There is much truth in our Arab saying, that a day of pain appears
everlasting if one does not dream of the bright to-morrow. A life's
unrest, indeed, seems but a day's if one looks to the calm that Allah
has promised shall be the reward of Believers. Beyond the pain and
weariness is a white dawn, reunion and peace. Life with the fierce
brigands of Tippu-Tib, the ivory king, was full of vicissitudes and
horrors, as along the narrow native track, through the gloomy forest, we
pushed forward.
Owing to the large number of rapids, it was impossible for the raiders
to use the native canoes to ascend the Aruwimi on their return to Ipoto,
where they had temporarily established themselves; therefore, in order
to secure more ivory and slaves, Ngalyema had decided to take a route
which ran into the forest, six days' journey from the river, and which
the guides assured us would follow the course of the Ituri and pass
through a district where many settlements might be raided.
Compelled to travel in single file, our journey through the dark,
endless Forest of Perpetual Night was slow, tedious and hazardous. At
almost every step we were retarded by stumps, roots, climbers,
convolvuli and green-scummed pools, while, by the absence of light, we
were chilled and depressed, and the poisonous odours arising from the
decaying mass of vegetation sickened us. Here and there, where the
interlaced foliage overhead allowed the sunshine to struggle through,
flocks of parrots screamed and whistled gleefully, and the tall
tree-trunks looked grey and ghostly in the pale light; but our progress,
creeping among the dense undergrowth, and climbing over fallen
patriarchs of the forest, was full of anxiety. Plantains grew
everywhere, therefore there was no lack of food; but the brutality with
which the raiders treated their slaves caused a number of deaths ere we
had been a dozen days on the march.
At length, one morning, the scouts, consisting of the two native guides,
and about twenty Arabs, who were some distance ahead, rushed back with
the news that they had come upon a large clearing, and that we were
evidently approaching a village. The order to halt was immediately
given, and Ngalyema himself, with a small force, went rapidly forward
with the scouts to reconnoitre. In an hour they returned, stating that
there were several villages in close proximity, and, with my gun ready,
I accompanied the fighting-men in their dash forward. Passing across
the clearing, where every plantain-stalk bore an enormous bunch of the
fruit which filled the air with its odour, and where corn and
sugar-canes were profusely cultivated, our pioneers suddenly came across
a number of poisoned skewers, artfully concealed in the path, and these
having been carefully picked out, we crept along, past a heap of bones
of slaughtered game, to surround the settlement.
It was exciting work. We knew not whether the alarm had already been
raised and the natives were lying in ambush. Each moment we expected to
be greeted with a flight of poisoned arrows from the concealed
defenders; but as we got within sight of the huts it seemed that our
approach had been unnoticed.
Suddenly, however, the white garments of the raiders attracted
attention, and in a few moments the village was in a tumult of
apprehension. Without hesitation, our thick-lipped headman ordered the
raiders to disperse into the jungle and surround the village, and as
they dashed away and I took up a position behind a tree at a little
distance from Tiamo, we could hear loud blasts being blown upon a horn.
In an instant the raiders opened a galling fire. A number of my
fellow-marksmen had clambered up the adjacent trees, others were
concealed in the dense undergrowth, while a small body still remained in
the rear, prepared to charge when commanded. A few seconds after the
alarm had been raised, the black warriors, armed with bows, arrows,
shields and long spears, poured out of the stockade, yelling and
brandishing their weapons, but so well had the attack been planned, that
each volley of the Arabs felled dozens of the blacks.
Finding that we had got into ambush so cleverly, they retired
immediately within their stockade, and from their cover launched flights
of poisoned arrows in every direction. The missiles, the merest scratch
from which would produce tetanus and death, swept through the foliage
above us and stuck in the trunks of the trees in our vicinity,
nevertheless wherever a black head or savage head-dress showed above the
high stockade, it was picked off with unerring precision by our
sharpshooters.
The rattle of musketry, however, had alarmed the neighbouring villages,
and almost before we were aware of it we were attacked in the rear by a
crowd of yelling savages armed with clubs and bows. For a few minutes
our position appeared exceedingly critical; but this contingency had not
been overlooked, for suddenly I noticed a number of our men, who had
been left to guard the slaves, were drawing off the defenders'
reinforcement, and shooting them down with a cool recklessness that was
surprising.
For half-an-hour the fierce fusillade continued, until at length
Ngalyema gave the signal to charge. To this the Arabs quickly
responded, and in a few moments had stormed the stockade and were
inside, swarming over the huts, and fighting the savages hand-to-hand.
The _melee_ was exciting, but against guns savage weapons proved to be
of little avail, and ere long a ruthless massacre of the unfortunate
blacks became general. The very air was halituous of freshly-shed
blood. As at Avisibba, the women and children were secured, the place
looted, and every nook and corner searched, to discover the secreted
tusks. None, however, could be found.
Ngalyema had evidently good cause for belief that a considerable amount
of ivory had been collected, and after his men had proceeded to the
three other small villages in the immediate vicinity, thoroughly
searched them, and captured the defenceless portion of the inhabitants,
the chief of the Avejeli, whose life had been spared, was brought before
him. His name was Yakul, a stalwart savage, of proud bearing, wearing a
loin-cloth of goatskin and a conical shaped head-dress ornamented with a
swaling crimson plume, while upon his arms, wrists and ankles were four
bangles fashioned from _matako_, the brass rods imported by white
traders on the Congo.
Through one of the guides, who spoke the Momvu tongue, the headman of
the raiders put a question, asking where his ivory was concealed. On
hearing the inquiry, even before it was fully translated, he drew
himself up, looked keenly into Ngalyema's face, and answered,--
"Thou hast killed and enslaved my people, and thou mayest kill me. Thou
art the friends of Tippu-Tib, against whom our wise men have long warned
us. Finish thy dastardly shedding of blood. Kill me, and go."
"We have no desire to kill thee," the headman answered, with a smile.
"Indeed, thou shalt regain thy liberty, and thy wives shall be returned
unto thee if thou wilt disclose the hiding-place of thine ivory."
"Thou hast destroyed my people. See now! Thou hast already applied the
fire-brand unto my village!" he cried in fierce anger, shaking both his
black fists. "Go. May the curse of the Evil Spirit who dwelleth in the
darkness of the Great Forest, follow thee until death."
"Pick out thy wives," the other said, pointing to the large group of
trembling women and children. "They are free, and likewise thyself, but
the men of Tippu-Tib depart not hither until thou hast led them unto the
place where thou hast concealed thy treasure."
The chief's fierce black eyes flashed with angry fire, as, waving his
hand with a gesture of impatience, he replied,--
"Already have I answered."
His four wives, however, watching the progress of the negotiations, and
overhearing the offer of Ngalyema, dashed forward and flung themselves
before their master, beseeching him to save his own life and theirs by
disclosing the secret.
But he waved them aside with regal gesture, and folded his arms
resolutely.