"When I saw my two friends fall I cast an anxious glance in the
direction of Madame de Guéran and Miss Poles, but I saw at once that
they were in no immediate danger, the escort having left them for a
moment, in order to unite all their force against us and put an end
to us as quickly as possible. Reassured on that point, I dismounted
to assist my friends. They, however, were already struggling to rise,
and I found to my great joy that they were not hurt. Their horses had
been hit, one in the head and the other in the chest, and had fallen,
dragging their riders down with them into the sand.
"But just as Delange and Périères were getting on their legs I put my
two hands on their shoulders and held them down.
"'What are you doing?' asked Périères.
"'Hush!' I said, in a whisper as I knelt beside them, 'I am saving
you, and re-establishing the balance of the struggle. These wretches
have us within range of their guns, as the two poor horses fully
prove, but they are themselves out of pistol-shot. Let them believe
that we are wounded; they will come on then to put an end to us, and
we can at all events defend ourselves.'
"'But Madame de Guéran—' murmured Périères.
"'At this moment,' replied I, 'she does not run the slightest risk,
and if she should be again menaced we shall know what to do with our
lives.'
"Anybody seeing me lying alongside my friends would have believed
that I had been wounded by the same volley which had brought them
down. The two horses, one of which was dead and the other in his last
agony, served as a rampart for us, and enabled us to follow all the
movements of the enemy.
"They advanced towards us, exulting in, as they fondly believed,
their complete success, but as soon as they were within range of our
pistols we, without raising our bodies, let fly.
"Three men fell, and the remainder recoiled, but the old chief
rallied the latter, pointing out to them that they were still
numerically stronger, and they advanced once more.
"We were just going to fire again when we heard loud shouts on our
right.
"The negroes whom we had set free were running towards us. Do not, my
dear fellow, allow yourself to be deluded into the idea that,
actuated by gratitude, they were coming to our aid. If, perchance,
there were one or two of them who were acted upon by such a
sentiment, the remainder thought, first of all, of revenge. For a
long time they had submitted with resignation to a thousand and one
tortures and indignities, for were they not the weaker? But, thanks
to the man whose fetters we had struck off, the others now forced
themselves free. They called the roll, found that they had now become
the stronger party, armed themselves with their yokes, which, in
their hands, were converted into formidable clubs, and, shouting
their war-cry, and yelling like wild beasts, they rushed on the foe.
"The old chief saw the danger that threatened him, and attempted to
break ground towards the left. He advanced a few paces in that
direction, but was obliged to fall back, for the whole of his slaves
had crowded together in one impenetrable mass. Several amongst them
had succeeded in bursting their bonds, and incited by the cries and
gesticulations of the women, appeared anxious to take part in the
battle. The rebellion was a terrible one on this side, too. There
were so many old scores to wipe off, and the victims had for so long
a time craved to play the part of executioners!
"In this way the chief and his escort saw themselves confronted by
us, and they dared not advance within range of our revolvers. The
strongest and most dangerous of their slaves, the only ones whom they
had up to this time feared, held them in check on the right, and, on
the left, an enormous crowd, hostile and already threatening danger,
barred every avenue of escape.
"Their only plan, therefore, was to fall back to their rear and so
endeavour to get away, and that was the course they adopted. But here
they were stopped by the two interpreters, who, by this time, were on
their feet again, by Miss Poles, armed with a pistol, which she
seemed bent on using, and by Madame de Guéran, who, calm and
determined, surveyed the field of battle, like a regular
commander-in-chief.
"This last was our weakest point, I admit, and the escort could have
easily broken down all opposition from that quarter, but instead of
acting at once, they made the mistake of hesitating, and of so
allowing the two wings to join hands. They were, in consequence, very
soon hemmed in on all sides by the terrible circle of enemies.
"And now our beloved Sultana thought it high time to interfere, and
she directed the interpreters to step to the front and inform the
chief that she would answer for his life and those of his men, if
they all would lay down their arms at once, but if, on the contrary,
they fired a single shot, she would leave them to the mercy of their
revolted slaves.
"The chief looked long and anxiously around him, and, after a careful
survey of his position, he threw his gun down on the sand, with a
gesture of despair, an example which was followed by his men.
"Périères, Delange, and I, as you may well imagine, lost no time in
joining Madame de Guéran and Miss Poles. But we were soon brought
sadly down to earth again, and had to ask ourselves if it was wise to
act on every good impulse, if sometimes it was not necessary to
stifle our generous feelings, and if it was not dangerous to let
loose the passions of the people of Africa.
"For as long as our black friends of Darfour and Kordofan saw their
whilom masters fighting or defending themselves, they contented
themselves with threats and a cautious advance. But as soon as they
beheld them, on the contrary, disarmed and capitulating, they rushed
on them, eager for their prey. At one and the same time the whole
caravan—the two hundred and odd slaves, of every age and sex, the
weak and the strong, the hale and the sick, rushed forward
brandishing their yet chain-bound wrists, and giving tongue like a
pack of hounds at the death.
"Ought we to allow these fifteen men to be massacred under our very
eyes? We had attacked them in the first instance; they had not
provoked us in any way, and had only defended themselves. Three of
them were already wounded, and not one of us had been hit. They were,
it is true, wretched slave-drivers, gaol-birds, renegades, degraded
traffickers in human flesh; but Madame de Guéran had promised, in our
name, that if they laid down their arms their lives should be spared.
And were these negroes, of whom we had constituted ourselves the
champions, any better than their masters? A short time ago they were
unhappy, and oppressed, and we were moved with compassion for them;
but now that they were restored to liberty, they seemed so bent on
abusing it that they no longer inspired us with much sympathy. In
short, we were tempted to ask ourselves whether we had any right to
sacrifice the lives of fifteen persons for the sake of resisting the
slave trade and rescuing a few men from bondage.
"These reflections (we imparted them to each other later on, in our
moments of confidence) occurred to us all simultaneously, but this
was no time for bothering our heads with the solution of a
philosophical problem. We had acted on impulse, and on impulse we
must rely for escape, by deeds and not arguments, from the sad
position in which we were placed.
"Each of us, without consulting his neighbour, and yielding to the
thoughts which I have endeavoured to explain to you, drew nearer to
the captured escort for the purpose of protecting them.
"The slaves continued to shout and threaten, and Périères then hit
upon the plan of directing the interpreter, Ali, who knew all the
dialects current in Darfour and Kordofan, to step forward, restore
order and silence, and make them understand that he wished to speak
to them in our name.
"The interpreter obeyed, and the negroes ceased their clamour sooner
than we anticipated. They said to themselves, no doubt, that the
whites were about to propose the infliction of some novel torture on
their enemies, and their condemnation to some punishment unknown to
them, but in common use amongst the Franks. From this impression they
drew a premature pleasure, opened their eyes and lent their ears.
However, when Ali set himself to repeat an old-fashioned discourse,
prompted by Miss Poles, of which the duties one owes to one's
neighbour, humanity, and religion form the staple commodity, the
slaves, after having given evident signs of indifference, commenced
to manifest a spirit of discontent, and we had evidently fallen in
their esteem.
"I then advanced with the second interpreter, and, following out my
little idea, I spoke of General Baker, the liberator of the blacks.
'He has sent us,' I exclaimed, 'to the rescue of all slave caravans,
but with a positive order, after freeing the captives, to bring their
masters to him for punishment.'
"This speech, and I say it with pride, produced more effect than its
predecessor, but I must also modestly confess that it was very far
from bringing conviction home to my audience. These people, without
exception, were blind to every feeling except that the pleasure of
revenge was being withheld from them, and that the victors in the
fray, instead of themselves killing their prisoners, wished to
relegate that duty to a third person, and give him all the enjoyment.
Their shouts recommenced, and the circle contracted itself more and
more.
"To Madame de Guéran alone belongs the credit of having caught the
public ear and touched the right chord. She ordered one of the
interpreters to simply tell the blacks that they would be acting
unfairly if they deprived the white people of prisoners whom they
hoped to sell in their own country for a good round sum. This
argument, my dear fellow, like all arguments suited to the particular
audience to which they are addressed, produced an instantaneous
effect. The negroes looked at each other, wagged their heads, and
seemed to say—'they are right.' At war from their infancy, one tribe
against another, for the sole purpose of taking as many prisoners as
possible and selling them to the slave-dealers, would they not be
very likely to think it natural that we should share their instincts
and their tastes?
"Madame de Guéran had summed up the situation admirably. She saved
the escort, and, perhaps, saved us also, for we were determined to
defend these men, even at the risk of our own lives.
"The blacks stepped back a few paces to consult, and then, suddenly,
returned towards us shouting as loudly as ever."