In due course we left Lamu, and ten days afterwards we found ourselvesat a spot called Charra, on the Tana River, having gone through manyadventures which need not be recorded here. Amongst other things wevisited a ruined city, of which there are many on this coast, andwhich must once, to judge from their extent and the numerous remains ofmosques and stone houses, have been very populous places. These ruinedcities are immeasurably ancient, having, I believe, been places ofwealth and importance as far back as the Old Testament times, when theywere centres of trade with India and elsewhere. But their glory hasdeparted now--the slave trade has finished them--and where wealthymerchants from all parts of the then civilized world stood and bargainedin the crowded market-places, the lion holds his court at night, andinstead of the chattering of slaves and the eager voices of thebidders, his awful note goes echoing down the ruined corridors. At thisparticular place we discovered on a mound, covered up with rank growthand rubbish, two of the most beautiful stone doorways that it ispossible to conceive. The carving on them was simply exquisite, and Ionly regret that we had no means of getting them away. No doubt they hadonce been the entrances to a palace, of which, however, no traces werenow to be seen, though probably its ruins lay under the rising mound.
Gone! quite gone! the way that everything must go. Like the nobles andthe ladies who lived within their gates, these cities have had theirday, and now they are as Babylon and Nineveh, and as London and Pariswill one day be. Nothing may endure. That is the inexorable law. Menand women, empires and cities, thrones, principalities, and powers,mountains, rivers, and unfathomed seas, worlds, spaces, and universes,all have their day, and all must go. In this ruined and forgotten placethe moralist may behold a symbol of the universal destiny. For thissystem of ours allows no room for standing still--nothing can loiter onthe road and check the progress of things upwards towards Life, or therush of things downwards towards Death. The stern policeman Fate movesus and them on, on, uphill and downhill and across the level; there isno resting-place for the weary feet, till at last the abyss swallows us,and from the shores of the Transitory we are hurled into the sea of theEternal.
At Charra we had a violent quarrel with the headman of the bearers wehad hired to go as far as this, and who now wished to extort large extrapayment from us. In the result he threatened to set the Masai--aboutwhom more anon--on to us. That night he, with all our hired bearers,ran away, stealing most of the goods which had been entrusted to themto carry. Luckily, however, they had not happened to steal our rifles,ammunition, and personal effects; not because of any delicacy of feelingon their part, but owing to the fact that they chanced to be in thecharge of the five Wakwafis. After that, it was clear to us that we hadhad enough of caravans and of bearers. Indeed, we had not much left fora caravan to carry. And yet, how were we to get on?
It was Good who solved the question. 'Here is water,' he said, pointingto the Tana River; 'and yesterday I saw a party of natives huntinghippopotami in canoes. I understand that Mr Mackenzie's mission stationis on the Tana River. Why not get into canoes and paddle up to it?'
This brilliant suggestion was, needless to say, received withacclamation; and I instantly set to work to buy suitable canoes fromthe surrounding natives. I succeeded after a delay of three days inobtaining two large ones, each hollowed out of a single log of somelight wood, and capable of holding six people and baggage. For these twocanoes we had to pay nearly all our remaining cloth, and also many otherarticles.
On the day following our purchase of the two canoes we effected astart. In the first canoe were Good, Sir Henry, and three of ourWakwafi followers; in the second myself, Umslopogaas, and the other twoWakwafis. As our course lay upstream, we had to keep four paddles atwork in each canoe, which meant that the whole lot of us, except Good,had to row away like galley-slaves; and very exhausting work it was. Isay, except Good, for, of course, the moment that Good got into a boathis foot was on his native heath, and he took command of the party. Andcertainly he worked us. On shore Good is a gentle, mild-mannered man,and given to jocosity; but, as we found to our cost, Good in a boat wasa perfect demon. To begin with, he knew all about it, and we didn't. Onall nautical subjects, from the torpedo fittings of a man-of-war downto the best way of handling the paddle of an African canoe, he was aperfect mine of information, which, to say the least of it, we were not.Also his ideas of discipline were of the sternest, and, in short, hecame the royal naval officer over us pretty considerably, and paid usout amply for all the chaff we were wont to treat him to on land;but, on the other hand, I am bound to say that he managed the boatsadmirably.
After the first day Good succeeded, with the help of some cloth and acouple of poles, in rigging up a sail in each canoe, which lightened ourlabours not a little. But the current ran very strong against us, and atthe best we were not able to make more than twenty miles a day. Ourplan was to start at dawn, and paddle along till about half-past ten,by which time the sun got too hot to allow of further exertion. Then wemoored our canoes to the bank, and ate our frugal meal; after whichwe ate or otherwise amused ourselves till about three o'clock, when weagain started, and rowed till within an hour of sundown, when we calleda halt for the night. On landing in the evening, Good would at once setto work, with the help of the Askari, to build a little 'scherm', orsmall enclosure, fenced with thorn bushes, and to light a fire. I, withSir Henry and Umslopogaas, would go out to shoot something for the pot.Generally this was an easy task, for all sorts of game abounded on thebanks of the Tana. One night Sir Henry shot a young cow-giraffe, ofwhich the marrow-bones were excellent; on another I got a couple ofwaterbuck right and left; and once, to his own intense satisfaction,Umslopogaas (who, like most Zulus, was a vile shot with a rifle) managedto kill a fine fat eland with a Martini I had lent him. Sometimeswe varied our food by shooting some guinea-fowl, or bush-bustard(paau)--both of which were numerous--with a shot-gun, or by catchinga supply of beautiful yellow fish, with which the waters of the Tanaswarmed, and which form, I believe, one of the chief food-supplies ofthe crocodiles.
Three days after our start an ominous incident occurred. We were justdrawing in to the bank to make our camp as usual for the night, whenwe caught sight of a figure standing on a little knoll not fortyyards away, and intensely watching our approach. One glance wassufficient--although I was personally unacquainted with the tribe--totell me that he was a Masai Elmoran, or young warrior. Indeed, had Ihad any doubts, they would have quickly been dispelled by the terrifiedejaculation of '_Masai_!' that burst simultaneously from the lips of ourWakwafi followers, who are, as I think I have said, themselves bastardMasai.
And what a figure he presented as he stood there in his savage war-gear!Accustomed as I have been to savages all my life, I do not think that Ihave ever before seen anything quite so ferocious or awe-inspiring. Tobegin with, the man was enormously tall, quite as tall as Umslopogaas, Ishould say, and beautifully, though somewhat slightly, shaped; but withthe face of a devil. In his right hand he held a spear about five and ahalf feet long, the blade being two and a half feet in length, by nearlythree inches in width, and having an iron spike at the end of thehandle that measured more than a foot. On his left arm was a largeand well-made elliptical shield of buffalo hide, on which were paintedstrange heraldic-looking devices. On his shoulders was a huge cape ofhawk's feathers, and round his neck was a 'naibere', or strip of cotton,about seventeen feet long, by one and a half broad, with a stripe ofcolour running down the middle of it. The tanned goatskin robe, whichformed his ordinary attire in times of peace, was tied lightly round hiswaist, so as to serve the purposes of a belt, and through it were stuck,on the right and left sides respectively, his short pear-shaped sime, orsword, which is made of a single piece of steel, and carried in a woodensheath, and an enormous knobkerrie. But perhaps the most remarkablefeature of his attire consisted of a headdress of ostrich-feathers,which was fixed on the chin, and passed in front of the ears to theforehead, and, being shaped like an ellipse, completely framed the face,so that the diabolica
l countenance appeared to project from a sort offeather fire-screen. Round the ankles he wore black fringes of hair,and, projecting from the upper portion of the calves, to which they wereattached, were long spurs like spikes, from which flowed down tufts ofthe beautiful black and waving hair of the Colobus monkey. Such was theelaborate array of the Masai Elmoran who stood watching the approach ofour two canoes, but it is one which, to be appreciated, must be seen;only those who see it do not often live to describe it. Of course Icould not make out all these details of his full dress on the occasionof this my first introduction, being, indeed, amply taken up with theconsideration of the general effect, but I had plenty of subsequentopportunities of becoming acquainted with the items that went to make itup.
Whilst we were hesitating what to do, the Masai warrior drew himselfup in a dignified fashion, shook his huge spear at us, and, turning,vanished on the further side of the slope.
'Hulloa!' holloaed Sir Henry from the other boat; 'our friend thecaravan leader has been as good as his word, and set the Masai after us.Do you think it will be safe to go ashore?'
I did not think it would be at all safe; but, on the other hand, we hadno means of cooking in the canoes, and nothing that we could eat raw,so it was difficult to know what to do. At last Umslopogaas simplifiedmatters by volunteering to go and reconnoitre, which he did, creepingoff into the bush like a snake, while we hung off in the stream waitingfor him. In half an hour he returned, and told us that there was not aMasai to be seen anywhere about, but that he had discovered a spot wherethey had recently been encamped, and that from various indications hejudged that they must have moved on an hour or so before; the man we sawhaving, no doubt, been left to report upon our movements.
Thereupon we landed; and, having posted a sentry, proceeded to cook andeat our evening meal. This done, we took the situation into our seriousconsideration. Of course, it was possible that the apparition of theMasai warrior had nothing to do with us, that he was merely one of aband bent upon some marauding and murdering expedition against anothertribe. But when we recalled the threat of the caravan leader, andreflected on the ominous way in which the warrior had shaken his spearat us, this did not appear very probable. On the contrary, what didseem probable was that the party was after us and awaiting a favourableopportunity to attack us. This being so, there were two things thatwe could do--one of which was to go on, and the other to go back. Thelatter idea was, however, rejected at once, it being obvious that weshould encounter as many dangers in retreat as in advance; and, besides,we had made up our minds to journey onwards at any price. Under thesecircumstances, however, we did not consider it safe to sleep ashore, sowe got into our canoes, and, paddling out into the middle of the stream,which was not very wide here, managed to anchor them by means of bigstones fastened to ropes made of coconut-fibre, of which there wereseveral fathoms in each canoe.
Here the mosquitoes nearly ate us up alive, and this, combined withanxiety as to our position, effectually prevented me from sleeping asthe others were doing, notwithstanding the attacks of the aforesaid Tanamosquitoes. And so I lay awake, smoking and reflecting on many things,but, being of a practical turn of mind, chiefly on how we were to givethose Masai villains the slip. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and,notwithstanding the mosquitoes, and the great risk we were running fromfever from sleeping in such a spot, and forgetting that I had the crampvery badly in my right leg from squatting in a constrained positionin the canoe, and that the Wakwafi who was sleeping beside me smelthorribly, I really began to enjoy myself. The moonbeams played upon thesurface of the running water that speeded unceasingly past us towardsthe sea, like men's lives towards the grave, till it glittered likea wide sheet of silver, that is in the open where the trees threw noshadows. Near the banks, however, it was very dark, and the night windsighed sadly in the reeds. To our left, on the further side of theriver, was a little sandy bay which was clear of trees, and here I couldmake out the forms of numerous antelopes advancing to the water,till suddenly there came an ominous roar, whereupon they all made offhurriedly. Then after a pause I caught sight of the massive form of HisMajesty the Lion, coming down to drink his fill after meat. Presently hemoved on, then came a crashing of the reeds about fifty yards above us,and a few minutes later a huge black mass rose out of the water, abouttwenty yards from me, and snorted. It was the head of a hippopotamus.Down it went without a sound, only to rise again within five yardsof where I sat. This was decidedly too near to be comfortable, moreespecially as the hippopotamus was evidently animated by intensecuriosity to know what on earth our canoes were. He opened his greatmouth, to yawn, I suppose, and gave me an excellent view of his ivories;and I could not help reflecting how easily he could crunch up our frailcanoe with a single bite. Indeed, I had half a mind to give him a ballfrom my eight-bore, but on reflection determined to let him alone unlesshe actually charged the boat. Presently he sank again as noiselessly asbefore, and I saw no more of him. Just then, on looking towards the bankon our right, I fancied that I caught sight of a dark figure flittingbetween the tree trunks. I have very keen sight, and I was almost surethat I saw something, but whether it was bird, beast, or man I could notsay. At the moment, however, a dark cloud passed over the moon, and Isaw no more of it. Just then, too, although all the other sounds ofthe forest had ceased, a species of horned owl with which I was wellacquainted began to hoot with great persistency. After that, save forthe rustling of trees and reeds when the wind caught them, there wascomplete silence.
But somehow, in the most unaccountable way, I had suddenly becomenervous. There was no particular reason why I should be, beyond theordinary reasons which surround the Central African traveller, and yet Iundoubtedly was. If there is one thing more than another of which Ihave the most complete and entire scorn and disbelief, it is ofpresentiments, and yet here I was all of a sudden filled with andpossessed by a most undoubted presentiment of approaching evil. I wouldnot give way to it, however, although I felt the cold perspiration standout upon my forehead. I would not arouse the others. Worse and worse Igrew, my pulse fluttered like a dying man's, my nerves thrilled withthe horrible sense of impotent terror which anybody who is subject tonightmare will be familiar with, but still my will triumphed over myfears, and I lay quiet (for I was half sitting, half lying, in thebow of the canoe), only turning my face so as to command a view ofUmslopogaas and the two Wakwafi who were sleeping alongside of andbeyond me.
In the distance I heard a hippopotamus splash faintly, then the owlhooted again in a kind of unnatural screaming note {Endnote 4}, andthe wind began to moan plaintively through the trees, making aheart-chilling music. Above was the black bosom of the cloud, andbeneath me swept the black flood of the water, and I felt as though Iand Death were utterly alone between them. It was very desolate.
Suddenly my blood seemed to freeze in my veins, and my heart to standstill. Was it fancy, or were we moving? I turned my eyes to look forthe other canoe which should be alongside of us. I could not see it, butinstead I saw a lean and clutching black hand lifting itself abovethe gunwale of the little boat. Surely it was a nightmare! At the sameinstant a dim but devilish-looking face appeared to rise out of thewater, and then came a lurch of the canoe, the quick flash of a knife,and an awful yell from the Wakwafi who was sleeping by my side (thesame poor fellow whose odour had been annoying me), and something warmspurted into my face. In an instant the spell was broken; I knew that itwas no nightmare, but that we were attacked by swimming Masai. Snatchingat the first weapon that came to hand, which happened to be Umslopogaas'battleaxe, I struck with all my force in the direction in which Ihad seen the flash of the knife. The blow fell upon a man's arm, and,catching it against the thick wooden gunwale of the canoe, completelysevered it from the body just above the wrist. As for its owner, heuttered no sound or cry. Like a ghost he came, and like a ghost he went,leaving behind him a bloody hand still gripping a great knife, or rathera short sword, that was buried in the heart of our poor servant.
Instantly there arose a
hubbub and confusion, and I fancied, rightlyor wrongly, that I made out several dark heads gliding away towards theright-hand bank, whither we were rapidly drifting, for the rope by whichwe were moored had been severed with a knife. As soon as I had realizedthis fact, I also realized that the scheme had been to cut the boatloose so that it should drift on to the right bank (as it would havedone with the natural swing of the current), where no doubt a party ofMasai were waiting to dig their shovel-headed spears into us. Seizingone paddle myself, I told Umslopogaas to take another (for the remainingAskari was too frightened and bewildered to be of any use), and togetherwe rowed vigorously out towards the middle of the stream; and not aninstant too soon, for in another minute we should have been aground, andthen there would have been an end of us.
As soon as we were well out, we set to work to paddle the canoe upstreamagain to where the other was moored; and very hard and dangerous workit was in the dark, and with nothing but the notes of Good's stentorianshouts, which he kept firing off at intervals like a fog-horn, to guideus. But at last we fetched up, and were thankful to find that theyhad not been molested at all. No doubt the owner of the same hand thatsevered our rope should have severed theirs also, but was led away fromhis purpose by an irresistible inclination to murder when he got thechance, which, while it cost us a man and him his hand, undoubtedlysaved all the rest of us from massacre. Had it not been for that ghastlyapparition over the side of the boat--an apparition that I shall neverforget till my dying hour--the canoe would undoubtedly have driftedashore before I realized what had happened, and this history would neverhave been written by me.
CHAPTER III THE MISSION STATION