Consciousness at length began, slowly and with seeming reluctance, to
return to me; and so exceedingly disagreeable was the process, that if I
could have had my own way just then, I think I should have preferred to
die. My first sensation was that of excessive stiffness in every part
of my body, with distracting headache. Then, as my nerves more fully
recovered their functions, ensued a burning fever which scorched my body
and sent the blood rushing through my throbbing veins like a torrent of
molten metal. And finally, as I made an unsuccessful effort to move, I
became aware, first of all by sundry sharp smarting sensations, that I
had been wounded in three or four places; and secondly, by a feeling of
severe compression about the wrists and ankles, that I was bound--a
prisoner!
With complete restoration to consciousness my sufferings rapidly grew
more acute; and at length, with a groan of exquisite agony, I opened my
eyes and looked about me.
"Where was I?"
Somewhere on shore, evidently.
Overhead was the deep brilliantly blue sky, with the sun, almost in the
zenith, darting his burning beams directly down upon my uncovered head
and my upturned face. Turning my head aside to escape the dazzling
brightness which smote upon my aching eyeballs with a sensation of
positive torture, I discovered that I was lying in about the centre of
an extensive forest clearing of nearly circular shape and about five
hundred yards in diameter, hemmed in on all sides by a dense growth of
jungle and forest trees, and carpeted thickly with short verdant grass.
Near me lay the apparently inanimate body of poor Mr Smellie, bound
hand and foot, like myself; and dotted about here and there on the
grass, mostly in a sitting posture and also bound, were some fifteen or
twenty negroes, who, from their wretched plight, I conjectured to be
survivors from the sunken slave schooner. Turning my head in the
opposite direction I discovered at a few yards distance a party of
negroes, some fifty in number, much finer-looking and more athletic men
than those in bonds round about me, who, from the weapons they bore, I
at once concluded to be our captors. This surmise was soon afterwards
proved to be correct; for, upon the completion of the meal which they
were busily discussing when I first made them out, they approached us,
and with sufficiently significant gestures gave us to understand that we
must rise and march.
The captive blacks rose to their feet stolidly and without any apparent
difficulty; but so far as I was concerned this was an impossibility, my
feet as well as my hands being secured. One great hulking black fellow,
noticing that neither Smellie nor I showed any signs of obedience,
deliberately proceeded to prod us here and there with the point of his
spear. Upon Smellie these delicate attentions produced no effect
whatever, he evidently being either dead or insensible; but they aroused
in me a very lively feeling of indignation, under the influence of which
I launched such a vigorous kick at the unreasonable darky's shins as
made him howl with pain and sent him hopping out of range in double-
quick time--a proceeding which raised a hearty laugh at his expense
among his companions. A moment later, however, he returned, his eyes
sparkling with rage, and would have transfixed me with the light javelin
he carried had not another of the party interfered. By the order of
this last individual Smellie and I were presently raised from the
ground, and each borne by two men, were carried off in the rear of the
column of captive blacks, our captors taking up such positions along the
line on either side as effectually precluded all possibility of escape.
Passing across the open space, we presently plunged into the jungle,
traversing a bush-path just wide enough to allow of two men walking
abreast. I had not much opportunity, however, for noting any of the
incidents of our journey, for, owing to the clumsy way in which I was
being carried, my wounds burst open afresh, and I soon fainted from loss
of blood.
When next I recovered consciousness I found that we were afloat, no
doubt on the river, though I had no means of ascertaining this for
certain, as I was lying in the bottom of the canoe, and could see
nothing but blue sky beyond either of the gunwales. Smellie was lying
beside me, and, to my great joy, I found that he was not only alive but
a great deal better than I could have thought possible after witnessing
his former desperate condition. Of course we at once exchanged
congratulations each at the other's escape; and then began to compare
notes. My companion in misfortune had, it seemed, just started to go
forward when the explosion occurred on board the brig; the shock had
rendered him unconscious; and when he recovered he found himself on
board the canoe with me beside him. Poor fellow! he was in a sad
plight. He was severely wounded in no less than four different parts of
his body; his face and hands were badly scorched; his clothing--about
which he was always very particular--hung upon him in tatters; and
lastly, he was greatly distressed in mind at the disastrous failure of
the expedition, at the fearfully heavy casualties which we knew had
befallen the attacking party, and at the extreme probability that those
casualties had been very largely increased by the blowing up of the
brig. I said what I could to comfort him, but, alas! that was not much;
and it was a relief to us both to change the subject, even though we
naturally turned at once to the discussion of our own problematical
future.
The craft in which we found ourselves was a war-canoe, about sixty feet
long and five feet beam, manned by about forty of our captors, who sat
two abreast close to the gunwales, paddling vigorously; the negro
prisoners, as well as ourselves, being stowed along the middle of the
canoe, fore and aft. A fresh fair breeze was blowing, and full
advantage was being taken of this circumstance, a huge mat sail being
hoisted on the craft which must inevitably have capsized her had it
happened to jibe. From the sharp rushing sound of the water along the
sides and bottom of the canoe, and the swift strokes of the paddles, I
judged that we must be travelling through the water at a rapid rate, a
conjecture the truth of which was afterwards very disagreeably verified.
We sped on thus until sunset, when the sail was suddenly lowered and
with loud shouts, which were re-echoed from the shore, the canoe's
course was altered, the craft grounding a few minutes afterwards on a
beach where all hands of us landed.
Smellie and I were by this time quite able to walk, but before we could
set foot to the ground a couple of stalwart blacks were told off to each
of us, and we were carried along as before. On this occasion, however,
our journey was but a short one, not more, perhaps, than five or six
hundred yards altogether. Arrived, apparently, at our destination, we
were set down, and immediately bound with _llianos_ or monkey-rope to
the bole of a huge tree. Looking about us, we discovered that we were
in a native village of considerable size, built in a semicircular shape,
having in its centre a structure of considerable architectural
pretensions in a barbaric sort of way, which structure we conjectured--
from the presence of a hideous idol in front of it--must be a sort of
temple. Looking about us still further, we noticed that the remainder
of the prisoners were being bound to trees like ourselves. There was a
peculiarity about the disposition of the prisoners which I certainly did
not like; there might be no motive for it, but it struck me that our
being ranged in a semicircle in front of this idol had a rather sinister
appearance.
Having secured the prisoners to their satisfaction, our captors left us;
and we were speedily surrounded by a curious crowd consisting chiefly of
women and children, who came and stared persistently with open-mouthed
curiosity at the captives, and especially at Smellie and myself, greatly
attracted by the apparently novel sight of our white skins. The old
women were, for the most part, hideously ugly, wrinkled, and bent, their
grizzled wool plastered with grease and dirt, and their bodies
positively _encrusted_ with filth. The young women, on the other hand--
those, that is to say, whose ages seemed to range between thirteen and
sixteen or seventeen--were by no means destitute of personal
attractions, which--to do them justice--they exhibited with the most
boundless liberality. They were all possessed of plump well-made
figures; their limbs were, in many cases, very finely moulded; they had
an upright graceful carriage; the expression of their features was
amiable and gentle; and, notwithstanding their rather prominent lips, a
few of them were actually pretty.
One of these damsels, a perfect little sable Hebe, seemed to be greatly
attracted by us, walking round and round the tree to which we were
secured--first at a respectful distance, and then nearer and nearer.
Finally, after studying our countenances intently for nearly a minute,
she boldly approached and laid her finger upon my cheek, apparently to
ascertain whether or no it was genuine flesh and blood. Satisfied that
it was so, she backed off to take another look at us, and I thought an
expression of pity overspread her face. Finally she addressed us. We
were, of course, quite unable to understand the words she uttered, but
her actions, graceful as they were, were significant enough; she was
evidently asking whether we were hungry or thirsty. To this inquiry
Smellie nodded a prompt affirmative, which I backed up with the single
word "_Rather_," uttered so expressively that I am certain she quite
understood me. At all events, she tripped lightly away, returning in a
few minutes with a small finely-woven basket containing about two quarts
of fresh palm-juice, which she presented first to Smellie's lips, and
then to mine. Need I say that, between us, we emptied it? Our hostess
laughed gaily as she glanced at the empty basket, evidently pleased at
the success of her attempt to converse with us; and then, with a
reassuring word or two, she tripped away again. Only to return,
however, about a quarter of an hour later, with the same basket, filled
this time with a kind of porridge, which, though not particularly tasty,
was acceptable enough after our long fast. This, our fair, or rather
our _dark_ friend administered to us alternately by means of a flat
wooden spatula. This feeding process had not passed, it need hardly be
said, unobserved; and by the time that our meal was concluded quite a
large audience of women had gathered round to witness the performance.
The animated jabber and hearty ringing laughter of several of the
younger women and the somewhat abashed yet pleased expression of our own
particular friend seemed to indicate that _badinage_ was not altogether
unknown, even in this obscure African village. But everything of that
kind was brought abruptly to an end by a loud discordant blowing of
horns and the hollow _tub, tub, tub_ of a number of rude drums; at which
sounds the crowd around us broke up at once and retired, our little Hebe
casting back at us more than one glance strongly indicative, as it
seemed to me, of compassion.
A fire had been kindled in front of the idol, or _fetish_, during the
feeding process above referred to, and now that the curious crowd of
women and girls who then surrounded us had retired we were able to see a
little more of what was going on. The horn-blowing and drum-beating
emanated from a group of entirely naked savages who were marching in a
kind of procession round the idol. This ceremony lasted about ten
minutes, when another negro made his appearance upon the scene, emerging
from the temple, if such it actually was, bearing in his hands a queer-
looking construction, the nature of which I was at first unable to
distinguish. After marching solemnly round the idol three times this
individual seated himself tailor-fashion before it, laid the instrument
on his knees, and began to hammer upon it with a couple of sticks;
whereupon we became aware that he was playing upon a rude imitation of a
child's harmonicon, the keys of which appeared to be constructed of hard
wood, out of which he managed to beat a very fair specimen of barbaric
music. This music seemed to be the overture to some impending
entertainment; for upon the sound of the first notes the inhabitants
began to pour out of their huts and to gather in a promiscuous crowd
round the giant tree-stump upon which the hideous fetish was mounted.
When the gathering was apparently complete the music ceased, the
drumming and horn-blowing burst out afresh, and the crowd immediately
divided into two sections, the smaller, and I presume the more select
division squatting on the ground in a semicircle in front of the image,
whilst the remainder of the inhabitants ranged themselves into two
quadrants about thirty feet apart, one on each side and in front of
their deity. Through this open space between the two quadrants it
appeared probable that we should obtain a very good, if rather distant
view of the ceremonies which were evidently about to take place.
The audience having arranged themselves in position, the horn-blowing
ceased, and the musicians stepped inside the inner circle and seated
themselves to the right and left of the fetish. A pause of perhaps a
couple of minutes ensued, and then horns, drums, and harmonicon suddenly
burst out with a loud confused fantasia, each man apparently doing his
utmost to drown the noise of the others. Louder and louder blared the
horns; the drummers pounded upon their long narrow drums until it seemed
as though at every stroke the drum-heads must inevitably be beaten in;
whilst the harmonicon-man hammered away at his instrument with a vigour
and rapidity which must have been truly gratifying to his friends.
In the midst of this wild hullabaloo a blood-curdling yell rang out upon
the still night air, and from the open door of the temple or fetish-
house there bounded into the inner circle a most extraordinary figure,
clad from head to heel in monkey skins, his head adorned with a coronet
of beads and feathers, a bead necklace round his neck, a living snake
encircling his waist as a girdle, and bearing in his hand a red and
black wand about four feet long.
Upon the appearance of this individual the uproar suddenly ceased, then
the _maestro_ who presided at the harmonicon struck up a low
accompaniment, and the last comer burst into a subdued monotonous chant,
pointing and gesticulating from time to time with his wand.
I watched the proceedings with a great deal of interest, and was
beginning to wonder what would happen next, when Smellie turned to me
and quietly asked:
"Mr Hawkesley, do you ever say your prayers?"
"Sir?" I ejaculated in unutterable surprise at so impertinent a
question, as it seemed to me.
"I asked whether you ever said your prayers: I ought to have said,
rather, do you ever pray? There is often a very great difference
between the two acts," he returned quietly.
"Well--ah--yes--that is--certainly, sir, I do," stammered I.
"Then," said Smellie, "let me recommend you to pray _now_--to pray with
all the earnestness and sincerity of which you are capable. Make your
peace with God, if you have not already done so, whilst you have the
opportunity, for, unless I am very greatly mistaken, _it is our doom to
die to-night_."
I was so shocked, so completely knocked off my balance, by this
unlooked-for communication, that, for the moment I lost all power of
speech, my tongue clave to the roof of my mouth, and I could only stare
at my fellow-prisoner in horrified incredulity.
"My poor boy," he said compassionately, "I am afraid I have spoken to
you too abruptly. I ought to have prepared you gradually for so
momentous a piece of intelligence, to have _broken_ the news to you.
But, there, what matters? You are a plucky lad, Hawkesley--your conduct
last night abundantly proved that--and I am sure that, if the occasion
should come, you will stand up and face death in the presence of these
savages as an Englishman should; I am not afraid of that. But, my dear
boy, are you prepared to die? Are you in a fit state to meet your God?
You are very young, quite a lad in fact, and a _good_ lad too; you
cannot yet have erred very grievously. Thoughtless, careless,
indifferent you may have been, but your conscience can hardly charge you
with any _very_ serious offence, I should think; and you may therefore
well hope for pardon and mercy. Seek both at once, my dear boy."
"But--Mr Smellie--I--I don't understand; _you_ don't appear to be
afraid or--or disturbed at--the near prospect of death."
"No," he replied, raising his eyes heavenward for a moment; "no, thank
God, I am _not_ afraid. My mother--" his lips quivered, his voice
faltered and almost broke for an instant, and by the red glare of the
fire I saw the tears well up into his eyes as he spoke that revered
name. But he steadied himself again directly, and went on--"my dear
mother taught me to be ready for death at any moment; taught me so
lovingly and so thoroughly that I can regard with perfect calmness to-
night, as I have a score of times before, the approach of the Last
Enemy. But let us not waste the precious moments in conversation. Time
soon will be for us no more; and--ah! see, there comes the vile high-
priest of a loathsome idolatry to claim his first victim. Should you by
any chance escape the coming horrors of this night, Hawkesley, and live
to reach England once more, seek out my mother--Austin will instruct you
as to where she may be found--and tell her that her son died as she
would wish him to die, a sincere Christian. I am to be the first victim
it would appear. Farewell, my dear boy! God bless you, and grant us a
happy meeting at His right hand on the last Great Day!"
I strove in vain to reply to his solemnly affectionate farewell. I
wanted to let him know how inexpressibly precious to me were the few
words of exhortation and encouragement he had spoken; to say were it
only a single word to cheer his last moments with the assurance that he
had not spoken in vain; but my emotion was too great. I felt that in
the effort to speak I should inevitably burst into tears, and so,
perhaps, unman him, and disgrace him and myself in the eyes of these
inhuman savages. So, perforce, I held my peace, and watched with a
wildly-beating heart to see how a brave man should die.
In the meantime the fetish-man had concluded his chant, and, in the
midst of a breathless silence on the part of his audience, stood looking
intently round the circle at the group of prisoners secured to the
trees. He glanced keenly at each of us in turn, and at length pointed
his wand straight at Smellie. It was this action which caused the
second lieutenant to announce to me his belief that it was he who was to
be the first victim of the impending sacrificial ceremony. Keeping his
wand pointed directly at my companion, the uncouth figure slowly and
with a quite undescribable undulatory dancing motion, advanced toward
our tree, the crowd hastily making way for him, and four members of the
inner circle rising to their feet and following him at a touch from his
finger.
Overcoming by a strong effort the horrible fascination which this
loathsome wretch exercised over me, I turned to look at my companion.
He seemed to be utterly unconscious of his surroundings. His eyes were
raised to heaven, his lips moved from time to time, and it was manifest
that he was holding the most solemn and momentous communion which it is
possible for man to hold even with his Maker. Pale, haggard, and worn
with mental and physical suffering, his crisp brown curly hair stiff and
matted with blood, his face streaked with ensanguined stains, and his
scorched clothing hanging about him in blood-stained rags, I
nevertheless thought it would be difficult to picture a more perfect
embodiment of a good, noble, and brave man.
Slowly and sinuously, like a serpent stealing upon his prey, the fetish-
man or witch-doctor advanced until he stood within a yard of his
intended victim, with the fatal wand still pointing straight at
Smellie's breast. He stood thus for a full minute or more, seemingly
striving to wring from the bound and helpless prisoner some sign of
panic or at least of discomposure. In vain. His last most solemn act
of duty done, Smellie at length turned his eyes upon those of his enemy,
regarding him with a gaze so calmly steadfast, so palpably devoid of
fear, that the savage, mortified at his utter failure, suddenly, with an
exclamation unmistakably indicative of rage and chagrin, dropped the
point of his wand, to raise it again instantly and direct it toward my
breast.
But the cool intrepidity which I had just witnessed was contagious; in
my sublime admiration of it my soul soared far above and beyond the
reach of so debasing a feeling as fear, and in my turn I met the cruel
sinister gaze of the crafty savage with one as calm as Smellie's own.
For perhaps a full minute--it may have been more, it may have been less;
it is difficult to estimate the lapse of time under such trying
circumstances--the fetish-man did his best to disconcert me; then,
baffled once more, with a furious and threatening gesture he passed on
to the next prisoner.
"We are reprieved for the time being," said Smellie, as the
gesticulating witch-doctor and his myrmidons passed on, "but only to
become the victims of a more refined and protracted torture at last.
Having failed to exhibit any signs of fear in the first instance we are
spared to witness the cumulative sufferings of those who are to precede
us, in order that by the sight of their exquisite torments our courage
may be quelled by the anticipation of our own. I imagine, from what I
have read of the customs of this people, that we are about to witness
and become participants in a ceremony undertaken to avert or remove some
great calamity--a ceremony involving the sacrifice of many victims, each
of whom is put to death with more refined barbarity than that dealt out
to the victim preceding him. Ah! see there--a worthy victim has at last
been found with which to begin the sacrifice."
I looked in the direction his eyes indicated, and, sure enough, the
light but fatal stroke with the wand was just in the act of being struck
upon the naked breast of one of the negro prisoners. As the blow fell a
loud shriek of despair rang out from the lips of the wretched man; the
fetish-man's four assistants sprang upon their prey, his bonds were cut,
and in another moment he was dragged, struggling desperately and
shrieking with mortal fear, into the inner circle and up to the broad
tree-stump which supported the fetish or idol.
In the meantime the fire had been bountifully replenished with wood and
now blazed up fiercely. By its ruddy light I saw the fetish-man retire
to the interior of the temple or fetish-house, to appear immediately
afterwards with a rude stone hammer in one hand and what looked like
four or five large spike-nails in the other. He stood for a moment
gloating over the agonised countenance of his victim, and then nodded
his head. At the signal his four assistants seized their prisoner, and,
despite his terrible struggles, rapidly placed him, head downwards, with
his back against the tree-stump, and his limbs extended as far as they
would go round it, when the fetish-man proceeded with cruel deliberation
to secure him in position by _nailing him there_, the spikes taken from
the fetish-house being used for the purpose.
The horns, drums, and harmonicon now broke forth afresh into a hideous
clamour, which, however, was powerless to drown the dismal shrieks of
the victim; and the fetish-man, arming himself with a large broad-bladed
and most murderous-looking knife, began to dance slowly, with most
extraordinary contortions of visage and body, round the idol. Gradually
his gyrations grew more rapid, his gestures more extravagant; the knife
was flourished in the air in an increasingly threatening manner, and at
length, as the weird dancer whirled rapidly round the tree-stump, the
weapon was at each revolution plunged ruthlessly into the writhing body
of the hapless victim, the utmost care being taken, I noticed, to avoid
any vital part. Finally, when the dancer had apparently danced himself
into a frenzy--when his gyrations had become so rapid that it almost
made me giddy to look at him, and when his contortions of body grew so
extravagant that it was difficult to say whether he was dancing on his
head or on his heels--there flashed a sudden lightning-like gleam of the
knife, and the head of the miserable victim fell to the ground, to be
snatched up instantly and, with still twitching features, nailed between
the feet of the body.
A loud murmur of applause from the spectators greeted this effort of the
fetish-man, in the midst of which he retired for a few minutes to the
interior of the fetish-house, probably to recruit his somewhat exhausted
energies.