UGARROWWA'S TO KILONGA-LONGA'S.
Ugarrowwa sends us three Zanzibari deserters--We make an
example--The "Express" rifles--Conversation with Rashid--The Lenda
river--Troublesome rapids--Scarcity of food--Some of
Kilonga-Longa's followers--Meeting of the rivers Ihuru and
Ituri--State and numbers of the Expedition--Illness of Captain
Nelson--We send couriers ahead to Kilonga-Longa's--The sick
encampment--Randy and the guinea fowl--Scarcity of food--Illness
caused by the forest pears--Fanciful menus--More desertions--Asmani
drowned--Our condition in brief--Uledi's suggestion--Umari's
climb--My donkey is shot for food--We strike the track of the
Manyuema and arrive at their village.
Once more the Expedition consisted of picked men. My mind was relieved of
anxiety respecting the rear column, and of the fate which threatened the
sick men. We set out from Ugarrowwa's station with 180 loads in the
canoes and boat, forty-seven loads to be carried once in four days by
alternate companies. The Arabs accompanied us for a few hours on the 19th
to start us on our road and to wish us success in our venture.
We had scarcely been all collected in our camp, and the evening was
rapidly becoming dusky, when a canoe from Ugarrowwa appeared with three
Zanzibaris bound as prisoners. Inquiring the cause of this, I was
astonished to find that they were deserters whom Ugarrowwa had picked up
soon after reaching his station. They had absconded with rifles, and
their pouches showed that they had contrived to filch cartridges on the
road. I rewarded Ugarrowwa with a revolver and 200 cartridges. The
prisoners were secured for the night, but before retiring I debated
carefully as to what method was best to deal with these people. If this
were permitted to proceed without the strongest measures, we should in a
short time be compelled to retrace our steps, and all the lives and
bitter agonies of the march would have been expended in vain.
In the morning "all hands" were mustered, and an address was delivered to
the men in fitting words, to which all assented; and all agreed that we
had endeavoured our utmost to do our duty, that we had all borne much,
but that the people on this occasion appeared to be all slaves, and
possessed no moral sense whatever. They readily conceded that if natives
attempted to steal our rifles, which were "our souls," we should be
justified in shooting them dead, and that if men, paid for their labour,
protected and treated kindly, as they were, attempted to cut our throats
in the night, were equally liable to be shot.
"Well then," said I, "what are these doing but taking our arms, and
running away with our means of defence. You say that you would shoot
natives, if they stood in your way preventing your progress onward or
retreat backward. What are these doing? For if you have no rifles left,
or ammunition, can you march either forward or backward?"
"No," they admitted.
"Very well, then, you have condemned them to death. One shall die to-day,
another to-morrow, and another the next day, and from this day forward,
every thief and deserter who leaves his duty and imperils his comrades'
lives shall die."
The culprits were then questioned as to who they were. One replied that
he was the slave of Farjalla-bill Ali--a headman in No. 1 company;
another that he was the slave of a Banyan in Zanzibar, and the third that
he was the slave of an artizan at work in Unyanyembé.
Lots were cast, and he who chose the shortest paper of three slips was
the one to die first. The lot fell upon the slave of Farjalla, who was
then present. The rope was heaved over a stout branch. Forty men at the
word of command lay hold of the rope and a noose was cast round the
prisoner's neck.
"Have you anything to say before the word is given?"
He replied with a shake of the head. The signal was given, and the man
was hoisted up. Before the last struggles were over, the Expedition had
filed out of camp leaving the rear-guard and river column behind. A
rattan was substituted in place of our rope, the body was secured to the
tree, and within fifteen minutes the camp was abandoned.
We made good progress on this day. A track ran along the river which
greatly assisted the caravan. In passing through we searched and found
only ten bunches of miniature plantains. We formed camp an hour's
distance from the confluence of the Lenda and Ituri.
Another noble tusker was bathing opposite the river, and Captain Nelson,
with a double-barrelled rifle, similar to my own, myself, and Saat Tato
the hunter, crossed over and floated down within fifteen yards of the
elephant. We fired three bullets simultaneously into him, and in a second
had planted two more, and yet with all this lead fired at vital parts the
animal contrived to escape. From this time we lost all confidence in
these rifles. We never bagged one head of game with the Expresses during
the entire Expedition. Captain Nelson sold his rifle for a small supply
of food to Kilonga-Longa some time afterwards, and I parted with mine as
a gift to Antari, King of Ankori, nearly two years later. With the No. 8
or No. 10 Reilly rifle I was always successful, therefore those
interested in such things may avail themselves of our experience.
As the next day dawned and a grey light broke through the umbrageous
coping of the camp I despatched a boy to call the head chief Rashid.
"Well, Rashid, old man, we shall have to execute the other man presently.
It will soon be time to prepare for it. What do you say?"
"Well, what can we do else than kill those who are trying to kill us? If
we point to a pit filled at the bottom with pointed pales and poisoned
skewers, and tell men to beware of it, surely we are not to blame if men
shut their ears to words of warning and spring in. On their own heads let
the guilt lie."
"But it is very hard after all. Rashid bin Omar, this forest makes men's
hearts like lead, and hunger has driven their wits out of their heads;
nothing is thought of but the empty belly and crying stomach. I have
heard that when mothers are driven by famine they will sometimes eat
their children. Why should we wonder that the servant runs away from his
master when he cannot feed him?"
"That is the truth as plain as sunshine. But if we have to die let us all
die together. There are plenty of good men here who will give you their
hearts whenever you bid them do it. There are others--slaves of
slaves--who know nothing and care for nothing, and as they would fly with
what we need to make our own lives sure, let them perish and rot. They
all know that you, a Christian, are undergoing all this to save the sons
of Islam who are in trouble near some great sea, beyond here; they
profess Islam, and yet would leave the Christian in the bush. Let them
die."
"But supposing, Rashid, we could prevent this breakup and near ruin by
some other way not quite so severe as to hang them up until they are
dead; what would you say?"
"I would say, sir, that all ways are good, but, without doubt, the best
is that which will leave them living to repent."
"Good, then, after my coffee the muster will be sounded. Meanwhile,
prepare a long rattan cable; double it over that stout branch yonder.
Make a good noose of a piece of that new sounding line. Get the prisoner
ready, put guards over him, then when you hear the trumpet tell these
words in the ears of the other chiefs, 'Come to me, and ask his pardon,
and I will give it you.' I shall look to you, and ask if you have
anything to say; that will be your signal. How do you like it?"
"Let it be as you say. The men will answer you."
In half-an-hour the muster signal sounded; the companies formed a square
enclosing the prisoner. A long rattan cable hung suspended with the fatal
noose attached to a loop; it trailed along the ground like an immense
serpent. After a short address, a man advanced and placed the noose
around the neck; a company was told off to hoist the man upward.
"Now, my man, have you anything to say to us before you join your brother
who died yesterday?"
The man remained silent, and scarcely seemed conscious that I spoke. I
turned round to the head man. "Have you anything to say before I pass the
word?"
Then Rashid nudged his brother chiefs, at which they all rushed up, and
threw themselves at my feet, pleading forgiveness, blaming in harsh terms
the thieves and murderers, but vowing that their behaviour in future
would be better if mercy was extended for this one time.
During this scene the Zanzibaris' faces were worth observing. How the
eyes dilated and the lips closed, and their cheeks became pallid, as with
the speed of an electric flash the same emotion moved them!
"Enough, children! take your man, his life is yours. But see to it. There
is only one law in future for him who robs us of a rifle, and that is
death by the cord."
Then such a manifestation of feeling occurred that I was amazed--real big
tears rolled down many a face, while every eye was suffused and enlarged
with his passionate emotions. Caps and turbans were tossed into the air.
Rifles were lifted, and every right arm was up as they exclaimed "Until
the white cap is buried none shall leave him! Death to him who leaves
Bula Matari! Show the way to the Nyanza! Lead on now--now we will
follow!"
Nowhere have I witnessed such affecting excitement except in
Spain--perhaps when the Republicans stormily roared their sentiments,
after listening to some glorious exhortations to stand true to the new
faith in Libertad, Igualdad, and Fraternidad!
The prisoner also wept, and after the noose was flung aside knelt down
and vowed to die at my feet. We shook hands and I said, "It is God's
work, thank Him."
Merrily the trumpet blared once more, and at once rose every voice, "By
the help of God! By the help of God!" The detail for the day sprang to
their posts, received their heavy load for the day, and marched away
rejoicing as to a feast. Even the officers smiled their approval. Never
was there such a number of warmed hearts in the forest of the Congo as on
that day.
The land and river columns reached the Lenda within an hour, and about
the same time. This was apparently a deep river about a hundred yards
wide. On the west side of the confluence was a small village, but its
plantain groves had been long ago despoiled of fruit. Soon after the
ferriage was completed the men were permitted to scour the country in
search of food; some on the north bank, and others on the south bank, but
long before night they all returned, having been unable to find a morsel
of any kind of edible.
On the 22nd, while pursuing our way by river and by land as usual, I
reflected that only on the 18th I had left fifty-six invalids under the
care of an Arab; yet on observing the people at the muster, I noticed
that there were about fifty already incapacitated by debility. The very
stoutest and most prudent were pining under such protracted and mean
diet. To press on through such wastes unpeopled by the ivory hunters
appeared simply impossible, but on arriving at Umeni we had the good
fortune to find sufficient for a full day's rations, and hope again
filled us.
The following day, one man, called "Abdallah the humped," deserted. We on
the river were troubled with several rapids, and patches of broken water,
and in discharging cargo, and hauling canoes, and finally we came in view
of a fall of forty feet with lengths of rapids above and below.
One would have thought that by this time the Ituri would have become an
insignificant stream, but when we saw the volume of water precipitated
over the third large cataract, we had to acknowledge that it was still a
powerful river.
The 24th was passed by us in foraging, and cutting a highway to above the
rapids and disconnecting boat sections for transport. The pioneers
secured a fair quantity of plantains, the three other companies nothing.
The obstructions to this cataract consisted of reddish schistose rock.
On the next day we were clear of the third cataract and halted at an old
Arab encampment. During this day no new supply of food was obtained.
The day following we reached another series of rapids, and after a
terrible day's work unloading and reshipping several times, with the
fatigues and anxiety incurred during the mounting of the dangerous
rapids, we reached camp opposite Avatiko.
How useful the boat and canoes were to us may be imagined from the fact
that it required us to make three round trips to carry 227 loads. Even
then it occupied all the healthy men until night. The people were so
reduced by hunger, that over a third could do no more than crawl. I was
personally reduced to two bananas on this day from morning to night. But
some of our Zanzibaris had found nothing to subsist on for two entire
days, which was enough to sap the strength of the best. A foraging party
of No. 1 Company crossed the river to Avatiko settlement, and found a
small supply of young fruit, but they captured a woman who stated that
she knew and could guide us to plantains as large as her arms.
The 27th of September was a halt. I despatched Lieutenant Stairs to
explore ahead along the river, and 180 men across river to forage for
food, with our female captive as guide. The former returned to report
that no village had been seen, and to detail an exciting encounter he had
had with elephants, from which it appeared he had a narrow escape. The
Zanzibaris came back with sufficient plantains to distribute from sixty
to eighty per man. If the people had followed our plan of economising the
food, we should have had less suffering to record, but their appetites
were usually ungovernable. The quantity now distributed impartially,
ought to have served them for from six to eight days, but several sat up
all night to eat, trusting in God to supply them with more on peremptory
demand.
On the 30th the river and land parties met at lunch time. This day the
officers and myself enjoyed a feast. Stairs had discovered a live
antelope in a pit, and I had discovered a mess of fresh fish in a native
basket-net at the mouth of a small creek. In the afternoon we camped at a
portion of the river bank which showed signs of its being used as a
landing near a ferry. Soon after camping we were startled by three shots.
These indicated the presence of Manyuema, and presently about a dozen
fine-looking men stalked into the camp. They were the followers of
Kilonga-Longa, the rival of Ugarrowwa in the career of devastation to
which these two leaders had committed themselves.
The Manyuema informed us that Kilonga-Longa's settlement was but five
days' journey, and that as the country was uninhabited it would be
necessary to provide rations of plantains which could be procured across
river, and that still a month's journey lay between us and the grass
land. They advised us to stay at the place two days to prepare the food,
to which we were very willing to agree, the discovery of some kind of
provisions being imperative.
During the first day's halt, the search for food was unsuccessful, but on
the second day at early dawn a strong detachment left for the north bank,
under Lieutenant Stairs and Surgeon Parke. In the afternoon the foragers
returned with sufficient plantains to enable us to serve out forty to
each man. Some of the most enterprising men had secured more, but extreme
want had rendered them somewhat unscrupulous, and they had contrived to
secrete a small reserve.
On the 3rd of October, soon after leaving our camp in the morning, we
entered into a pool-like formation, surrounded by hills rising from 250
to 600 feet above the river, and arriving at the end saw a crooked,
ditch-like, and very turbulent stream. The scenery reminded us of a
miniature Congo cañon banked as it was with lines of lofty hills. A
presentiment warned us that we were about to meet more serious obstacles
than any we had yet met. We progressed, however, upward about three
miles, but the difficulties of advance were so numerous that we were
unable to reach the caravan camp.
On the 4th we proceeded about a mile and a half, and crossed the
Expedition to the north bank, as we had been told that the Manyuema
settlement of Ipoto was situated on that side. The Manyuema had
disappeared, and three of our deserters had accompanied them. Two men had
also died of dysentery. We experienced several narrow escapes; a canoe
was twice submerged, the steel boat was nearly lost, and the severe
bumping she received destroyed the rate of our chronometers, which
hitherto had been regular. I should have abandoned the river on this day,
but the wilderness, the horrible, lonely, uninhabited wilderness, and the
excessive physical prostration and weakness of the people, forbade it. We
hoped and hoped that we should be able to arrive at some place where food
and rest could be obtained, which appeared improbable, except at
Kilonga-Longa's settlement.
The next day we arrived, at 10 A.M., after a push through terribly wild
water, at a sharp bend curving eastward from N.E., distinguished by its
similarity of outline on a small scale to Nsona Mamba, of the Lower
Congo. Stepping on shore before we had gone far within the bend, and
standing on some lava-like rock, I saw at a glance that this was the end
of river navigation by canoes. The hills rose up to a bolder height,
quite 600 feet, the stream was contracted to a width of twenty-five
yards, and about a hundred yards above the point on which I stood, the
Ihuru escaped, wild and furious, from a gorge; while the Ituri was seen
descending from a height in a series of cataracts, and, both uniting at
this point, and racing madly at the highest pitch and velocity, bellowed
their uproar loudly amongst the embanking and sombre forest heights.
I sent messengers across the river to recall the caravan which was under
the leadership of Stairs, and on their return recrossed the people to the
south bank.
On the morning of the 6th of October our state and numbers were 271 in
number, including white and black. Since then two had died of dysentery,
one from debility, four had deserted, and one man was hanged. We had
therefore 263 men left. Out of this number fifty-two had been reduced to
skeletons, who first, attacked by ulcers, had been unable to forage, and
to whom through their want of economizing what rations had been
distributed, had not sufficient to maintain them during the days that
intervened of total want. These losses in men left me 211 still able to
march, and as among these there were forty men non-carriers, and as I had
227 loads, it followed that when I needed carriage, I had about eighty
loads more than could be carried. Captain Nelson for the last two weeks
had also suffered from a dozen small ulcers, which had gradually
increased in virulence. On this day then, when the wild state of the
river quite prohibited further progress by it, he and fifty-two men were
utterly unfit and incapable of travel.
It was a difficult problem that now faced us. Captain Nelson was our
comrade, whom to save we were bound to exert our best force. To the
fifty-two black men we were equally bound by the most solemn obligations;
and dark as was the prospect around us, we were not so far reduced but
that we entertained a lively hope that we could save them. As the
Manyuema had reported that their settlement was only five days' journey,
and we had already travelled two days' march, then probably the village
or station was still three days ahead of us. It was suggested by Captain
Nelson that if we despatched intelligent couriers ahead, they would be
enabled to reach Kilonga-Longa's settlement long before the column. As
this suggestion admitted of no contradiction, and as the head men were
naturally the most capable and intelligent, the chief of the head men and
five others were hastened off, and instructed at once to proceed along
the south bank of the river until they discovered some landing place,
whence they must find means to cross the Ituri and find the settlement,
and obtain an immediate store of food.
Before starting officers and men demanded to know from me whether I
believed the story of Arabs being ahead. I replied that I believed most
thoroughly, but that it was possible that the Manyuema had underestimated
the distance to gratify or encourage us and abate our anxiety.
After informing the unfortunate cripples of our intention to proceed
forward until we could find food that we might not all be lost, and send
relief as quickly as it could be obtained, I consigned the fifty-two men,
eighty-one loads, and ten canoes in charge of Captain Nelson--bade him be
of good cheer, and hoisting our loads and boat on our shoulders, we
marched away.
No more gloomy spot could have been selected for a camp than that sandy
terrace, encompassed by rocks and hemmed in narrowly by those dark woods,
which rose from the river's edge to the height of 600 feet, and pent in
the never-ceasing uproar created by the writhing and tortured stream and
the twin cataracts, that ever rivalled each other's thunder. The
imagination shudders at the hapless position of those crippled men, who
were doomed to remain inactive, to listen every moment to the awful sound
of that irreconcilable fury of wrathful waters, and the monotonous and
continuous roar of plunging rivers, to watch the leaping waves, coiling
and twisting into changing columns as they ever wrestled for mastery with
each other, and were dashed in white fragments of foam far apart by the
ceaseless force of driven currents; to gaze at the dark, relentless woods
spreading upward and around, standing perpetually fixed in dull green,
mourning over past ages, past times, and past generations; then think of
the night, with its palpable blackness, the dead black shadows of the
wooded hills, that eternal sound of fury, that ceaseless boom of the
cataracts, the indefinite forms born of nervousness and fearfulness, that
misery engendered by loneliness and creeping sense of abandonment; then
will be understood something of the true position of these poor men.
And what of us trudging up these wooded slopes to gain the crest of the
forest uplands, to tramp on and on, whither we knew not, for how long a
time we dared not think, seeking for food with the double responsibility
weighing us down for these trustful, brave fellows with us, and for
those, no less brave and trustful, whom we had left behind at the bottom
of the horrible cañon!
As I looked at the poor men struggling wearily onward it appeared to me
as though a few hours only were needed to ensure our fate. One day,
perhaps two days, and then life would ebb away. How their eyes searched
the wild woods for the red berries of the phrynia, and the tartish,
crimson, and oblong fruit of the amoma! How they rushed for the flat
beans of the forest, and gloated over their treasures of fungi! In short,
nothing was rejected in this severe distress to which we were reduced
except leaves and wood. We passed several abandoned clearings; and some
men chopped down pieces of banana stalk, then searched for wild herbs to
make potage, the bastard jack fruit, or the _fenessi_, and other huge
fruit became dear objects of interest as we straggled on.
"Return we could not, nor
Continue where we were; to shift our place
Was to exchange one misery with another.
And every day that came, came to decay
A day's work in us.
On the 7th of October we began at 6.30 A.M. to commence that funereal
pace through the trackless region on the crest of the forest uplands. We
picked up fungi, and the _matonga_ wild fruit, as we travelled, and after
seven hours' march we rested for the day. At 11 A.M. we had halted for
lunch at the usual hour. Each officer had economised his rations of
bananas. Two were the utmost that I could spare for myself. My comrades
were also as rigidly strict and close in their diet, and a cup of
sugarless tea closed the repast. We were sitting conversing about our
prospects, discussing the probabilities of our couriers reaching some
settlement on this day, or the next, and the time that it would take them
to return, and they desired to know whether in my previous African
experiences I had encountered anything so grievous as this.
"No; not quite so bad as this," I replied. "We have suffered; but not to
such an extremity. Those nine days on the way into Ituru were wretched.
On our flight from Bumbiré we certainly suffered much hunger, and also
while floating down the Congo to trace its course our condition was much
to be pitied; but we had a little of something, and at least large hope.
The age of miracles is past, it is said, but why should they be? Moses
drew water from the rock at Horeb for the thirsty Israelites. Of water we
have enough and to spare. Elijah was fed by ravens at the brook Cherith,
but there is not a raven in all this forest. Christ was ministered unto
by angels. I wonder if any one will minister unto us?"
Just then there was a sound as of a large bird whirring through the air.
Little Randy, my fox-terrier, lifted up a foot and gazed inquiringly; we
turned our heads to see, and that second the bird dropped beneath the
jaws of Randy, who snapped at the prize and held it fast, in a vice as of
iron.
"There, boys," I said, "truly the gods are gracious. The age of miracles
is not past," and my comrades were seen gazing in delighted surprise at
the bird, which was a fine fat guinea fowl. It was not long before the
guinea fowl was divided, and Randy, its captor, had his lawful share, and
the little doggie seemed to know that he had grown in esteem with all
men, and we enjoyed our prize each with his own feelings.
On the next day, in order to relieve the boat-bearers of their hard work,
Mr. Jephson was requested to connect the sections together, and two
hours after starting on the march came opposite an inhabited island. The
advance scouts seized a canoe and bore straight on to the island, to
snatch in the same unruly manner as Orlando, meat for the hungry.
"What would you, unruly men?"
"We would have meat! Two hundred stagger in these woods and reel with
faintness."
[Illustration: RANDY SEIZES THE GUINEA FOWL.]
The natives did not stand for further question, but vanished kindly, and
left their treasures of food. We received as our share two pounds of
Indian corn and half-a-pound of beans. Altogether about twenty-five
pounds of corn were discovered, which was distributed among the people.
In the afternoon I received a note from Mr. Jephson, who was behind with
the boat: "For God's sake, if you can get any food at the village send us
some."
We despatched answer to Jephson to hunt up the wounded elephant that I
had shot, and which had taken refuge on an island near him, and in reply
to his anxious letter, a small handful of corn.
On the 9th of October 100 men volunteered to go across river and explore
inland from the north bank with a resolute intention not to return
without food of some kind. I went up river with the boat's crew, and
Stairs down river to strike inland by a little track in the hope that it
might lead to some village; those who were too dispirited to go far
wandered southward through the woods to search for wild fruit and forest
beans. This last article was about four times the size of a large garden
bean, encased in a brown leathery rind. At first we had contented
ourselves with merely skinning it and boiling it, but this produced
sickness of the stomach. An old woman captured on the island was seen to
prepare a dish of these beans by skinning them and afterwards cleaning
the inner covering, and finally scraping them as we would nutmegs. Out of
this floury substance she made some patties for her captor, who shouted
in ecstasies that they were good. Whereupon everybody bestirred
themselves to collect the beans, which were fairly plentiful. Tempted by
a "lady finger" cake of this article that was brought to me, I ventured
to try it, and found it sufficiently filling, and about as palatable as a
mess of acorns. Indeed, the flavour strongly reminded me of the acorn.
The fungi were of several varieties, some pure and perfect mushrooms,
others were of a less harmless kind; but surely the gods protected the
miserable human beings condemned to live on such things. Grubs were
collected, also slugs from the trees, caterpillars, and white ants--these
served for meat. The _mabengu_ (nux vomica) furnished the dessert, with
_fenessi_ or a species of bastard jack fruit.
The following day some of the foragers from across the river returned
bringing nothing. They had discovered such emptiness on the north bank as
we had found on the south bank; but "Inshallah!" they said, "we shall
find food either to-morrow or the next day."
In the morning I had eaten my last grain of Indian corn, and my last
portion of everything solid that was obtainable, and at noon the horrid
pains of the stomach had to be satisfied with something. Some potato
leaves brought me by Wadi Khamis, a headman, were bruised fine and
cooked. They were not bad, still the stomach ached from utter depletion.
Then a Zanzibari, with his face aglow with honest pride, brought me a
dozen fruit of the size and colour of prize pear, which emitted a most
pleasant fruity odour. He warranted them to be lovely, and declared that
the men enjoyed them, but the finest had been picked out for myself and
officers. He had also brought a pattie made out of the wood-bean flour
which had a rich custardy look about it. With many thanks I accepted this
novel repast, and I felt a grateful sense of fulness. In an hour,
however, a nausea attacked me, and I was forced to seek my bed. The
temples presently felt as if constricted by an iron band, the eyes
blinked strangely, and a magnifying glass did not enable me to read the
figures of Norie's Epitome. My servant, with the rashness of youth, had
lunched bravely on what I had shared with him of the sweetly-smelling
pear-like fruit, and consequently suffered more severely. Had he been in
a little cockle boat on a mad channel sea he could scarcely have
presented a more flabby and disordered aspect than had been caused by the
forest pears.
Just at sunset the foragers of No. 1 Company, after an absence of
thirty-six hours, appeared from the N. bank, bringing sufficient
plantains to save the Europeans from despair and starvation; but the men
received only two plantains each, equal to four ounces of solid stuff, to
put into stomachs that would have required eight pounds to satisfy.
The officers Stairs, Jephson, and Parke, had been amusing themselves the
entire afternoon in drawing fanciful menus, where such things figured
as:--
Filet de boeuf en Chartreuse.
Petites bouchées aux huîtres de Ostende.
Bécassines rôties à la Londres.
Another had shown his Anglo-Saxon proclivities for solids such as:--
Ham and eggs and plenty of them,
Roast beef and potatoes unlimited,
A weighty plum pudding.
There were two of the foragers missing, but we could not wait for them.
We moved from this starvation camp to one higher up, a distance of eleven
miles.
A man of No. 3 Company dropped his box of ammunition into a deep affluent
and lost it. Kajeli stole a box of Winchester ammunition and absconded.
Salim stole a case containing Emin Pasha's new boots and two pairs of
mine, and deserted. Wadi Adam vanished with Surgeon Parke's entire kit.
Swadi, of No. 1 Company, left his box on the road, and departed himself
to parts unknown. Bull-necked Uchungu followed suit with a box of
Remington cartridges.
On the 12th of October we marched four-and-a-half miles, E. by S. The
boat and crew were far below, struggling in rapids. We wished now to
cross the river to try our fortune on the N. bank. We searched for a
canoe, and saw one on the other side, but the river was 400 yards wide,
and the current was too strong against the best swimmers in their present
state of debility.
Some scouts presently discovered a canoe fastened to an island only forty
yards from the south bank, which was situate a little above our halting
place. Three men volunteered, among whom was Wadi Asman, of the Pioneers,
a grave man, faithful, and of much experience in many African lands.
Twenty dollars reward was to be the prize of success. Asman lacked the
audacity of Uledi, the coxswain of the "advance," as well as his bold
high spirit, but was a most prudent and valuable man.
These three men chose a small rapid for their venture, that they might
obtain a footing now and then on the rocks. At dusk two of them returned
to grieve us with the news that Asman had tried to swim with his
Winchester on his back, and had been swept by the strong current into a
whirlpool, and was drowned.
We were unfortunate in every respect; our chiefs had not yet returned, we
were fearing for their fate, strong men deserted. Our rifles were rapidly
decreasing in number. Our ammunition was being stolen. Feruzi, the next
best man to Uledi as a sailor, soldier, carrier, good man and true, was
dying from a wound inflicted on the head by a savage's knife.
The following day was also a halt. We were about to cross the river, and
we were anxious for our six chiefs, one of whom was Rashid bin Omar, the
"father of the people," as he was called. Equipped with only their
rifles, accoutrements and sufficient ammunition, such men ought to have
travelled in the week that had elapsed since our departure from Nelson's
camp over a hundred miles. If they, during that distance, could not
discover the Manyuema settlement, what chance had we, burdened with
loads, with a caravan of hungry and despairing men, who for a week had
fed on nothing but two plantains, berries, wild fruit, and fungi? Our men
had begun to suffer dearly during this protracted starvation. Three had
died the day before.
Towards evening Jephson appeared with the boat, and brought a supply of
Indian corn, which sufficed to give twelve cupfuls to each white. It was
a reprieve from death for the Europeans.
The next day, the 15th, having blazed trees around the camp, and drawn
broad arrows with charcoal for the guidance of the head men when they
should return, the Expedition crossed over to the north bank and camped
on the upper side of a range of hills. Feruzi Ali died of his wound soon
after.
Our men were in such a desperately weak state, that I had not the heart
to command the boat to be disconnected for transport, as had a world's
treasure been spread out before them, they could not have exhibited
greater power than they were willing to give at a word. I stated the case
fairly to them thus:--
"You see, my men, our condition in brief is this. We started from
Yambuya 389 in number and took 237 loads with us. We had 80 extra
carriers to provide for those who by the way might become weak and
ailing. We left 56 men at Ugarrowwa's Settlement, and 52 with Captain
Nelson. We should have 271 left, but instead of that number we have only
200 to-day, including the chiefs who are absent. Seventy-one have either
died, been killed, or deserted. But there are only 150 of you fit to
carry anything, and therefore we cannot carry this boat any further. I
say, let us sink her here by the riverside, and let us press on to get
food for ourselves and those with Captain Nelson, who are wondering what
has become of us, before we all die in these woods. You are the carriers
of the boat--not we, Do you speak, what shall be done unto her?"
Many suggestions were made by the officers and men, but Uledi of 'Through
the Dark Continent,' always Uledi--the ever faithful Uledi, spoke
straight to the purpose. "Sir, my advice is this. You go on with the
caravan and search for the Manyuema, and I and my crew will work at these
rapids, and pole, row, or drag her on as we can. After I have gone two
days up, if I do not see signs of the Manyuema I will send men after you
to keep touch with you. We cannot lose you, for a blind man could follow
such a track as the caravan makes."
This suggestion was agreed by all to be the best, and it was arranged
that our rule of conduct should be as Uledi sketched out.
We separated at 10 A.M., and in a short time I had my first experience
among the loftier hills of the Aruwimi valley. I led the caravan
northward through the trackless forest, sheering a little to the north
east to gain a spur, and using animal tracks when they served us.
Progress was very slow, the undergrowth was dense; berries of the
phrynium and fruit of the Amomum _fenessi_ and nux vomica, besides the
large wood beans and fungi of all sorts, were numerous, and each man
gathered a plentiful harvest. Unaccustomed to hills for years, our hearts
palpitated violently as we breasted the steep-wooded slopes, and cut
arid slashed at the obstructing creepers, bush and plants.
Ah, it was a sad night, unutterably sad, to see so many men struggling on
blindly through that endless forest, following one white man who was
bound whither none knew, whom most believed did not know himself. They
were in a veritable hell of hunger already! What nameless horrors awaited
them further on none could conjecture? But what matter, death comes to
every man soon or late! Therefore we pushed on and on, broke through the
bush, trampled down the plants, wound along the crest of spurs zigzagging
from north-east to north-west, and descending to a bowl-like valley by a
clear stream, lunched on our corn and berries.
During our mid-day halt, one Umari having seen some magnificent and ripe
_fenessi_ at the top of a tree thirty feet high, essayed to climb it, but
on gaining that height, a branch or his strength yielded and he tumbled
headlong upon the heads of two other men who were waiting to seize the
fruit. Strange to say, none of them were very seriously injured. Umari
was a little lame in the hip and one of those upon whom he fell
complained of a pain in the chest.
At 3.30 after a terrible struggle through a suffocating wilderness of
arums, amoma, and bush, we came to a dark amphitheatral glen and at the
bottom found a camp just deserted by the natives, and in such hot haste
that they had thought it best not to burden themselves with their
treasures. Surely some divinity provided for us always in the most
stressful hours. Two bushels of Indian corn, and a bushel of beans
awaited us in this camp.
My poor donkey from Zanzibar showed symptoms of surrender. Arums and
amoma every day since June 28th were no fit food for a dainty Zanzibar
ass, therefore to end his misery I shot him. The meat was as carefully
shared as though it were the finest venison, for a wild and famished mob
threatened to defy discipline. When the meat was fairly served a free
fight took place over the skin, the bones were taken up and crushed, the
hoofs were boiled for hours, there was nothing left of my faithful animal
but the spilled blood and hair; a pack of hyænas could not have made a
more thorough disposal of it. That constituent of the human being which
marks him as superior to all others of the animal creation was so
deadened by hunger that our men had become merely carnivorous bipeds,
inclined to be as ferocious as any beast of prey.
On the 16th we crossed through four deep gorges one after another,
through wonderful growths of phrynia. The trees frequently bore _fenessi_
nearly ripe, one foot long and eight inches in diameter. Some of this
fruit was equal to pineapple, it was certainly wholesome. Even the rotten
fruit was not rejected. When the _fenessi_ were absent, the wood-bean
tree flourished and kindly sprinkled the ground with its fruit. Nature
seemed to confess that the wanderers had borne enough of pain and grief.
The deepest solitudes showed increasing tenderness for the weary and
long-suffering. The phrynia gave us their brightest red berries, the
amoma furnished us with the finest and ripest scarlet fruit, the
_fenessi_ were in a state of perfection, the wood-beans were larger and
fatter, the streams of the wood glens were clear and cold; no enemy was
in sight, nothing was to be feared but hunger, and nature did its best
with her unknown treasures, shaded us with her fragrant and loving
shades, and whispered to us unspeakable things sweetly and tenderly.
During the mid-day halt the men discussed our prospects. They said, with
solemn shaking of their heads, "Know you that such and such a man is
dead? that the other is lost! another will probably fall this afternoon!
the rest will perish to-morrow!" The trumpet summoned all to their feet,
to march on, and strive, and press forward to the goal.
Half-an-hour later the pioneers broke through a growth of amoma, and
stepped on a road. And lo! on every tree we saw the peculiar "blaze" of
the Manyuema, a discovery that was transmitted by every voice from the
head to the rear of the column, and was received with jubilant cheers.
"Which way, sir?" asked the delighted pioneers.
"Right turn of course," I replied, feeling far more glad than any, and
fuller of longings for the settlement that was to end this terrible
period, and shorten the misery of Nelson and his dark followers.
"Please God," they said, "to-morrow or the next day we shall have food,"
which meant that after suffering unappeasable hunger for 336 hours, they
could patiently wait if it pleased God another thirty-six or sixty hours
more.
We were all frightfully thin, the whites not so much reduced as our
coloured men. We thought of the future and abounded with hope, though
deep depression followed any inspection of the people. We regretted that
our followers did not have greater faith in us. Hunger followed by
despair killed many. Many freely expressed their thoughts and declared to
one another plainly that we knew not whither we were marching. And they
were not far wrong, for who knew what a day might bring forth in
unexplored depths of woods. But as they said, it was their fate to follow
us, and therefore they followed fate. They had fared badly and had
suffered greatly. It is hard to walk at all when weakness sets in through
emptiness; it is still worse to do so when burdened with sixty pounds
weight. Over fifty were yet in fair condition; 150 were skeletons covered
with ashy grey skins, jaded and worn out, with every sign of wretchedness
printed deep in their eyes, in their bodies and movements. These could
hardly do more than creep on and moan, and shed tears and sigh. My only
dog "Randy," alas! how feeble he had become! Meat he had not
tasted--except with me of the ass's meat--for weeks. Parched corn and
beans were not fit for a terrier, and _fenessi_ and _mabengu_, and such
other acid fruit he disdained, and so he declined, until he became as
gaunt as the pariah of a Moslem. Stairs had never failed me. Jephson
every now and then had been fortunate in discoveries of grain treasures,
and always showed an indomitable front, and Parke was ever striving,
patient, cheerful and gentle. Deep, deep down to undiscovered depths our
life in the forest had enabled me to penetrate human nature with all its
endurance and virtues.
Along the track of the Manyuema it was easy to travel. Sometimes we came
to a maze of roads; but once the general direction was found, there was
no difficulty to point to the right one. It appeared to be well
travelled, and it was clearer every mile that we were approaching a
populous settlement. As recent tracks became more numerous, the bush
seemed more broken into, with many a halt and many wayward strayings.
Here and there trees had been lopped of their branches. Cording vines lay
frequently on the track; pads for native carriers had often been dropped
in haste. Most of the morning was expended in crossing a score of lazy,
oozy rillets, which caused large breadths of slime-covered swamp. Wasps
attacked the column at one crossing, and stung a man into high fever, and
being in such an emaciated condition there was little chance of his
recovery. After a march of seven miles south-eastwardly we halted on the
afternoon of the 17th.
The night was ushered by a tempest which threatened to uproot the forest
and bear it to the distant west, accompanied by floods of rain, and a
severe cold temperature. Nevertheless, fear of famishing drove us to
begin the march at an early hour on the following day. In about an hour,
and-a-half we stood on the confines of a large clearing, but the fog was
so dense that we could discern nothing further than 200 feet in front.
Resting awhile to debate upon our course, we heard a sonorous voice
singing in a language none of us knew, and a lusty hail and an argument
with what appeared to be some humour. As this was not a land where
aborigines would dare to be so light-hearted and frivolous, this singing
we believed could proceed from no other people than those who knew they
had nothing to fear. I fired a Winchester rapidly in the air. The
response by heavy-loaded muskets revealed that these were the Manyuema
whom we had been so long seeking, and scarcely had their echoes ceased
their reverberations than the caravan relieved its joy by long continued
hurrahs.
[Illustration: KILONGA LONGA'S STATION.]
We descended the slope of the clearing to a little valley, and from all
sides of an opposite slope were seen lines of men and women issuing to
welcome us with friendly hails. We looked to the right and left and saw
thriving fields, Indian corn, rice, sweet potatoes and beans. The
well-known sounds of Arab greeting and hospitable tenders of friendship
burst upon our ears; and our hands were soon clasped by lusty huge
fellows, who seemed to enjoy life in the wilds as much as they could have
enjoyed it in their own lands. These came principally from Manyuema,
though their no less stout slaves, armed with percussion muskets and
carbine, echoed heartily their superiors' sentiments and professions.
We were conducted up the sloping clearing through fields of luxuriant
grain, by troops of men and youngsters who were irrepressibly frolicsome
in their joy at the new arrivals and dawning promise of a holiday. On
arrival at the village we were invited to take our seats in deep shady
verandahs where we soon had to answer to hosts of questions and
congratulations. As the caravan filed past us to its allotted quarters
which men were appointed to show, numerous were the praises to God,
uttered by them for our marvellous escapes from the terrible wilderness
that stretched from their settlement of Ipoto to the Basopo Cataract, a
distance of 197 miles, praises in which in our inmost hearts each one of
our sorely tried caravan most heartily joined.