Whilst the two friends, Dr. Desrioux and the Count de Pommerelle,
were getting ready to set out for equatorial Africa, the European
caravan, whose course we have followed up to now, escorted by the
army of Munza, King of the Monbuttoos, was making its onward way
through unknown tribes, in districts marked on the map by these
words—unexplored regions. We resume the journal of the expedition,
edited by M. Périères.
"To think that we should ever have complained of the slow progress of
our caravan! We used to do our four or five leagues a day, and we
even managed to get over from five to six when the country was open;
now with Munza's army we scarcely move more than six or eight miles
(English) in the twenty-four hours. We are, it is true, in the midst
of innumerable water-courses, which, by their entwinings, form a net-work
similar to that met with by Livingstone in other parts of
Africa, and compared by him to the patterns formed by the frost on a
window-pane.
The rainy season, now on the point of coming to an end, appears
desirous of leaving behind it lingering memorials of its stay in the
provinces of the equator it converts plains into marshes and makes
every stream a river. For quite half our time we do not walk, we
dabble. If we were to meet with a regular river, like the Gadda, for
instance, a whole morning would be taken up in transporting the army
from one bank to the other. There is, nevertheless, no lack of
boatmen, numbers of them having joined us by Munza's order, and
placed at our disposal not only their canoes, but also enormous
trees, felled on the bank, and forming a raft or a floating bridge
according to circumstances.
When it comes to making our way through a forest, our delays are even
greater, an afternoon being frequently consumed in marching a league.
The men are obliged to hew a passage with their axes through the
dense thickets, destitute of even a track, for nature in a very few
days conceals those which may from time to time be made. And yet,
notwithstanding the difficulties which spring up without intermission
when crossing these almost virgin forests, and in spite of the humid
heat which is so oppressive underneath their leafy vaults, it is
impossible to resist the temptation, every now and then, to stop and
gaze around in admiration. The continuous showers have succeeded in
making their way at last through the overhanging foliage and the
interlacing creepers, and everywhere flowers of every sort are in
full bloom. Here the Ashantee pepper tree, with its coral berries,
completely encircles the trunks of the trees; there are garlands,
rich festoons, clusters of flowers of a brilliant scarlet, and bell-flowers
of bright orange, all sparkling in the darkness of the
undergrowth, and apparently specially destined to give light to these
profound solitudes wherein is an unending night.
As it is a matter of considerable difficulty to maintain a close
surveillance over Munza's army or to preserve strict discipline on
the march through this labyrinth, the men take advantage of the
position to stray away amongst the least bushy thickets and, ever
mindful of their appetites, to hunt everything, eatable and
uneatable. One band of twenty or thirty men will make an attack on
the chimpanzees, the usual denizens of these forests; another lays
siege with burning torches to a beehive, and swallows with equal
greed the wax and the honey, and the insects which produce them. Here
and there a solitary soldier will stumble across a regular town of
ant-hills, from ten to twelve feet high, and, making a raid on the
insects, crushes them in his hands, and eats them up.
In the villages our task is still more difficult, owing to the gross
immorality which prevails throughout the kingdom of Munza, but,
nevertheless, by dint of continually struggling against the powers of
nature and the passions of man, we contrive to traverse the tract
which separates us from the district governed by Degberra, and
encounter that chief on his way to meet us.
Though Munza has preserved an absolute silence as regards his
brother, Nassar, some time ago, drew for us a gloomy enough portrait
of this ruler. To begin with, Degberra is a parricide, neither more
nor less. His father lived too long for him, and became a bore; so he
had him assassinated. But this crime, intended as a stepping stone to
the Monbuttoo throne, was of advantage to Munza alone, who lost no
time is assuming the crown, and made his brother merely his
lieutenant or viceroy.
We are led to suppose that our host and friend is ignorant of the
murder, from the circumstance that, since he has been secure on the
throne, he does not appear to have thought of getting rid of his
brother. A parricide would scarcely falter on his amiable way, and
would not have recoiled, from excess of sensitiveness, before a
convenient act of fratricide, almost marked out for him. It is quite
possible, however, that Munza's conduct furnishes another instance of
his tact; if he did not put Degberra out of the way, he took very
good care to make him innocuous. Knowing that his brother was a slave
to his passions, he furnished his harem with the prettiest women in
the kingdom, and Degberra forgot politics in sensuality. He is now,
consequently, an effeminate, listless being, incapable of revolting
against his sovereign, who, also, is a source of constant terror to
him.
The meeting of the two brothers was utterly devoid of sentiment, and
took place in our presence. The conversation between them, translated
on the spot by Nassar, was of such importance to us, that I give it
almost word for word—
"Why are you dressed in this fashion?" said Munza to his lieutenant.
"You know that in my kingdom all my subjects, great and small, must
wear the same style of dress."
Munza, who had noticed that his brother's head was arrayed in a
species of silken turban, and that his feet were encased in Oriental
slippers, was, in a roundabout way, leading the conversation into the
channel interesting to himself.
Degberra, timid to excess in presence of the King, although amongst
his own subjects he is a terrible despot, made some incoherent
explanations, and wound up by saying that he had received the
articles, as presents, from Aboo-Sammit.
"That is a lie," said Munza, roughly. "You got them from a white man
who passed through your district some time ago, and of whom you nave
never spoken to me. Now you will have to tell me all about him."
Taken thus, at a disadvantage, the Viceroy was at a loss what to say.
He turned towards his officers, and was about to question them, but
Munza gave a _sotto-voce_ order to his own subordinates, and in a
moment those in the service of Degberra were separated from their
master, and isolated from each other.
We did not at first realise the full meaning of this manoeuvre, but
we very speedily came to the conclusion that it was both excellent
and ingenious. In fact, if Degberra were to take it into his head to
lie, all his myrmidons would repeat the same falsehood, and Munza
would not be able to get at the truth. To learn that, he was first of
all going to make the accused speak, and then he would examine the
witnesses in turn. A _juge d'instruction,_ or a judge of assize in
France, would have adopted a similar course.
"Answer," said the King of the Monbuttoos to his brother, when the
latter stood alone before him. "A stranger has resided in your
dominions without my knowledge. Tell me everything you know about
him. On that condition alone will I pardon you."
"Ask, and I will answer," replied Degberra.
"First of all, when was this white man with you?"
We had to pause for a reply. The most intelligent negroes have great
difficulty in accounting for time. The new moon is the general basis
of their calculations, which consequently are rather indefinite, and
often inaccurate. However, after considerable effort, Degberra
managed to fix, very clearly, as far as we were concerned, the date
when M. de Guéran passed through his district. This date agreed with
the indications given by Nassar, as well as with the heading of the
letter entrusted to him.
This first point settled, Munza proceeded to further details—
"Describe the white man to me," said he.
This question caused a general stir amongst us. We had, it may be
remembered, described M. de Guéran as a father, and not as a husband.
If he were described as young, Munza might begin by suspecting, and
end by finding out the truth. But when a man's age is under
consideration, the ideas of equatorial tribes differ from ours;
amongst them a man is old at fifty, and, as the Baron de Guéran
attained his fortieth year in 1872, Degberra would not dream of
exhibiting him as a young man.
The portrait drawn by him was similar to that limned by Madame de
Guéran for our benefit, and the emotion of our fair companion was
almost painful to witness. Her tear-dimmed eyes, her pallor, and the
whole expression of her face told their tale eloquently. Munza
watched her narrowly, and, if he still had any lingering doubt about
the truth of our tale, he was evidently now convinced that she was in
search of some one beloved, whose traces she had at length found.
The examination became, in consequence, closer and more searching.
"Whence came the stranger?" asked the King. "Had he crossed any
portion of the kingdom before he arrived in your district?"
"No," replied Degberra, struggling with his faulty memory. "He never
set foot in the western portion of your empire. He came from the
north and, to reach the south, he passed through the Momvoo country,
and over the mountains to the east of your possessions."
These words confirmed Nassar's statements; more than that, even his
suppositions were, so to speak, certified to.
"And why," asked the King, with some severity, "did you not apprise
me of the arrival of the white man?"
Degberra again hesitated, but warned by his brother's look that he
had better obey, he answered—
"He begged me not to tell you. He feared you, and knew that you had
prevented another traveller from going southwards."
"Why do you not say at once," exclaimed Munza, "that you were paid by
him for your silence and your treason? You exact tribute from all
foreigners, and, to avoid sharing it with me, you conceal from me the
fact of their having been with you. But I have already told you that
I will pardon you on condition that you speak the truth. How long did
your guest stay with you?"
"I do not remember," said Degberra. "From one moon to another, I
think."
"Was his caravan a numerous one?"
"No; during his stay amongst the Zandeys, the small-pox committed
great ravages amongst his soldiers and bearers."
"Did he appear to be in good health?"
"Yes, as long as he was with us; but he had suffered from fever in
the marshes amongst other tribes."
All these questions took a long time to ask, and still longer to
answer.
"You treated him well, at all events?" resumed Munza.
"I received him in my palace, and he was a constant source of
amusement to my harem, for he made music all day long with an
instrument he had with him which played of its own accord."
This was a very precious piece of information. Madame de Guéran was
aware that her husband, just as he was about to leave for Africa, had
bought a large musical box at a shop in Paris, and this evidently was
the instrument alluded to by Degberra. The Baron, profiting by the
experience gained in former travels, was bent, by means of music,
upon getting into the good graces of the Africans.
At length, Munza thought the moment had arrived to put the crowning
question for him and for us, the one which was to decide our future.
"In what direction," he said suddenly to his brother, "did the white
man go when he left you? Which way did he take?"
In excitement and anxiety we awaited Degberra's reply.