On every hand on their march eastward my companions spread destruction
and death. The raiders' track was marked by blood and ashes, for almost
daily they shot down natives, burned villages, and added to the number
of their slaves.
The horrors of that journey through the eternal gloom were endless, and
the many cruelties and butcheries perpetrated in cold blood sufficient
to send a thrill of horror through the most callous heart. Through all
my varied experience with the hordes of the Mahdi and the Khalifa, I had
never witnessed such scenes of fiendish brutality. Tiamo, whose savage
nature had at first rejoiced in being one of this lawless band, was soon
sickened, and often shuddered and expressed disgust.
Yet through all I had one goal in view, one object to attain--the
discovery of the mystic spot where the Secret of the Asps might be
revealed. The dreams that waved before my half-shut eyes were ever of
Azala. Ever uppermost in my mind was the thought of her imprisoned in
that great palace, surrounded by every gorgeous luxury, yet not allowed
to participate, and patiently awaiting my return. Each day, when
darkness set in, I thought of her opening her lattice, praying for
Allah's favour and breathing words of love to be borne afar to me upon
the sunset wind. When should we again meet, I wondered. Perhaps never.
But the story of my strange journey, stranger than man had ever before
undertaken, slips away from me as I think of her.
The notches on Tiamo's gun, which he fortunately recovered before
leaving Avisibba, showed that the day arranged for the attack upon Kano
by the Dervishes had long passed, for already we had been absent five
moons. If Ayesha had not delivered my warning, or if the Sultan had
disregarded it, then the Empire of Sokoto was doomed. Of what dire
consequences would result from the non-delivery of my hastily-scrawled
message I feared to contemplate, for I knew that if the Ansar entered
Kano, the woman I loved would most certainly be seized and carried away
to grace the harem of the brutal Ruler of the Soudan.
But, trusting to the guidance of the One Guide, I strove to assure
myself of her safety, and with a stout heart pushed forward, determined
to overcome every obstacle that beset my path. Bitten and stung by
numberless tribes of insects, including a beetle so small that it could
not be detected with the naked eye, but which burrowed deeply into the
flesh, producing most painful sores; continually on the alert against
the many green, gold and black snakes, puff-adders, pythons and other
deadly reptiles, we went forward, week by week, until the wretched
slaves, half-starved and brutally ill-used, became mere shrunken
skeletons of their former selves, disfigured by terrible ulcers caused
by the insects, while the fighting-men themselves became lean, pale and
weakened. Through a suffocating wilderness of arums, amoma and bush,
over damp ground that exuded foetid, poisonous vapours, we struggled
onward, until one day we were startled to hear on before us the sound of
muskets, loud, wild shouting, and the violent beating of tam-tams.
Ngalyema and his men halted quickly to listen. The sounds approached.
"Thank Allah!" the headman cried in delight when, in a few moments, a
strange, half-bred Arab pushed his way toward us, giving us loud and
profuse greetings. "Our guides have not deceived us. We are at last at
Kalunga!"
Pushing forward, our scouts had apprised the raiders' settlement of our
approach, and the wildest excitement at once prevailed. My companions,
with one accord dashed onward, and on accompanying them I found myself
in a great, open clearing around a strong stockade, within which stood a
number of well-constructed huts. Here, once again, after a perpetual
gloom lasting nine weeks, we saw the blessed light of day, the cloudless
sky and the brilliant sun, and breathed the pure air laden with the
sweet perfume of many flowers.
We were, I discovered, actually in the country of the Wambutti pigmies,
some of whom, sleek little people, about the height of a sword, and of
the colour of yellow ivory, I saw among the Arabs. Kalunga was an
out-lying station established by Tippu-Tib's brigands in order to extend
their raids deeper into the Forest of Perpetual Night; and it was
Ngalyema himself, who, a few hours later, suggested that from the
curious race of forest-dwellers in the vicinity I might possibly obtain
knowledge of the whereabouts of the Rock of the Great Sin. He even
suggested that one or two of his own fighting-men should accompany me on
my lonely journey south in search of the pigmies, but knowing that he
desired to obtain for himself knowledge of the spot, I firmly declined
his offer, declaring that I felt less open to attack accompanied only by
Tiamo than if his slave-raiders bore me company.
During two days I remained at the Arab settlement, watching the manner
in which the slaves were secured previous to deportation to the
headquarters at Ipoto, on the Ituri river, forty days distant; then,
with my trusty companion, El-Sadic, I left the place at dead of night,
in order to escape Ngalyema's vigilance, and again we plunged into the
forest depths along the narrow, winding, half-effaced track which had
been pointed out to me as running south to the distant villages of the
mysterious race of dwarfs. In that impenetrable darkness our progress
was slow, but when day dawned above, just sufficient light struggled
through the dense foliage to enable us to pursue our way. It was a
lonely journey, full of terrors and anxieties, for were we not
approaching the tribe, of all the people in the Forest of Night the most
hostile?
Ever on the alert lest we should receive the poisoned shaft of some
hidden dwarf of the woods, or tread upon a poisoned skewer, we struggled
still onward. Day succeeded day until we kept no count of them. Tiamo,
who had borne the fatigues of our long journey without a murmur, and
bravely faced the perils to which we had continuously been exposed, now
appeared to have grown despairing and gloomy. The eternal twilight was
certainly not conducive to high spirits, but my dwarf companion seemed
overwhelmed by some strange precursor of evil.
As deeper into the forest we penetrated, food became scarcer, and hunger
consumed us daily. We were subsisting on wood-beans, occasional
plantains, bananas and some wild fruit, but as not a gleam of sunshine
gladdened our eyes, or breath of pure air refreshed us, it was scarcely
surprising that my slave should give vent to his innermost thoughts.
One morning, in the dim, grey hour when things were just creeping out of
darkness and everything was colourless and unreal, he appeared unusually
gloomy, and when I inquired the cause, answered,--
"In the night, O master, I had a dream. The future was revealed unto
me," and he shuddered perceptibly. "Verily, I believe that our quest is
futile; that death is nigh unto us. I have a presentiment that the eyes
of the beauteous Lalla Azala will never again be gladdened by sight of
thee, and that mine own bones also will be stripped by the scavengers of
the forest."
"Let not such gloomy apprehensions find a dwelling-place within thee,
Tiamo," I answered, forcing a smile. "Relinquish not thy brave bearing.
For aught we know we are, even at this moment, on the point of a
discovery."
"The men of Tippu-Tib assured me that the dwarfs of the Wambutti resent
the intrusion of strangers, and murder those who dare approach them
except in force," he exclaimed, gloomily.
"Did we not set forth to seek the Rock of the Great Sin, and didst thou
not express thy readiness to accompany me whithersoever I went?" I
asked.
"I did, O master," he answered. "But I knew not that we should seek to
penetrate the country of the man-eaters."
"Allah,--may he be glorified!--counteth them as flies, but extendeth
unto us his guidance and protection," I said. "Put thy faith in the One
Guide, and he will comfort and preserve thee."
Mumbling some mystic words in his own tongue, the meaning of which I
knew not, he fumbled with his amulets and raised his open hand above his
head, as if imploring the protection of his pagan gods. Then, rising to
his feet, and with a look of renewed energy, he exclaimed,--
"Of a verity thy lips utter the truth. We may be even now near unto the
shore of the Lake of the Accursed, and upon the verge of discovering
that which is weirdly mysterious and unknown. I will abandon fear and
continue to seek with diligence for that of which we are in quest."
"We have both promised," I said, solemnly. "We have travelled afar, and
are but fulfilling our duty towards the Lalla Azala, thy mistress."
"True, O master," he said. "Pearls of wisdom fall ever from thy lips as
rain upon a thirsty land. I am ready. Let us move forward."
At the bidding of my ape-like companion I rose, and again we started
along the disused track, rendered almost impassable by trailing
creepers, vines, and thick undergrowth. During that day we struggled
forward, passing through a village that had apparently been burned by
the Arabs some months before, and, continuing our way still southward,
we entered a path that had been so widened by elephants that we could
walk side by side and converse, when suddenly, without warning, the
earth beneath us gave way and we were both precipitated headlong into a
deep pit that had been artfully concealed by leaves, twigs, and a thin
layer of earth. My knee was bruised severely, but in a moment I
struggled to my feet to gaze around. I raved to and fro, screaming and
crying upon Allah and Eblis, for I was dismayed to discover that the pit
had been dug so deeply, with sides slanting inwards, that to escape was
utterly impossible.
We had been caught by one of the elephant-traps, in the arrangement of
which the pigmies display so much ingenuity and cunning. We had fallen
into an abyss of doom.
"Alas, O master! this misfortune hath shackled our footsteps!" the dwarf
exclaimed, rubbing his abnormally large woolly head where he had struck
it. "I dreamed that we were dying."
No word passed my lips. In vain I searched frantically for some mode of
escape, but could discover none. My companion's words, were, alas! too
true! We had nothing left, but misery! The heart of night, and the
forest's heart were tranquil in primordial silence. The mishap was
worse than a misfortune, for it meant either capture by the malicious
little denizens of that weird realm of perpetual darkness, or a
lingering death from starvation.
To endeavour to reach the surface, I mounted the dwarf upon my
shoulders, but my heart sank when I saw that the point to which he could
stretch his hands was still fully a spear's length below the ground.
Had he been a full-grown man and not of dwarfed stature, it was possible
that we might have escaped by this means, but all schemes that we
devised proved impracticable, and we were compelled to walk backwards
and forwards within the dark, deep hole, awaiting the arrival of our
exulting captors, who would, no doubt, believe that in me, an Arab, they
had caught one of their arch enemies--the raiders of Tippu-Tib.
The gloom grew deeper, the birds far above ceased their chattering, a
fact which told us that it was the hour of the _maghrib_, when, suddenly
in the silence, we heard leaves rustling, and twigs broken as by
footsteps.
Next second, a black head appeared, cautiously leaning over the pit
looking down upon us, and a voice uttered a loud cry in a language
neither of us knew.
My heart leaped, and beat quickly.
The savage's face seemed to smile in mockery of my dismay; his scream of
delight was the death knell of all my hopes, and, as the sinister head
was withdrawn, I stood breathless, unarmed, wondering in what form death
would come to us, and praying to Allah that we might die swiftly and
painlessly, for I dreaded the horrible, revolting tortures I had so
frequently witnessed.
I remembered it was the hour when Azala, in the far-off city of the
Sultan, was wafting to me, from her high lattice, a fervent message of
comfort, of peace and of love. There came before me the pale image of
those hours of enchantment. Upon the successful accomplishment of my
strange mission depended all our future, all our happiness. I struggled
to look the circumstances fairly in the face, to see the folly of my
wild frenzy, and to reason with myself.
But a profound sense of loneliness, helplessness and despair had settled
upon me. I became seized by an excessive dread.