destination; and the disappointment of the travellers, arising from the
fact that no more unicorns had been seen, was to a very great extent
swallowed up in curiosity as to what lay before them. Shortly after
effecting their morning's start the fertile region over which they had
hitherto been travelling came abruptly to an end, and they found
themselves passing over an arid sandy desert, utterly destitute of even
the feeblest suggestion of vegetation, without a trace of water or even
of moisture, and of course with no sign of a living creature anywhere
upon it. So uninteresting a region offered no temptation for loitering
or dalliance, and the speed of the ship was accordingly increased to
about sixty miles an hour over the ground, the pace being maintained
until two o'clock in the afternoon, when a low range of rocky
precipitous hills was reached, beyond which fertility and life once more
resumed their sway. The travellers computed the stretch of desert over
which they had passed as being fully three hundred miles in extent, and
they could therefore fully understand the difficulty--not to say
impossibility--of approaching Ophir, at all events from a north-westerly
direction. Speed was now once more reduced, the ship gently gliding
through the hot afternoon air at the rate of about eighteen knots, over
a somewhat rugged, well-wooded country, watered by numerous streams,
with native villages dotted here and there along the banks, in the midst
of well-cultivated maize and tobacco fields, with an occasional patch of
sugar-cane. Large herds of cattle were also frequently passed, and it
soon became evident that to the natives in charge of these, and indeed
to the inhabitants generally, the apparition of the aerial ship was
productive of a vast amount of curiosity, excitement, and wonder. These
natives appeared to possess the same power or gift attributed to the
Montenegrins, namely, that of projecting the voice for incredible
distances through the air; and it was speedily apparent that the arrival
of the monster aerial visitant to the country was being orally
telegraphed forward in the direction of her course. Mounted men were
seen dashing madly along until they reached some eminence favourably
situated for the exercise of their powers, when, dismounting, the
messenger would raise his hands to his lips, and, in a peculiar high-
pitched tone of voice which seemed to have the power of penetrating the
air for an immense distance, send his message echoing forward over hill
and dale, to be instantly caught up and repeated by another. So smartly
was this novel system of telegraphy performed, that the message actually
outsped the ship, and the travellers found the inhabitants of every
village along their route awaiting _en masse_ their appearance, which
was instantly greeted with loud shouts of astonishment. At one village
or settlement, which, from its size, appeared to be of more than
ordinary importance, they found, in addition to the general inhabitants,
a squadron of about fifty mounted warriors awaiting them, fully armed
with bow, spear, and shield, and upon the appearance of the _Flying
Fish_ these troops most pluckily ranged themselves directly across her
course and prepared to treat her to a shower of arrows.
"Now is our time to create a wholesome impression of our invincibility
upon these fellows," remarked the baronet, and hurrying to the pilot-
house he caused the ship to sink well within range of the projected
salute.
In an instant every bow was drawn to its utmost tension, a second or two
sufficed the warriors to steady their aim, and then, with a simultaneous
_twang_ of bowstrings, the fifty arrows sped through the air, and,
rattling harmlessly against the ship's gleaming hull, glanced off and
fell to the earth again. The baronet smartly raised the fore end of the
tiller, and, obedient to her helm, the _Flying Fish_ made a sudden swoop
earthward in the direction of the audacious cavalry, who, already
disconcerted at the utter failure of their attack, at once wheeled short
about, and, with piercing yells of terror, took headlong flight,
jostling and overthrowing each other without the least compunction in
their frantic eagerness to escape.
"There," remarked the baronet, as, steadying the helm, the ship once
more soared to her former elevation, "I hope that will suffice to
convince them that we are not to be attacked with impunity. If not, we
shall be compelled to read them a sharper lesson."
After that no further attempt at molestation was ventured upon, the
inhabitants simply congregating in close proximity to the doors of their
huts to see the ship go past, watching her stately progress in silent,
awestruck wonder, and obviously holding themselves ready for an instant
dive beneath the fancied shelter of their thatched roofs in the event of
any hostile demonstration on the part of the Mysterious Visitant.
At about half-past five in the evening the hilly character of the
country gave place to that of a wide-stretching level plain, thickly
overgrown with long rank grass, with occasional isolated clumps of bush,
and here and there a tall feathery palm, or a grove of wild plantains or
bamboo. The faint grey glimmer of the sea appeared on the utmost verge
of the distant horizon, and certain huge shapeless irregularities in the
extreme distance gradually revealed themselves as the colossal remains
of what must at one time have been a city of extraordinary extent and
magnificence. The ship was brought to earth and secured exactly at six
o'clock, at a distance of some eight or nine miles from the sea, and the
travellers then found themselves surrounded on all sides by gigantic
ruined walls, arches, columns, erect and overturned, huge fragments of
pediments, shattered entablatures, ruined capitals, splintered
pedestals, and crumbling mutilated statues of men and animals, all of
colossal proportions, the buildings being of a massive but ornate and
imposing style of architecture, quite unknown to civilisation. The ship
had found a resting-place as nearly as possible in the centre of the
ruins, which extended all round her for a distance of nearly three
miles, the eastern half being all aglow with the golden radiance of the
sunset, whilst the western half loomed up black, imposing, and solemnly
mysterious against the clear orange of the evening sky.
"Well," said the professor, as the party slowly paced the deck, watching
in almost silent rapture the swiftly changing glories of the dying day,
the rapid but exquisite gradations of tint on the mouldering ruins which
accompanied the fading light, and the almost instantaneous appearance of
the stars in the darkening heavens--"well, I am equally surprised and
delighted at the result of our resolve to come hither. Here we find
ourselves in the very heart of savagedom surrounded by the vast remains
of a remote but civilised and evidently highly cultivated race; and
though at present we have nothing more than the merest surmise to help
us to their identification, I have little doubt that the result of our
explorations and investigations will be to satisfy us that we have in
very deed found in these ponderous ruins the remains of Ancient Ophir."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
A NATIVE CHIEFTAIN'S VISIT TO CLOUDLAND.
The travellers, safely shut up in that impregnable fortress, the hull of
the _Flying Fish_, passed the night in peaceful slumber, undisturbed, in
the confidence begotten of a sense of perfect security, by the weird
cries of the night birds, the incessant howling of the jackals, the
maniacal laugh of the prowling hyena, the occasional roar of the lion,
the loud _whirr_ of myriads of insects, the croaking of bull-frogs, and
the other multitudinous nocturnal sounds which floated in through the
open windows of their state-rooms. They were early astir in the
morning, eager to commence their investigations as are school-boys to
plunge into the enjoyments of a long-anticipated holiday. Moved by a
common impulse, they all went out on deck to witness the ruins under the
effect of sunrise previous to their plunge into the matutinal bath; and
it was whilst they were admiring the exquisite beauty of the scene that
the keen-eyed colonel became conscious of the fact that they were
beleaguered by a host of lurking savages.
"Umph!" he commented, "I expected as much."
"You expected as much as what? What is it, Lethbridge?" asked Sir
Reginald.
"Look there," was the reply; "and there, and there, and there. Do you
notice anything peculiar in the appearance of the undergrowth about us,
especially where it is thickest?"
"N-o, I can't say that I do--unless you refer to those occasional quick
gleams which come and go here and there. What are they? At first I
thought it was the flash of the sun on the dew-laden grass and leaves as
they wave in the wind, but it can hardly be that, or we should see more
of it."
"No," said the colonel, "it is not that; it is the occasional glint of
the sun on a native spear-head. I have been through the Kaffir war, and
have seen the same thing before, though not so distinctly as now, our
present towering height above the ground giving us an advantage in that
respect which we sadly lacked before. We are beset by the natives. You
cannot see _one_, I know, but they are all about us, all the same. Ah!
look there, just behind that magnolia bush. Do you see a small dark
object rising slowly into view? That is the head of a savage, and he
is--ah! now he has ducked again, having caught sight of us."
"And what do you suppose the fellows want?" asked the baronet. "They
cannot attack us, you know."
"No; but _they_ don't know it. Their object is to steal up as close as
possible to us in order, in the first place, to satisfy their curiosity,
and, in the second place, to make a sudden swoop if they see any fancied
chance of being successful."
"Well," said Sir Reginald. "I should like to see the savage who can
reach us so long as we stick to the _Flying Fish_. But we don't want to
stick to her, so we will leave them undisturbed to satisfy their
curiosity to its fullest extent until after breakfast, when we must
adopt measures either to conciliate them or to terrorise them into
leaving us alone. Come, gentlemen, we shall be late for breakfast.
What a superb mass of ruins it is!--beats the Acropolis; don't you think
so?"
If the thousand or more savages, who had spent nearly half the night in
accomplishing the engirdlement of the _Flying Fish_, could have heard
and understood the airy way in which the fact of their close proximity
was dismissed by the baronet as a matter of the most trivial importance,
they would have been intensely disgusted. Happily for their dignity
they were blissfully unconscious of it; and whilst Sir Reginald and his
companions were luxuriating in the bath, and afterwards dallying with a
light but dainty breakfast, the sable warriors continued to close
cautiously in upon the huge white gleaming object which had come into
their midst in so unexpected and extraordinary a manner. Slowly,
cautiously, with untiring patience, and practising every known art of
savage warfare, the band drew closer and closer, until they found
themselves within about a hundred feet of the hull, and almost
overshadowed by her enormous bulk, when considerations of personal
safety prevailed over the ardour of the warrior burning to distinguish
himself, and further advance was, as by unanimous consent, checked. The
huge monster, with its gleaming silvery skin and its curiously-shaped
tail, lay so ominously still and silent, with its enormous circular
black eyes so wide open and fixed, that, having heard of its threatening
demonstration against the cavalry who attacked it on the previous day,
they felt certain it meant mischief, and was only waiting for some
foolhardy wight to venture within its reach, to seize and devour him.
They had been despatched by a despotic king to capture or kill the
creature; but, whilst every man there would have emulated his neighbour
in rushing to certain death against the ranks of an enemy, there seemed
to be so little glory in furnishing a breakfast to this monster that
every individual there inwardly resolved that some other man than
himself should be the first to offer himself as a sacrifice. And,
equally afraid to advance or to retire, there they remained motionless,
and in a state of breathless suspense, waiting for events to develop
themselves. And there they were distinctly visible from the lofty
stand-point of the _Flying Fish's_ deck when the quartette, cigar in
mouth, emerged from the pilot-house after breakfast.
The situation was decidedly comical, and the travellers indulged in a
hearty laugh at the expense of the discomfited savages. But it was
obvious that matters could not be allowed to remain in that condition;
the natives must be impressed with the conviction that hostilities were
neither necessary nor desirable, and that it would be to their advantage
to be on terms of amity with the newcomers. How could this be achieved?
A parley offered the most ready solution of the difficulty; and the
professor--who was a perfect polyglot dictionary in human form--offered
to essay the task of conducting it. This was by no means his first
introduction to savages; he had encountered them in various parts of the
world before, and had never experienced any very serious difficulty in
communicating with them, so that he felt tolerably sanguine of success
on the present occasion.
"The matter is very simple, I think," remarked the German, as he led the
way to the larboard gangway. "We want these people to understand that
we are friendly disposed toward them; that they have nothing whatever to
fear from us; that we have not come here to rob them of one tittle of
their possessions; that we merely wish to explore and examine these
ancient ruins; and that, if they will receive us among them as friends,
they will be distinct and decided gainers by the transaction. Is not
that so?"
"Certainly," remarked the baronet. "Tell them--if you can--that all we
ask is permission to investigate and explore unmolested; and that if
they will accord us this privilege they shall be substantially
rewarded."
"Very good; I will do my best. And that reminds me that you had better
order George to bring on deck and open a small case of those beads and
nick-nacks that we provided for such occasions as the present," remarked
the professor.
The baronet returned to the pilot-house to give the order; and von
Schalckenberg drew out his white pocket-handkerchief, waved it two or
three times in the air, and then demanded, in the language he thought
most likely to be intelligible:
"What chief commands the warriors who have assembled to pay homage to
the four Spirits of the Winds?"
Most luckily for the professor's prestige and reputation as an all-wise
Spirit, the dialect he had adopted, though not the language actually
spoken by the tribe he addressed, was so far similar that his question
was understood; and whilst the astounded blacks started to their feet in
dismay at finding themselves at last actually face to face with and
addressed by an avowed Spirit, one of them hesitatingly and timorously
advanced a few paces, threw himself prostrate on the ground, and,
maintaining his posture of humility, stammered out:
"I, Lualamba, am the leader of these warriors, O most potent Spirit."
"Approach, brave Lualamba, and ascend to us by the ladder which we will
let down to you. We have that to say which must be heard by your ear
alone," commanded the professor, waving his hand majestically.
A rope-ladder was attached to the lower extremity of the side-ladder and
let down to the ground; and the chief, in a state of mind about equally
divided between the extremity of bodily fear on the one hand and pride
at being selected as the recipient of a special communication from the
Spirit Land on the other, hesitatingly and falteringly, and with many
doubtful pauses, advanced until he reached the foot of the ladder, when
his courage failed him, and he came to a dead halt.
"Ascend, and fear not," called out the professor encouragingly; "we are
the friends of your nation, and have forgiven the attack which some of
your people (not knowing us) made upon us yesterday. We have come
hither to shower gifts and benefits upon you--if you are obedient; but
if you reject our friendship, beware!"
Upon this the savage, no doubt feeling that, by placing himself at the
head of this most unlucky expedition, he had already gone too far to
permit of withdrawal, summoned up all his courage, and, with the air of
a man who knew himself to be treading on mined ground, scrambled up the
swaying ladder, and finally stepped in through the gangway on to the
spacious deck of the _Flying Fish_, upon which he prostrated himself on
his face, laying his shield and weapons--his most valued possessions--as
an offering at the feet of the professor.
The latter, touching him lightly on the shoulder, at once bade him rise;
and, as the chief gathered himself up and regained his feet, von
Schalckenberg threw round the quaking but gratified savage's neck a
string of large opaque, turquoise-blue glass beads, and over his naked
shoulders a length of gaudily-flowered chintz. A loud shout of
admiration from the crowd of natives below proclaimed the fact that they
had witnessed the bestowal of these gifts, whilst Lualamba,
notwithstanding the august presence in which he found himself, could not
restrain the broad grin of delight which spontaneously overspread his
features.
A few judicious questions, artfully put, soon elicited from the savage
the information that the travellers were now in the country belonging to
M'Bongwele, a fierce, cruel, and jealous despot, so suspicious of
foreigners that the most stringent orders were in force to allow none
such to cross his borders upon any pretence whatever. This king had
been duly apprised, through the medium of the curious voice-telegraphic
mode of communication already described, of the mysterious arrival in
his dominions on the day previous; and had been so greatly disconcerted
and enraged at the news that he had forthwith issued the most peremptory
orders for the capture or slaughter of the monstrous visitant; and he
was now, according to Lualamba, impatiently awaiting in his palace, a
few miles distant, the intelligence that his order had been executed.
The chief, during the conversation which elicited these facts, had so
far recovered his self-possession and equanimity as to be able to make
the best possible use of his eyes; and, being a very shrewd fellow, he
was not long in arriving at the conclusion that the gigantic monster on
whose back he stood was, after all, nothing more nor less than an
inanimate, though unquestionably wonderful, _vehicle_ of some sort; and
that the fair-skinned beings to whom he was talking, though they claimed
to be the four Spirits of the Winds, were very similar in many respects
to certain white men whom he had seen only a few moons ago. The wily
savage accordingly made up his mind that, if he could only induce these
beings to accompany him into the king's presence, he would, after all,
have most satisfactorily accomplished his mission; and he forthwith
proceeded, with all the craft and subtlety of which he was master, to
urge upon them the desirability of an immediate visit to king
M'Bongwele, who, averse as he was to the prying visits of strange _men_,
would, he assured them, be highly gratified at the honour of having as
his guests the four Spirits of the Winds.
This proposition, however, by no means accorded with the views of the
travellers; and von Schalckenberg somewhat sternly intimated that,
whilst an interview with M'Bongwele was undoubtedly desirable, it was
_he_ who must visit and pay homage to _them_, and not they to him. They
had entered the country with the most friendly disposition toward
M'Bongwele and his people, and that friendly disposition would be
manifested to the distinct advantage of the entire nation if the king
showed himself properly appreciative of the honour done him by this
visit. But if not, king and people would be very severely punished for
the insult offered to their potent visitors, "and," continued the
professor, "in order that Lualamba might see for himself that, in making
this threat, they were indulging in no mere empty boast, he would give
the chief and his followers a single specimen of their power."
Mildmay having, during the progress of this conversation, received a
hint from the professor how to act, had quietly, and as if not
particularly interested in what was going forward, sauntered off to the
pilot-house, where, stationing himself at the engine and other levers
controlling the movements of the ship, he awaited further instructions.
The professor, having promised to give the savages a specimen of their
visitors' power, now waved his right hand very slowly and impressively
skyward, as a signal to the watchful Mildmay, loudly exclaiming as he
did so:
"Lualamba will now accompany the four Spirits of the Winds to yonder
cloud," pointing, as he spoke, to a single small white fleecy cloud
which was floating at the moment across the sun's disc.
Dexterously manipulating the various valves, Mildmay caused the _Flying
Fish_ to rise with a gentle and almost imperceptible motion from the
earth. So gentle was the movement that Lualamba was utterly unconscious
of it, and it was not until some seconds had elapsed that he fully
realised what was happening. The savages below, however, no sooner
heard von Schalckenberg's exclamation than, to their inexpressible
horror, they beheld the huge structure, round which they were standing,
lift itself off the earth without the slightest visible effort and begin
to rise into the air. Many of them were so overpowered by astonishment
that they could only stand, open-mouthed and as motionless as statues,
staring at the extraordinary sight; others, however, remembering the
stringent orders of the king, and feeling that the prize which they had
believed to be so secure was not only escaping them but also carrying
off one of their number, rushed forward, and, whilst some fruitlessly
attempted to grasp and hold the smooth and polished hull, others seized
and clung tenaciously to the rope-ladder. The weight of some seven or
eight natives clinging to the dangling ladder had, of course, no visible
effect upon the movement of the great ship; and, finding themselves
being helplessly dragged skyward, they let go their hold with a yell of
dismay when they were some four or five yards from the earth, upon which
they dropped back heavily.