CHAPTER IV
THE STORY OF MUATA
They went from the wide estuary into the true river, with a widththat opened out at times to twenty miles; and while the white mensweltered on the sticky decks, the rescued man grew in strength.When they reached Stanley Pool his skin was like satin again, with apolish on it from the palm-oil he rubbed in continually.
And when he found his strength he found use for his tongue, and inthe speech he made to his rescuers. Mr. Hume caught the meaning of afew words of Bantu, Compton detected a phrase or two in Arabic, andVenning, who had been schooling himself since they passed BananaPoint at the river mouth, picked out other words in the tongue ofthe river tribes.
The meaning of his speech, when they had made a mosaic of thedifferent understood facts, was this--that he was a great man in hisown land, but only a child now, being without arms or men, but thatif the white men ever came to his place, he would be a father and amother to them. He would throw his shield before them, and protectthem with bow and spear.
After this they sat together learning a polyglot speech that wouldserve roughly as a medium of exchange.
And this was the story of the chief, slowly put together out ofthese talks--
"I am Muata the chief. The kraal of my house is toward the settingsun, but the fire no longer burns on the hearth. The men-robbersfell upon the place in the early morning. The people were scatteredlike goats before the lion. Many were taken by the men-robbers, andmany were slain; and among them my father.
"The chief's wife, my mother, fled with me into the Great Forest.Many days she lived on roots, and the 'little people' found her inher wanderings. They took her by crooked paths far from the land ofher people. Ohe!
"Through the dark woods--through the dark and terrible woods,through the mist and the rain, with much pain, she followed them asthey went before her like shadows. And in the folds of her blanketshe bore me on her back. It is true.
"She was straight as the palm when she fled from the kraal, and whenafter long journeying she set me down at the hiding-place, she wasthin and bent. Thin and bent was the chief's wife, she who hadmaidens to wait on her.
"At the hiding-place in the forest there were people whose kraalshad been burnt by the men-robbers. Outcasts they were, of manytribes, living together without a chief; but the place was fat, andthey grew fat, being without spirit.
"And Muata the child played with other children and grew. He grew onthe fatness of the land, and when he could walk, his playmates werethe young of the jackal; his playthings were the bow and the spear.
"Ohe! Muata grew to strength like the lion's cub in the knowledge ofthe hunt. She, even his mother, taught him to follow the trail,showed him the leaf bruised by the foot of a man traveling, showedhim the tracks of the beasts, taught him the cries of the animals.
"She rubbed the oil into his skin, set him to hurl the spear, toshaft the arrow, to hit the mark; set him to run and swim, to creeplike a snake, to bound like the buck.
"So Muata grew in the ways of a hunter; and when the men of theplace went on the hunt, Muata went with them--went as a hunter, andthe hut of his mother had meat to spare.
"Then the chief's wife took the boy to the headmen, and the witch-doctors. They drew on his body the sign of the otter--he who iscunning and brave, who is at home on land or in the water. They madehim a warrior, he who was a boy, because there was always meat inthe hut of his mother.
"But his mother spoke. 'O Muata, hunter of the wild pig, take yourspear and your bow, and the quiver of arrows with the iron heads.You will hunt men.' Thus it came that Muata went alone on the war-trail. With him went his mother, who carried the pots and thesleeping-mat, she who carried nothing at her kraal.
"The trail led into the Great Forest toward the rising sun, andthere were dangers between the sunrise and its setting--dangersbetween the setting of the sun and its rising.
"A man-ape of great stature, hairy and fierce, stood before us inthe path. He lifted his brows at us, and bared his teeth. Muata wasafraid, but his mother called to him softly--called to him not torun, called to him to drive this thing from her path.
"Muata notched an arrow and smote the man-ape in the neck. Yoh! Hestood like a man upright, and roared. His roar was like the roar ofa lion in pain. Foam came from his lips, and his eyes were fierce.
"The knees of Muata shook; his blood was like water. He was afraid,but his mother laughed and cracked her fingers. The man-ape drewnear, but she stood--she the chief's wife. So Muata the boy notchedan arrow, and would have loosened it, but she spoke--'Let him comestill nearer, O warrior.'
"Muata grew stronger at the word. The man-ape came nearer. Threepaces away he stood--and his head was above the head of Muata, hisarms were like a young tree, and the chest was like the chest of twomen. He opened his mouth and the arrow flew into his throat, bitdeep till the point stood out behind. He clutched the shaft with hishands, rocked, and fell, and Muata, taking his spear, thrust itbetween the great ribs.
"Yoh! the man-ape was dead, and the chief's wife broke the greatteeth from the jaw, and cut off the hairs above the eyes. She burntthem, and mixed them with his blood, for Muata to drink. Muatadrank and was strong.
"So those two passed through the forest, through the silent dark ofthe woods, in pain and hunger. Passed out into the plains wherethere were kraals and yellow men in white coverings.
"And the chiefs wife spoke: 'Behold, it is for this I have sufferedmuch for thee, Muata. What I have sown in sorrow and pain I willreap in your strength. Look and look again! Those are of the racewho destroyed the kraals of your people. They are men-hunters,kraal-burners, slayers of children. Steal upon them where they walkidly, and for each arrow slay a man.'
"Muata waited on these men a day and a night, and when he sought hismother on the edge of the forest his quiver was empty, and thechief's wife spoke: 'Where did the arrow strike, O warrior?' AndMuata answered, 'In the throat, O my mother.' And the chief's wifesaid again, 'It is well; but the warrior sees to it that he canrecover his arrow. And your quiver is empty.' So Muata returnedand recovered his arrows, for the men lay where they fell, theliving having gone into the kraals in fear.
"So Muata and the chiefs wife went slowly back to the place ofhiding. And because Muata had slain the man-ape and the robbers--they who slay children--the chief's wife sought out the headmen, andspoke: 'Oh, listen! This is Muata, the son of a chief. He has slainthe man-ape, and for each arrow that was in his quiver a man-robber.It is fit that he be your chief.' But they laughed, and the chiefswife held her peace.
"And again, after the crops were gathered, Muata went again on thewar-trail alone--went to the river, followed it down the bank, andthe little people led him to a kraal in the wood by the river bank--a kraal with a high fence, the kraal of the yellow men-robbers.Muata dived beneath the fence with a short spear in his hand. Withhis spear he slew the man who watched by the gate, opened the gate,and put fire to the huts. The yellow men ran, some into the forest,and there the little people found them; others fled into a canoe tocross; Muata swam after, and with his spear ripped open the bottom,so that it filled and sank.
"And again, when the place of hiding was reached, the chief's wifesought out the headmen and spoke, saying that Muata was a chief'sson. They put her aside with words, saying there was no proof ofthis last thing he had done. But Muata whistled, and the littlepeople came forward, saying the chiefs son had destroyed the kraalof the evil-doers. Then the headmen took counsel, and again put thechief's wife off.
"The chief's wife bowed her head, but, seeing that she was weak, andthat her mind was fixed on the thing she asked for, Muata took thematter into his own hand. He bade the women prepare a big hut forhis mother--he put a stick to their shoulders; and when a man soughtto slay him there in the presence of them all, Muata smote the manunder the arm with his spear. So they built the great hut, and womenwaited on the chief's wife, his mother, carried water for her, cutthe wood, and built the fire.
"So Muata wa
s chief, and year by year he led the men of the placeagainst the yellow robbers, till the name of Muata was feared.
"The would Muata take to himself wives, and would drink beer, andgrow fat; but his mother counseled with him, saying he was a boy--saying he was only at the beginning of the path. And Muata listened,for she was wiser than all, and he set his heart on the plan she putbefore him to win back the land of his people.
"Thus Muata the chief was still a warrior and a hunter. He followedthe spoor into the fastnesses of the woods, and trained the young ofthe jackal to drive the buck towards him.
"Ohe! it was ended. The evil-doers, the child-slayers, the robbersof men, sent spies into the forest, and when Muata returned from hishunting there was wailing at the kraal, and the fire was dead on thehearth. And the women cried, 'O chief, they have taken the lioness;they lured her out with tales of ill that had befallen Muata, eventhe young lion. So she went forth between the gates, and they, therobbers, carried her away.'
"Muata turned on his heel straightway. He sought the trail of theman-thieves. It was plain and level. It led through the forest, andby night his jackal led him on the scent. By day he followed; bynight and day Muata went on the track to the river. At the river heheard news. They had gone on the river towards the setting sun.
"Muata took a canoe from the river people, and with his jackal hefollowed, while the sun rose and set many times, and he came to thefather of rivers.
"The waters were wide, and his canoe was like a leaf carried hereand there. His heart was sad, but the spirit of his motherprevailed. He followed, and a man came to him saying that the yellowmen were near at hand, and sick of the sickness that shakes. Muatagathered together his strength and pushed on. Ohe! and he fell intothe hands of his enemies like a child. He went among them sleeping,and when he awoke his hands and limbs were bound.
"And the enemy mocked him, saying, 'Is this Muata?' saying, 'eventhe ant will make him cry aloud;' and they smeared fat on him. Theyshook the ants over him, and they bit deep. They reviled him, theyspat on him, as day by day he followed in the canoe tied to theirgreater canoe. They made plans about him to kill him, but the chiefman said even a dog had his price. So they forebore to slay Muata,but they carried him down the father of waters to where there was astill greater canoe with wings. They put a gag into his mouth tostill his voice, but in the night the jackal bit through the rope,and Muata was alone on the waters.
"Then the jackal cried suddenly, and Muata was borne out of thewater, and he was fed.
"That is the story of Muata, and his heart goes out to the white menwho brought him out of the darkness."