Instead of hastening the speed of the caravan and fleeing before the
armed and threatening host advancing against us, the order was at
once given to halt and make ready to give them a warm reception. The
interpreters at the same time went down the ranks of the soldiers,
and warned them not to fire unless we were attacked.
This arrangement made, Nassar and several Dinkas, who had been hired
by us, went to meet their fellow-countrymen for the purpose of
finding out the reason of the hostile display.
After the lapse of a quarter of an hour our guide rejoined us with
the information that the natives accused us of having abused their
hospitality by carrying off into slavery two young girls of their
village, relatives of the chief. The absence of these girls had been
discovered a few moments after our departure, and the whole of the
inhabitants at once set off in pursuit.
What is the meaning of the accusation? Which of the escort has dared
to infringe our rules and compromise us in this fashion? Where are
the women? They might be concealed, possibly, from us in the midst of
some more or less compact knot of our followers, and their cries
might be prevented by gags, but we are now forewarned, and discovery
cannot fail to be a very simple matter.
Nassar once more approached the crowd, and declared, in our name,
that if the two women were really with the caravan they should be
given up at once. At the same time de Morin ordered all the soldiers
and bearers, as well as the women who accompanied them, to form up in
single file. When this was done, we inspected the whole line, and as
each face was already familiar to us, we should soon have detected
any sign of uneasiness.
The inspection passed off without our having been able to find the
missing girls, and there was evidently a mistake somewhere. These two
Dinka ladies must have absconded of their own free will, and, as all
caravans are in bad repute, ours is accused of abduction. At my
request, several of the Dinkas have joined us, and can see for
themselves that their absent countrywomen are not with us.
Suddenly, a fine young fellow, about twenty years of age, who had
been pointed out to us as the affianced lover of one of the runaways,
made a bound over the heads of the bearers drawn up in front of us,
lighted in the midst of the baggage, and sprang towards a tent which
was wrapped round the pole belonging to it. Several of our Nubians
left the ranks and wanted to send him away, when Delange, who
happened to be close by, interfered and ordered our people to fall
back and allow the Dinka to do whatever he liked. The black thereupon
took hold of the knife hanging from his waist-belt, cut the cord of
the tent, and lo! there appeared his beloved _fiancée_. He drew her
to him, embraced her fondly, and then taking her on his shoulders, he
made his way through our ranks again, and rejoined his fellow
countrymen, who gave him a most enthusiastic welcome.
As soon as the man had taken his departure Delange cut the cord of
another tent, and set free the second prisoner, to whom the Dinka,
satisfied with the recovery of his lady-love, had not given a
thought. This woman, as soon as she was liberated, rubbed her eyes,
dazzled by the glare of the sun, looked round her with astonishment,
saw the people of her tribe, and went towards them without the
slightest hesitation. It was, consequently, very evident that these
two women had not left their country of their own free will, neither
had they found a voluntary concealment in the tents. They must have
been carried off by main force by some of our people, and imprisoned
in such a manner that they could neither be seen nor heard. This
abduction is all the more annoying to us because we are looked upon
as the accomplices of our servants. To save our honour as Europeans,
and free ourselves from all responsibility, we must discover the
culprits and punish them. To arrive at this result it is only
necessary to summon the bearers of the two tents to appear. Somebody
must have noticed that they lacked their wonted activity, that the
tents had in them some weighty, moving objects, and the silence of
these men, and their willingness to carry an excessive load pointed
them out clearly as either the authors or the abettors of the
abduction.
We were destined, when, questioning them, to make a further and more
disgraceful discovery. The bearers of these tents are only paid
accomplices, deluded wretches, and to reach the real culprit, we most
raise our eyes higher and search our own ranks.
Alas! he belongs to the European colony, he is as white as we are,
made almost after our own image. It is Joseph!
The bearers, when threatened with the whip, confessed that M. de
Morin's servant had given them three pearl necklets and some iron
rings, to seize upon the two girls, stifle their cries, swaddle them
in a tent, and carry them off. Joseph thought that the two captives,
converted for the nonce into bales of goods, would disappear without
being noticed, that he would unpack them on the following day, as
soon as the caravan reached another district, and that he would thus
have got possession of two slaves, destined either to be exchanged
for elephant's tusks, or to prepare his turtle soup, for which the
Dinka women, who aire excellent cooks, are renowned.
Joseph was summoned. He at first attempted to deny everything, and
accused the bearers of wishing to lower him in the eyes of his
masters. But he soon became confused, contradicted himself, and
finally, when found out in a lie, confessed all.
The next question was, what punishment to inflict? Our first thought
was to transfer to him the thrashing destined for his accomplices,
and he richly deserved it. But we were afraid of diminishing the
_prestige_ attaching to all white men, whatever their position, if we
inflicted corporal punishment on an European, and after consultation,
it was resolved that Joseph, to expiate his crime, should make the
remainder of the journey on foot—in other words, that he should at
once dismount from his donkey. In addition, he was sentenced to hand
over the animal to the two Dinka women by way of compensation for the
inconvenience he had caused them.
Joseph made some demur at this, but de Morin told him plainly that if
he did not at once do as he was bid, he should be given up to the
people he had outraged. This threat had an immediate effect. Joseph
trotted off on his donkey, and, dismounting, presented his steed to
his former prisoners.
This present filled the two women with joy. They rushed to the donkey
and covered it with caresses, and, then, from its neck they passed to
that of their abductor, and embraced him as only negresses know how.
As soon as he could disengage himself from their arms, Joseph dragged
himself, or rather rolled towards us, lamenting loudly his
demonstrative slaves and his patient ass. The latter, on the
contrary, comprehending that he had got rid of his bulky rider, set
to work to bray for joy. The Dinkas, who are clever at imitating the
cries of animals, joined in the chorus with the donkey, the drums of
the caravan beat, the cymbals clanged, the trumpets sounded, and,
with every good wish from the natives, once more our friends, we
again set out on our southward way.
Our route brought us into the midst of a small tribe, forming an
isolated community amongst the powerful surrounding tribes. These
people, to whom our interpreters gave the name of Al-waj, inhabit a
large forest, frequented by giraffes, monkeys and elephants, and in
this forest we were destined to witness one of their punishments, of
which, notwithstanding the horror inspired by the mere recollection,
we are bound, as faithful historians, to give some account.