CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
SHOWS SOME OF THE EFFECTS OF THE SLAVE-TRADE AT THE FOUNTAIN-HEAD.
Down in a gorge, just below the spot where Harold Seadrift and his menlay concealed, a strange sight met the eyes of the two Englishmen, inregard to which, despite all that they had heard and seen, and wereprepared to see, they were as much shocked as if it had never beenpresented even to their imaginations up to that moment.
It was a gang of slaves winding its way slowly but steadily through thegorge.
The head of the dusky procession was just emerging on the open groundbeyond the gorge when the travellers first came upon it. The slavesadvanced towards the spot where they lay, passing under it so closelythat they could see the very expressions on the faces of the men, women,and children who composed the gang. These expressions were varied andvery terrible. Our travellers had now reached the fountain-head whencethe perennial stream of "Black Ivory" flows out of Africa. The processof manufacture, although considerably advanced, had not yet reached thatperfection of callous subjection and settled despair which had struckour Englishmen so forcibly in the slave-market of Zanzibar. There wasanxiety not unmingled with faint hope in the faces of some of the women;and a few of the more stalwart and courageous among the men wore afierce, determined aspect which told of manhood not yet absolutelyprostrated in the dust of abject servility, while, in regard to some ofthe children, surprise at the peculiar circumstances of theirsurroundings had not yet been swallowed up in a condition of chronicterror.
They marched in a long line, fastened to each other by chains and ropesand heavy "gorees" or slave-sticks. The latter implements were polesfrom six to seven feet long, with a fork at the end of each, in whichthe necks of the men were fitted and secured by means of an iron bolt,passing across the throat and riveted at both ends. To render marchingpossible with such encumbrances, the men went in couples, one behind theother, so that the slave-stick of the leading man could be tied to thestick of his fellow behind, which was slewed round to the front for thepurpose. Their wrists were also tied, some in front, others behindtheir backs. Secured thus, Hercules himself might have been reduced toobedience, especially if he had felt the frequent sting of the cruellash that was laid on these captives, a lash whose power was mademanifest by the numerous seams and scars which crossed and recrossedtheir backs and limbs. The women and children were deemed sufficientlysecure by being fastened to each other with ropes and iron rings roundtheir necks. All were naked, with the exception of a little piece ofcloth round the loins, and some of the women had infants of a few weeksold strapped to their backs by means of this shred of cloth, whileothers carried baskets on their heads containing meal for the sustenanceof the party during their journey.
In advance of the line marched a tall, powerfully-built half-caste,armed with a musket and small axe, and clad in a loose coat, shortdrawers reaching the knees, and straw hat. He was obviously thecommander of the band. Behind him came several negroes, also armed withmuskets, and with thick wands for the purpose of flagellation. Thesewore loin-cloths and turbans or red caps, but nothing more. Theylaughed, talked and strutted as they went along, forming a markedcontrast to the silent and depressed slaves.
At intervals along the line, and in rear, there were stationed one ortwo of these drivers, who urged on their "cattle" with more or lesscruelty, according to their individual impulses or natures.
We need scarcely say that this sight filled Harold and Disco not onlywith feelings of horror and pity, but with sensations of toweringindignation that almost suffocated them. Those who only read of suchthings at home can form but a faint conception of what it is actually tobehold them.
"We must fight!" muttered Harold between his teeth.
Disco could not speak, but he looked at his companion, and gave a nodthat plainly indicated the state of his feelings.
"'Sh!" hissed Chimbolo, creeping up at that moment and laying his hand,which trembled violently, on Harold's shoulder, "Marizano!"
"What! the scoundrel in advance?"
Chimbolo pointed to the leader of the slave-gang, and almost foamed atthe mouth with suppressed rage.
At that moment their attention was attracted to a woman who walkedimmediately behind the slavers. She was a young and, according toAfrican ideas, a comely girl, but was apparently very weak--so weak thatshe panted and stumbled as she went along, a circumstance which wasaccounted for by the little infant tied to her back, which could nothave been more than a couple of weeks old. Stumbling against the fallenbranch of a tree, she fell at last with a low wail to the ground, andmade no effort, as on previous occasions, to recover herself.
The whole gang stopped, and Marizano, turning back, pushed the womanwith his foot.
A fine-looking young man, who was the leader in a couple secured by aslave-stick, seemed to regard this woman with a degree of interest thatargued near relationship. He started forward half involuntarily whenthe Portuguese half-caste kicked her. He had forgotten for an instanthis fellow in rear, as well as the bar of the goree across his throat,which checked him violently; at the same time one of the drivers, whohad observed the movement, laid a supple wand across his bare back sosharply as to draw forth a terrific yell of agony.
This was too much for Disco Lillihammer. Unable to restrain himself, heleaped up, seized his rifle by the muzzle with both hands, and, swingingit round his head, rushed upon Marizano with a bursting shout of rageand defiance.
It is probable that the half-caste leader, who was by no means destituteof courage, would have stood his ground had his assailant been a man ofcolour, but this unexpected apparition of a white man with a fierycountenance and blue eyes that absolutely flashed as he rushed forwardwith irresistible fury, was too much for him. Firing hastily, and withbad aim, Marizano turned and fled into the woods, followed by all hismen. There was however a large band of Ajawa savages in rear, armedwith bows and poisoned arrows. When he encountered these the Portuguesechief halted, and, rallying his men, took shelter behind trees and beganto fire at the advancing enemy.
Seeing this, Harold drew his men together and made them fire a unitedvolley, which had the effect of utterly routing the slavers. Discomeanwhile, finding that he could not overtake Marizano, at last did whathe ought to have done at first--kneeled down, took deliberate aim athim, and fired. His agitation prevented accuracy of aim; neverthelesshe succeeded in sending a bullet through the fleshy part of the man'sarm, above the elbow, which effectually put him to flight.
Returning to the slaves, who had been left standing where they werefirst stopped, in a state of great surprise and perplexity, he assistedhis companions in freeing them. This was easy enough in regard to thewomen and children, but the gorees on the men were very difficult toremove. Being riveted, as we have said, it became necessary to splitthe forks with hatchets, an operation which endangered the heads of thepoor captives and hurt their galled necks considerably. It wasaccomplished however in the midst of a deal of excitement and hurriedconversation, while Jumbo and his comrades kindled fires, and Haroldbade the women cook the meal--which they had hitherto carried--forthemselves and their children. They seemed to consider this too goodnews to be true, but on being encouraged, began with alacrity.
"Don't be afeared, lass," cried Disco, patting a young woman on thehead, "eat as much as 'ee like. You need it, poor thing, an' stuff thechilder till they can't hold no more. Bu'st 'em if 'ee can. Theslavers won't come back here in a hurry. Ha! I only wish they would,an' let us have a brush with 'em. But there's no such luck. Cowardsnever fight 'xcept w'en they're sure to win.--Now, piccaninny, here youare," he said, stuffing some raw mapira meal into the open mouth of athin little girl of about six or seven, who was gazing at him inopen-eyed surprise; "don't put off time, you're half-starved already!"
The little black skeleton began to chew the dry meal with evidentsatisfaction, but without taking her eyes off her deliverer.
"Who are _you_?" asked a somewhat older girl of Harold, whom sher
egarded with looks of reverence and wonder.
Of course Harold did not understand her, but he immediately calledAntonio, who translated.
"Who are you?" she said; "the other people tied and starved us, but youcut the ropes and tell us to eat; what sort of people are you? Wheredid you come from?"
To this Harold replied briefly that he was an Englishman, who hatedslavers and slavery, but he said nothing more at that time, as heintended to have a palaver and explanation with the freed captives aftertheir meal was over.
There was a great clapping of hands among the slaves, expressive ofgratitude, on hearing that they were free.
About a hundred sat down to that meal, most of whom were women andchildren, and the manner in which they devoured the food set beforethem, told eloquently of their previous sufferings. At first theytimidly held back, scarce venturing to believe that their new captors,as they thought them, were in earnest. But when their doubts and fearswere removed, they attacked the mapira porridge like ravening wolves.Gradually the human element began to reappear, in the shape of a commentor a smile, and before long the women were chatting together, and a fewof the stronger among the young children were making feeble attempts toplay.
When the oldest man of the party, who appeared to be between twenty andthirty, was brought forward and questioned, he gave some interesting andstartling information.
"Tell him," said Harold to Antonio, "that we are Englishmen; that webelong to the same nation as the great white man Dr Livingstone, whotravelled through this land some years ago--the nation which hatesslavery because the Great God hates it, and would have all men to befree, to serve each other in love, and to do to other people as theywould have other people do to them. Ask him, also, where he comes from,and who captured him and his companions."
To this the negro replied--"What the white man says may be true, but thewhite men seem to tell lies too much. The men who killed our warriors,burned our villages, and took our women and children away, came to ussaying that they were friends; that they were the servants of the samepeople as the white man Livingstone, and wanted to trade with us. Whenwe believed and trusted them, and were off our guard, they fired on uswith their guns. We know not what to think or to believe."
Harold was much perplexed by this reply, for he knew not what evidenceto cite in proof that he, at least was not a deceiver.
"Tell him," he said at length, "that there are false white men as wellas true, and that the best proof I can give him that I am one of thetrue is, to set him and his friends at liberty. They are now as free togo where they please as we are."
On receiving this assurance the negro retired to consult with hisfriends. Meanwhile Antonio, who seemed to have been touched by theunvarying kindness with which he had been treated by his employers,opened his mind to them, and gave them a good deal of information, ofwhich the substance is as follows:--
At that time the merchants of the Portuguese inland town of Tette, onthe Zambesi, were carrying on the slave-trade with unusual vigour, forthis reason, that they found it difficult to obtain ivory except inexchange for slaves. In former years they had carried on a trade inivory with a tribe called the Banyai, these Banyai being greatelephant-hunters, but it happened that they went to war with anothertribe named the Matabele, who had managed to steal from them all theirwomen and children. Consequently, the forlorn Banyai said to the Tettemerchants, when they went to trade with them as they had been accustomedto do, "We do not want your merchandise. Bring us women and children,and you shall have as much ivory as you wish."
These good people of Tette--being chiefly half-caste Portuguese, andunder Portuguese government, and claiming, as they do, to be thepossessors of that region of Africa--are so utterly incapable of holdingtheir own, that they are under the necessity of paying tribute to atribe of savages who come down annually to Tette to receive it, and who,but for that tribute, would, as they easily could, expel them from theland. These merchants of Tette, moreover, in common with all thePortuguese in Africa, are by the laws of Portugal prohibited fromengaging in the _export_ slave-trade. They are not, however, forbiddento engage temporarily in the "domestic slave-trade," hence they had sentout slaving parties--in other words, robbers, kidnappers, murderers--whohired the warlike Ajawa tribe to aid them in killing the Manganja men,and robbing them of their wives and little ones, by which means theywere enabled to supply the demand for such "cattle" among the Banyai,and thus obtained the desired supply of ivory! So vigorously had thisslave traffic been carried on, at the time of which we write, that nofewer than two hundred people--mostly women and children--were carriedout of the hill-country every week. [See _The Universities' Mission toCentral Africa_, page 112.]
In a short time the negro returned to the place where Harold and Discowere seated, and said that he believed his white deliverers were truemen, but added that he and his people had no home to go to; theirvillage having been burnt, and all the old people and warriors killed ordispersed by Marizano, who was a terribly cruel man. In proof of thisassertion he said that only the day before, Marizano had shot two of thewomen for attempting to untie their thongs; a man had been killed withan axe because he had broken-down with fatigue; and a woman had herinfant's brains dashed out because she was unable to carry it, as wellas the load assigned to her.
"It is difficult to decide what one should do in these circumstances,"said Harold to Disco. "You know it would never do to leave thesehelpless people here to starve; but if we take them on with us ourprogress will be uncommonly slow."
"We'd better take 'em back," said Disco.
"Back! Where to?"
"W'y, to the last village wot we passed through. It ain't more than aday's march, an' I'm sure the old feller as is capting of it would takecare o' the lot."
"There is good advice in that, yet I grudge to go back," said Harold;"if there were a village the same distance in advance, I would rathertake them on."
"But there ain't," returned Disco. "Hallo! I say, wot's wrong withTony?"
The interpreter came forward with a look of much excitement as he spoke.
"What now, Antonio?"
"Oh! it's drefful," replied the interpreter. "Dey tells me have hearMarizano speak ob anoder slaving party what go straight to Kambira'svillage for attack it."
"Who told you that? Are they sure?" asked Harold hastily.
"Two, t'ree mans tole me," replied Antonio. "All say same ting. Toolate to help him now, me's 'fraid."
"Never say too late," cried Disco, starting up; "never say die whilethere's a shot in the locker. It may be time enough yet if we only looksharp. I votes that we leave nearly all the provisions we have withthese poor critters here; up anchor, 'bout ship, clap on all sail, andaway this werry minit."
Harold agreed with this advice heartily, and at once acted on it. Thearrangements were quickly made, the provisions distributed, anexplanation made, and in less than an hour the travellers were retracingtheir steps in hot haste.
By taking a straight line and making forced marches, they arrived insight of the ridge where they had last seen Kambira, on the evening ofthe third day. As they drew near Harold pushed impatiently forward,and, outrunning his companions, was first to reach the summit. Disco'sheart sank within him, for he observed that his companion stood still,bowed his head, and covered his face with both hands. He soon joinedhim, and a groan burst from the seaman's breast when he saw densevolumes of smoke rising above the spot where the village had so recentlylain a picture of peaceful beauty.
Even their followers, accustomed though they were, to scenes and deedsof violence and cruelty, could not witness the grief of the Englishmenunmoved.
"P'raps," said Disco, in a husky voice, "there's some of 'em left alive,hidin' in the bushes."
"It may be so," replied Harold, as he descended the slope with rapidstrides. "God help them!"
A few minutes sufficed to bring them to the scene of ruin, but thedevastation caused by the fire was so great that they had difficulty in
recognising the different spots where the huts had stood. Kambira's hutwas, however, easily found, as it stood on a rising ground. There thefight with the slavers had evidently been fiercest, for around it laythe charred and mutilated remains of many human bodies. Some of thesewere so far distinguishable that it could be told whether they belongedto man, woman, or child.
"Look here!" said Disco, in a deep, stern voice, as he pointed to anobject on the ground not far from the hut.
It was the form of a woman who had been savagely mangled by hermurderers. The upturned and distorted face proved it to be Yohama, thegrandmother of little Obo. Near to her lay the body of a grey-hairednegro, who might to judge from his position, have fallen in attemptingto defend her.
"Oh! if the people of England only saw this sight!" said Harold, in alow tone; "if they only believed in and _realised_ this fact, therewould be one universal and indignant shout of `No toleration of slaveryanywhere throughout the world!'"
"Look closely for Kambira or his son," he added, turning to his men.
A careful search among the sickening remains was accordingly made, butwithout any discovery worth noting being made, after which they searchedthe surrounding thickets. Here sad evidence of the poor fugitiveshaving been closely pursued was found in the dead bodies of many of theold men and women, and of the very young children and infants; also thebodies of a few of the warriors. All these had been speared, chieflythrough the back. Still they were unsuccessful in finding the bodies ofthe chief or his little boy.
"It's plain," said Disco, "that they have either escaped or been tookprisoners."
"Here is some one not quite dead," said Harold,--"Ah! poor fellow!"
He raised the unfortunate man's head on his knee, and recognised thefeatures of the little man who had entertained them with his tunes onthe native violin.
It was in vain that Antonio tried to gain his attention while Discomoistened his lips with water. He had been pierced in the chest with anarrow. Once only he opened his eyes, and a faint smile played on hislips, as if he recognised friends, but it faded quickly and left thepoor musician a corpse.
Leaving, with heavy hearts, the spot where they had spent such pleasantdays and nights, enjoying the hospitality of Kambira and his tribe, ourtravellers began to retrace their steps to the place where they had leftthe rescued slaves, but that night the strong frame of Disco Lillihammersuccumbed to the influence of climate. He was suddenly stricken withAfrican fever, and in a few hours became as helpless as a little child.
In this extremity Harold found it necessary to encamp. He selected thehighest and healthiest spot in the neighbourhood, caused his followersto build a rude, but comparatively comfortable, hut and set himselfdiligently to hunt for, and to tend, his sick friend.