THE CARAVAN.
The whole of the coast there is broken by innumerable river
estuaries, the banks of which are covered by bright green reeds, and
broad-leaved weeds and canes of mighty growth. Thus our progress was
slow, as we had frequently to embark in canoes on those frowsy
waters, whose miasma is so pestilential by night, and which are ever
rendered dangerous by the alligators and hippopotami that lurk in the
oozy holes along their banks.
At a place where we were about to cross, the black scouts, who formed
a species of advanced guard, returned in haste and excitement to
state that one of the last-named animals (one of great size, too) was
asleep on the bank.
On hearing this the caravan halted, and Amoo, being a brave and hardy
warrior, and moreover the brother of a king, claimed the privilege of
assailing it. Armed with a spear made specially for the purpose, he
advanced to the enterprise, accompanied only by one companion and by
me, to whom he relinquished for a time his gaily painted bow and
quiver of poisoned arrows.
I had heard so much of those fierce and unwieldy monsters, that I
followed him with considerable interest and curiosity as we
shouldered and pushed a passage through a dense and leafy jungle of
gigantic weeds, prickly yams, serrated grass, and reeds of enormous
height, which flourished amid the deep quagmire that bordered the
broad bosom of this majestic but nameless river, whose waters are now
rolling, as they have rolled for ages, into the Gulf of Guinea.
On forcing our way through a wall of reeds, we suddenly came upon the
hippopotamus, which was lying on his left side, asleep in the
sunshine, and stretched at full length upon a piece of greensward,
where, probably, he had been grazing overnight.
The aspect of this mis-shapen monster, which was about fourteen feet
long--his singular form, a great round body with short elephantine
legs, a broad, square head and stunted tail--was as repulsive as the
size of his great cavernous mouth with its terrible incisors was
appalling.
He slept soundly, however, so Amoo, gliding stealthily as a serpent,
approached until within seven feet of where he lay, snoring heavily,
and basking in the hot and breathless sunshine.
With a dexterity which my poor old friend Hans Peterkin would have
appreciated highly, Amoo, with a line, attached to his spear a light
wooden float which serves to show where the animal lurks when he
takes the water after being struck; then, while the attending warrior
stood near to hand a second lance, Amoo raised his sinewy form on
tiptoe, poised his barbed weapon, and hurled it, whizzing, with
singular force and dexterity, full at the sleeping animal.
Deep through the thick, dark hide sunk the pointed spear, until its
iron head was completely buried. At the moment it left his hand,
Amoo, an agile and practised huntsman, sprang backward several paces;
but not so his unfortunate companion, on whom the awakened monster
leaped with the weight of an elephant united to the fury of a
panther, and in an instant crushed him to death in his enormous jaws,
doubling up the body and grinding ribs and legs together till they
were churned into a mass of blood.
Then plunging into the river, he disappeared, leaving the water
covered with froth and bloody ripples, that ran in circles to either
shore; but still the little buoy attached to the spear or harpoon
floated and bobbed up and down to indicate where he lay writhing
among the weeds and beds of bright blue coral far down below--for the
coral is blue there.
Amoo's shrill cries brought several negroes to his assistance; and
these, enraged by the sudden death of their friend, began to haul
sturdily on the line, which was a good English rope, obtained from
some passing ship by theft or barter; this irritated the wounded
animal, so he came surging, bleeding, and frothing to the surface
again, when a dozen spears, whizzing through the air, were launched
by unerring hands, and he was soon slain, and amid exulting yells,
whooping, and beating of tum-tums, was hauled close in shore among
the reeds, and there, as he was too bulky to be pulled entirely out
of the water, was cut up in large pieces and placed in baskets on the
backs of the camels, dromedaries, and slaves.
Amoo declared this prey was too full-grown, and consequently too fat
for eating; but added, that his "skin would make excellent whips."
This was the _fifth_ he had slain--thus he equalled Commodus who slew
five in the amphitheatre.
The country through which we travelled was low, flat, and thickly
wooded; thus we seldom saw the sea; yet, when glimpses of its bright
blue waters, stretching to the horizon far away, came before us at
times through the groves of orange, lime, and palm trees, or through
valleys where the white tufts of the cotton buds flecked the
greenness of the luxuriant scenery, how anxiously, how affectionately
I gazed upon it, for it was the high road to my home--the way to
freedom and dear old England!
After travelling many days, until I was almost sinking with fatigue,
by the intense heat of the atmosphere and the number of things I was
compelled (as a slave) to carry, we came at last in sight of the
great city of Benin, which stretches far along the right bank of the
river Formosa.
I hailed it with emotions of undisguised joy, for Amoo had been daily
recurring to the liberty and honours that were in store for me there.