On the following day it rained a little, but as there were also some
hours between showers, Stasch began as soon as possible to explore his
surroundings, and by noon he had penetrated every corner. The inspection
proved very satisfactory. In the first place, Linde Mountain was the
most secure place in the whole of Africa. Monkeys alone could scale its
heights. Neither lions nor panthers could climb the plateau. As to
guarding the mountain pass, they had only to install King at the
entrance and then lie down and go to sleep peacefully. Stasch was
convinced that he could now resist attacks of small troups of Dervishes,
for the road leading to the mountain was very narrow, and one man alone,
provided he had a good gun, could block the entrance so effectually that
not a soul would be able to pass.
In the center of the “island” there bubbled forth a spring of cool,
crystal-clear water, the outlet of which was a small brook that wound
its way through the banana-grove and at last plunged over the edge of an
overhanging cliff into the river, thus forming a narrow waterfall, which
glistened like a white ribbon. On the south side of the peninsula there
were fields covered with a luxuriant growth of manioc roots, which are
much relished by the negroes. Behind these fields grew very high
cocoanut palms, their crowns shaped like beautiful feather-dusters.
A mass of jungle surrounded the “island,” and the view was very
extensive. On the east could be seen the blue chain of the Karamajo
Mountains. On the south rose high hills, which, judging from their dark
color, must have been covered with trees. On the west, however, the view
extended to the horizon, where the jungle melted into the sky. But
looking through Linde’s telescope Stasch perceived various narrow
passes, and here and there enormous trees, rising above the grasses like
churches. In some places, where the grass had not as yet grown very
high, one could see with the naked eye herds of antelopes and zebras,
elephants and buffaloes. Here and there giraffes made paths through the
gray-blue jungle like ships furrowing through the sea. Close to the edge
of the river some water-bucks were playing, while others raised their
horned heads above the deep water. In places where the surface of the
water was calmer, every now and then fish, the same kind Kali had
caught, would spring up, glitter like silver stars and then sink back
into the water. Stasch resolved that, as soon as the weather was better,
he would take Nell around and show her the menagerie. There were no
large animals on the island, but immense numbers of butterflies and
birds. Large, snow-white parrots with black beaks and yellow breasts
flew above the shrubbery, tiny whidah-birds, with beautiful plumage,
glittering like jewels, swung from the thin stalks of manioc, and from
the high branches of the cocoanut-tree could be heard the sound of the
African cuckoo and the sad, soft cooing of the turtle-dove.
Stasch returned from his inspection feeling very happy.
“The air here is good,” he said to himself; “this place is proof against
attack, there is plenty of food to be had, and in fact it is a perfect
Paradise.”
But as he entered Nell’s hut he saw that a larger animal had put in an
appearance on the island—indeed, there were two—for during his absence
Nasibu had found in the banana thicket a goat with her young one, which
the Dervishes had been obliged to leave behind. The goat was indeed
somewhat wild, but the young one immediately made friends with Nasibu,
who was very proud that he had found her, for he thought that now “Bibi”
would be able to have excellent milk every day.
* * * * *
“Stasch, what shall we do now?” asked Nell one day, after they had
settled down and grown accustomed to the island.
“There is plenty to do,” answered the boy, and he counted on his
outstretched fingers all the tasks awaiting them.
“To begin: Kali and Mea are heathens, and Nasibu, a child from Zanzibar,
is a Mohammedan, and so everything must be explained to them; they must
be taught the true Faith and baptized. In the second place, meat for the
coming journey must be smoked, so I must shoot it; in the third place,
as I have so many weapons and so much ammunition, I am going to teach
Kali how to shoot, so that two of us will be armed and ready to act on
the defensive; and, in the fourth place, have you forgotten about the
flying kites?”
“The flying kites?”
“Yes, that you are going to glue together, or, better still, sew
together. That will be your work.”
“I want to do something besides play.”
“That will by no means be play, but a very important work, perhaps the
most important of all. Do not imagine that one kite will amount to
anything; you must make fifty or more.”
“Why so many?” asked the girl, grown curious.
Then Stasch began to tell her his plans and hopes. He wanted to write on
each kite their names, how they had escaped from the Dervishes, where
they were to be found, and where they expected to go. He was also going
to write on them that they needed help, and to beg some one to send a
telegram to Port Said. He intended to send up these kites only when the
wind was southwest.
“Many of them,” he said, “will soon fall to the ground, but if only one
of them reaches the coast and falls into the hands of Europeans we are
saved.”
Nell was quite delighted with this idea, and declared that even King was
not a match for Stasch when it came to cleverness. Yes, she was
convinced that a great many of the kites would even fly to their papas,
and promised to glue such kites from morning till night. Her joy was so
excessive that Stasch was afraid it might bring on the fever again, and
he was therefore obliged to calm her enthusiasm.
The work which Stasch had mentioned was immediately begun in earnest.
Kali, who had been told to catch as many of the flying-fish as possible,
stopped fishing, but on the other hand he erected a high fence of thin
bamboo rods, or, to be more accurate, a kind of trellis, and this weir
he fastened across the river. In the middle of the trellis was a large
opening, through which the fish would be obliged to swim in order to
reach the open water. At this opening Kali placed a strong net made from
palm-threads, and so caught a plentiful supply of fish every day.
He drove the fish into the murderous net with the help of King, who,
being led into the water, darkened and disturbed it so that not only
those shimmering silver fish, but all other creatures living in the
water, tried to escape into the clearer depths. At this point the weir
was often damaged by crocodiles overturning the trellis in their efforts
to escape, and King himself would often overturn it, for he cherished an
inborn hatred against crocodiles. So he followed them, and as soon as
they reached shallow water he would pick them up with his trunk and
throw them on the bank, and he took the greatest satisfaction and
delight in stamping them to death.
Turtles also were often caught in the net, and of them the little
wanderers made a delicious soup. Kali prepared the fish by drying them
in the sun, but the air-bladders he brought to Nell, who cut them in
two, stretched them out on boards, and thus converted them into two
sheets of paper the size of one’s hand.
Stasch and Mea helped Nell in this work, for it was by no means easy.
The skins were thicker than the bladders of our river fish, but after
being dried they became quite brittle and were easily broken. Stasch at
last discovered that they should be dried in the shade. But sometimes
his patience was nearly exhausted, and that he did not give up the plan
of making kites out of the bladders was due to the fact that he
considered them lighter and better able to withstand the rain than
paper. Though the dry season had now begun, he was not quite sure
whether, during the summer, especially in the mountains, there would not
be showers.
But he also glued together kites made out of paper, a quantity of which
had been found among Linde’s effects. The first light, large paper kite,
which he let loose in a west wind, at once rose very high, and when
Stasch cut the string was carried by a strong current of air toward the
chain of the Karamajo Mountains. Stasch followed its flight with the aid
of a telescope until it got as small as a butterfly—yes, even until it
looked like a fly—and at last disappeared in the pale azure of the sky.
On the following day he loosed a second one, this time made of fish
bladders, which ascended even more quickly into the air, but probably
was soon lost to view because of the transparency of the skins.
It was Nell who worked most perseveringly, and her little fingers soon
became so skilful that she excelled Stasch and Mea. She was quite strong
now. The healthy climate of Linde Mountain had completely restored her.
The time for the third attack of the deadly fever to make its appearance
had passed. On that day Stasch hid himself in the banana thicket and
cried for joy. After a stay of two weeks in the mountains he noticed
that the “Good Msimu” now looked quite differently than when in the
jungle. Her cheeks had become fuller, the former yellow and transparent
complexion had disappeared, she looked rosy once more, and from beneath
her luxuriant mass of hair her eyes looked out on everything shining
with happiness. From the bottom of his heart the boy was thankful for
the cool nights, the transparent spring water, the flour from the dried
bananas, and above all, Linde.
He had become thin and sunburned, which was a proof that he would not
have the fever, for fever patients do not become tanned by the sun. He
had grown taller and more manly. His quick movements and the labors he
had performed had increased his ability and strength. The muscles of his
arms and hands, legs and feet were hard as steel. Now, in fact, he had
actually become a seasoned African traveler. As he hunted daily and used
bullets only, he had become a sure shot. He no longer feared wild
animals, for he knew that the wild and horned hunters were in more
danger from him than he was from them. At one shot he had killed a large
rhinoceros which unexpectedly attacked him. He never paid the least
attention to the numerous African buffaloes, which sometimes disperse
whole caravans.
Besides the gluing of the kites and the other daily tasks, Stasch and
Nell also set to work to convert Kali, Mea, and Nasibu, and they found
this more difficult than they had expected. The black trefoil took great
pleasure in being taught, but looked at the lessons from the negro’s
point of view. When Stasch told them of the creation of the world, of
Paradise, and the serpent, everything went well, but when he got as far
as the murder of Abel by Cain, Kali unconsciously patted his stomach and
asked with great calmness:
“And did he eat him up then?”
The black boy had always insisted that the Wa-himas never eat human
beings, but apparently the remembrance of the days when they did so
still remained with him as a national tradition.
Neither could he understand why the Lord God had not killed the “wicked
Msimu,” and many similar things. His ideas of good and evil were also
quite African, which led to the following conversation between teacher
and pupil:
“Tell me,” asked Stasch, “what is an evil deed?”
“If any one takes cows away from Kali,” he answered, after some
consideration, “that is an evil deed.”
“Excellent!” cried Stasch; “and now give me a good one.”
This time he answered at once:
“A good one—for instance—if Kali takes cows away from any one.”
Stasch was too young to know that similar ideas of good and evil are
prevalent also in Europe, and are practised by politicians and even
approved by entire nations.
But gradually light began to dawn in the black brains, and what brains
could not understand, warm hearts received. They were shortly ready for
Baptism, which was performed with great ceremony. The god-parents
presented each of the children with four doti (equal to about sixteen
yards) of white percale and a string of blue glass beads. They felt
somewhat disappointed, however, for they were so childlike that they
thought their skins would turn white immediately after Baptism, and they
were greatly surprised when they saw that they were just as black as
before. But Nell calmed them by convincing them that they now had white
souls.