The one thing that, after the spreading, well-tilled fields surrounding
every village, the great herds of cattle, and the general aspect of
prosperity everywhere met with, most impressed the two travellers during
their progress through the Makolo country, was the extraordinary
courtesy and deference uniformly extended to them by the natives. These
people were savages, pure and unadulterated, a fierce and warlike race,
who had been obliged to fight for their very existence throughout
countless ages, ignorant and superstitious to a degree, with all the
virtues and most of the vices of the primeval savage, unspeakably cruel
and relentless as enemies, absolutely fearless in battle, and, above
all, intensely suspicious of strangers; yet, although white men were
practically unknown to them as a people, they never annoyed the
travellers by any display of undue curiosity, every man deferentially
saluted them, and all were willing, even eager, to do them service.
The character of the country, although it could not by any stretch of
the imagination be described as mountainous, maintained its rugged
character almost to the end of the journey, consisting of a constant
succession of low hills, or ridges, mostly of granite formation, divided
from each other by broad, fertile, well-watered valleys, dotted here and
there with villages which, as the travellers advanced, gradually drew
closer together and increased in importance.
It was as the travellers surmounted a certain ridge, about an hour and a
half before the time of their midday halt, that they caught their first
glimpse of the sea since losing sight of it on their departure from
Lourenco Marques. It stretched away to right and left and in front of
them, a narrow, faint, grey streak, softly shimmering under the beams of
the noontide sun; and between it and the observers lay a wide-
stretching, level, grassy plain, in the midst of which appeared
numberless irregularities that, viewed through their powerful glasses,
assumed the aspect of architectural ruins of enormous massiveness and
strength. But they were some ten miles distant, and through the highly
rarefied atmosphere that intervened it was impossible to obtain any very
clear conception of their character, except that they were undoubtedly
of human origin and of quite unexpected extent. One thing, however, was
certain, in the light of Menzies' story, as recounted to them by his and
their friend Mitchell, those enormous ruins could be none other than the
remains of the ancient Ophir mentioned in Holy Writ; and the two friends
sent up a shout of irrepressible exultation at the thought that they had
advanced thus far upon their difficult journey without mishap of any
kind. They were now all eagerness and impatience to reach those
wonderful ruins; but the oxen were tired and hungry, having already been
trekking for more than two hours; moreover, they took no interest in
archaeology, and preferred an acre of rich grass to the finest ruins in
the world, therefore it became imperative to outspan as soon as the
wagon had plunged down into the plain far enough to reach the first
watercourse. But Grosvenor and Maitland were not long in arriving at
the decision to saddle up and ride forward as soon as they had partaken
of a hasty tiffin.
This resolution they duly carried into effect, observing the precaution
to slip their loaded revolvers into their belts and to sling their
loaded rifles and fully charged bandoliers over their shoulders, to
guard against the possibility of accident, although they had thus far
seen nothing to justify the slightest suspicion that either the king or
his people meditated treachery. As they rode they had ample opportunity
to observe--as indeed had been the case ever since they entered the
Makolo country--the operation of the curious voice-telegraph system
practised by the natives in their communications with each other, the
high-pitched messages--doubtless reporting their progress-breaching
their ears at frequent intervals.
They advanced at an easy canter, heading straight for the ruins, for
there was no semblance of a road, or even of a footpath, and scarcely
any people were to be seen, except in and about the villages which they
occasionally passed. But when they had arrived within about three miles
of the ruins they observed, approaching them round the spur of a low
hill, a troop of about fifty horsemen, which their field glasses enabled
them to perceive were splendidly mounted, and garbed in the full panoply
of war, consisting of shield, war axe, sheaf of broad-bladed spears,
plumed head-dress, and--in the case of the leader--leopard-skin mantle,
and necklace of leopards' claws. It was a distinctly formidable
cavalcade for two men only to meet, even although the latter were armed
with weapons of such deadly precision as the rifle and revolver; and for
a minute or two the travellers were just a little uncertain as to how to
meet the situation. Finally they reined in and came to a halt,
whereupon the leader of the troop threw up his right hand, as though
giving an order, upon which his followers, who had been advancing at a
gallop, reined their horses back upon their haunches, coming to an
abrupt halt, while he, reducing his pace to a hand-gallop, continued his
advance alone.
"All right, old chap, come along," exclaimed Grosvenor; "those fellows
mean us no harm, I am sure. I expect it is a detachment sent out by the
king to bid us welcome on our approach to his village."
"Very possibly," assented Dick. "But, having halted, we must now remain
where we are until that fellow approaches and delivers his message. To
resume our journey at this moment would be tantamount to an admission of
distrust on our part, which would never do. No, no; let the man come to
us, not we go to him. Among savages, you know, first impressions count
for a good deal, and it would never do to let those fellow think that we
halted because we were nervous."
"No, of course; you are quite right, it would not," agreed Grosvenor;
and sitting straight up in their saddles, and assuming an air of
absolute confidence which somewhat belied their inward feelings, they
patiently awaited the arrival of the solitary horseman.
In less than a minute he had arrived--a fine, stalwart man, of about
middle age, clean-limbed, broad chested, upright as a dart, of dauntless
aspect; his limbs and body showing many scars of battle. As he reached
a point some ten feet from where the two white travellers awaited him he
abruptly reined his horse to a standstill, and threw up his right hand
in salute.
"_'Nkosi_," he cried, in a full, deep, resonant tone of voice,
"Lobelalatutu, the King of the Makolo, salutes you by the mouth of me,
'Mpandula, and bids you welcome to his royal village. Behold a squadron
of his royal guard, which he has dispatched, under my command, to
conduct you in all honour to his presence. He awaits you now in his
palace. Does it please my lords that the squadron, approach to give
them the salute?"
Now, this speech was only very imperfectly understood by those to whom
it was addressed; a word or two here and there they comprehended because
of their similarity to those in the language spoken by Mafuta; the name
of the king also they recognised; and 'Mpandula's gestures and the tones
of his voice also told them a little. Thus in one way and another they
contrived to gain a sort of hazy general notion of the gist of the
chiefs speech. But how were they to reply to it, and what were they to
say? So early a summons to the king's presence was rather unexpected,
and, in the absence of Mafuta, who was behind, with the wagon, would be
rather embarrassing; for how were they to converse with the king without
the assistance of an interpreter? There was but one thing to be done,
and that was to reply to the best of their ability, which Dick undertook
to do in the only native tongue with which he was familiar, explaining
as well as he could the difficulty in which the pair found themselves.
It was evident at once, by the puzzled expression on the chiefs face,
that he understood Dick as little as Dick understood him; and for a
moment there seemed to be the possibility of a deadlock. But suddenly
'Mpandula's brow cleared, he turned on his horse and shouted a name, in
response to which one of the guards drove his heels into his horse's
flanks, and dashed forward to his chiefs assistance. The latter
appeared to explain the position in a few terse words, and when he had
finished, the newcomer, at 'Mpandula's dictation, repeated the message
of the king, word for wood, in the language with which Dick was
familiar.
"What do you say, Phil," questioned Dick, when the message was
concluded; "shall we go? Or shall we excuse ourselves for the present,
upon the plea that we would prefer to wait until the wagon comes up, in
order that we may take with us the gifts that we have brought for His
Majesty? I am not quite sure that I altogether like this escort
business. It may be all right, of course. The king's message sounds
all right; but if the chap means treachery it will be exceedingly
awkward for us, will it not?"
"It certainly will," agreed Grosvenor. "But," he continued, "I fancy it
is altogether too late to think of that now. When we determined to
enter this country we tacitly decided to take all the risks of so doing;
and in any case we cannot now escape, do what we will, therefore I think
our best policy will be to take everything for granted, and go willingly
with these fellows, since if we refused they have the power to compel
us. What has so suddenly put the idea of treachery into your head?"
"Upon my word I don't know," answered Dick. "Unless it is the sight of
these armed men. But, as you say, it is too late to hesitate now, and,
after all, their presence may merely signify the desire of the king to
do us honour. Yes, I suppose we had better go." And, turning to
'Mpandula, he said:
"We are ready to go with you into the presence of the king, therefore
let the squadron approach. But our followers are behind, with the
wagon, and it is desirable that they should know what has become of us;
therefore I pray you let a message be transmitted to them, informing
them of our whereabouts, and also directing them where to outspan at
their final halt."
"The will of my lords shall be done," answered the chief, through the
interpreter. And, raising his right hand, he shouted an order,
whereupon the squadron of native cavalry, which had remained motionless
as so many statues, at once awakened into life, and, starting forward at
a gallop, advanced in as close formation and as perfect line as the
finest civilised troops, halting a horse's length in rear of their
commander. Then, at a signal from the chief, every man tossed his right
hand aloft in salute and thundered out the word _'Nkosi_! This salute
Dick and Grosvenor acknowledged by placing their hands to their hat-
brims, in military fashion, to the evident satisfaction of 'Mpandula and
his followers; and then, as the two whites touched their horse's flanks
with the spur and moved forward at a canter, the escort formed up,
completely encircling them; one man at the same moment detaching himself
and galloping away in the direction of the wagon, in response to an
order from his commander.
Some twenty minutes later the party reached the outskirts of the ruined
city, and found themselves confronted by enormous masses of masonry,
consisting of walls, some of which still remained erect, although for
the most part they had sunk into shapeless, overgrown masses of ruin,
arches, columns, erect and prostrate, fragmentary pediments, shattered
entablatures, dislodged capitals, crumbling pedestals, and mutilated
statues of men and animals, all of colossal proportions; the buildings
and portions of buildings all being of an immensely massive yet ornate
and imposing style of architecture quite unknown to the travellers.
Even the cursory glimpses which were all that Dick and Grosvenor were
for the moment able to obtain, convinced them both that they were face
to face with the remains of a city that must, thousands of years ago,
have been of enormous extent and of almost unimaginable opulence and
splendour.
But they had little time, just then, in which to indulge their
curiosity, for they almost immediately struck into a sort of bridle path
that presently turned away from the ruins and led toward an extensive
village, which now swept into view as they rounded the spur of a hill.
The village consisted of some five hundred huts surrounding a central
stockade, which enclosed a small group of buildings of considerably more
pretentious character than the ordinary huts, and which Dick and
Grosvenor at once conjectured must be the royal palace and its
dependencies. This conjecture was confirmed upon their arrival at the
village, for at the gateway of the stockade the cavalcade halted, and
'Mpandula, dismounting, requested his charges to do the same, intimating
that he was about to conduct them forthwith into the presence of the
king.
Of course there was nothing to be done but to obey with a good grace,
and the travellers, therefore, swung out of their saddles, and, handing
over their horses to a couple of natives who stepped forward to take
charge of them, followed their guide, or custodian, whichever he might
happen to be, through the gateway, not without certain qualms of
apprehension as to the wisdom of placing themselves thus unreservedly in
the power of a savage king, who, if he should so choose, could send them
to a death of unspeakable torment and horror, without the slightest fear
of ever being brought to book. But now, more than ever, was it too late
to hesitate; therefore resolutely stifling their apprehensions, and
assuming a bearing of the most perfect confidence, they advanced toward
a group of several persons whom they now saw arranged in front of the
principal building within the enclosure.
Unquestionably the most important personage in this group was a splendid
figure of a savage, attired in a sort of petticoat of leopard-skin
reaching to just above the knee, a mantle of lion-skin thrown over his
shoulders, gold bangles on his arms and ankles, a beautifully worked
coronet of gold adorned with crimson feathers of the flamingo, two
necklaces--one composed of lions' teeth and claws, and the other, and
larger, of unpolished stones that seemed to emit a faint glint of ruddy
fire--round his neck. He was armed with a sheaf of short, broad-bladed
stabbing spears, and was seated on a sort of throne entirely covered
with an immense kaross of lions' skin. Behind him stood eight savages,
as finely built men as himself, whose dress and adornments at once
proclaimed them to be chiefs, and persons of very great importance in
the Makolo nation. The individual upon the throne was of course none
other than the king himself.
Boldly advancing to within about ten paces of the seated monarch,
Grosvenor and Dick halted, and, according to pre-arrangement, gave His
Majesty a military salute. Then Dick, addressing the king in his best
Kafir, remarked:
"Hail! Lobelalatutu, King of the Makolo, we salute you." Which the
interpreter, who had followed them, promptly interpreted.
"I see you, white men," answered the king, slightly raising his right
hand in acknowledgement of the salute. "You are welcome to the country
of the Makolo. When I was informed of your approach I gave certain
orders to my people concerning your comfort and welfare. I trust that
those orders have been obeyed to your satisfaction."
"Your words, O King! have been most implicitly obeyed, and we thank you
for them, as also for the welcome that you have extended to us,"
returned Dick. "The four Spirits of the Winds will be pleased to learn,
when we return, that you have not forgotten the injunctions that they
laid upon you."
"The four Spirits of the Winds!" ejaculated the king, in great surprise,
not wholly untinged with trepidation--which emotions were even more
strongly displayed by the chiefs who stood about him. "Know ye then
those terrible beings?" [Note 1.]
"Even so," answered Dick composedly. "We know that they twice visited
the Makolo country; and we also know,"--he added with emphasis--"what
happened upon each of those occasions. We know what happened to
M'Bongwele, the former king of the Makolo; and we know why Lobelalatutu
was chosen king in his place."
"_Wau_!" murmured the assembled chiefs behind their hands, in
awestricken tones; "it is wonderful!" while Lobelalatutu shifted
uneasily in his seat as he gazed apprehensively in the faces of his two
visitors. For nearly a minute he remained silent, apparently debating
within himself some very puzzling question. Then he said:
"I would that I knew, O white men, all the reasons that have led you to
visit the Makolo country. They must be many and great to have induced
you to cross the Great Water, and to take so long, so wearisome, and so
dangerous a journey afterwards."
"Listen then, O King Lobelalatutu, and you shall be told," answered
Dick. "My friend here is a great hunter; he loves the excitement of the
chase, even as do your own young men. But in our own country the people
are so many that there is little room for game, which is consequently
very scarce. Therefore my friend said: `Lo, I will go to Africa, where
the people are few and game is abundant, and there will I hunt the lion,
the leopard, the elephant, the rhinoceros, the buffalo, and all those
other animals that afford good sport, and are not to be found in
England; also I am desirous of seeing the wonderful ruins of that great
and ancient city whereof the four Spirits of the Winds have spoken;
therefore will I go to the Makolo country, wherein those ruins are to be
found, and become the friend, if I may, of the king, and his people.'
And, as for me, I am a healer of all kinds of sickness; I am also a
seeker of gold, and the stones that glitter. Therefore said my friend
to me: `Come, let us go together, for the journey shall be to our mutual
advantage; we will hunt together, and if sickness overtake me you shall
be my healer, while such gold, or stones, or ivory as we may obtain
shall be yours.' Those, O Lobelalatutu! are our sole reasons for coming
hither. Are they not good and sufficient?"
"They may be sufficient in your own eyes; but as for me, I know not,"
answered the king. "The thing that I would know is this: Come ye as
friends, or as secret enemies, of me and my people?"
"Have I not said?" returned Dick. "My friend would be the friend of you
and your people; and his friends will also be my friends; his enemies my
enemies. If ye should need such help as it is in our power to give, it
shall be yours, freely; and all we ask in return is that we may be
allowed to examine the ruins at our leisure, and to take away with us
such gold or stones as we may find."
"It is well," answered the king. "If that be all ye ask, it is granted.
Ye may examine the ruins at your pleasure; ye may remain in my country
as long as ye will, and no man shall molest you; and whatsoever ye may
find that is valuable in your eyes, that shall ye take with you when ye
leave my country. That is my word, the word of the king. Say now, is
it good?"
"It is very good, and the Spirits will be well pleased when they learn
that you have granted our request," answered Dick.
The king gave vent to a sigh of evident relief; it was clear that he
wished to stand well with these two friends of the great and terrible
Spirits of the Winds, who by the potency of their magic had been able to
punish his predecessor M'Bongwele for his evil-doing, and to place
himself upon the vacant throne. Yet it was apparent that there was
still something at the back of the king's mind, something that he keenly
desired yet hesitated to speak of. For two or three minutes he sat
plunged in deep and painful meditation; then he looked up and said:
"It is well; I am glad that ye have come hither, O white men! for when
ye return to your own country ye will be able to tell the Spirits that I
have faithfully obeyed all the injunctions that they laid upon me. Ha!
There is one thing more that I would ask. Ye speak not the tongue of
the Makolo, yet ye were able to communicate with my people as soon as ye
entered my borders. By what means did ye so?"
"Oh, quite easily!" answered Dick--who, being the better linguist of the
two, naturally assumed the part of spokesman. "We have with us a man
who speaks the Makolo tongue, and whose language we speak; therefore we
communicate with your people through him."
"Good!" exclaimed the king, in accents of extraordinary satisfaction;
"it is very good. Go now in peace, O white men! Ye are my friends, and
no harm shall befall ye while ye stay in the country of the Makolo; I
the king say it. And it may be, O healer of sicknesses! that I can help
you in the matter of the shining stones that ye crave to possess. See
ye these?" And he pointed to the necklace of ruddy, unpolished stones
that he wore.
Dick stepped forward to look closer at the stones, and finally took the
loop of the necklace into his hands. At first sight the stones appeared
to be no more than ordinary red pebbles, about the size of a plover's
egg, or perhaps a little larger, the only peculiarity being that they
were exactly alike in colour, and that they all emitted a rich, ruddy
light. For a minute or two Dick stood carefully examining the stones;
and as he did so a faint, elusive memory came to him in connection with
them. Then suddenly the memory became clear and, carefully suppressing
his excitement, he turned to Grosvenor and said, in quite an ordinary
tone of voice:
"Just come and have a look at these stones, Phil, but be careful not to
betray anything in the nature of astonishment or admiration. Do you
remember reading that those four chaps in the _Flying-Fish_ accidentally
stumbled upon, first, the king's ruby necklace, and then, through it, a
ruby mine? Well, this is undoubtedly the necklace; and our friend here
seems to hint that he is willing to show us the spot where similar
stones may be found."
"Looks like it, certainly," answered Grosvenor in carefully modulated,
matter-of-fact tones. "Jolly fine stones, aren't they? If you can
contrive to take home a sackful of those stones, old man, you need no
longer fear money troubles, eh? What?"
"A sackful!" ejaculated Dick, with a laugh. "A peck of them will
completely satisfy me, my boy." Then, turning to Lobelalatutu, who was
keenly watching them both, he said:
"These stones, O King! are very good and of some value in my country,
though worthless here. Know you where they are to be found?"
"I know," answered the king; "and it may be that I will show you the
place; I cannot yet say, but I will consider the matter. I have given
instructions as to the place where your wagon shall outspan; it is near
at hand, between the village and the ruins; and if ye need anything,
send word by your servant to me, and I will see to it."
"We thank you, O Lobelalatutu!" answered Dick. "We go now; but to-
morrow we will come again, bearing with us the gifts that we have
brought for thee from England. Until then, farewell!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortly after nine o'clock that night, while the two friends, having
dined, were sitting under the raised front flap of their tent, enjoying
the wonderful view of the ruins, rising gaunt and black in the midst of
the landscape, flooded by the rays of the newly risen moon, and chatting
in desultory fashion over the events of the day, as Grosvenor pulled
contemplatively at his well-charred brier pipe, Mafuta appeared before
them and, giving the usual salute, said:
"There is one from the village yonder who would speak with my lords, if
they be willing."
"Who is it, Mafuta--a man, or a woman?" demanded Dick.
"It is a man, _'mlungu_" answered Mafuta. Then, drawing still nearer,
and lowering his voice almost to a whisper, he added: "He says he is
named Lobelalatutu!"
"The king!" exclaimed Dick, starting to his feet in amazement. "What
the dickens is up now, I wonder? Is he armed, Mafuta?"
"Nay, lord, he is weaponless," answered Mafuta.
"Bring him hither," commanded Dick; "we will speak with him."
Saluting again, Mafuta disappeared, and presently returned escorting a
tall savage, unarmed save for a light switch, such as every native
habitually carries, in order to defend himself against the attacks of
snakes. He wore the _keshla_, or head ring, and was naked save for the
usual _moucha_ or apron of deerskin. As he stepped within range of the
rays of the lamp, which Dick had hastily lighted, his eyes rolled and
gleamed with something of apprehension in their expression; but despite
his change of garb the white men had no difficulty in recognising the
king.
"We see you, O Lobelalatutu!" said Dick, adopting the ordinary form of
salutation among the natives, for there was an air of secrecy about this
visit that seemed to suggest a desire on the part of the king that he
should be regarded as to some extent incognito. "Enter, I pray you, and
be seated,"--pointing to the chair which he had just vacated, and
drawing forward his medicine chest as a seat for himself, thus placing
the king between himself and Grosvenor.
With a sigh, whether of weariness or of relief was not quite clear, the
king sank into the chair indicated, and when Mafuta would have
discreetly withdrawn, stopped him.
"Is this the man through whom you have hitherto communicated with my
people?" the king demanded, and Mafuta duly translated the question.
Dick answered in the affirmative, adding: "Tell him, Mafuta, that we
know you to be faithful, and are ready to trust you even with our
lives."
This speech also Mafuta translated, with an air of mingled hauteur and
humility which was amusing enough to Dick and Grosvenor.
For answer the king stood up and, laying his hand upon Mafuta's
shoulder, looked piercingly into the man's eyes for the space of a full
minute or more. On his part, Mafuta returned the gaze as steadfastly as
it was given; and it was an interesting sight to the onlookers to see
those two savages, both of them splendid specimens of their respective
races, endeavouring to read each other's character. At length
Lobelalatutu removed his hand from the other's shoulder and said:
"It is well! Tell your chiefs that I say you are a true man, and that
I, too, am willing to put my life into your hands. Stay you here and
interpret for me, for I have a matter of moment to discuss with the
white men."
"Tell the king to say on," commanded Dick, when this speech had been
translated to them; and Lobelalatutu, turning to Dick, said:
"I am in a great strait, O _'mlungus_, and know not what to do. I would
that the four Spirits of the Winds, who made me king over the Makolo,
were here, for I have faithfully obeyed their injunctions, and they
would help me. But you are friends of the Spirits, and it may be that
your wisdom will find a way for me. May I speak?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note. The author is here referring to events which occurred in two of
his previous books: _The Log of the "Flying-Fish"_, and _With Airship
and Submarine_ (both published by Messrs Blackie and Son, Limited).