THE FINDING OF THE MAN-EATERS' DEN
There were some rocky-looking hills lying to the south-west of Tsavo
which I was particularly anxious to explore, so on one occasion when
work had been stopped for the day owing to lack of material, I set off
for them, accompanied by Mahina and a Punjaubi coolie, who was so stout
that he went by the name of Moota (i.e. "Fattie"). In the course of my
little excursions round Tsavo I gradually discovered that I was nearly
always able to make my way to any required point of the compass by
following certain well-defined animal paths, which I mapped out bit by
bit during my explorations. On this occasion, for instance, as soon as
we had crossed the river and had struck into the jungle, we were
fortunate enough to find a rhino path leading in the right direction,
which greatly facilitated our progress. As we were making our way along
this path through the dry bed of a nullah, I happened to notice that
the sandy bottom sparkled here and there where the sunbeams penetrated
the dense foliage. This at once filled my head with thoughts of
precious stones, and as the spot looked likely enough, I started to dig
vigorously at the gravel with my hunting knife. After a few minutes of
this work, I came across what I at first took to be a magnificent
diamond sparkling in the damp sand: it was about half an inch long, and
its facets looked as if they had been cut by an Amsterdam expert. I
tested the stone on my watch glass and found that it cut my initials
quite easily, and though I knew that quartz would do this as well, it
did not seem to me to have either the general appearance or angles of
any quartz I had ever seen. For a moment or two I was greatly delighted
with my discovery, and began to have rosy dreams of a diamond mine; but
I am sorry to say that on closer examination and testing I was forced
to the conclusion that my find was not a diamond, though unlike any
other mineral I had ever come across.
My hopes of rapidly becoming a millionaire having thus been dashed to
the ground, we proceeded on our way, getting further and further into
the depths of a gloomy forest. A little distance on, I noticed through
a break in the trees a huge rhino standing in full view near the edge
of a ravine. Unfortunately he caught sight of us as well, and before I
could take aim, he snorted loudly and crashed off through the tangled
undergrowth. As I followed up this ravine, walking stealthily along in
the delightful shade of the overhanging palms, I observed on my left a
little nullah which opened out of the main channel through a confused
mass of jungle and creeper. Through this tangle there was a
well-defined archway, doubtless made by the regular passage of rhino
and hippo, so I decided to enter and explore what lay beyond. I had not
gone very far when I came upon a big bay scooped out of the bank by the
stream when in flood and carpeted with a deposit of fine, soft sand, in
which were the indistinct tracks of numberless animals. In one corner
of this bay, close under an overhanging tree, stood a little sandy
hillock, and on looking over the top of this I saw on the other side a
fearsome-looking cave which seemed to run back for a considerable
distance under the rocky bank. Round the entrance and inside the cavern
I was thunderstruck to find a number of human bones, with here and
there a copper bangle such as the natives wear. Beyond all doubt, the
man-eaters' den! In this manner, and quite by accident, I stumbled upon
the lair of these once-dreaded "demons", which I had spent so many days
searching for through the exasperating and interminable jungle during
the time when they terrorised Tsavo. I had no inclination to explore
the gloomy depths of the interior, but thinking that there might
possibly still be a lioness or cub inside, I fired a shot or two into
the cavern through a hole in the roof. Save for a swarm of bats,
nothing came out; and after taking a photograph of the cave, I gladly
left the horrible spot, thankful that the savage and insatiable brutes
which once inhabited it were no longer at large.
Retracing my steps to the main ravine, I continued my journey along it.
After a little while I fancied I saw a hippo among some tall rushes
growing on the bank, and quickly signed to Mahina and Moota to stay
perfectly still. I then made a careful stalk, only to discover, after
all my trouble, that my eyes had deceived me and made me imagine a
black bank and a few rushes to be a living animal. We now left the bed
of the ravine, and advanced along the top. This turned out to be a good
move, for soon we heard the galloping of a herd of some animal or other
across our front. I rushed round a corner in the path a few yards
ahead, and crouching under the bushes saw a line of startled zebras
flying past. This was the first time I had seen these beautifully
marked animals in their wild state, so I selected the largest and
fired, and as I was quite close to them he dropped in his tracks
stone-dead. When I stood over the handsome creature I was positively
sorry for having killed him. Not so Moota, however, who rushed up in
ecstasy, and before I could stop him had cut his throat. This was done,
as he remarked, "to make the meat lawful," for Moota was a devout
follower of the Prophet, and no true Mohammedan will eat the flesh of
any animal unless the throat has been cut at the proper place and the
blood allowed to flow. This custom has often caused me great annoyance,
for Mohammedan followers rush in so quickly when an animal is shot and
cut the head off so short that it is afterwards quite useless as a
trophy.
By the time the zebra was skinned, darkness was fast approaching, so we
selected a suitable tree in which to pass the night. Under it we built
a goodly fire, made some tea, and roasted a couple of quails which I
had shot early in the day and which proved simply delicious. We then
betook ourselves to the branches--at least, Mahina and I did; Moota was
afraid of nothing, and said he would sleep on the ground. He was not so
full of courage later on, however, for about midnight a great rhino
passed our way, winded us and snorted so loudly that Moota scrambled in
abject terror up our tree. He was as nimble as a monkey for all his
stoutness, and never ceased climbing until he was far above us. We both
laughed heartily at his extraordinary haste to get out of danger, and
Mahina chaffed him unmercifully.
The rest of the night passed without incident, and in the early
morning, while the boys were preparing breakfast, I strolled off
towards the rocky hills which I had seen from Tsavo, and which were now
only about half a mile distant. I kept a sharp look-out for game, but
came across nothing save here and there a paa and a few guinea-fowl,
until, just as I was about half-way round the hill, I saw a fine
leopard lying on a rocky ledge basking in the morning sun. But he was
too quick for me, and made off before I could get a shot; I had not
approached noiselessly enough, and a leopard is too wary a beast to be
caught napping. Unfortunately I had no more time at my disposal in
which to explore these hills, as I was anxious to resume work at Tsavo
as soon as possible; so after breakfast we packed up the zebra skin and
began to retrace our steps through the jungle. It was an intensely hot
day, and we were all very glad when at length we reached the home camp.
Most of my little trips of this sort, however, were made in a northerly
direction, towards the ever-interesting Athi or Sabaki rivers. After a
long and tiring walk through the jungle what a pleasure it was to lie
up in the friendly shelter of the rushes which line the banks, and
watch the animals come down to drink, all unconscious of my presence. I
took several photographs of scenes of this kind, but unfortunately many
of the negatives were spoiled. Often, too, on a brilliant moonlight
night have I sat on a rock out in the middle of the stream, near a
favourite drinking place, waiting for a shot at whatever fortune might
send my way. How exasperating it was, when the wind changed at the
critical moment, and gave me away to the rhino or other animal I had
sat there for hours patiently awaiting! Occasionally I would get
heartily tired of my weary vigil and would wade ashore through the warm
water, to make my bed in the soft sand regardless of the snap, snap of
the crocodiles which could plainly be heard from the deeper pools up
and down the river. At the time, being new to the country, I did not
realise the risks I ran; but later on--after my poor Wa Kamba follower
had been seized and dragged under, as I have already described--I
learned to be much more cautious.
The shortest way of reaching the Athi river from Tsavo was to strike
through the jungle in a north-westerly direction, and here there was
luckily a particularly well-defined rhino path which I always made use
of. I discovered it quite by accident on one occasion when I had asked
some guests, who were staying with me at Tsavo, to spend a night on the
banks of the river. As we were making our way slowly and painfully
through the dense jungle, I came across this well-trodden path, which
appeared to lead in the direction in which I wished to go, and as I
felt convinced that at any rate it would bring us to the river
somewhere, I followed it with confidence. Our progress was now easy,
and the track led through fairly open glades where traces of bush-buck
and water-buck were numerous; indeed once or twice we caught glimpses
of these animals as they bounded away to the shelter of the thicket,
warned by the sound of our approach. In the end, as I anticipated, the
old rhino path proved a true guide, for it struck the Athi at an ideal
spot for a camping ground, where some lofty trees close to the bank of
the river gave a most grateful and refreshing shade. We had a
delightful picnic, and my guests greatly enjoyed their night in the
open, although one of them got rather a bad fright from a rhino which
suddenly snorted close to our camp, evidently very annoyed at our
intrusion on his domain.
In the morning they went off as soon as it was light to try their luck
along the river, while I remained in camp to see to breakfast. After an
hour or more, however, they all returned, empty-handed but very hungry;
so when they had settled down to rest after a hearty meal, I thought I
would sally forth and see if I could not meet with better success. I
had gone only a short distance up the right bank of the river, when I
thought I observed a movement among the bushes ahead of me. On the
alert, I stopped instantly, and the next moment was rewarded by seeing
a splendid bush-buck advance from the water in a most stately manner. I
could only make out his head and neck above the undergrowth, but as he
was only some fifty yards off, I raised my rifle to my shoulder to
fire. This movement at once caught his eye, and for the fraction of a
second he stopped to gaze at me, thus giving me time to aim at where I
supposed his shoulder to be. When I fired, he disappeared so suddenly
and so completely that I felt sure that I had missed him, and that he
had made off through the bush. I therefore re-loaded, and advanced
carefully with the intention of following up his trail; but to my
unbounded delight I came upon the buck stretched out dead in his
tracks, with my bullet through his heart. I lost no time in getting
back to camp, the antelope swinging by his feet from a branch borne by
two sturdy coolies: and my unlucky friends were very much astonished
when they saw the fine bag I had secured in so short a time. The animal
was soon skinned and furnished us with a delicious roast for lunch; and
in the cool of the evening we made our way back to Tsavo without
further adventure.
Some little time after this, while one of these same friends (Mr. C.
Rawson) happened to be again at Tsavo, we were sitting after dark under
the verandah of my hut. I wanted something from my tent, and sent
Meeanh, my Indian chaukidar, to fetch it. He was going off in the dark
to do so, when I called him back and told him to take a lantern for
fear of snakes. This he did, and as soon as he got to the door of the
tent, which was only a dozen yards off, he called out frantically,
"Are, Sahib, burra sanp hai!" ("Oh, Master, there is a big snake here!)
"Where?" I shouted.
"Here by the bed," he cried, "Bring the gun, quickly."
I seized the shot-gun, which I always kept handy, and rushed to the
tent, where, by the light of the lantern, I saw a great red snake,
about seven feet long, gazing at me from the side of my camp-bed. I
instantly fired at him, cutting him clean in half with the shot; the
tail part remained where it was, but the head half quickly wriggled off
and disappeared in the gloom of the tent. The trail of blood, however,
enabled us to track it, and we eventually found the snake, still full
of fight, under the edge of the ground-sheet. He made a last vicious
dart at one of the men who had run up, but was quickly given the happy
despatch by a blow on the head. Rawson now picked it up and brought it
to the light. He then put his foot on the back of its head and with a
stick forced open the jaws, when suddenly we saw two perfectly clear
jets of poison spurt out from the fangs. An Indian baboo (clerk), who
happened to be standing near, got the full benefit of this, and the
poor man was so panic-stricken that in a second he had torn off every
atom of his clothing. We were very much amused at this, as of course we
knew that although the poison was exceedingly venomous, it could do no
harm unless it penetrated a cut or open wound in the flesh. I never
found out the name of this snake, which, as I have said, was of a dark
brick-red colour all over; and I only saw one other of the same kind
all the time I was in East Africa. I came upon it suddenly one day when
out shooting. It was evidently much startled, and stood erect, hissing
venomously; but I also was so much taken aback at its appearance that I
did not think about shooting it until it had glided off and disappeared
in the thick undergrowth.