Produced by Chuck Greif, deaurider and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
[Illustration: ON THE LOOK-OUT.
_Page 48._]
IN SAVAGE AFRICA
BY
VERNEY LOVETT CAMERON, C.B., D.C.L.,
COMMANDER ROYAL NAVY.
[Illustration: SURF-BOAT CAPSIZED.
_Page 82._]
Thomas Nelson and Sons,
_LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND NEW YORK_.
IN SAVAGE AFRICA
OR,
The Adventure of Frank Baldwin
From the Gold Coast
To Zanzibar.
BY
VERNEY LOVETT CAMERON, C.B., D.C.L.,
COMMANDER ROYAL NAVY;
AUTHOR OF “JACK HOOPER,” “ACROSS AFRICA,”
“OUR FUTURE HIGHWAY,”
ETC. ETC.
WITH THIRTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS.
London:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.
1887.
Contents.
I. LEAVING SCHOOL, 9
II. OFF TO SEA, 24
III. UNPLEASANT NEWS, 38
IV. ROBBERY AND DESERTION, 53
V. A RUN ASHORE, 64
VI. TAKEN PRISONER, 80
VII. AN INTERESTING CONVERSATION, 92
VIII. ESCAPE FROM THE SLAVE-SHIP, 99
IX. AMONG THE NATIVES, 107
X. FETICHMEN, 120
XI. AN EXCITING JOURNEY, 130
XII. IN THE INTERIOR, 144
XIII. CAPTURED BY CANNIBALS, 162
XIV. WORSE THAN DEATH, 175
XV. ESCAPE AND RECAPTURE, 200
XVI. FRIENDLY ARABS, 217
XVII. A NATIVE COUNCIL, 234
XVIII. PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE, 245
XIX. A FIERCE FIGHT, 257
XX. AT NYANGWE, 268
XXI. DEPARTURE FOR THE COAST, 287
XXII. SPEARING HIPPOPOTAMI, 298
XXIII. TROUBLES WITH THE NATIVES, 311
XXIV. ACROSS TANGANYIKA, 321
XXV. DIFFICULTIES AND DANGERS, 331
XXVI. A HAPPY ENDING, 353
List of Illustrations.
ON THE LOOK-OUT, _Frontispiece_
SURF-BOAT CAPSIZED, _Vignette_
FRANK’S INTERVIEW WITH MR. POYNTER, 13
ISLAND OF TENERIFFE, 39
ON THE COAST OF LIBERIA, 45
A YOUNG DAHOMAN, 77
HARARU’S VILLAGE, 109
THROUGH THE JUNGLE, 117
SURPRISED BY A PYTHON, 123
AFRICAN SORCERER, 127
ON THE OGOWAI RIVER, 133
SLAVES ON THE BANK OF THE OGOWAI, 139
AFRICAN CHIEF AND HIS COURT, 145
KAREMA, 151
FUMO ATTACKED BY A LEOPARD, 167
PANIC OF THE BALABA, 175
ASCENDING THE RAPIDS, 189
SURMOUNTING THE FALLS OF THE OGOWAI, 195
A SOKO HUNT, 219
CROSSING THE RIVER, 227
WARRIORS OF MONA MKULLA, 237
HATIBU AND BILAL, 269
BANKS OF THE LUABBA, 275
GOING TO MARKET, 279
NYANGWE MARKET, 283
WIVES OF HATIBU AND BILAL, 291
LAGOON NEAR LUAMA, 299
ENCOUNTER WITH A CROCODILE, 303
VILLAGE IN UKARANGA, 335
A BUFFALO CHARGE, 347
A FATAL ENCOUNTER, 351
WAGOGO WAR-DANCE, 355
IN SAVAGE AFRICA.
CHAPTER I.
LEAVING SCHOOL.
In the year of our Lord 18--, I was delighted one morning by receiving a
letter from my father, who was captain and owner of the brig _Petrel_,
telling me that he had arrived safely at Bristol with a valuable cargo,
and that both he and my brother Willie, who was second mate of the
_Petrel_, were well. The letter went on to say that my father had
decided on taking me to sea with him, and had written to my
schoolmaster, the Rev. Stephen Poynter of Clifton, to announce his
intention. The letter also said that in two days’ time Willie would come
to take me away from school, and that I was to have everything ready for
starting when he came. According to the custom of the school, I had
received my letter in the ten minutes which were given to us for a run
in the playground before commencing our work after breakfast, and, as
may be imagined, I lost no time in announcing its contents to my
school-fellows, considering myself a very fine and important fellow to
have finished my school days. The bell stopped short a description of
the _Petrel_ in which I was indulging, and we all had to hurry in and
take our places at prayers, and when they were finished, to commence our
ordinary tasks. I took my place at my desk, and opened my books. I must
own, however, I did not think much of what they contained, and, under
their cover, I tried to read over again my father’s letter which had
announced the coming change in my life. I could not help thinking that
it was very wrong for the head-master to keep such an important
personage, as I had now in my own estimation become, sitting on a hard
bench at a black desk to con over rules of arithmetic, and I kept
looking at the door of the class-room to see if old Abe the porter would
not come to summon me to the head-master’s presence.
Indeed, my inattention became so marked that twice the usher of the room
said, “Baldwin, if you don’t go on with your work I shall have to punish
you.” He was just on the point of leaving his seat to come over to me,
when at last the door opened, and old Abe appeared, calling out, “Master
Baldwin, wanted in the head-master’s study.” Usually, such a summons was
the reverse of pleasant, for it meant, as a rule, that the boy who was
called out had to answer for some mischief, and he was loath to answer
the call. I, however, having a free conscience, jumped up at once; and
the usher, who did not know of my approaching departure, said, “There,
Baldwin, you’re wanted by the head-master. I suppose you have been up to
some mischief, and that anticipation of your punishment has caused you
to be inattentive.”
I smiled to those of my comrades to whom I had shown my letter, and went
past the usher with a sort of swaggering show of independence; and he
very rightly made me return to my seat and leave the room properly. As
soon as I left, old Abe led the way to the double doors which separated
Mr. Poynter’s private residence from the schoolrooms, and of which only
he and the masters had the keys, and opened them, saying with a grin as
he did so,--
“He hasn’t chosen the cane yet; what is it you have been up to?”
“Nothing, Abe. I’m going to leave.”
“Going to leave are you, and the holidays a month off yet! What is it
for?”
I somewhat resented old Abe’s familiarity, with whom the boys were on
the best of terms, and said in as dignified manner as I could, “I’m
going to sea.”
“Going to sea, is it? Well, you’ll wish yourself back here before long.
Going to sea! Salt beef and weevilly biscuit won’t suit as well as what
you get to eat here.”
“I shan’t have salt beef and weevilly biscuit; I’m going in my father’s
ship the _Petrel_.”
“Well, I never heard of a ship yet where there wasn’t salt beef. But
now the master mustn’t be kept waiting; just you hurry on to his study.”
I went along a passage on which the doors opened, and crossing the hall,
knocked at Mr. Poynter’s study door. As soon as I had knocked I heard
Mr. Poynter say, “Come in;” and, opening the door, I found him sitting
in his arm-chair, with my father’s letter in his hand. He motioned to me
to sit down in a chair opposite to him, and said,--
“Frank, my boy, you know why I have sent for you, as your father tells
me he has written to you that you are to leave us in a couple of days.
Now, this will be a great change in your life; and although I think that
most boys should stop at school till they are at least eighteen, you are
now old enough to commence the life of a sailor. You are sixteen, are
you not?”
“Yes, sir; I was sixteen two months ago.”
“I have little to say about the temptations to which you will be
exposed, for as you will be under your father’s own eye, you will be
shielded from many which usually assail the young; but remember always
that, even if you are tempted to do what is wrong by the thought that
your earthly father will know nothing about it, your heavenly Father’s
eye is all-seeing, and that no thought or deed can escape him. For the
five years you have been here you have given me satisfaction; but still,
I have seen symptoms of self-will, and an inclination not always to obey
with readiness. Remember that in a sailor instant and prompt obedience
[Illustration: FRANK’S INTERVIEW WITH MR. POYNTER.
_Page 12._]
is absolutely necessary, as you will soon learn; and he who cannot obey
will never be fit to command. As to your studies, your father will
doubtless look after your navigation; and I will write to him and tell
him what other subjects will, in my opinion, best repay your continued
attention. Now I do not suppose you can pay much attention to your work,
so you may tell Mr. Stone that as you are going to leave us so soon, I
have excused you from further attendance in the school-room, and you may
gather all your things together, in readiness for packing up.”
“Thank you, sir,” I said; and then, nerved to boldness by the kindness
of Mr. Poynter’s manner, I begged that he would grant my comrades a
holiday.
“That’s a big request, Baldwin. You must remember that they are not all
going to sea, and have to fit themselves by study for their future
callings; besides, in three weeks the examination takes place, and they
want every moment to prepare themselves, so that they may do credit to
the school before the examiners.”
“Yes, sir; but if I leave in two days I shall not be able to play in the
cricket-match between the first eleven and the next fifteen, while if
you gave us a holiday to-morrow we could play then.”
“That is, no doubt, a most important matter in your mind, but it is not
so important to me. However, I will think about it. Now I have lots to
do, so you must run away.”
I left the study rather slowly, and was almost about to urge my request
again, when Mr. Poynter said, “Remember obedience;” and I at once saw
that the ultimate granting of the holiday would depend on my being
promptly obedient, and left without saying another word.
Old Abe was by the double doors to let me back into the school, and I
said,--
“All right, old Abe; there are no more lessons for me.”
He looked at me and smiled, and answered,--
“No more lessons! why, my poor lad, you will find that all this life is
one long lesson. You will have many a one to learn which will not be so
easy as the tasks which they set you here. Now Mr. Stone won’t want you
in the schoolroom, I’ll warrant; so if you go and tell him what the head
has said, and then come back to me, I’ll just help you to get your box
up, ready to pack your clothes and things in.”
I thought this was very good of old Abe, and did not think that all the
boxes had to be got from the cellar, where they were kept by old Abe and
his assistants. I went into the classroom, where I went up to Mr. Stone
and said,--
“Please, sir, the head-master has told me I need do no more lessons, but
that I may begin to get my things together, ready for going away.”
“Going away, are you! that is why you were so inattentive this morning,
I suppose.”
“Yes, sir. My brother Willie is coming for me the day after to-morrow,
and I am to go to sea with him and my father in the _Petrel_.”
“Very well, my lad; but you must not make a noise here, for there are
boys who are not going to sea. So get away, and you can tell all about
it when we come out of school at half-past twelve. Now don’t speak to
any one, but go at once.”
I remembered “obedience,” and did as I was told. Leaving the room, I
found old Abe waiting for me with the key of the cellar, and followed
him down, and soon found my box, which with him I carried up into the
dormitory which I shared with nine of my school-fellows. Here I found
the matron and one of the maids busy getting my clothes ready for
packing up.
When the matron, Mrs. Stevens, saw Abe and me carrying in my box, she
said,--
“Now, Abe, don’t you know how particular Mr. Poynter is that none of the
young gentlemen should carry their boxes about?”
“Why, ma’am,” he answered, “Master Baldwin’s going to sea, and he’ll
have more hard work to do than help an old man to carry an empty box.”
“That will do, Abe. Mind, if I find you disobeying orders again, I shall
tell Mr. Poynter.--Now, Master Baldwin, I do not think you can be any
use here. I will leave out your best suit for you to go away in, and
will have a place for your books. You had better go to the room and get
all your belongings together in the way of bats and balls, and pack
them in your play-box.”
Old Abe and I left the room at once, and he said to me,--
“Now that’s done. She can’t abear an old man getting a bit of help. But,
Master Baldwin, there are your rabbits and pigeons. Now, there’s not a
boy among them all who takes care of their pets like you do. I wonder
what will become of them!”
I certainly was flattered by what old Abe said, for I believed my white
Himalayan rabbits, with their black noses and ears, and my pair of
tumbler pigeons, to be the best of all the pets which were kept by the
boys in the school playground; and I also prided myself that the
rabbit-hutch and dove-cot, which I had made with my own hands, were
superior to the various receptacles of the pets of my schoolfellows. I
therefore fell into the trap which he had set for me.
“Why, Abe, I don’t know. There’s Jones Major, he has some pigeons, and
looks well after them; and Brown too, he has lost his two carriers; and
Smith, he has been wanting to buy my rabbits this long time.”
“Surely, sir, a gentleman like you, a-leaving school and going to sea,
and all, can’t be thinking of selling his rabbits. Sailors are fine
generous fellows, and they always give away things. I mind one I saw not
a fortnight agone as gave an old man a ten-shilling bit. But don’t you
be after giving them lovely rabbits to that young Smith; he don’t know
how to feed or look after them, and they’ll be dead in a week with him.
And as for Master Brown, it’s my opinion he kept his carriers so dirty
and half-starved, that when he let them out they made up their minds not
to come back again. Now, sir, I could keep them nicely. I do love a good
pigeon and a handsome rabbit; and I can warrant you that they’d be well
taken care of.”
I had certainly had an idea of selling both pigeons and rabbits to pay
some small schoolboy debts; but I felt my character as a generous sailor
was at stake, and not to be outdone by the anonymous sailor who gave an
old man a ten-shilling bit, I gave rabbits and pigeons to old Abe. He
then asked me to come and look at my boots and shoes, and would soon
have begged all from me if Mrs. Stevens had not arrived upon the scene
and sent him about his work, grumbling sadly at being sent away from a
young gentleman whom he always said “was the nicest lad he had ever set
his eyes on.”
Mrs. Stevens told me I must learn not to be taken in; and when I said I
had given my rabbits and pigeons to old Abe because he would look after
them, she said, “Why, you must be foolish. Master Baldwin. He will sell
them before you have left the place.”
By this time school-hours were over, and I was soon surrounded by all my
class-fellows asking me for a description of the _Petrel_, and where she
had been, and where she was going. As whenever my father had been at
home I had passed my holidays with him, I was fully able to say what
the good brig _Petrel_ was like. I believe that I was so proud of her
that if all I said had been true she would have been as big as Nelson’s
flagship the _Victory_, and that in her my father and brother had gone
through as many adventures as Anson in the _Centurion_, or Drake and the
brave hearts who, first of Englishmen, sailed round the world in the
famous _Pelican_.
But these stories were all repetitions, for I had been wont to tell
marvellous stories of the _Petrel_, her captain and crew, whenever I
returned to school after having spent my holidays with my father. Far
more interest was excited by the announcement that I had been bold
enough to ask for a holiday for the next day, and that the governor, as
we called Mr. Poynter, had shown some inclination to grant it.
As soon as the excitement had somewhat abated, Smith, Brown, and Jones
Major, and other rabbit and pigeon fanciers, came about me to find out
if there was any chance of their becoming the fortunate possessors of my
Himalayan rabbits and tumbler pigeons; and great was their
disappointment at finding that I had given them to old Abe, who, it was
at once said, would sell them to the highest bidder.
I had to promise to bring home an army of monkeys and a whole brigade of
parrots before I could appease the reproaches of those who, like me,
were fond of pets; and then I had to give to my special chums such
little schoolboy treasures as they might value for keepsakes. In return
many willing hands helped me to carry my books up to the dormitory to be
packed up, and the bell rang for dinner whilst we were engaged about
what we called helping (but which Mrs. Stevens called hindering) to pack
my box.
After dinner I saw Mr. Poynter again, and from him obtained the promise
of a holiday for the next day, the announcement of which was hailed with
delight by the whole school; and great were the preparations for the
cricket-match which was to take place.
I did not find as much pleasure as I had anticipated in being excused
from school. It was very lonely work being about in the playground and
fives-courts while they were untenanted, and, even with the prospect of
having a stiff piece of construing to do, I would gladly have joined my
class in their work. I was delighted when evening came, and with it the
companionship of my fellows, to whom I might anew dilate on the _Petrel_
and her crew. Indeed, long after we had gone to bed, my dormitory was
the scene of acted feats of boarding pirates and other such-like deeds,
until the noise made by one party, who with their bolsters represented
the British sailors driving the pirates from their last retreat, brought
Mr. Poynter on the scene. Then pirates and sailors, friends and foes,
scuttled into bed and pretended to be most virtuously asleep; but a
threat from the head-master, that if he heard any more noise the
promised holiday should be withheld, caused our riotous antics to be
discontinued for the night, and our feigned slumbers soon became real
ones.
Next morning dawned bright and sunny, and more pleasure was in store for
us than I had anticipated; for my brother Willie arrived before the day
commenced, and my father had told him to come to Clifton and see that I
cleared out from school with all due _éclat_. When Willie found that Mr.
Poynter had given us a holiday, he begged and obtained leave to add some
fruit, cakes, and tarts to our dinner, which we were allowed to have in
the cricket-field instead of returning to the schoolhouse for it, as was
usually the custom.
I was in the eleven, and their most trusted bowler, and to-day it seemed
as if I was bound to surpass myself, for wicket after wicket of the
fifteen fell before my attack; and when our innings came. I, though I
went in sixth, carried my bat out for thirty-five runs. In the second
innings of the fifteen I was even more successful than in their first,
taking no less than ten wickets for thirty-eight runs. In the end the
eleven were victorious by an innings and seventeen runs.
My brother Willie, who had left the school about four years before, was
known to several of the older boys, and his stories of what he had
actually seen on the coast of Africa, where my father traded, quite
eclipsed in interest all that I had told the day before. His sailor
dress, bronzed face, and, above all, the tattooing with which his arms
were ornamented, were the subjects of admiration of all my
schoolfellows, those who had been with him at school seeming to
consider themselves as quite above those unfortunates who had joined the
school since he had left.
Old Abe drew half a crown from him by saying that he was quite the
finest young sailor whom he had ever seen. Indeed Willie, who was now
nineteen, and fully five feet ten inches in height, was a picture of
what the officer of a smart craft should be. His well-fitting blue
clothes with brass anchor buttons suited his athletic figure admirably,
while his dark curly hair, brown eyes, and open, smiling face were well
calculated to win the affection of all who saw him.
I was delighted with the admiration he elicited, and though I was proud
of my success that day in the cricket-field, I was still prouder of my
handsome brother, and looked forward to the day when, on my return from
some exciting voyage, I might, like him, have stirring tales of
adventure to recite to my old chums. I little thought that before I
again visited my old school I should pass through so many dangers and
perils as fell to my lot.