It is not necessary to describe in detail the passage up the Kasai, from
the place where the leopard had been wounded to Date Palm Island, which
was where M’Wané decided to disembark. During that voyage, which
occupied two and a half days, they passed a mangrove swamp upon the
southern bank, which the Fan chief pointed out as the place where the
Hidden River joined the Kasai.
No one would have guessed it. The short, stunted trees were packed so
close together that their branches formed a kind of solid roof which
appeared to extend for miles. Underneath, there was darkness as of
night. There was nothing to suggest that another river here joined the
larger stream. The Kasai did not narrow above the swamp, nor was there
any change in the colour of the water or the strength of the current.
Date Palm Island lay a day’s journey by canoe above the mangrove swamp.
The name of Date Palm Island was given by Edward Harden the moment he
set eyes upon the little rocky islet in mid-stream, upon which stood a
solitary tree. It was the custom of this explorer to name the natural
features he discovered; and it was he who was also responsible for the
names of other places of which, in course of time, we shall have
occasion to tell, such as Solitude Peak and Hippo Pool.
In addition to the Loango boys who composed the crews, the party now
included M’Wané, the Fan chief, and four of his most trusted warriors.
It was on the occasion of this journey on the Upper Kasai that Edward
Harden made one of the mistakes of his life. M’Wané travelled in the
first canoe with themselves, and his four warriors in the other canoe
which followed. Both Harden and Crouch had a natural wish to keep the
object of their journey a secret. Neither knew that one of the boys in
the second canoe could both speak and understand the Fan dialect, and it
was he who told his companions that the Hidden River was their
destination. Still, no one suspected that the secret was out, until
they had unloaded all their supplies and ammunition at Date Palm Island,
where they decided to form their base.
In this district, the general course of the Kasai lies due south-west.
From the mangrove swamp on the southern bank, the valley of the Hidden
River lies, more or less, in a direct line from north to south. M’Wané
had known the Hidden River in the old days, before the Fire-gods came
into the country. He said that there was a good portage across country
from Date Palm Island to Hippo Pool, which was the nearest accessible
point on the Hidden River above the rapids that flowed through the Long
Ravine.
They decided to leave one canoe on the island, in charge of four of the
Loango boys. The remaining natives could be employed in carrying the
lighter of the two canoes, and a sufficiency of stores and ammunition
across country to the Hidden River. The indignation of Crouch may be
imagined when the boys struck in a body and refused to undertake the
portage.
Edward used his greatest powers of persuasion; Crouch threatened and
abused. They answered that word of the Fire-gods had been carried even
as far as the Coast, that they had never bargained to sell their lives
to the Englishmen. None the less, they expressed their willingness to
remain upon the island until the party returned.
Crouch turned to M’Wané.
"And do you, too, go back?" he asked.
The chief shook his head, and smiled.
"My men and I will stand by the White Wizard," he answered. "A Fan
holds to his word."
Crouch slapped the chief upon the back, and then went on to explain to
the boys that if they helped with the portage, they would not be asked
to embark on the Hidden River, but could return to Date Palm Island.
After some discussion, they agreed to this; and as much time had already
been wasted, Harden and Crouch decided not to start until daybreak the
following day.
According to Edward Harden’s diary, the portage lasted two weeks and
three days. They were obliged to force their way through virgin forest.
It was frequently necessary to cut down with axes and billhooks the
tangled undergrowth and creepers that wove themselves amid the trunks of
the trees, in order to make room for the canoe to pass. Some days they
did not cover more than a mile, though they were working from dawn to
sunset. But towards the end of the journey the passage became easier,
by reason of the fact that they found a watercourse, which they
followed, until they finally came forth into the sunlight at Hippo Pool.
When they first looked upon it, it was as if, indeed, there were an air
of mystery in the valley of the Hidden River. The silence that reigned
upon its surface was intense. The atmosphere seemed several degrees
hotter even than the forest. The name Hippo Pool was given because,
immediately on their arrival, Edward Harden, who was leading, shot a
hippopotamus which he found asleep upon the bank. They were glad enough
of the meat for the natives, who would require provisions on their
journey back to the Kasai.
The next morning the Loango boys left in a body. They were glad enough
to be off. And soon afterwards the canoe shot out from the bank.
Their progress was painfully slow. M’Wané and his four followers worked
continually with the paddles, assisted in turn by Harden and his nephew.
As for Crouch, he was always the look-out man. His only eye was quick
and keen as that of a falcon.
Hour by hour they toiled into the Unknown, until the sweat poured from
their faces and their hands were blistered in the sun; and the blisters
would not heal, because of the insects that followed in a crowd. The
jungle grew more magnificent and wild as the river narrowed. The
character of the trees changed, and of the undergrowth--all became more
luxuriant, more profuse, until they found themselves in a land where
Nature was something fantastic and superb.
It was on the third day after they had set out from Hippo Pool that they
turned an angle of the river, and came on a sudden into a cup-shaped
valley where there was but little vegetation. A circle of granite hills
stood all around them, and in the centre on either side of the river was
a plain of sand. Crouch turned in the bows and pointed to something
ahead, and at that moment the sharp crack of a rifle echoed in the
stillness, and a bullet sped into the water a few inches from the bows
of the canoe.