Slowly the shadows lengthened as the fierce, chattering horde ran hither
and thither, scattering the goats and fowls in their haste to prepare
the platform. Upon a large and malodorous refuse-heap, close to the
spot where we were secured, many human skulls and bones had been flung,
showing only too plainly that the Avisibba were eaters of human flesh.
The sun-blanched skulls, of which there were scores, thrilled us with
horror, for their presence spoke mutely of the horrible fate awaiting
us. Presently, something white attracted my attention at a little
distance beyond the pile of village refuse, and almost at the same
moment we both discovered that we were not the only prisoners in the
hands of the Avisibba, but that two other men were secured to large
stakes at a little distance from us. The white garment that had
attracted my attention was a burnouse, and, to my amazement, I saw that
its wearer was an Arab, and that his companion in misfortune was a
half-clothed savage of a dusky copper hue.
"Hail! Son of Al-Islam! Whence comest thou?" I shouted in Arabic,
endeavouring to attract his attention. But my greeting was lost amid
the shrill yells and unceasing chatter of our merciless captors. A
group of the black warriors, each wearing a strip of bark-cloth and a
necklet of human teeth, noticing my effort to arouse my fellow-prisoner,
leaped before me, gesticulating, shouting gleefully, grinning from ear
to ear and rubbing their paunches with their hands with lively
anticipation.
Again I shouted to my luckless fellow-prisoner, but Tiamo remarked,
"See! his chin hath fallen upon his breast. The sun hath stricken him,
and he hath lost consciousness. Only his cords save him from falling
prone to earth."
The dwarf spoke the truth. No doubt my co-religionist had remained
bound to the stake during the whole day, and there being no shade,
thirst and heat had consumed him. Whence he came was a complete
mystery. I was unaware that any Arab had penetrated the terrible Forest
of Perpetual Night, and it suddenly occurred to me that possibly there
might be some approach to the Aruwimi from the sun-lit land of Al-Islam
other than that we had traversed.
From these fierce, pugnacious savages, who set no value upon human life,
I could obtain knowledge of the whereabouts of the Rock of the Great
Sin! They were indeed of those who have erred and denied Allah as a
falsehood, and who shall eat of the fruit of the tree of Al-Zakkum, and
fill their bellies therewith, and shall drink boiling water. I looked
upon the strange, weird group dancing around us, ready to take our lives
and cast our bones upon the refuse-heap, wondering how I could
propitiate them and obtain the knowledge I sought.
"Speak unto them, Tiamo," I cried. "Explain that we are not enemies;
that we are only belated wayfarers in search of the Great Rock."
The dwarf addressed them, but apparently they did not catch the meaning
of his words, for they only laughed the more.
"A hundred times, O my master, have I told them of our quest," Tiamo
answered, dolefully. "But, alas! they will not listen. They declare
that we are spies of Kaba Rega; that we shall die."
"Are the others spies?" I inquired.
"I know not. They will not loosen their tongues' strings."
It was evident we were in a very critical position, and I cried unto
Allah to place before me the shield of his protection. Years ago I had
heard, during my studies at the French Lycee at Algiers, that almost all
the races in the Great Forest of the Congo practise cannibalism,
although in some parts it is prevented by the presence of white
civilisation. An extensive traffic in human flesh prevails in many
districts, slaves being kept and sold as articles of food. Contrary to
an ignorant yet very generally accepted theory, the negro man-eater
never eats flesh raw, and certainly takes human flesh as food purely and
simply, and not from religious or superstitious reasons. Among the
Avisibba we saw neither grey-haired persons, halt, maimed nor blind, for
even parents were eaten by their children on the approach of the least
sign of old age.
We saw skulls used as drinking-vessels, and even as we waited,
breathlessly apprehensive of our fate, we witnessed our captors piling
up a great fire near the platform with dried sticks and leaves. So full
of horror was each moment that it seemed an hour. The excitement in the
village increased. Men brandishing their spears, and women wearing
bunches of freshly-plucked leaves at the back of their loin-cloths in
honour of the coming feast, leaped, danced and roared with bull voices.
Little black children came and looked at me curiously, no doubt
remarking upon the whiteness of my skin in comparison with theirs; then
ran away, dancing and clapping their hands, infected with the wild,
savage glee of their elders.
The sun sank, the dusk deepened, and as there gathered the shadows of a
starless night, the blazing fire in the centre of the village threw a
red, lurid glare upon the fantastic-looking huts, the crowds of savages,
and the thick foliage of the primeval forest by which we were
surrounded. Presently there was a great stir among the warriors, mats
were hurriedly spread beneath a sickly dwarf tree near to where we were,
the great ivory horns gave forth mellow blares, reminding me of the
Khalifa's Court at Omdurman, and from among the excited crowd the chief
of the Avisibba, a tall, thin-featured savage, wearing a fine
leopard-skin, advanced and seated himself upon the low stool placed for
him. The flickering light from the fire showed that beneath the strange
square helmet of burnished copper, surmounted by a large bunch of
parrot's feathers, was a face full of humour, pleasure and contentment.
When the whole village had assembled before him, pointing towards us,
shouting and gesticulating violently, he suddenly turned and spoke
briefly and low to his sub-chiefs and satellites. There was an
instant's silence until the sub-chiefs spoke. Then wild, piercing
yells, truly the war-cry of cannibals, awakened the echoes of the forest
as the whole dusky horde rushed off to where our fellow-captives were
secured.
It was evident they were to be sacrificed first.
A few moments later the bonds that had held the copper-hued negro to the
stake were loosened, and he was hurried by a dozen warriors into the
presence of their chief, amid a storm of triumphant cries. The courage
displayed by the unfortunate captive was indomitable. Folding his arms,
he stood before the chief of his enemies, gazing upon him with withering
contempt. The onlookers were silent. The chief, squatting upon his
low, six-legged stool, uttered some fierce words, apparently
interrogating him, to which the doomed man replied with scornful
gesture.
Again the tall warrior in the copper helmet gave the victim a quick
glance, his eyes gleaming with unearthly glitter in his almost
featureless face, and repeated his question; but the proud
forest-dweller reared his tall body up, raising his voice until his
words reached me. Tiamo was equally startled with myself, for the
half-naked savage was speaking in Arabic, apparently ignorant of the
tongue of the cannibals.
Standing calmly before the chief, he delivered some terrible curses upon
him, while the crowd of savages were silent, striving to understand his
meaning.
"Thou art a dog, and a son of a dog," he shouted. "Cursed is he who
breaketh his plighted vow; cursed is he who nourisheth secret hate;
cursed is he who turneth his back upon his friend; cursed is he who in
the day of war turneth his back against his brother; cursed is he who
eateth the flesh of his enemies; cursed is he who defileth his mouth
with human blood; cursed is he who deviseth evil to his friend whose
blood has become one with his own. May sickness waste his strength and
his days be narrowed by disease; may his limbs fail him in the day of
battle, and may his arms stiffen with cramps; may the adder wait for him
by the path, and may the lion meet him on his way; may the itch make him
loathsome and the hair of his head be lost by the mange; may the arrow
of his enemies pin his entrails, and may the spear of his brother be
dyed in his vitals. May a blight fall upon thine accursed land, O
Sheikh! May thy wives be seized as slaves by the pigmies of the
Wambutti, and may the vengeance of Allah, the One Mighty and Just,
descend upon thee. May thy face be rolled in hell-fire, and thy torment
be perpetual; may the flame and smoke surround thee like a pavilion, and
if thou cravest relief may thy thirst by slacked by the water that shall
scald thy countenance like molten brass. I am in thy hands; verily,
Allah will punish him who taketh the life of a Believer. Whoever shall
have wrought evil shall be thrown on his face into the fire
unquenchable." The fierce rabble gazed at each other, puzzled and
unable to understand a single syllable.
"Well spoken!" I cried excitedly, in Arabic. "If it is Allah's will
that we die, we fear not. It is written that the One Omniscient
favoureth the Faithful, and lighteneth his burden."
The captive started at hearing words in the tongue he understood, and
turned in my direction; but we were in the shadow, therefore it was
evident he could not distinguish us.
The silence was unbroken for a few seconds, save by the ominous
crackling of the fire, while the chief consulted with his satellites;
then the latter, waving their hands, uttered some words. A big warrior
placed the ivory horn to his lips and blew thrice lustily, and in a
moment the scene was one of intense excitement. Fifty impatient pairs
of hands seized the luckless man, and allowing him no further utterance,
hurried him away to the small platform ten yards distant, within full
view of us.
Scarce daring to look, I held my breath. The howls of wild beasts were
heard in the forest. Yet curiosity prompted me to ascertain in what
mode my own life was shortly to be taken, and I gazed, fascinated, at
the black figures moving and dancing in the red light thrown by the
burning branches, like demons let loose from Al-Hawiyat. Suddenly a
shrill scream of agony rent the night air, and sent a thrill of horror
through me. Then I could see that our captors had stretched the
unfortunate wretch upon his stomach on the planks of the platform, and
while twenty pairs of hands held him firmly down, incantations were
being uttered by a man shaking pebbles in a magic gourd, while at the
same time a black giant was wielding a huge club of black wood,
relentlessly breaking the bones of the victim's arms and legs.
I closed my eyes to shut out the sight. With the wild Ansar of the
Khalifa I had witnessed many fearful tortures to which prisoners had
been subjected, but never before had I seen a man's limbs crushed in so
methodical and heartless a manner. The victim's screams and groans grew
fainter until they ceased entirely, for he had lost consciousness under
the excruciating pain. When again I summoned courage to glance in his
direction, I observed that four men had seized him, and were carrying
his inanimate form towards the narrow stream that flowed swiftly by on
its way to join the Aruwimi. The fire, at that moment stirred by an
enthusiast, illumined the village brilliantly, enabling me to watch the
subsequent movements of these ghoulish fiends. At first it appeared
that they were about to wash or drown their captive, but such proved not
to be the case, for three of the men jumped into the stream, and,
pulling in the helpless victim, still alive, they tied him to a stake in
the water, with his head firmly fixed in a forked stick above the
surface, in order to prevent him from committing suicide by drowning on
regaining consciousness. Then I remembered that long ago I had heard a
rumour that this tribe were in the habit of placing the body, thus
mutilated and still living, in water for periods varying from two hours
to two or three days, on the supposition that this pre-mortem treatment
rendered the flesh more palatable. I shuddered.