The caravan started on its journey at sunrise the following day. The
young negro felt very happy, the little despot was gentle and obedient,
and Stasch was full of energy and hope. A hundred Wa-himas accompanied
them, forty of the latter being armed with Remington rifles, which they
knew how to use quite well. Their white leader, who had instructed them
for three weeks, knew that at a given signal they would make a great
deal of noise, but do little damage; he also knew that in a conflict
with savage people noise plays as important a part as do bullets, and he
was pleased with his guards. The caravan took away large quantities of
manioc, little baked cakes made of big fat ants carefully dried and
ground to flour, and also a great deal of smoked meat. About ten women
also accompanied the caravan, and they carried various things for Nell’s
comfort and water-bags made of antelope skins. From the elephant’s back
Stasch supervised and gave orders, which were perhaps not exactly
necessary, but he did this more because he loved to play the rôle of the
leader of an army; indeed, he surveyed his small army with pride.
“If I wanted to,” he said to himself, “I could be king of all these
tribes—just as Benjowski was in Madagascar!”
And the thought flashed through his brain that perhaps it would be well
to return here eventually, subjugate a whole region, civilize the
negroes, and found a new Poland in this country, or even to leave for
old Poland at the head of an army of trained negro soldiers; but feeling
this was an absurd idea, and doubting whether his father would give him
permission to play the part of an Alexander of Macedon in Africa, he did
not confide these thoughts to Nell, who was the only person in the world
who would agree with him.
Besides, it would be essential to be independent of these savages before
attempting to conquer this part of Africa, and so he busied himself with
what lay nearest him. The caravan advanced in a rope-like line. Stasch,
on King, had determined to bring up the rear, so as to be able to have
everything under his own eyes.
When the people marched past him in single file he noticed with surprise
that the two sorcerers, M’Kunji and M’Pua, who had been thrashed by
Kali, also belonged to the caravan, and were carrying baggage on their
heads and marching along with the others.
He stopped them and asked:
“Who told you you might go along with us?”
“The king,” answered both, bowing very low.
But under the mask of humility their eyes shone so wildly and their
faces bore such an expression of rage that at first Stasch felt like
driving them away, and was only prevented because he did not wish to
undermine Kali’s authority.
Calling Kali to him, he asked:
“Did you order the sorcerers to go with us?”
“Kali told them to, for Kali is clever.”
“Therefore I again ask you, why did your cleverness not leave them at
home?”
“If M’Kunji and M’Pua had remained, they would have stirred up the
Wa-himas so that they would have killed Kali on his return, and if they
go along with us Kali will look out for them and put a guard on them.”
Stasch considered a while and said:
“Perhaps you are right; but be on the alert day and night, for there is
mischief in their eyes.”
“Kali has bamboos,” answered the young negro.
The caravan now set forth. At the last moment Stasch ordered that the
guards equipped with Remington rifles should close the procession, for
they were selected and trusted men. During the gun practising they had
in a way become fond of their young leader, and because they guarded his
illustrious person they felt themselves more favored than the others.
They now had to guard the entire caravan and to capture those who
attempted to run away. It was evident that as soon as danger or fatigue
came there would be plenty of deserters.
On the first day, however, everything was peaceful as could be. The
negroes with the burdens on their heads, each armed with a spear and
several smaller darts, wound through the jungle in one long line. For a
while they advanced over a flat tract on the southern border of the
lake, but as high mountain summits enclosed the lake on all sides, they
found on turning toward the east that it was necessary to climb over the
hills. The old Samburus, who knew this country, declared that the
caravan would have to cross narrow passes which lay between the
mountains Kulall and Imo, and that until they reached the other side
they would not come to the flat land south of Bovani. Stasch knew that
they could not march directly eastward, for he remembered that Mombasa
lay several degrees the other side of the equator, and therefore a
considerable distance south of this unknown lake. But as he still
possessed several of Linde’s compasses he was not afraid of losing his
way.
The quarters for the first night were arranged on a woody height.
As soon as it had become dark a great many campfires flashed forth,
around which the negroes roasted dried meat and ate cakes made of manioc
roots, which they took out of the pots with their fingers. After they
had appeased their hunger and thirst they talked over matters with one
another, speculating as to where “Bwana Kubwa” was going to lead them,
and what they would receive for their services. Some sang as they
squatted on the ground like Turks and stared into the fire, but they all
talked so long and so loudly that at last Stasch was obliged to command
silence so that Nell could sleep.
The night was very cool, but the next morning when the first rays of
sunlight lighted up the scene the air became warm. At sunrise the small
travelers beheld a peculiar sight. They were just approaching a lake
about two hundred kilometers long, or what might be called a large
puddle, which had been formed in a mountain valley by the rain, when
Stasch, who was sitting alongside of the girl on King and surveying his
surroundings through the telescope, suddenly cried:
“Nell, look! See the elephants going to the water!”
Half a kilometer away could be seen a herd of five beasts slowly
advancing single file toward the small lake.
“But these are strange looking elephants,” said Stasch, who was still
regarding them very attentively. “They are not so large as King, and
have much smaller ears, and as for tusks, I don’t see any at all.”
Meanwhile the elephants went into the water, but they did not pause on
the bank like King usually did, and did not bathe themselves with their
trunks, but steadily advancing, they went deeper and deeper into the
water, so that at last only their black backs, resembling pieces of
rock, stood out over the surface of the water.
“What’s that? They are diving!” cried Stasch.
The caravan was slowly approaching the bank, and at last reached it.
Stasch ordered a halt, and gazed with the greatest surprise, first at
Nell, then at the lake. There was nothing to be seen of the elephants
except five dots looking like red flowers riding above the surface of
the water and rocking gently to and fro.
“They are standing on the bottom, and these are the ends of their
trunks,” exclaimed Stasch, scarcely believing his own eyes. Then he
called to Kali:
“Kali, did you see?”
“Yes, sir, Kali has seen; those are water-elephants,”[42] answered the
young negro calmly.
“Water-elephants?”
“This is not the first time Kali has seen them!”
“And they live in the water?”
“In the night they go into the jungle and graze; in the daytime they
live in the lake, just like the riboks.[43] They do not go out until
after sunset.”
For some time Stasch could not recover from his surprise, and had he not
been in a hurry to continue the journey he would have held back the
caravan till the evening, so as to have a better opportunity of
observing these peculiar beasts. But it also occurred to him that the
elephants might emerge on the opposite side of the lake, and even if
they were to come out of the water at any nearer place, it would be
difficult to see them well in the dark.
So he gave the command to depart, but on the way he said to Nell:
“Nell, we have seen something which no European has ever seen before.
And do you know what I think? That if we are lucky enough to reach the
ocean no one will believe me when I tell them that there are
water-elephants in Africa.”
“And if you had caught one of them and had taken it along with you to
the ocean?” said Nell, who, as usual, felt satisfied that Stasch could
do anything.
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Footnote 42:
In Africa there are many unraveled mysteries. Tales of water-elephants
had repeatedly reached the ears of explorers, but no one credited them.
Lately the Paris Museum of Natural History commissioned Monsieur Le
Petit, who had seen water-elephants on the shores of Lake Leopold in the
Congo, to write on the subject. This report can be seen in the German
Magazine “Kosmos.”
Footnote 43:
Hippopotamus.