The first object of which my senses became cognisant on awaking next
morning was my friend Peterkin, who had evidently awakened just a moment
or two before me, for he was in the act of yawning and rubbing his eyes.
I have all my life been a student of character, and the most interesting
yet inexplicable character which I have ever studied has been that of my
friend Peterkin, whose eccentricities I have never been able fully to
understand or account for. I have observed that, on first awaking in
the mornings, he has been wont to exhibit several of his most eccentric
and peculiar traits, so I resolved to feign myself asleep and watch him.
"Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed, after the yawn I have just referred to.
Having said this, he stretched out both arms to the utmost above his
head, and then flung himself back at full length on his couch, where he
lay still for about half a minute. Then he started up suddenly into a
sitting posture and looked slowly from one to another of the recumbent
forms around him. Satisfied, apparently, that they were asleep, he gave
vent to a long yawn which terminated in a gasp, and then he looked up
contemplatively at the sky, which was at that hour beginning to warm
with the red rays of the rising sun. While thus engaged, he caressed
with his right hand the very small scrap of whisker that grew on his
right cheek. At first it seemed as if this were an unconscious action,
but he suddenly appeared to become absorbed in it, and stared straight
before him as one does when only half awake, mumbling the while in an
undertone. I could not make out distinctly what he said, but I think I
caught the words, "Yes, a little--a _very_ little thicker--six new
hairs, I think--umph! slow, very slow." Here he looked at Jack's bushy
beard and sighed.
Suddenly he thrust both hands deep into his breeches pockets and stared
at the black embers of the extinct fire; then as suddenly he pulled out
his hands, and placing the forefinger of his right hand on the end of
the thumb of his left, said slowly--
"Let me see--I'll recall it."
He spoke with intense gravity. Most persons do when talking to
themselves.
"Yes, I remember now. There were two elephants and four--or three, was
it?--no, it must have been four lions. The biggest elephant had on a
false front of fair curls and a marriage-ring on its tail. Stay; was it
not the other one had that? No, it was the biggest. I remember now,
for it was just above the marriage-ring I grasped it when I pulled its
tail out. I didn't pull it off, for it wouldn't come off; it came out
like a telescope or a long piece of indiarubber. Ha! and I remember
thinking how painful it must be. That was odd, now, to think of that.
The other elephant had on crinoline. That was odder still; for of all
animals in the world it least required it. Well, let me see. What did
I do? Oh yes, I shot them both. Of course, that was natural; but it
wasn't quite so natural that the big one should vomit up a live lion,
which attacked me with incredible fury. But I killed it cleverly. Yes,
it _was_ a clever thing, undoubtedly, to split a lion in two, from the
tip of its nose to the extremity of its tail, with one stroke of a
penknife--"
At this climax I could contain myself no longer, and burst into a loud
laugh as I perceived that Peterkin had spent the night, as I myself had
done, in hunting--though, I confess, there was a considerable difference
in the nature of our achievements, and in the manner of their
accomplishment.
"Why, what are you laughing at?" said Jack, sitting up and gazing at me
with a stupid stare.
"At Peterkin's dreams," said I.
"Ah!" said Jack, with a smiling yawn, "that's it, is it? Been hunting
elephants and lions, eh?"
"Why, how did you guess that?" I asked, in surprise; "were you not
asleep just now?"
"Of course I was, and dreaming too, like yourself, I make no doubt. I
had just bagged my fifteenth elephant and my tenth lion when your laugh
awoke me. And the best of it is that I was carrying the whole bagful on
my back at once, and did not feel much oppressed by the weight."
"That beats my dream hollow," observed Peterkin; "so its my opinion we'd
better have breakfast.--Makarooroo, hy! d'ye hear? rouse up, you junk of
ebony."
"Yis, massa, comin'," said our guide, rising slowly from his lair on the
opposite side of our fireplace.
"D'you hear?"
"Yis, massa."
"You're a nigger!"
"Dat am a fact."
"Well, being a nigger you're a brick, so look sharp with that splendid
breakfast you promised us last night. I'll wager a million pounds that
you had forgotten all about it."
"No, massa, me no forgit. Me up in centre ob de night and put 'im in de
hole. Wat you call 'im--oben?"
"Ay, oven, that's it."
"Yis. Well, me git 'im d'rec'ly."
"And, I say, hold on," added Peterkin. "Don't you suppose I'm going to
stand on ceremony with you. Your name's too long by half. Too many
rooroos about it, so I'm going to call you Mak in future, d'ye
understand?"
The negro nodded and grinned from ear to ear as he left us. Presently
he returned with a huge round, or lump of meat, at which we looked
inquisitively. The odour from it was delightful, and the tender, juicy
appearance of the meat when Makarooroo, who carved it for us, cut the
first slice, was quite appetising to behold.
"What is it?" inquired Peterkin.
"Elephant's foot," replied the guide.
"Gammon," remarked Peterkin.
"It's true, massa. Don't you see him's toe?"
"So it is," said Jack.
"And it's first-rate," cried I, tasting a morsel.
With that we fell to and made a hearty meal, after which we, along with
the king and all his people, retraced our steps to the river and
returned to the native town, where we spent another day in making
preparations to continue our journey towards the land of the gorilla.
During the hunt which I have just described I was very much amused as
well as amazed at the reckless manner in which the negroes loaded their
rusty old trade-guns. They put in a whole handful of powder each time,
and above that as much shot and bits of old iron of all kinds as they
dared; some I saw charged thus to within a few inches of the muzzle, and
the owners seemed actually afraid to put them to their shoulders, as
well they might be, for the recoil was tremendous, and had the powder
been good their guns must have been blown to pieces and themselves
killed.
On our return to the village we found the people on the eve of one of
those terrible outbursts of superstitious passion which rarely if ever
pass away without some wretched human creature perishing under the hands
of murderers.
"There is something wrong with the fetishman, I think," remarked Jack,
as we disembarked at the landing. "He seems excited. Do you know what
it can be at, Makarooroo?"
"Jack," interposed Peterkin, "I have changed his name to Mak, so you and
Ralph will please to remember that.--Mak, my boy, what's wrong with your
doctor?"
The negro looked very grave and shook his head as he replied, "Don'
know, massa. Him's be goin' to rizz de peepil wid him norrible doin's.
Dere will be death in the camp mos' bery quick--p'raps dis night."
"That is terrible," said I. "Are you sure of what you say?"
"Sartin sure," replied the negro, with another shake of the head.
"Then, Mak," said Jack, "it behoves us to look to ourselves. You look
like an honest fellow, and I believe we may trust you. We cannot expect
you to help us to fight against your own kith and kin, but I do expect
that you will assist us to escape if any foul play is intended.
Whatever betides, it is as well that you should know that white men are
not easily conquered. Our guns are good--they never miss fire. We will
sell our lives dearly, you may depend on it."
"Ay," added Peterkin, "it is well that you should know that; moreover,
it is well that the rascally niggers of your tribe should know it too;
so you can take occasion to give them a hint that we shall keep
ourselves prepared for them, with my compliments."
"De mans ob my peepil," replied the negro, with some dignity of manner,
"be not wuss dan oder mans. But dem is bad enuff. But you no hab need
for be fraid. Dey no touch de white mans. Dem bery much glad you com'
here. If any bodies be killed it be black mans or 'oomans."
We felt somewhat relieved on hearing this, for, to say truth, we knew
well enough that three men, no matter how well-armed or resolute they
might be, could not hope to defend themselves against a whole tribe of
savages in their own country. Nevertheless we resolved to keep a sharp
lookout, and be prepared for the worst. Meanwhile we did all in our
power to expedite our departure.
That evening the trader started on his return journey to the coast,
leaving us in charge of King Jambai, who promised earnestly to take good
care of us. We immediately put his willingness to fulfil his promise to
the test by begging him to furnish us with men to carry our goods into
the interior. He tried very hard to induce us to change our minds and
remain hunting with his tribe, telling us that the gorilla country was
far far away from his lands; that we should never reach it alive, or
that if we did we should certainly be killed by the natives, who,
besides being cruel and warlike, were cannibals; and that if we did meet
in with gorillas we should all be certainly slain, for no one could
combat successfully with that ferocious giant of the monkey tribe.
To this we replied that we were quite aware of the dangers we should
have to encounter in our travels, but added that we had come there for
the very purpose of encountering such dangers, and especially to pay a
visit to the giant monkeys in their native land, so that it was in vain
his attempting to dissuade us, as we were resolved to go.
Seeing that we were immovable, the king eventually gave in, and ordered
some of his best men to hold themselves in readiness to start with us on
the following morning. We then proceeded to his majesty's house, where
we had supper, and afterwards retired to our own hut to rest.
But we were destined to have little or no rest that night. The doctor
or fetishman of the tribe had stirred up the passions of the people in a
manner that was quite incomprehensible to us. King Jambai, it seems,
had been for some weeks suffering from illness--possibly from
indigestion, for he was fond of gorging himself--and the medicine-man
had stated that his majesty was bewitched by some of the members of his
own tribe, and that unless these sorcerers were slain there was no
possibility of his getting well.
We never could ascertain why the fetishman should fix upon certain
persons to be slain, unless it was that he had a personal enmity against
them; but this seemed unlikely, for two of the persons selected were old
female slaves, who could never, of course, have injured the doctor in
any way. But the doings of Africans, especially in regard to religious
superstitions, I afterwards found were so mysterious that no one could
or would explain the meaning of them to us. And I am inclined to
believe that in reference to the meaning of many things they were
themselves utterly ignorant.
Towards midnight the people had wrought themselves up to a frenzied
condition, and made so much noise that we could not sleep. In the midst
of the uproar Makarooroo, who we observed had been very restless all the
evening, rushed into our hut, exclaiming, "Massa! massa! come, save my
Okandaga! come quick!"
The poor fellow was trembling with anxiety, and was actually pale in the
face; for a distinctly discernible pallor overspreads the countenance of
the negro when under the influence of excessive terror.
Okandaga we had previously heard of and seen. She was, according to
African notions, an exceedingly pretty young girl, with whom our worthy
guide had fallen desperately in love. Makarooroo's education had done
much for him, and especially in regard to females. Having observed the
kind, respectful consideration with which the missionaries treated their
wives, and the happiness that seemed to be the result of that course of
conduct, he resolved in his own mind to try the experiment with one of
the girls of his own tribe, and soon after rejoining it paid his
attentions to Okandaga, who seemed to him the most modest and lovable
girl in the village.
Poor Okandaga was first amazed and then terrified at the strangely
gentle conduct of her lover, and thought that he meant to bewitch her;
for having never before been accustomed to other than harsh and
contemptuous treatment from men, she could not believe that Makarooroo
meant her any good. Gradually, however, she began to like this
respectful wooer, and finally she agreed to elope with him to the
sea-coast and live near the missionaries. It was necessary, however, to
arrange their plans with great caution. There was no difficulty in
their getting married. A handsome present to the girl's father was all
that was necessary to effect that end, and a good hunter like Makarooroo
knew he could speedily obtain possession of his bride, but to get her
removed from her tribe and carried to the coast was quite a different
affair. While the perplexed negro was pondering this subject and
racking his brains to discover a way of getting over the difficulty, our
arrival at the village occurred. At once he jumped to the conclusion
that somehow or other he should accomplish his object through our
assistance; and holding this in view, he the more willingly agreed to
accompany us to the gorilla country, intending first to make our
acquaintance, and afterwards to turn us to account in furthering his
plans. All this we learned long afterwards. At the period of which I
am now writing, we were profoundly ignorant of everything save the fact
that Okandaga was his affianced bride, and that the poor fellow was now
almost beside himself with horror because the fetishman had condemned
her, among others, to drink the poisoned cup.
This drinking of the poisoned cup is an ordeal through which the unhappy
victims to whom suspicion has been attached are compelled to pass. Each
one drinks the poison, and several executioners stand by, with heavy
knives, to watch the result. If the poison acts so as to cause the
supposed criminal to fall down, he is hacked in pieces instantly; but
if, through unusual strength or peculiarity of constitution, he is
enabled to resist the effects of the poison, his life is spared, and he
is declared innocent.
Jack and Peterkin and I seized our weapons, and hurrying out, followed
our guide to the spot where this terrible tragedy was enacting.
"Don't fear, Mak," said Peterkin, as we ran along; "we'll save her
somehow. I'm certain of that."
The negro made no reply, but I observed a more hopeful expression on his
countenance after the remark. He evidently had immense faith in
Peterkin; which I must say was more than I had, for when I considered
our small numbers, my hope of influencing savages was very slight.
The scene that met our eyes was indescribably horrible. In the centre
of a dense circle of negroes, who had wrought themselves up to a pitch
of ferocity that caused them to look more like wild beasts than men,
stood the king, and beside him the doctor or fetishman. This latter was
ornamented with a towering headdress of feathers. His face was painted
white, which had the effect of imparting to him an infinitely more
hideous and ghastly aspect than is produced in the white man when he is
painted black. A stripe of red passed round his head, and another down
his forehead and nose. His naked body was decked with sundry fantastic
ornaments, and altogether he looked more like a fiend than I had
believed it possible for man to appear.
The ground all round him was saturated with blood and strewn with arms,
fingers, cleft skulls, and masses of flesh that had been hewn from the
victims who had already fallen, one of whom, we afterwards learned, had
belonged to the royal family. Two still remained--a young female and an
old man. The emaciated frame and white woolly head of the latter showed
that in the course of nature his earthly career must soon terminate. It
is probable that the poor old man had become a burden to his relations,
and the doctor took this opportunity of ridding the tribe of him. The
girl was Okandaga, who stood weeping and trembling as she gazed upon the
butchery that had already taken place.
The old man had swallowed the poison shortly before we arrived, and he
was now struggling to maintain an erect position. But he failed, his
quivering limbs sank beneath him, and before we could interfere the
bloody executioners had cut off his head, and then, in a transport of
passion, they literally hacked his body to pieces.
We rushed hastily forward to the king, and Jack, in an earnest voice,
implored him to spare the last victim.
"Surely," said he, "enough have been sacrificed already.--Tell him,
Makarooroo, that I will quit his village and never see him more if he
does not spare the life of that young girl."
The king appeared much perplexed by this unlooked-for interference on
our part.
"I cannot check the spirits of my people now," he replied. "They are
roused. The girl has bewitched me and many others. She must die. It
is our custom. Let not my white men be offended. Let them go to their
hut and sleep."
"We cannot sleep while injustice is done in the village," answered Jack,
in a lofty tone. "Let not King Jambai do that which will make his
visitors ashamed of him. Let the girl live till to-morrow at midnight.
Let the case be investigated, and if she be proved guilty then let her
die."
The king commenced a long reply in the same dignified manner and tone
which Jack had assumed. While he was thus engaged Peterkin touched our
guide on the shoulder and whispered--
"I say, Mak, tell the doctor to back up Jack's request, and I'll give
him a gun."
The negro slipped at once to the side of the doctor, who had begun to
frown fiercely on Jack, and whispered a few words in his ear. Instantly
his face assumed a calmer aspect, and presently he stepped up to the
king, and a whispering conversation ensued, in which the doctor,
carefully refraining from making any mention of the gun, commended the
wise advice of the white man, and suggested that the proposal should be
agreed to, adding, however, that he knew for certain that the girl was a
witch, but that the investigation would do good in the way of proving
that he, the doctor, was correct, and thus the girl should perish on the
following night, and the white men would be satisfied.
Having announced this to the multitude, the king ordered Okandaga to be
conducted back to her prison and carefully guarded; and we returned to
our hut--not, however, to sleep, but to consult as to what was to be
done next.
"I knew that you wanted a respite for her," said Peterkin, as we sat
round our fire, "that you might have time to consider how to act, and I
backed up your request accordingly, as you know. But now, I confess,
I'm very much at a loss what to suggest. It seems to me we have only
purchased a brief delay."
"True," answered Jack. "The delay is not so brief, however, but that we
may plan some method of getting the poor girl out of this scrape.--What
say you, Mak?"
"If _you_ no can tink 'pon someting, I gib up all hope," replied our
guide sorrowfully.
"Come, Mak, cheer up," cried Peterkin. "If the worst comes to the
worst, you can, at any rate, fight for your bride."
"Fight!" exclaimed the negro, displaying his white teeth like a mastiff,
rolling his eyes and clinching his fists convulsively. Then in a calmer
tone he continued, "Ay, me can fight. Me could kill all de guards an'
take Okandaga by de hand, an' run troo de bushes for eber. But guards
no die widout hollerin' an' yellerin' like de gorilla; an' nigger mans
can run fasterer dan womans. No, no, dat am dumpossobable."
"Nothing's `dumpossobable' to brave hearts and stout arms," replied
Jack. "There are only four guards put over her, I believe. Well, there
are just four of us--not that we require to be equal, by any means.
Peterkin and I could settle them easily; but we require to be equal in
numbers, in order to do it quietly. I have a plan in my head, but
there's one hitch in it that I cannot unravel."
"And what may that be?" If asked.
"Why, I don't see how, after getting clear off with Okandaga, we are to
avoid being pursued on suspicion and captured."
"Dere is one cave," remarked the guide, "not far off to here. P'raps we
be safe if we git into 'im. But I 'fraid it not do, cause him be
peepiled by fiends an' dead man's spirits."
"That's a grave objection," said Peterkin, laughing.
"Yes, an' de tribe neber go near dere; dey is most drefful terrorfied to
be cotched dere."
"Then, that will just do," cried Jack, with animation. "The very thing.
And now I'll tell you what my plan is. To-morrow morning early we will
tell the king that we wish to be off at once--that we have put off too
much time already, and wish to make no further delay. Then we'll pack
up and start. At night we will encamp in a quiet, out-of-the-way part
of the woods, and slip back to the village in the dark a short time
before midnight. The whole village will at that time be assembled,
probably, at the spot where the execution is to take place; so we can
rush in, overpower the guard, free Okandaga, and make our escape to the
cave, where they will never think of looking for us."
Peterkin shook his head. "There are two difficulties in your plan,
Jack. First, what if the natives are _not_ assembled on the place of
execution, and we find it impossible to make our entrance into or exit
from the village quietly?"
"I propose," replied Jack, "that we shall undress ourselves, rub
ourselves entirely over with charcoal and grease, so that they shall not
recognise us, and dash in and carry the girl off by a _coup de main_.
In which case it will, of course, be neck or nothing, and a tremendous
race to the cave, where, if they follow us, we will keep them at bay
with our rifles."
"Umph! dashing, no doubt, but risky," said Peterkin--"extremely risky.
Yet it's worth trying. Well, my second difficulty is--what if they
don't stick to their promise after we quit, and kill the poor thing
before midnight?"
"We must take our chance of that. But I shall put the king on his
honour before leaving, and say that I will make particular inquiry into
the way in which the trial has been conducted on my return."
"Put the king on his honour!" observed Peterkin. "I'm afraid that
you'll put his majesty on an extremely unstable foundation. However, I
see nothing better that can be done."
"Have you any more difficulties?"
"Yes," said I. "There is one other. What do you propose to do with the
men who are to be supplied us by the king during these extremely
delicate and difficult manoeuvres?"
The countenances of my comrades fell at this question.
"I never thought of them," said Jack.
"Nor I," said Peterkin.
Makarooroo groaned.
"Well," said I, "if you will allow me to suggest, I would recommend that
we should, towards the close of the day, send them on ahead of us, and
bid them encamp at a certain place, saying that we shall spend the night
in hunting, and return to them in the morning."
"The very thing," said Jack. "Now, comrades, to rest. I will occupy
myself until I fall asleep in maturing my plans and thinking out the
details. Do you the same, and if anything should occur to you let us
consult over it in the morning."
We were all glad to agree to this, being wearied more perhaps by
excitement than want of rest; so bidding each other good-night, we lay
down side by side to meditate, and for my part to dream of the difficult
and dangerous work that awaited us on the morrow.