Our horses had not advanced more than half a dozen strides when the
strange-looking object again appeared and came stumbling toward us, and
then we saw that it was indeed a human being, apparently a girl of about
twelve years of age, from her stature. The first thing that I
particularly observed was that her skin was a kind of brownish white,
the next that she had a mop of black hair streaming loosely down over
her shoulders; then I saw that she was half-naked, for the single
garment in which she was clad was in such a tattered condition that all
that remained of it was a few fluttering rags. It was evident that the
poor creature was in the very last stages of exhaustion, for she reeled
and staggered as she came toward us with outstretched, appealing arms;
and presently, when we were still a few yards apart, with a low, wailing
cry she fell prone and lay huddled up in a pathetic little heap in the
long grass, while the dogs dashed forward and stood alternately nuzzling
her and looking up to us with plaintive whines. The next instant I
swung out of my saddle, and, bending down, raised the unfortunate
creature in my arms, when I saw, to my amazement, that she was evidently
a full-grown woman, but of very diminutive stature, being only about
four feet six inches in height. Moreover she was in a most shockingly
emaciated condition, and on her back was a close network of scarcely
healed scars, which looked as though they might have resulted from a
most merciless scourging; and she was in a deep swoon, having apparently
exhausted her last particle of strength in the endeavour to reach us.
Taking off my hat, I handed it to Piet, with instructions that he should
fill it and his own at the brook, and return to me with all speed; and
while he was gone I pulled off my jacket and wrapped the frail,
senseless form in it. For I saw at once that this creature had not been
accustomed, like the native women with whom I had thus far come in
contact, to go about in such a state; the rags which still clung to her
attenuated form showed that she habitually wore clothing, and there was
a certain suggestion of refinement in the mould of her features that led
me to the conclusion that she belonged to a race of people having some
claim to be regarded as civilised, in their own peculiar fashion. In
short, she answered in every respect to Mapela's description of the
Bandokolo; and I had gathered, from what he said, that they were in some
sort a civilised race.
It was a long time before we succeeded in restoring the poor creature to
her senses, so long, indeed, that when at length she opened her eyes and
began to look wonderingly about her, the wagon was close at hand. As
soon, therefore, as it was within easy hailing distance I ordered Jan to
outspan, instructed Piet to prepare my cartel, and, when the latter was
ready, carried my patient to it and laid her upon it. Then, having shot
a buck earlier in the day, we started a fire and set to work to prepare
some good strong broth, which, when it was ready, I administered, with
seemingly good effect, for when the woman had partaken of it she spoke a
word or two which sounded like an enquiry. But I could make nothing of
it, nor could Piet, whereupon 'Mfuni came forward, and presently he
contrived to hit upon a kind of Bantu dialect which the woman
understood. And then, when we had satisfied her curiosity as to who we
were, where we came from, and whither we were going, and had assured her
that we were friends and that she might regard herself as perfectly safe
with us, she informed us, in turn, that she was of the Bandokolo, and
that she had been driven out of the country--the border of which was
then one day's march distant--for some offence. This she was
endeavouring to explain, when she sank back exhausted upon the cartel,
and again fell into a swoon.
It soon became evident that the unfortunate little creature was in a
most critical condition, from the combined effects, as I supposed, of
fiendish ill treatment, violent exertion, and insufficient nourishment;
and we were kept busy all that night reviving her from swoon after
swoon, and in the preparation and administration of strong broth, with
which to combat the terrible prostration that was her most alarming
symptom. Toward morning, however, she seemed to revive a little, and
after absorbing another liberal dose of broth, slightly dashed with
brandy, she complained of weariness, and soon afterward sank into a deep
sleep, from the restorative effects of which I hoped much. But of
course the idea of continuing our trek that day was quite out of the
question; we therefore remained where we were, and I set Jan and
'Ngulubi to look after the oxen and see that they came to no harm, while
Piet, 'Mfuni, and I devoted ourselves to the task of looking after the
invalid, though, goodness knows, our ignorance of everything connected
with the leech's art was so complete that we could do nothing more than
pour into her all the nourishment that she could be persuaded to absorb.
And I am afraid that it was this lamentable ignorance of ours that was
responsible for her condition when she awoke about ten o'clock in the
morning. For after tossing restlessly upon the cartel for about half an
hour, she suddenly sat up, and stared about her with glassy,
terrorstricken eyes, and began to mutter rapidly to herself; and upon
feeling her pulse I found that it was throbbing furiously; also her skin
was dry, and scorching hot: in short, it was evident that she was in a
state of high fever closely bordering on delirium. We improved matters
a little by withdrawing the cartel from beneath the close, suffocatingly
hot tent of the wagon, and placing it on the grass, in the shadow of the
wagon, where the soft breeze could play freely upon the patient, also by
swathing her head in towels which were kept continually dripping wet;
and after about an hour of this treatment the fever so far abated as to
permit her to talk coherently, when she told us her story, to the
following effect.
"My name," said she, "is Siluce, and I am of the Bandokolo. I am two
hundred and twenty-five moons (a little more than seventeen years) old;
and my father, Mindula, is one of the most powerful chiefs of the
nation. A little more than fifteen moons ago he used his influence to
secure me what is greatly coveted and regarded as a very high honour in
Bandokolo, namely a position in the household of Bimbane, the queen.
And for a time all went well, and I was happy, although Bimbane--who is
so old that no man living knows how old she is--is very severe,
tyrannical, and cruel to all those who are brought into contact with
her. Then, six moons ago, I met Anuti, one of the captains of the
queen's guard, and we learned to love each other. Four moons passed,
and then, in accordance with the custom of our country, Anuti presented
himself before the queen, and besought her permission to make me his
wife.
"Now, Anuti is one of the most splendid men of the Bandokolo: he is
three hundred and seventeen moons (nearly twenty-four and a half years)
old; in stature he stands a full head taller than myself; he is a
valiant warrior, a clever hunter; and he has royal blood in his veins,
for his father's father's father was the son of a prince of the royal
house, and was said to be a tenth cousin of Bimbane, the queen."
"But," I interrupted, at this point, "how could that be? The prince
from whom Anuti descended must have lived--let me see--yes, more than
one thousand six hundred moons ago. Surely your queen is not so old as
that!"
"Ah, but she is, and infinitely older!" answered Siluce. "No man knows
how old she is; there is no record of her birth and parentage; she has
been queen of the Bandokolo for unnumbered ages."
"Oh, but that is nonsense, you know!" I retorted; "unless of course
your records have been very badly kept. Why, in my country, if a man
lives to be thirteen hundred moons old we regard him as a marvel.
Surely your queen cannot be older than that?"
"Yes," answered Siluce; "indeed she is. You do not understand. Bimbane
is a great magician, who keeps herself alive by certain secret arts
unknown to the rest of us. And she does so, not only because she fears
to die, but also because she is persuaded that somewhere in the world
there is--or will be--a man who, if she can find him and induce him to
become her spouse, will restore to her her long-lost youth and all the
joy of life that she once knew. It is the great desire of her life to
find this man, and no sooner did she see Anuti than the thought arose
that he might be the one through whom she would attain the fulfilment of
her desires; and by the exercise of her magic she stole his heart from
me, and induced him to wed her. And because I protested she first
caused me to be publicly whipped, and then ordered me to leave the
country, saying that at sunrise of the following day she would send
forth hunters to seek for and destroy me if they found me. And, knowing
that Bimbane would keep her word, I fled forthwith, all smarting from my
whipping as I was, and made southward, avoiding all villages on my way,
and following the most lonely bypaths that I could find. For just half
a moon have I maintained a continuous flight, living on such fruit and
other food as I chanced to come upon while pursuing my way, hiding
whenever I saw man or woman, and scarce daring to rest or sleep lest
savage beasts or the still more savage hunters should come upon and slay
me. And now all my strength has gone; the hardships of my flight have
sapped my life; and naught remains for me but to die, glad that I am
permitted to pass painlessly in your hands rather than by those of the
cruel hunters, who would drain the last remnant of my miserable life
from me by slow torture!" And as the unhappy creature uttered the last
words she threw up her hands with a gesture of despair and burst into a
passion of hysterical weeping which I made no effort to check, hoping
that thus she might gain relief to her overwrought feelings.
But instead of that happening, the thoughts and memories which had been
awakened during the recital of her terrible experiences only increased
her excitement, until in the course of half an hour the unhappy girl was
fighting us and screaming in high delirium. Yet through it all there
was one idea that seemed to haunt her, for later on, during a
comparatively quiet period, she looked up into my face, and, seizing me
by the hand, said:
"O wonderful white man, great and strong, you are going to
Masakisale,"--the capital of Bandokolo--"and will see Bimbane. Take
notice, and you will see that on the thumb of her right hand she wears a
ring in which is set a wonderful stone that shines like the sun at
eventide. That stone is a magic stone, a potent amulet, by virtue of
which she is able to do many marvellous things, and, among others, to
win the hearts of men. Some think that it is the possession of that
stone which enables her to prolong her life indefinitely. If it were
taken from her, and she were to die, all Bandokolo would rejoice; for
Bimbane is a cruel tyrant, grinding down the people, and making the
lives of many an intolerable burden to them. There have been those who
have sought to take the stone from her, but by the power of her magic
she has discovered their purpose and has destroyed them. But it may be
that her magic will have no power over you, O white man; therefore, if
you can, take from her that stone, and so deliver Bandokolo from her
merciless tyranny. You will do it? Promise me."
"I promise you, Siluce, that, if I can, I will take the stone from her,"
I answered, more to soothe the unhappy little creature's consuming
anxiety, I must confess, than with any serious intention at that moment
of fulfilling my promise. I meant well, and I was glad to see that my
promise had produced a beneficial effect, for her agitation gradually
subsided, and a little later, after partaking of more broth, she sank
into a slumber that, uneasy at first, gradually became quiet and
profound.
But the improvement was only of brief duration, for in little more than
an hour she was again awake and raving in high delirium, fighting with
us more fiercely than ever, under the impression, apparently, that we
were the hunters who had been sent out to destroy her. Fortunately, I
possessed a very fair knowledge of the Bantu dialect that she seemed to
understand, and, using this, I did my utmost to soothe her and calm her
fears. But all my efforts were worse than unavailing, for they only
seemed to increase her terror; moreover, she appeared now to have become
raving mad: therefore, in despair, and because I saw that in her
struggles with us she was rapidly wearing out what little strength
remained to her, I suddenly released my hold upon her, and bade Piet and
'Mfuni do the same; whereupon she sprang from the cartel and dashed off
down the valley with the speed of a hunted deer. There was nothing for
it, of course, but to follow, and this I did on horseback, with Piet and
the dogs accompanying me. We proceeded at an easy canter, taking care
to maintain a good distance, so that she might not be conscious of being
followed, but just keeping her in sight; and in this fashion the poor,
demented creature ran quite two miles before she fell exhausted.
When we came up to where she lay, we found her doubled up in the long
grass, apparently senseless, but moaning pitifully; and again, as on the
previous day, I sent Piet off to the river for water with which to
restore her. But all our efforts were vain, for in less than half an
hour after we had come to her the unhappy girl died, without recovering
consciousness. As soon as I was quite sure that she was dead I mounted
my horse, and, bidding Piet place the poor scarred, emaciated corpse in
my arms, rode back to the wagon; and, procuring the necessary tools, I
dug a grave in which we laid the poor inanimate body to rest, covering
it well with big boulders from the river to protect it from the ravages
of the jackals and hyenas. Then, notwithstanding that it was by this
time late in the afternoon, we inspanned and trekked a good ten miles up
the valley; for there is nothing that a South African savage fears much
more than a grave, and I knew that nothing would have induced my "boys"
to pass the night within half a dozen miles of poor Siluce's last
resting place.
Two days later, about mid-afternoon, we outspanned close to the
headwaters of the small stream, the course of which we had been
following for so many days. It had its source in the slopes of the more
eastern of the two mountains toward which we had been travelling, and we
outspanned at the very base of the mountain and close to the margin of
the rivulet, which at this point had dwindled to a width that I could
easily leap across. And now, having arrived at a point where this
particular stream would be of no further service to us, our first
business, before continuing our journey, must be to find another stream,
flowing northward in a direction corresponding generally with that which
we desired to pursue. Accordingly, as there still remained to us some
three hours of daylight, Piet and I, accompanied by 'Mfuni, who had by
this time learned to sit a horse, set out upon a short exploring
expedition northward.
The spot upon which the wagon was outspanned was at the extremity of the
south-western slope of the mountain, almost on the northernmost
extremity of a wide, flat plain; and from this position, looking
northward, we saw that the country again presented a somewhat broken
appearance, with high ground to the right and left, and something in the
nature of a valley directly ahead. And, a valley being obviously the
place where one would most naturally expect to find water, it was toward
the entrance to this one that we wended our way, with the steep slope of
the mountain, shaggy with thickly growing timber, of strange forms and
still stranger colours, on our right.
As it happened, we were exceptionally fortunate in our exploration on
this occasion, for we had not ridden more than six miles when, issuing
from the northern slope of the mountain, the base of which we had been
skirting, we discovered another rivulet, very similar in character to
that near which we had left the wagon outspanned, and upon tasting the
water we found it to be deliciously sweet and cool; moreover, the stream
was flowing northward, or precisely in the direction toward which we
wished to travel. We followed the course of the stream for a distance
of some four miles down the valley, and then, finding that it continued
to flow northward, and showed a tendency to increase in volume, being
fed by other small brooks flowing into it here and there, we turned our
horses' heads and cantered back to the wagon, very well satisfied with
the result of our ride.
Inspanning at dawn the next morning, we easily accomplished the trek
from the headwaters of the stream we were leaving behind us to those of
the stream which we intended to follow before the heat of the day had
fairly set in, outspanning at length, about eleven o'clock in the
morning, in a nicely wooded, shady valley, which gradually widened as we
progressed, with the stream on our left and rising ground on both sides
of us. Here we allowed the oxen to rest and graze for nearly three
hours, resuming our journey about half-past two o'clock in the
afternoon.
As usual, Piet and I, on horseback and accompanied by the two dogs,
preceded the wagon, the pace of the horses, even at a walk, being so
much faster than that of the slower-moving oxen that we generally
managed to find ourselves at least two or three miles ahead by the time
that a suitable spot for the next outspan was reached. But upon this
occasion I was desirous of exploring our route for some little distance
ahead; therefore, upon mounting, we put our horses into an easy canter,
and soon left the wagon out of sight and hearing behind us. Proceeding
in this fashion, with an occasional rein-up to breathe our horses, we
found ourselves, in the course of an hour and a half, about ten miles
from our starting-point, in the midst of a beautifully wooded, park-like
plain about five miles in width, with the stream, now considerably
augmented in volume, purling musically over a shingly bed on the eastern
margin of the plain, and the high land, rising by this time almost to
the dignity of hills, still shutting us in on either hand.
The spot which we had reached seemed well enough adapted for our nightly
outspan, therefore Piet proceeded to mark the spot by setting up our
usual signal, which was a small branch of a tree, with its leaves
attached, broken from the parent stem and stuck upright in the soil.
This would at once arrest the attention of Jan, the Hottentot driver,
upon his arrival at the spot; and seeing it, he would outspan, even if
we chanced to be elsewhere when he arrived. Then, mounting again, we
resumed our journey down the valley, in search of something wherewith to
replenish our empty larder.
At a distance of some five miles farther down the valley we secured what
we wanted, having come quite unexpectedly, while our horses were
walking, upon a herd of black antelope, among them a number of
half-grown fawns, one of which I managed to bowl over before they had
sufficiently recovered from their surprise to get away; and having
secured our prize upon the back of Piet's horse, behind his saddle, we
proceeded to retrace our steps leisurely. But we had scarcely covered a
mile upon our backward way when we became aware of certain strange
roaring and grunting sounds, of a kind quite new to us, apparently
proceeding from the far side of a big clump of bush which lay at a
distance of a short quarter of a mile on our right front. Curious to
learn what could be the origin of those strange sounds, we turned our
horses' heads in that direction, and a few minutes later, upon rounding
the extremity of the clump, we came upon a most extraordinary sight.
The scene was an open glade of about four acres in extent, bordered by
trees, among which were a few specimens of the kind described in the
preceding chapter, with weirdly shaped, swollen, knotted, and twisted
trunks and branches, and long, flat, ribbon-like streamers of leaves,
coated with a vile-smelling exudation. But it was not so much the glade
itself--strange as was its appearance, with its weird-looking
vegetation--that attracted our attention, as what was being enacted in
it. For away toward one edge of it was a big boulder, on the top of
which crouched the figure of--was it a woman, or a monkey? The creature
seemed to partake about equally of the characteristics of both; she was
entirely unclothed, her whole body was covered with short, thick,
golden-brown hair, that on her head being much longer than that on the
rest of her body, while her features might be described as very
human-looking for a monkey, or very monkeyfied for a human being. But I
noticed that her arms were disproportionately long, as compared with
those of a woman; and a further glance revealed that her feet had a
distinct resemblance to hands, her great toes looking very much more
like thumbs.
It was not from her, however, that the roaring and grunting sounds
emanated--for she sat quite silent--but from two males of her own
species, who, in the middle of the arena, were engaged in deadly combat,
using their hands, feet, and teeth as weapons, which they employed with
most ferocious energy. Gripping each other by the throat with the left
hand, apparently with the twofold purpose of strangling and preventing
the opponent from biting, while with the right fist they battered each
other savagely, occasionally using the right foot in an endeavour to
throw each other, the combatants--both of whom stood well over six feet
high--whirled hither and thither with astounding agility, so completely
occupied with each other--and the female so absorbed in watching them--
as to be utterly oblivious of our presence there on the edge of the
arena, partially concealed beneath the shadow of the trees.
For several minutes they fought thus, locked together in a deadly grip;
then, as though by mutual consent, they drew apart a few paces,
evidently for the purpose of recovering their breath, glaring
ferociously at each other meanwhile, and uttering low, deep, rumbling,
snarling growls: and the tremendous energy which they must have expended
during the struggle was abundantly evidenced by the convulsive heaving
of their great, hairy chests. Then suddenly they rushed at each other
again, and became locked in a deadly embrace, each fixing his strong,
fang-like teeth deeply in the shoulder of the other, and each apparently
striving to crush the body of the other in the grip of his great, hairy
arms, the enormously powerful muscles of which could be plainly seen
working beneath the skin. To and fro they swayed, still tightly locked
together, growling and snapping at each other with such deadly ferocity
that in a few moments the blood was streaming copiously from their
lacerated shoulders and arms; and then one, apparently the younger of
the two, succeeded in throwing his opponent violently to the ground.
The shock seemed partially to stun the thrown one for a few seconds, and
of this his opponent took instant advantage by flinging himself astride
upon his antagonist's body, pinning his arms down by kneeling upon them,
and gripping his throat with both hands in a throttling grasp that soon
reduced his enemy to a condition of utter helplessness. Then, rising
heavily and somewhat unsteadily to his feet, the conqueror glared about
him for a moment, and, seeming to see what he was looking for, stooped
over his insensible foe, seized him by an arm and a leg, and, lifting
him above his head, went staggering across the open space toward one of
the weird-looking trees already mentioned, into the foliage of which he
flung the body. And forthwith, to our unspeakable horror, the long,
sticky, ribbon-like leaves, sensitive as those of a mimosa, seized and
wrapped themselves about the body, until, in less time than it takes to
tell, it was so completely enveloped that nothing of it was to be seen,
while the leaves of the tree--which was only about fourteen feet high--
had formed themselves into a great, horrible, tightly compressed mass,
in which I seemed to detect, for the space of a minute or two, signs of
an internal struggle. Meanwhile, the conqueror, having thus effectually
and terribly disposed of his foe, went reeling and staggering over to
where the female sat impassively upon the boulder, seized her roughly by
the arm, and dragged her, unresisting, into the depths of the wood,
where we soon lost sight of them.
Speechless with horror for the moment, even more at the demoniacal
ferocity displayed by the combatants than at the weird ghastliness of
the manner in which the fight had ended, I signed to Piet, and, wheeling
our horses, we galloped away from the scene of the tragedy, nor drew
rein again until we reached the wagon, which was in the act of being
outspanned. Then, dismounting, I beckoned to 'Mfuni, related what we
had seen, and asked him whether he had ever heard of such creatures as
those men, or monkeys, that Piet and I had beheld fighting. But 'Mfuni
shook his head and replied in the negative; he had never before been
anything like so far north, and his knowledge of the Bandokolo country,
it appeared, was even less than that which I had gained from Mapela.
In the course of the next day's trek we passed close to the scene of the
combat, and, for the satisfaction of my curiosity, I made a point of
carefully examining the tree into which the body of the vanquished had
been thrown. The leaves were still bunched tightly together; but I
observed that the mass thus formed was distinctly smaller than it had
been when I last looked upon it, and I believed I could guess pretty
accurately at the process which was going on within it. I felt very
strongly disposed to have the tree cut down and subjected to
examination; but there were two strong arguments against this, one being
the overpowering carrion-like effluvium which the tree exhaled, while
the other was Piet's point-blank refusal to have anything to do with
such an attempt.
On this day we saw two new species of animals, one being a hyena nearly
twice as big as any that I had hitherto seen, and of quite different
marking, the ground colour of its skin being very similar to that of the
lion, while it had a black head, a distinct black mane, a broad black
line running along its spine from the base of the skull to the tail, and
an alternation of black stripes and irregular blotches upon the whole of
its body except the under part, which was white. We came rather
suddenly upon a pack of eleven of these creatures disputing possession
of the carcass of a buffalo with a flock of vultures, and were therefore
afforded an excellent opportunity to note carefully their peculiarities
before they made off, which they did slowly and unwillingly, uttering
the most dreadful maniacal laughs as they went. The other creature was
a kind of jackal, as big as a full-grown leopard, with a splendid coat
of long, fine, glossy black fur. This beast broke cover about fifty
yards away from us, and, unlike the rest of his species, instead of
beating a hasty retreat upon seeing us, turned promptly and attacked us
with indescribable fury. Luckily, I had my rifle ready, and shot the
brute dead as he was in the very act of leaping at Prince's throat; and
it was well that I did so, for upon examining him we found that he was
possessed of a set of terrible fangs, capable of inflicting dreadful
injuries had he been afforded the chance. We stripped off his hide, and
left the carcass to the vultures to dispose of, which they did with
commendable promptitude, as Jan subsequently informed us when we
rejoined him at the next outspan. We also saw in the distance, on that
same day, a herd of about thirty elephants; but I did not attempt to
interfere with them, as I hoped that before long I should have something
even more valuable than ivory with which to load the wagon.
As we proceeded, the country steadily became more broken and irregular,
the hills higher and more precipitous, with frequent outcrops of
enormous granite boulders and towering cliffs of felspar, from the
interstices of which sprang strange and beautiful ferns, interspersed
with bushes bearing flowers of remarkable shapes and the most splendid
colours. The trees, too, grew more closely together: the streams
increased in number, many of them pouring down the face of the cliffs in
the form of waterfalls, which dissolved into spray and mist long before
they reached the bottom, veiling the dark and rugged rocks in soft
clouds of delicate vapour reflecting every hue of the rainbow. In
short, with every mile of our advance the scenery grew more wildly and
romantically beautiful, yet withal there were spots, deep narrow glens
and ravines shut in by towering cliffs and overshadowing trees, where
the effect was as weird as a scene copied from Dante's Inferno, and in
the midst of which one felt that the strangest happenings would have
excited no surprise.
It was in the midst of such a scene that we again encountered the
gigantic man-like monkeys, which, I subsequently learned, formed part of
the fauna peculiar to this remarkable country. There were two of them
this time, a male and a female, and they were coming toward us when we
sighted them. The instant that they caught sight of us, the female
turned and ran for the face of the nearest cliff, which she scaled with
incredible agility; but the male halted and stood his ground, evidently
prepared to dispute our passage, if necessary, and to cover his
companion's retreat. But I had no fancy for engaging in a fight with a
creature which was such a strange and unnatural compound of man and
beast. I therefore spoke a word to Piet, and we reined up; whereupon
the creature, after much snarling, growling, and baring of teeth, slowly
retreated, following his mate, but keeping a wary eye upon us meanwhile,
until he too reached the foot of the cliff, when, with a parting snarl
of defiance, he climbed the vertical face of the rock with an agility no
less extraordinary than that displayed by his mate.