time a cleft in a rock or a convenient thicket is adroitly seized upon as a means of escape. Pursuit is useless, because home-sickness sharpens the wits of the fugitives and makes them clever at concealment.
The owners take little notice of these desertions so long as they are solitary and a free man is the delinquent, but they are in a terrible state if a slave takes to flight. If they themselves have been slaves, or if they are in an inferior position, their anger knows no bounds. The man or woman purchased out of their savings, at the cost of great privations, becomes their property, their chattel. The feeling of proprietorship, very strongly developed amongst them, renders them furious, and the Europeans were destined to find this out before the end of their second day's march.
M. Périères was riding on the flank of the column when his eyes fell on a man of the rear-guard, whose arms and hands were covered with blood. He thought he was wounded, and, going up to him, asked him how it had happened.
"I am not wounded," sulkily replied the Nubian.
"How, then, come your hands to be covered with blood?"
"It is my slave's blood, not mine."
"Your slave! You have a slave? Who gave her to you, or where did you get hold of her?"
"I bought her," replied the soldier, with an air of pride.
"Since we started? In that case you have been guilty of disobedience to orders. We have expressly forbidden all traffic in slaves as far as this caravan is concerned."
"I have not disobeyed your orders. The woman was mine long ago; she had accompanied me in many of my expeditions, and Nassar allowed me to bring her with me."
"Where is she?"
"Down there, in that thicket we have just passed."
"Why does she stay behind? You have been ill-using her, I suppose."
"No; I have cut her head off," replied the soldier, quite simply, as if the beheading of a slave were the most natural thing in the world.
"Wretch!" exclaimed M. Périères, seizing him by the arm, and compelling him to stop.
The Nubian did not in the least understand this indignation. He possessed a slave who was bound to follow him, to carry his baggage, grind his corn, and work for him during the journey.
This woman ran away, and, as it was a first offence, he contented himself with thrashing her; on the following day she ran away again, and then he killed her, feeling convinced that, if he spared her life, she would abscond once more, and his property would pass from him to somebody else.
M. Périères ordered a general halt whilst he sent the two interpreters to the thicket pointed out by the Nubian, with orders to find out whether the slave were really killed, and, if so, to bury her.
Omar and Ali returned very quickly with the intelligence that they had found the corpse at the place indicated.
The Europeans then held a consultation, and decided that the culprit should receive a hundred lashes on the spot, in sight of the whole caravan.
But the punishment alone was not enough; it was necessary to explain why it was inflicted. The Arabs and Nubians could never have understood that any one of them ought to be chastised for simply, as in this case, making away with his own property.
The interpreters were, therefore, to explain generally that the soldier had been punished for shedding the blood, not of his slave, but of a member of the expedition, and that for the future the crime of murder, under whatever circumstances it might be committed, would carry with it the penalty of death.
Having thus established a precedent and promulgated a law, the caravan moved on.
Beginning the day at about four o'clock in the morning, the bearers had enough of it by noon, so that at that hour, and sometimes earlier, the halting-place for the night was reached. As a rule the Europeans, except when the stages of the journey happened to have been more than ordinarily long, did not retire to rest before nine or ten o'clock, the evening being occupied in chatting about their plans, questioning Nassar as to what had gone on during the day, and arranging the route for the morrow.
Madame de Guéran was the life and soul of these evenings, and when she chanced to retire early, everybody followed her example except MM. de Morin and Delange, who seized that opportunity of devoting themselves to écarté, bezique, or piquet. They had played about a hundredparties, and were quits, as far as play during the journey was concerned. The back debt remained at the same figure; the Doctor could not achieve any reduction in his floating liability, but at all events, it did not increase, and his bad luck was not sticking to him as it had done in Paris. Consequently he looked hopefully forward to the future, and, so far from being in despair about wiping off the old score, he thought he had the chance of turning the balance considerably in his own favour. This prospect enabled him to put up with the monotony of the journey, and kept him in good spirits.
Though he thought Madame de Guéran everything that was charming, he had the good sense to understand that falling in love with her would be mere waste of time. He was careful, therefore, not to follow in the footsteps of his friends, and, in the hours of relaxation he devoted himself to sentimental conversation with Miss Beatrice Poles, taking care, with his habitual prudence, not to look at her lest her physical aspect should detract from her moral and intellectual qualities.
M. Périères, not caring about the society of Miss Beatrice Poles, and abandoned both by Madame de Guéran, who had retired for the night, and by the two inveterate gamblers, took advantage of his isolation to jot down his impressions of the journey. He kept the journal of the expedition, and it is to him, and the information given to us by him, that we owe the greater portion of our information.
At each halting-place, the sort of register kept by M. Périères was placed by him on the camp bedstead in his hut, and in it everybody was at liberty to enter his or her notes, ideas, or reflections. All communications were anonymous; but this mingling of ideas, the various modes of regarding events, the detached phrases and the different circumstances recorded by the several reporters imparted a tone of originality to the journal.
We do not intend to transcribe this register literally, but merely to extract from it a few details of interest, and to follow generally the route taken by the caravan, without stopping with it at every straggling village through which it passed.
To these notes of the journey, written indiscriminately, under the direction of the chief editor, M. Périères, we shall occasionally add a page or two of more private information doe to the pen of one or other of the travellers. Accident has placed in our possession these leaves, torn out, as it were, from the private note-books of the expedition, and we do not think we are guilty of any indiscretion in giving publicity to them.
March, 1873.—For two days we have been passing through the western portion of the territory inhabited by the Dinkas, a numerous people, not only dwelling on the right bank of the White River, but divided as well into various tribes scattered southward of the Grazelle River. To our guide, Nassar, and most of the soldiers this district was quite familiar, and we dreaded lest they should suddenly leave us in the lurch for the peace and quietness of private life.
The habits of these tribes we find to be very similar to what we had already seen. The Dinka, like the Shillook and the Nuehr, plasters his face and body with cinders, but when he does condescend to divest himself of this detestable coating, by taking a bath or smearing himself with oil, his skin has the sheen and polish of dark bronze.
The Dinka betrays his nationality as soon as he opens his mouth, for the incisor teeth of the lower jaw are invariably broken off, a rigidly-observed custom or fashion, the object of which it is impossible to determine.
The male Dinka, too, despises clothing and never puts any on except he is obliged, as, for instance, when accompanying a caravan such as ours. The females, on the other hand, are more scrupulously clothed than all the other black women of the interior, two aprons of untanned skin covering them, before and behind, from the hips to the ankles.
Tattooing is confined to the men, and consists of ten lines, radiating from the base of the nose to the forehead and temple. Heavy rings of ivory, bracelets of hippopotamus hide, and the tails of cows and goats also contribute to the adornment of this tribe.
Extreme cleanliness marks the interior of their dwellings, and fleas and vermin are very rarely met with in this part of Africa. Possibly these insects have a wholesome dread of the snakes, which live on most intimate terms with the Dinkas, who pay them a sort of reverence. Frequently they are treated like domestic animals and called by name, and their slaughter is looked upon as a crime. This veneration for snakes has been inculcated by the priests and sorcerers, who are skilled in the science of divination, in enchantments, and even in ventriloquism.
5th March.—We have just said good-bye to the inhabitants of Kudy, one of the last villages belonging to the Dinkas, and we have every reason to congratulate ourselves on the manner in which the caravan has been treated. We quitted them on excellent terms, after having procured a supply of milk and fruit, and several couple of oxen, in exchange for iron-wire.
But, scarcely had we proceeded a mile on our way to the next halting-place than we saw a whole swarm of natives rushing towards us, apparently in a dreadful rage, menacing us with their ebony clubs and barbed lances, the only weapons they know, and formidable ones they are in their hands.
Instead of hastening the speed of the caravan and fleeing before the armed and threatening host advancing against us, the order was at once given to halt and make ready to give them a warm reception. The interpreters at the same time went down the ranks of the soldiers, and warned them not to fire unless we were attacked.
This arrangement made, Nassar and several Dinkas, who had been hired by us, went to meet their fellow-countrymen for the purpose of finding out the reason of the hostile display.
After the lapse of a quarter of an hour our guide rejoined us with the information that the natives accused us of having abused their hospitality by carrying off into slavery two young girls of their village, relatives of the chief. The absence of these girls had been discovered a few moments after our departure, and the whole of the inhabitants at once set off in pursuit.
What is the meaning of the accusation? Which of the escort has dared to infringe our rules and compromise us in this fashion? Where are the women? They might be concealed, possibly, from us in the midst of some more or less compact knot of our followers, and their cries might be prevented by gags, but we are now forewarned, and discovery cannot fail to be a very simple matter.
Nassar once more approached the crowd, and declared, in our name, that if the two women were really with the caravan they should be given up at once. At the same time de Morin ordered all the soldiers and bearers, as well as the women who accompanied them, to form up in single file. When this was done, we inspected the whole line, and as each face was already familiar to us, we should soon have detected any sign of uneasiness.
The inspection passed off without our having been able to find the missing girls, and there was evidently a mistake somewhere. These two Dinka ladies must have absconded of their own free will, and, as all caravans are in bad repute, ours is accused of abduction. At my request, several of the Dinkas have joined us, and can see for themselves that their absent countrywomen are not with us.
Suddenly, a fine young fellow, about twenty years of age, who had been pointed out to us as the affianced lover of one of the runaways, made a bound over the heads of the bearers drawn up in front of us, lighted in the midst of the baggage, and sprang towards a tent which was wrapped round the pole belonging to it. Several of our Nubians left the ranks and wanted to send him away, when Delange, who happened to be close by, interfered and ordered our people to fall back and allow the Dinka to do whatever he liked. The black thereupon took hold of the knife hanging from his waist-belt, cut the cord of the tent, and lo! there appeared his belovedfiancée. He drew her to him, embraced her fondly, and then taking her on his shoulders, he made his way through our ranks again, and rejoined his fellow countrymen, who gave him a most enthusiastic welcome.
As soon as the man had taken his departure Delange cut the cord of another tent, and set free the second prisoner, to whom the Dinka, satisfied with the recovery of his lady-love, had not given a thought. This woman, as soon as she was liberated, rubbed her eyes, dazzled by the glare of the sun, looked round her with astonishment, saw the people of her tribe, and went towards them without the slightest hesitation. It was, consequently, very evident that these two women had not left their country of their own free will, neither had they found a voluntary concealment in the tents. They must have been carried off by main force by some of our people, and imprisoned in such a manner that they could neither be seen nor heard. This abduction is all the more annoying to us because we are looked upon as the accomplices of our servants. To save our honour as Europeans, and free ourselves from all responsibility, we must discover the culprits and punish them. To arrive at this result it is only necessary to summon the bearers of the two tents to appear. Somebody must have noticed that they lacked their wonted activity, that the tents had in them some weighty, moving objects, and the silence of these men, and their willingness to carry an excessive load pointed them out clearly as either the authors or the abettors of the abduction.
We were destined, when, questioning them, to make a further and more disgraceful discovery. The bearers of these tents are only paid accomplices, deluded wretches, and to reach the real culprit, we most raise our eyes higher and search our own ranks.
Alas! he belongs to the European colony, he is as white as we are, made almost after our own image. It is Joseph!
The bearers, when threatened with the whip, confessed that M. de Morin's servant had given them three pearl necklets and some iron rings, to seize upon the two girls, stifle their cries, swaddle them in a tent, and carry them off. Joseph thought that the two captives, converted for the nonce into bales of goods, would disappear without being noticed, that he would unpack them on the following day, as soon as the caravan reached another district, and that he would thus have got possession of two slaves, destined either to be exchanged for elephant's tusks, or to prepare his turtle soup, for which the Dinka women, who aire excellent cooks, are renowned.
Joseph was summoned. He at first attempted to deny everything, and accused the bearers of wishing to lower him in the eyes of his masters. But he soon became confused, contradicted himself, and finally, when found out in a lie, confessed all.
The next question was, what punishment to inflict? Our first thought was to transfer to him the thrashing destined for his accomplices, and he richly deserved it. But we were afraid of diminishing theprestigeattaching to all white men, whatever their position, if we inflicted corporal punishment on an European, and after consultation, it was resolved that Joseph, to expiate his crime, should make the remainder of the journey on foot—in other words, that he should at once dismount from his donkey. In addition, he was sentenced to hand over the animal to the two Dinka women by way of compensation for the inconvenience he had caused them.
Joseph made some demur at this, but de Morin told him plainly that if he did not at once do as he was bid, he should be given up to the people he had outraged. This threat had an immediate effect. Joseph trotted off on his donkey, and, dismounting, presented his steed to his former prisoners.
This present filled the two women with joy. They rushed to the donkey and covered it with caresses, and, then, from its neck they passed to that of their abductor, and embraced him as only negresses know how.
As soon as he could disengage himself from their arms, Joseph dragged himself, or rather rolled towards us, lamenting loudly his demonstrative slaves and his patient ass. The latter, on the contrary, comprehending that he had got rid of his bulky rider, set to work to bray for joy. The Dinkas, who are clever at imitating the cries of animals, joined in the chorus with the donkey, the drums of the caravan beat, the cymbals clanged, the trumpets sounded, and, with every good wish from the natives, once more our friends, we again set out on our southward way.
Our route brought us into the midst of a small tribe, forming an isolated community amongst the powerful surrounding tribes. These people, to whom our interpreters gave the name of Al-waj, inhabit a large forest, frequented by giraffes, monkeys and elephants, and in this forest we were destined to witness one of their punishments, of which, notwithstanding the horror inspired by the mere recollection, we are bound, as faithful historians, to give some account.
We had just quitted the front of the Al-waj. It was ten o'clock in the morning, and we had to cross a vast plain in order to reach our next halting-place. The heat was oppressive in the extreme, as if a storm were brewing, although the sky was cloudless. The sun, as if foreseeing that a veil would soon be interposed between him and the earth, that the rainy season was coming on, and that he would no longer be sole monarch of these districts, was darting his most burning rays. We were weary, almost done up, and as we went slowly forward, we kept close together in the vain hope of affording each other some sort of shade.
In the midst of this barren, parched, and arid plain we unexpectedly caught sight of a leafless tree, whose branches had been lopped off so completely, that nothing but a post was left. Bound closely to this tree, with his face to the sun, we perceived a human being. De Morin and Delange galloped off at once, and stopped short at the tree in astonishment at the sight which met their gaze.
A man, about twenty years of age and completely naked, was bound to the tree. His features were regular and gave token of great energy of character, his eyes had a very peculiar expression in them, and his smile was somewhat sardonic. An artistic statue in bronze, modelled by a master hand, alone could give any just idea of his splendid proportions and the lustre of his dark brown, almost metallic skin. In spite of his bonds, his attitude was noble, he stood firmly and upright, with expanded chest, and uplifted head.
Followed by our two interpreters and some of the Al-waj, who had been engaged as guides as far as the next halt, I rejoined de Morin and Delange, and with one consent we made ready to cut the captive's bonds. The natives at once came up to us and indulged us with a vehement harangue, the sense of which we were fain to obtain from our interpreters.
According to their account, the man whom we wished to rescue was a poisoner, belonging to the Baggara tribe, whose acquaintance we had made when coming from Khartoum up the Nile. Taken prisoner by some dealers on their way to the south, he had in the preceding year been sold to one of the chiefs of the Al-waj. Soon afterwards the chief, together with all his family and more than ten members of the tribe, had died from the effects of poison, and, suspicion having rested on the slave, he was condemned to death from the sun.
This punishment, of which we now heard for the first time, is of the most simple description, and it may well be asked how it is that it is not more widely known in the tropics or at the equator, for, of course, in Europe, especially in the north, it would not be very efficacious.
It consists merely of fastening the criminal in the middle of a plain, and there leaving him without the power of moving, to be burnt at a slow fire, or, to speak more correctly, by a quick sun, in the simplest possible manner, without appliances of any kind, and without any expense in the shape of stake or faggots.
The Al-waj, like true artists, introduce a certain amount of refinement into the punishment they have thus devised, for lest it should not last long enough, or lest the prisoner should die too speedily from sun-stroke, they cover his head with leaves. The skull and forehead, the most vulnerable parts, are thus protected, but all the rest of the body burns to a cinder, and gradually dries up. The skin is not long before it peels off, and the sun darts his pitiless rays upon the quivering flesh.
It may possibly be said that, notwithstanding these precautions, the punishment cannot be of very long duration. Abandoned by all, riven to his post, the slave would certainly die of hunger and thirst before the sun would kill him. They who would argue thus do not know the Al-waj. They do not so abandon the criminal, but, on the contrary, pay him every attention. Each day, when the sun has lost his power, and they themselves no longer dread his rays, they bring their prisoner a few grains and a drop or two of water, thus prolonging his existence, and condemning him to die by the sun alone, according to their decree.
These explanations, so far from inducing us to give up our ideas of mercy, made us more persistent. It is, perhaps, both imprudent and indiscreet to turn a poisoner loose on society, even if that society be African, and if it were merely a question of hanging or beheading, we should probably allow justice to take its course. But the sufferings the poor wretch endures and those which are in store for him, the very horror of his punishment, all render his crime less odious. In the victim we forget the criminal.
Armed with our knives we were again preparing to cut the prisoner's bonds, without condescending to pay any attention to the protests or remonstrances of the Al-Waj, when our interpreter Ali called our attention to the sky.
"Well," said Delange, to him. "What part does the sky play in this matter? Are you afraid that the sun will resent our depriving him of his victim? He never asked for him—no offer even was made to him."
"That is not what I meant," replied our guide. "I pointed to the sky, because at this moment it is covered with clouds. A storm will soon burst over us, the rain will fall in torrents, and as the prisoner will be saved by natural causes it is of no use our making enemies of all this tribe."
"Granted," said Delange. "The sun will be interrupted in his work of destruction. The rain will refresh this poor wretch, and will wash his wounds. I admit all that, but the luminary will soon reappear brighter and more burning than ever."
"The punishment will soon be at an end," our guide hastened to explain, "in accordance with the customs of the tribes of these regions. They have been suffering for some time past from a terrible drought, and the rains, which usually commence at the end of February, are this year a fortnight late. You have already had the Dinkas, who stand in great need of water for their flocks and herds, coming to you, and offering you ivory and slaves if you would prevail upon the rain to fell. The Al-Waj suffer quite as much as their neighbours. Superstitious, as, indeed, we all are in Africa, instead of recognizing that the rainy season will eventually commence in due course of nature, they will think that the sun does not desire the victim offered up to him, and that in order to protect and save him that luminary will withdraw his rays. Not only in that case will they hasten to cut the prisoner's bonds, but they will raise him to the dignity of a sorcerer, and, attributing to him the power of making the sun stand still and of causing the rain to fall at his will and pleasure, they will pay him the greatest respect."