"No, no," was the answer; "dat all right."
He and his companions paddled on bravely for another half hour. By this
time it had become perfectly dark, and we could not discover the land
ahead, but the black fellows seemed to guide their course by instinct,
for I could see no welcoming beacon on the shore. To our satisfaction
the wind did not increase, though the canoe tumbled about a good deal,
and not for a moment were we able to cease baling. The blacks paddled
on bravely through the pitchy darkness. Suddenly a flash of lightning
burst from the clouds, followed by a tremendous roar of thunder. I
could see the flame dancing along over the water, mercifully avoiding
our canoe, leaving all in darkness beyond. The blacks for a moment
ceased paddling.
"Go on, go on," I cried out to Aboh; "this is no time to stop; the
sooner we reach the shore the sooner we shall be in safety."
Aboh repeated what I had said to his companions, and, thus encouraged,
all hands paddled away as before. As no land was in sight, I could not
make out how they managed to steer a straight course, but they seemed
perfectly satisfied that they were going right. Probably they were
guided by the wind on one side. Had it shifted, they would have been
thrown out. This I greatly feared would be the case; and after all,
might we be paddling up the lake instead of across it. Charley got out
his pocket compass, but the wind prevented us striking a light, and it
was consequently of no use. He kept it before him, however, in case
another flash of lightning should enable him to see it. He had not long
to wait. A vivid flash darted directly across the canoe.
"Hurrah!" he exclaimed; "we are all right; we are steering due north."
We had no longer, after this, any doubt about the judgment of our
African friends. The thunder rolled, the lightning flashed, and we
continued to bale away as the water washed into the canoe. For some
moments the lightning ceased, and we hoped the storm was over; but we
were mistaken. Another flash darted from the sky, more vivid than its
predecessors, with a loud hissing, crackling sound.
"Hurrah! I caught sight of some trees and a hut," exclaimed Charley.
He was not mistaken, in less than a quarter of an hour after this, the
canoe ran alongside the bank in a little bay, and our crew, jumping out,
welcomed us on shore.
Their loud shouts brought a number of people out of the neighbouring
huts, who quickly unloaded the canoe; while we were conducted by Aboh
and Shimbo to a hut which they said was prepared for our reception.
Within we found Tom seated on a couch formed of bamboos.
"Glad to see you, gentlemen, that I am," he exclaimed. "To say the
truth, I had begun to fear that you would never come at all, as I have
had some doubts about the intentions of our friends here. They were
very kind, howsomever, for they fed me well and tried their skill at
doctoring my foot, but I cannot say that they have done it any good; so
I hope, Mr Westerton, that you will again take me in hand."
We were thankful to find that Tom was in such good spirits. Charley, on
looking at his foot, said he hoped, as the swelling had greatly gone
down, that in a few days it would be as strong as ever. As it was so
late at night, we expected to go supperless to bed, but we had not been
long in the hut when a bevy of damsels arrived carrying baskets on their
heads, containing cooked provisions enough, including some of our
venison, to feed a dozen people. We were not sorry to partake of them,
as we had become very hungry; but as we had had but little rest the
previous night, we begged our entertainers to leave us in quiet, which
they did not appear disposed to do. At length Aboh and Shimbo making
their appearance, at our request turned all our guests out and allowed
us to sleep in quiet.
Next morning we were awakened by great shouting, and on inquiring the
cause, ascertained that a famous doctor had come to cure the king,
Quagomolo, of his disease, though what that was we could not ascertain.
We went out to see this important personage, who presented a most
fantastic appearance. His head was adorned with feathers, birds' beaks,
and claws of leopards, hyenas, and other savage brutes; half his body
was painted red, the other half white, while his face was daubed with
streaks of alternate black, white, and red. Round his neck he wore
numerous chains and charms, which tinkled and rattled as he moved about.
After having paraded himself through the village to be admired by the
inhabitants, he was introduced to the hut of the king, whom he had not
yet seen. Finding no one to stop us, we shortly afterwards followed,
when we saw the doctor seated on a low stool before a large earthenware
pot, into which he was looking intently. This done, having seized a
lighted torch smouldering by his side, he whirled it about his head till
it burst into a flame. He then waved it over the pot, muttering some
mysterious words. He continued this and similar performances for so
long a time that we were getting weary of witnessing them, when suddenly
a person rose from a couch at the further end of the room, whom we
rightly supposed to be King Quagomolo.
"Sit down, your majesty, sit down," exclaimed the doctor. "I'll soon
say what's the matter with you."
The king obeyed. Again the doctor waved his torch and gazed into the
pot, and then declared that his majesty was bewitched.
"Who are the people who have bewitched me?" asked the king in a
trembling voice.
"They are some men and women in your own kingdom, and not far off from
this," answered the doctor in a deep bass voice which could be heard
outside the hut, where a number of persons were collected.
There was a general howl of alarm, for no one could tell who would be
fixed on. The king, on hearing this, announced that the persons
implicated must drink the poisoned water, usually given on such
occasions. So we learned from Aboh, who had crept into the hut and
squatted down beside us.
"We must try to defeat the old rascal," whispered Charley. "Show us
where the poison is to be concocted?"
The doctor had now a drum brought him by an attendant, on which he began
to beat vehemently, when the king again sank down on his couch. We on
this quietly made our exit, and, led by Aboh, entered another hut,
where, by the light of a single torch, some old women were concocting
the mysterious beverage. We watched them until they had finished, when,
leaving the bowl covered up by a piece of matting, they crept out one by
one, holding up their hands, taking long, slow strides, and looking
truly like witches themselves, and, as Harry observed, "Very bad
specimens too."
As soon as they were gone, finding a jug of pure water near at hand,
Charley poured out the mixture into a corner, and filled up the bowl
again with the harmless liquid. Fortunately, we found a basketful of
what was evidently colouring matter, and having mixed some of it in the
water, we covered the bowl up again and left the hut. We then went back
to our hut. Finding that the king, in spite of the lateness of the
hour, was ready to receive us, taking our two black friends, Aboh to act
as interpreter, we carried with us the leopard skin, some venison, and
three strings of beads of various colours. His majesty was a tall,
ungainly looking man, with as hideous a countenance as can well be
imagined. His appearance was not improved by the glare of the
torchlight and the terror under which he was suffering. Having
presented the leopard skin and venison, Charley, who acted as spokesman,
threw the string of beads round his neck.
"Tell him," he said to Aboh, "that those are powerful charms, and will
quickly restore him to health."
After a short palaver we begged leave to retire, assuring his majesty
that he would be quite well in the morning, and that we were very sure
that none of his subjects had bewitched him, as would then be proved.
"If we succeed we shall have performed a very good work," said Charley,
laughing, as we returned to our hut.
Next morning the whole tribe was collected, and the accused persons
brought forward. The bowl was handed round among them. No one to whom
it was offered dared refuse to drink from it, although the distortions
of their countenances showed the alarm under which they laboured. The
king, who had been brought out to witness the ceremony on a litter, sat
by watching them, and expecting, perhaps, to see some of them drop down
dead.
To our surprise three or four of them appeared greatly agitated,
writhing about and making hideous faces, but we felt very sure that this
was the result of imagination; and even these soon recovered, while the
rest remained standing, and doing their best to smile and convince the
king and their friends of their innocence. The effect on King Quagomolo
was almost instantaneous, and before evening he declared himself
perfectly recovered. To prove this, he summoned his liege subjects to
attend a dance in honour of the event. No great preparations were
required, and that very evening was fixed for the event. The king's
wives, of whom he had no small number, and all the dames and damsels
from far and wide, came trooping in, and arranged themselves in the
large open space in the centre of the village. The men sat on the
opposite side, with a line of musicians in front. These were mostly
drummers, who beat their huge tom-toms with right good will, making the
most fearful and deafening din. Others had brass kettles, and others
hollow pieces of wood, which assisted greatly in the uproar; while at
the same time both men and women sang, shouted, and shrieked, until we,
who stood at a little distance off, could scarcely hear each other's
voices. The barbarous overture being brought to a conclusion, the king,
who had been seated amongst his wives, rose, and springing into the
centre of the circle, began snapping his fingers, twisting and turning
in all sorts of attitudes, leaping from the ground, kicking up one leg,
then another, and throwing his arms round until it appeared that he
would swing them off.
"Here am I, my friends," he shouted. "Once I was ill, now I am well;
and if our white friends here will stay with us, I never expect to be
ill again."
He danced and shouted until we thought he would have dropped. Presently
he managed to spring back, exhibiting the utmost agility to the last,
until he sat down again in the midst of his better halves, who had been
amongst the most demonstrative of his applauders. Several of his chiefs
then followed his example, but took good care not to surpass the king
either in the time they danced or the activity they displayed. Before
they sat down, several women sprang up, who, not being influenced by the
same motives as the courtiers, contrived to twist and turn themselves in
a way which was neither creditable to their modesty, nor pleasant to
look at. We had good reason to be satisfied with this commencement of
our intercourse with King Quagomolo. He presented us with abundance of
food, and the hut built for our accommodation was clean and comfortable.
In a short time, by careful treatment, Tom's ankle completely regained
its strength, and he declared himself ready to continue the journey to
the northward. We arranged, therefore, to start immediately, but we
calculated without our host. When we told Aboh of our intentions, and
asked him to accompany us, he made a long face, and shaking his head,
said, "King no let go, want fight;" by which we understood that
Quagomolo intended to detain us in order that we might assist him in
some predatory excursion he was meditating against a neighbouring tribe,
we having firearms in good order, while he and his people had among them
only a few old muskets, many of which were destitute of locks, and could
only be fired by means of matches applied to the touch-holes. On
obtaining this information, we agreed that it would not be wise to show
any mistrust of the king, but quietly to take our departure, with or
without his leave, whenever it might suit us to do so.
As we were well treated, we were in no hurry to get away, besides which
we had abundance of sport in the neighbourhood, and seldom went out
without bringing back eight or ten brace of ducks and other wildfowl.
However, at length we thought it time to tell the king that we must be
going.
We took the opportunity when he was in a good humour, having just
quaffed a few bowls of a sort of palm-wine of which he was especially
fond.
"Stay, my dear friends, stay a few days longer, and you shall go forth
with honour, and each of you shall take a wife with you and a hundred
attendants."
Charley assured his majesty that we must decline the wives, and that our
own rifles were the best attendants we desired, with the exception of
one or two intelligent men to act as guides.
"You shall have your will, you shall have your will," answered the king,
"but stay one day longer, just one day."
We accordingly, hoping to have no obstruction offered to our departure,
agreed to stay, but when the evening arrived the king sent a messenger
to say he wished to see us.
"What, my friends," he began as we entered his hut--"do you want to go
and leave me all forlorn, stay another day, stay another day."
Such was the tenor of his address which Aboh translated to us.
"Tell him that to-morrow we must go," said Charley.
The king smiled benignantly, so Harry declared, although he appeared to
me to make a very hideous grimace.
The next day, early in the morning, we all four loaded our muskets, and
asked Aboh if he was ready to accompany us.
"King, he give him leave, him go at once," he answered.
No sooner did we quit our hut than we saw all the men of the village,
fully armed, collected at the outlets, evidently resolved to stop us by
force. Although we might have fought our way through them, we could not
have done so without bloodshed. Again we resolved to make a virtue of
necessity, and remain until we could find a favourable opportunity of
escaping.
Several days passed by, and every morning, when we were prepared to set
out, we found the village guarded as before. When, however, we left our
packs behind us, we were allowed to ramble at perfect freedom. Besides
Aboh and Shimbo we found a party always ready to accompany us and act as
beaters.
Not wishing it to be supposed that we intended to leave that morning, we
quietly returned to our hut, and undoing our knapsacks again went out,
simply with our rifles in our hands, as if we intended to have a little
shooting before breakfast. We had not gone far when we saw a woman near
the shore of the lake apparently hunting about and calling out to some
one in tones of distress.
"Who is she? and what is it all about?" I asked Aboh.
"She king's wife. Go bathe, lose piccaninny."
We hurried on until we met the poor woman. She then explained that
while she was bathing in a sheltered pool she had left her little boy on
the bank of the lake to play about and amuse himself, but when she came
out of the water she could nowhere find him. Of course it at once
occurred to us that a crocodile must have carried him off, but Aboh
averred that if such was the case the mother would have heard him cry
out. He might have slipped into the water and have been drowned, but
that he might possibly be hiding from her, for the sake of playing a
trick.
"In that case she will soon find him, I hope," I observed.
Scarcely had I spoken than I saw a huge crocodile crawling out of the
bank not twenty yards from us. The next instant, stooping down its
head, it lifted up a little black boy by one of his legs.