MAIWA IS AVENGED
“The impi formed up; alas, an hour before it had been stronger by a
third than it was now. Then Nala detached two hundred men to collect
and attend to the injured, and at my suggestion issued a stringent
order that none of the enemy’s wounded, and above all no women or
children, were to be killed, as is the savage custom among African
natives. On the contrary, they were to be allowed to send word to their
women that they might come in to nurse them and fear nothing, for Nala
made war upon Wambe the tyrant, and not on the Matuku tribe.
“Then we started with some four hundred men for the chief’s kraal. Very
soon we were there. It was, as I have said, placed against the mountain
side, but within the fortified lines, and did not at all cover more
than an acre and a half of ground. Outside was a tiny reed fence,
within which, neatly arranged in a semi-circular line, stood the huts
of the chief’s principal wives. Maiwa of course knew every inch of the
kraal, for she had lived in it, and led us straight to the entrance. We
peeped through the gateway—not a soul was to be seen. There were the
huts and there was the clear open space floored with a concrete of
lime, on which the sun beat fiercely, but nobody could we see or hear.
“‘The jackal has gone to earth,’ said Maiwa; ‘he will be in the cave
behind his hut,’ and she pointed with her spear towards another small
and semi-circular enclosure, over which a large hut was visible, that
had the cliff itself for a background. I stared at this fence; by
George! it was true, it was entirely made of tusks of ivory planted in
the ground with their points bending outwards. The smallest ones,
though none were small, were placed nearest to the cliff on either
side, but they gradually increased in size till they culminated in two
enormous tusks, which, set up so that their points met, something in
the shape of an inverted V, formed the gateway to the hut. I was
dumbfoundered with delight; and indeed, where is the elephant-hunter
who would not be, if he suddenly saw five or six hundred picked tusks
set up in a row, and only waiting for him to take them away? Of course
the stuff was what is known as ‘black’ ivory; that is, the exterior of
the tusks had become black from years or perhaps centuries of exposure
to wind and weather, but I was certain that it would be none the worse
for that. Forgetting the danger of the deed, in my excitement I
actually ran right across the open space, and drawing my knife
scratched vigorously at one of the great tusks to see how deep the
damage might be. As I thought, it was nothing; there beneath the black
covering gleamed the pure white ivory. I could have capered for joy,
for I fear that I am very mercenary at heart, when suddenly I heard the
faint echo of a cry for assistance. ‘Help!’ screamed a voice in the
Sisutu dialect from somewhere behind the hut; ‘help! they are murdering
me.’
“_I knew the voice_; it was John Every’s. Oh, what a selfish brute was
I! For the moment that miserable ivory had driven the recollection of
him out of my head, and now—perhaps it was too late.
“Nala, Maiwa, and the soldiers had now come up. They too heard the
voice and interpreted its tone, though they had not caught the words.
“‘This way,’ cried Maiwa, and we started at a run, passing round the
hut of Wambe. Behind was the narrow entrance to a cave. We rushed
through it heedless of the danger of the ambush, and this is what we
saw, though very confusedly at first, owing to the gloom.
“In the centre of the cave, and with either end secured to the floor by
strong stakes, stood a huge double-springed lion trap edged with sharp
and grinning teeth. It was set, and beyond the trap, indeed almost over
it, a terrible struggle was in progress. A naked or almost naked white
man, with a great beard hanging down over his breast, in spite of his
furious struggles, was being slowly forced and dragged towards the trap
by six or eight women. Only one man was present, a fat, cruel-looking
man with small eyes and a hanging lip. It was the chief Wambe, and he
stood by the trap ready to force the victim down upon it so soon as the
women had dragged him into the necessary position.
“At this instant they caught sight of us, and there came a moment’s
pause, and then, before I knew what she was going to do, Maiwa lifted
the assegai she still held, and whirled it at Wambe’s head. I saw the
flash of light speed towards him, and so did he, for he stepped
backward to avoid it—stepped backward right into the trap. He yelled
with pain as the iron teeth of the ‘Thing that bites’ sprang up with a
rattling sound like living fangs and fastened into him—such a yell I
have not often heard. Now at last he tasted of the torture which he had
inflicted upon so many, and though I trust I am a Christian, I cannot
say that I felt sorry for him.
“The assegai sped on and struck one of the women who had hold of the
unfortunate Every, piercing through her arm. This made her leave go, an
example that the other women quickly followed, so that Every fell to
the ground, where he lay gasping.
“‘Kill the witches,’ roared Nala, in a voice of thunder, pointing to
the group of women.
“‘Nay,’ gasped Every, ‘spare them. He made them do it,’ and he pointed
to the human fiend in the trap. Then Maiwa waved her hand to us to fall
back, for the moment of her vengeance was come. We did so, and she
strode up to her lord, and flinging the white robe from her stood
before him, her fierce beautiful face fixed like stone.
“‘Who am I?’ she cried in so terrible a voice that he ceased his yells.
‘Am I that woman who was given to thee for wife, and whose child thou
slewest? Or am I an avenging spirit come to see thee die?
“‘What is this?’ she went on, drawing the withered baby-hand from the
pouch at her side.
“‘Is it the hand of a babe? and how came that hand to be thus alone?
What cut it off from the babe? and where is the babe? Is it a hand? or
is it the vision of a hand that shall presently tear thy throat?
“‘Where are thy soldiers, Wambe? Do they sleep and eat and go forth to
do thy bidding? or are they perchance dead and scattered like the
winter leaves?’
“He groaned and rolled his eyes while the fierce-faced woman went on.
“‘Art thou still a chief, Wambe? or does another take thy place and
power, and say, Lord, what doest thou there? and what is that slave’s
leglet upon thy knee?
“‘Is it a dream, Wambe, great lord and chief? or’—and she lifted her
clenched hands and shook them in his face—‘hath a woman’s vengeance
found thee out and a woman’s wit o’ermatched thy tyrannous strength?
and art thou about to slowly die in torments horrible to think on, oh,
thou accursed murderer of little children?’
“And with one wild scream she dashed the dead hand of the child
straight into his face, and then fell senseless on the floor. As for
the demon in the trap, he shrank back so far as its iron bounds would
allow, his yellow eyes starting out of his head with pain and terror,
and then once more began to yell.
“The scene was more than I could bear.
“‘Nala,’ I said, ‘this must stop. That man is a fiend, but he must not
be left to die there. See thou to it.’
“‘Nay,” answered Nala, ‘let him taste of the food wherewith he hath fed
so many; leave him till death shall find him.’
“‘That I will not,’ I answered. ‘Let his end be swift; see thou to it.’
“‘As thou wilt, Macumazahn,’ answered the chief, with a shrug of the
shoulders; ‘first let the white man and Maiwa be brought forth.’
“So the soldiers came forward and carried Every and the woman into the
open air. As the former was borne past his tormentor, the fallen chief,
so cowardly was his wicked heart, actually prayed him to intercede for
him, and save him from a fate which, but for our providential
appearance, would have been Every’s own.
“So we went away, and in another moment one of the biggest villains on
the earth troubled it no more. Once in the fresh air Every recovered
quickly. I looked at him, and horror and sorrow pierced me through to
see such a sight. His face was the face of a man of sixty, though he
was not yet forty, and his poor body was cut to pieces with stripes and
scars, and other marks of the torments which Wambe had for years amused
himself with inflicting on him.
“As soon as he recovered himself a little he struggled on to his knees,
burst into a paroxysm of weeping, and clasping my legs with his
emaciated arms, would have actually kissed my feet.
“‘What are you about, old fellow?’ I said, for I am not accustomed to
that sort of thing, and it made me feel uncomfortable.
“‘Oh, God bless you?’ he moaned, ‘God bless you! If only you knew what
I have gone through; and to think that you should have come to help me,
and at the risk of your own life! Well, you were always a true
friend—yes, yes, a true friend.’
“‘Bosh,’ I answered testily; ‘I’m a trader, and I came after that
ivory,’ and I pointed to the stockade of tusks. ‘Did you ever hear of
an elephant-hunter who would not have risked his immortal soul for
them, and much more his carcase?’
“But he took no notice of my explanations, and went on God blessing me
as hard as ever, till at last I bethought me that a nip of brandy, of
which I had a flask full, might steady his nerves a bit. I gave it him,
and was not disappointed in the result, for he brisked up wonderfully.
Then I hunted about in Wambe’s hut, and found a kaross to put over his
poor bruised shoulders, and he was quite a man again.
“‘Now,’ I said, ‘why did the late lamented Wambe want to put you in
that trap?’
“‘Because as soon as they heard that the fight was going against them,
and that Maiwa was charging at the head of Nala’s impi, one of the
women told Wambe that she had seen me write something on some leaves
and give them to Maiwa before she went away to purify herself. Then of
course he guessed that I had to do with your seizing the koppie and
holding it while the impi rushed the place from the mountain, so he
determined to torture me to death before help could come. Oh, heavens!
what a mercy it is to hear English again.’
“‘How long have you been a prisoner here, Every?’ I asked.
“‘Six years and a bit, Quatermain; I have lost count of the odd months
lately. I came up here with Major Aldey and three other gentlemen and
forty bearers. That devil Wambe ambushed us, and murdered the lot to
get their guns. They weren’t much use to him when he got them, being
breech-loaders, for the fools fired away all the ammunition in a month
or two. However, they are all in good order, and hanging up in the hut
there. They didn’t kill me because one of them saw me mending a gun
just before they attacked us, so they kept me as a kind of armourer.
Twice I tried to make a bolt of it, but was caught each time. Last time
Wambe had me flogged very nearly to death—you can see the scars upon my
back. Indeed I should have died if it hadn’t been for the girl Maiwa,
who nursed me by stealth. He got that accursed lion trap among our
things also, and I suppose he has tortured between one and two hundred
people to death in it. It was his favourite amusement, and he would go
every day and sit and watch his victim till he died. Sometimes he would
give him food and water to keep him alive longer, telling him or her
that he would let him go if he lived till a certain day. But he never
did let them go. They all died there, and I could show you their bones
behind that rock.’
“‘The devil!’ I said, grinding my teeth. ‘I wish I hadn’t interfered; I
wish I had left him to the same fate.’
“‘Well, he got a taste of it any way,’ said Every; ‘I’m glad he got a
taste. There’s justice in it, and now he’s gone to hell, and I hope
there is another one ready for him there. By Jove! I should like to
have the setting of it.’
“And so he talked on, and I sat and listened to him, wondering how he
had kept his reason for so many years. But he didn’t talk as I have
told it, in plain English. He spoke very slowly, and as though he had
got something in his mouth, continually using native words because the
English ones had slipped his memory.
“At last Nala came up and told us that food was made ready, and
thankful enough we were to get it, I can tell you. After we had eaten
we held a consultation. Quite a thousand of Wambe’s soldiers were put
_hors de combat_, but at least two thousand remained hidden in the bush
and rocks, and these men, together with those in the outlying kraals,
were a source of possible danger. The question arose, therefore, what
was to be done—were they to be followed or left alone? I waited till
everybody had spoken, some giving one opinion and some another, and
then being appealed to I gave mine. It was to the effect that Nala
should take a leaf out of the great Zulu T’Chaka’s book, and
incorporate the tribe, not destroy it. We had a good many women among
the prisoners. Let them, I suggested, be sent to the hiding-places of
the soldiers and make an offer. If the men would come and lay down
their arms and declare allegiance to Nala, they and their town and
cattle should be spared. Wambe’s cattle alone would be seized as the
prize of war. Moreover, Wambe having left no children, his wife Maiwa
should be declared chieftainess of the tribe, under Nala. If they did
not accept this offer by the morning of the second day it should be
taken as a declaration that they wished to continue the war. Their town
should be burned, their cattle, which our men were already collecting
and driving in in great numbers, would be taken, and they should be
hunted down.
“This advice was at once declared to be wise, and acted on. The women
were despatched, and I saw from their faces that they never expected to
get such terms, and did not think that their mission would be in vain.
Nevertheless, we spent that afternoon in preparations against possible
surprise, and also in collecting all the wounded of both parties into a
hospital, which we extemporized out of some huts, and there attending
to them as best we could.
“That evening Every had the first pipe of tobacco that he had tasted
for six years. Poor fellow, he nearly cried with joy over it. The night
passed without any sign of attack, and on the following morning we
began to see the effect of our message, for women, children, and a few
men came in in little knots, and took possession of their huts. It was
of course rather difficult to prevent our men from looting, and
generally going on as natives, and for the matter of that white men
too, are in the habit of doing after a victory. But one man who after
warning was caught maltreating a woman was brought out and killed by
Nala’s order, and though there was a little grumbling, that put a stop
to further trouble.
“On the second morning the head men and numbers of their followers came
in in groups, and about midday a deputation of the former presented
themselves before us without their weapons. They were conquered, they
said, and Wambe was dead, so they came to hear the words of the great
lion who had eaten them up, and of the crafty white man, the jackal,
who had dug a hole for them to fall in, and of Maiwa, Lady of War, who
had led the charge and turned the fate of the battle.
“So we let them hear the words, and when we had done an old man rose
and said, that in the name of the people he accepted the yoke that was
laid upon their shoulders, and that the more gladly because even the
rule of a woman could not be worse than the rule of Wambe. Moreover,
they knew Maiwa, the Lady of War, and feared her not, though she was a
witch and terrible to see in battle.
“Then Nala asked his daughter if she was willing to become chieftainess
of the tribe under him.
“Maiwa, who had been very silent since her revenge was accomplished,
answered yes, that she was, and that her rule should be good and gentle
to those who were good and gentle to her, but the froward and
rebellious she would smite with a rod of iron; which from my knowledge
of her character I thought exceedingly probable.
“The head man replied that that was a good saying, and they did not
complain at it, and so the meeting ended.
“Next day we spent in preparations for departure. Mine consisted
chiefly in superintending the digging up of the stockade of ivory
tusks, which I did with the greatest satisfaction. There were some five
hundred of them altogether. I made inquiries about it from Every, who
told me that the stockade had been there so long that nobody seemed to
know exactly who had collected the tusks originally. There was,
however, a kind of superstitious feeling about them which had always
prevented the chiefs from trying to sell this great mass of ivory.
Every and I examined it carefully, and found that although it was so
old its quality was really as good as ever, and there was very little
soft ivory in the lot. At first I was rather afraid lest, now that my
services had been rendered, Nala should hesitate to part with so much
valuable property, but this was not the case. When I spoke to him on
the subject he merely said, ‘Take it, Macumazahn, take it; you have
earned it well,’ and, to speak the truth, though I say it who
shouldn’t, I think I had. So we pressed several hundred Matuku bearers
into our service, and next day marched off with the lot.
“Before we went I took a formal farewell of Maiwa, whom we left with a
bodyguard of three hundred men to assist her in settling the country.
She gave me her hand to kiss in a queenly sort of way, and then said,
“‘Macumazahn, you are a brave man, and have been a friend to me in my
need. If ever you want help or shelter, remember that Maiwa has a good
memory for friend and foe. All I have is yours.
“And so I thanked her and went. She was certainly a very remarkable
woman. A year or two ago I heard that her father Nala was dead, and
that she had succeeded to the chieftainship of both tribes, which she
ruled with great justice and firmness.
“I can assure you that we ascended the pass leading to Wambe’s town
with feelings very different from those with which we had descended it
a few days before. But if I was grateful for the issue of events, you
can easily imagine what poor Every’s feelings were. When we got to the
top of the pass, before the whole impi he actually flopped down upon
his knees and thanked Heaven for his escape, the tears running down his
face. But then, as I have said, his nerves were shaken—though now that
his beard was trimmed and he had some sort of clothes on his back, and
hope in his heart, he looked a very different man from the poor wretch
whom we had rescued from death by torture.
“Well, we separated from Nala at the little stairway or pass over the
mountain—Every and I and the ivory going down the river which I had
come up a few weeks before, and the chief returning to his own kraal on
the further side of the mountain. He gave us an escort of a hundred and
fifty men, however, with instructions to accompany us for six days’
journey, and to keep the Matuku bearers in order and then return. I
knew that in six days we should be able to reach a district where
porters were plentiful, and whence we could easily get the ivory
conveyed to Delagoa Bay.”
“And did you land it up safe?” I asked.
“Well no,” said Quatermain, “we lost about a third of it in crossing a
river. A flood came down suddenly just as the men were crossing and
many of them had to throw down their tusks to save their lives. We had
no means of dragging it up, and so we were obliged to leave it, which
was very sad. However, we sold what remained for nearly seven thousand
pounds, so we did not do so badly. I don’t mean that I got seven
thousand pounds out of it, because, you see, I insisted upon Every
taking a half share. Poor fellow, he had earned it, if ever a man did.
He set up a store in the old colony on the proceeds and did uncommonly
well.”
“And what did you do with the lion trap?” asked Sir Henry.
“Oh, I brought that away with me also, and when I reached Durban I put
it in my house. But really I could not bear to sit opposite to it at
nights as I smoked. Visions of that poor woman and the hand of her dead
child would rise up in my mind, and also of all the horrors of which it
had been the instrument. I began to dream at last that it held me by
the leg. This was too much for my nerves, so I just packed it up and
shipped it to its maker in England, whose name was stamped upon the
steel, sending him a letter at the same time to tell him to what
purpose the infernal machine had been put. I believe that he gave it to
some museum or other.”
“And what became of the tusks of the three bulls which you shot! You
must have left them at Nala’s kraal, I suppose.”
The old gentleman’s face fell at this question.
“Ah,” he said, “that is a very sad story. Nala promised to send them
with my goods to my agent at Delagoa, and so he did. But the men who
brought them were unarmed, and, as it happened, they fell in with a
slave caravan under the command of a half-bred Portuguese, who seized
the tusks, and what is worse, swore that he had shot them. I paid him
out afterwards, however,” he added with a smile of satisfaction, “but
it did not give me back my tusks, which no doubt have been turned into
hair brushes long ago;” and he sighed.
“Well,” said Good, “that is a capital yarn of yours, Quatermain, but——”
“But what?” he asked sharply, foreseeing a draw.
“But I don’t think that it was so good as mine about the ibex—it hasn’t
the same _finish_.”
Mr. Quatermain made no reply. Good was beneath it.
“Do you know, gentlemen,” he said, “it is half-past two in the morning,
and if we are going to shoot the big wood to-morrow we ought to leave
here at nine-thirty sharp.”
“Oh, if you shoot for a hundred years you will never beat the record of
those three woodcocks,” I said.
“Or of those three elephants,” added Sir Henry.
And then we all went to bed, and I dreamed that I had married Maiwa,
and was much afraid of that attractive but determined lady.