Settlers and Scouts Part 3

Half-an-hour after they had parted with Oliver Browne, they met a white man whom at the first glance they knew to be his brother, so striking was the resemblance. He was attended by four porters, each carrying a large portion of some newly-killed animal. Mr. Halliday halted as they came up, saying--

"You're Mr. Joe Browne?"

"That I am, but----" He paused, looking puzzled.

"You don't know me," said Mr. Halliday, "so you needn't rack your memory. We've just met your brother. He was after a rhinoceros and tumbled into a game-pit."

"Clumsy a.s.s!" cried Mr. Browne, in the manner of an affectionate brother. "No bones broke, I hope?"

Mr. Halliday rea.s.sured him on that point, and the two stood for a few minutes exchanging notes. The South African said that he had been much attracted by what he had seen of the country, and if Mr. Halliday became a settler, he would in all probability have him for a neighbour.

"But it won't be yet," he added. "We must settle up our affairs at the Cape first. Three or four months, perhaps; you'll have grown your first crops by then. Don't shoot all the game before I come."

"You have left us some, I hope," said John, eyeing the porters' burdens.

"Oh, that's a couple of water-buck for the pot. You'll find bigger game than that. Hippo meat's uncommonly good, but don't try elephant's foot; it's a fraud. Don't believe any one who tells you to the contrary.

Good-bye; pleased to have met you; bar rhinoceros or game-pits we'll meet again."

CHAPTER THE FOURTH--White Man's Magic

When John found opportunity to put pen to paper, he wrote, as he said, "loads" to a school chum about the incidents of the next few days, every one furnishing a new excitement. Mr. Halliday was so anxious to accomplish the aim of his journey that he pushed on resolutely each day, striking camp at earliest dawn, marching with intervals until ten, resting until three or four, and then going on again until nightfall.

The ground was varied, now a stretch of gra.s.s land, now a belt of forest; here a rapidly flowing stream rushing between high banks covered with dense vegetation, there a tract of hard volcanic soil so rugged and hot under the sun's rays that walking was painful. It was only during the intervals for rest that John was able to indulge his sporting tastes, and at the same time do service to the commissariat. He caught some fine fish in the rivers, and wished there had been time to follow up the hippopotamus tracks he discovered on the banks. He brought down several water-buck and red congoni with his .303 rifle, and one day was vastly excited to see a black-maned lion with his lioness cross from one patch of reeds to another. The sight of other game in wonderful variety--zebras, leopards, antelopes--became so common that after a time it ceased to be impressive, and opportunities for shooting them came but rarely, the country they frequented being flat and open, and their scent being so keen that it was almost impossible to come within range.

One incident that gave a little excitement was the crossing of the Thika river. The water was so deep and the current so swift that to ford it was impossible, and after vainly searching for a shallow part, Mr.

Halliday confessed himself at a loss to know how to proceed. John suggested that they should fell a tree and throw it across the river as a bridge, but this would be a somewhat lengthy operation; and Said Mohammed said it would take less time to construct a raft. This was accordingly done, by lashing together three dead logs found on the bank; but Mr. Halliday asked how it was to be prevented from being swept away by the stream. Coja showed himself to be a man of resource. Taking a rope between his teeth, he plunged into the river, first looking warily round to make sure that no crocodiles were in the neighbourhood, and swam across, the force of the current giving his course an inclination of sixty degrees. Having reached the other side, he fastened the rope to a tree, and by aid of this line the raft was ferried over, conveying now the loads and now the men. One of the Wakamba slipped off when he was in midstream, and instantly howled that a crocodile was after him; but Coja called him a liar, sprang after him, and catching him by the hair, towed him safely to the farther bank.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "One of the Wakamba slipped off when he was in midstream."]

Hitherto the party had met no natives; but Coja now informed his master that the people of these parts were very bad, and advised that they should go slowly, so that no stragglers should be left to be set on and robbed--if not maltreated or killed. Mr. Halliday was somewhat troubled at the thought of unfriendly natives between his prospective estate and the outposts of civilization; but consoled himself with the reflection that the area of settlements was rapidly enlarging, and the country in the settled parts being brought thoroughly under control.

The country beyond the Thika river proved to be more difficult than any that had hitherto been traversed. Bare rocky hills, cut by deep and dangerous ravines, alternated with stretches of long coa.r.s.e gra.s.s and dense th.o.r.n.y scrub, impenetrable save by low tunnels made by roaming hippopotami. As they burrowed painfully through these tunnels, they were oppressed by the suffocating heat, their clothes were torn by the thorns, and their skin irritated by the mult.i.tudinous insects. It was like wandering through a complex maze, the hippo paths twisting this way and that in apparently aimless fashion, though Coja said they were a clear sign of the neighbourhood of water. After a whole day spent in this fatiguing march the party came abruptly upon a broad river, flowing with swift but almost noiseless current between banks clad with n.o.ble palms and every species of tropical vegetation, amid which countless throngs of monkeys desported themselves, and birds of many colours darted this way and that like fragments of a rainbow. Mr. Halliday pitched his camp for the night above the river, and for the first time the porters surrounded it with a boma--a close fence of thorn bushes, which they constructed with wonderful celerity. For the first time, too, a watch was kept, the porters being told off to take turns at sentry-go. It occurred to Mr. Halliday, waking in the middle of the night, to see whether the sentry was alert at his post, and he was not greatly surprised to find him fast asleep. He shook him up and rated him very soundly, his reprimand being, perhaps, the more impressive because delivered in a tongue which the man did not understand. Mr.

Halliday slept no more that night, coming to the conclusion that if it was necessary to keep watch, the porters were not to be entrusted with the task.

It was next day that the party first encountered the native inhabitants.

They came upon a luxuriant plantation of manioc, and shortly afterwards saw a number of fierce-looking men, armed with spears, lurking in the long gra.s.s. Mr. Halliday ordered Coja to go forward and explain that he was a friend, bent on a peaceful errand, and that he would give good prices for any food the people cared to bring him. One of the natives ran back to the village, and soon returned with the chief, who presented a singular appearance in a ragged and stained khaki jacket, and a dilapidated sun-helmet with an ostrich feather stuck in it at a rakish angle. It turned out that this was not his usual attire, but had been hastily donned in honour of the white man.

"He seems a very respectable old guy," said Mr. Halliday to John as the chief came up with a broad smile. With Coja's aid as interpreter, Mr.

Halliday repeated what had already been said to the men, and as an earnest of what was to come, presented the chief with a number of coloured beads, feeling somewhat doubtful whether such trifles were worth the acceptance of one who, as his dress showed, had already had some intercourse with Europeans. But the chief showed unmistakable pleasure, and immediately sent two of his young men to bring wild honey and gourds of milk for the wasungu. Presently a number of women came, bearing loads of water-melons and other vegetables, which were very welcome after the dry fare of the past few days, the vendors being thoroughly satisfied with a handful of red beads or a short strip of cloth.

Mr. Halliday had directed the course of his march, under Coja's guidance, according to instructions and a rough map given him by his friend Gilmour. The district recommended to him as an excellent site for his farm lay on high ground to the east of Mount Kenya, and Mr.

Gilmour had marked the exact spot by erecting a post, the top of which was carved to the shape of a man's head. When Mr. Halliday expressed a doubt whether the post would still be found after the lapse of several years, his friend rea.s.sured him on the point, declaring that the natives would not touch it, and unless it had been thrown down by a sportive rhinoceros, or "collected" as an object of interest by some wandering European sportsman, it would remain precisely as he had left it. Mr.

Halliday, judging by his sketch-map that he must have nearly reached his destination, got Coja to ask the natives whether they knew of this post, and was disappointed with their negative answer. There was nothing for it but to continue the march. Accordingly he took leave of the friendly natives, after purchasing considerable quant.i.ties of food, and set off.

There was every indication that his goal could not be far distant. The country was open, the soil a rich red loam, covered with rank rough pasturage and wild clover, with occasional clumps of woodland. The air was so cool, except at mid-day, that it was hard to believe they were within a degree or two of the Equator; but by testing the boiling-point of water John discovered that the height was five thousand feet above sea-level, and the temperate climate was explained.

Two days after leaving the native village Mr. Halliday decided to pitch his camp, and taking that for a centre, to explore the surrounding country.

"If this isn't the place, it ought to be," he said to John. "I never saw a finer country for grazing; it's good for three or four sheep an acre, or I'm a Dutchman, and fruit ought to grow here as well as in Kent."

"It's rather strange, though," said John, "that there's no game to be seen. There ought to be plenty."

"That's true. Perhaps they've been killed off by some disease, though I hope that's not the explanation. We'll maybe find out by and by."

The camp was pitched near a shallow stream, a boma was erected round it, and next day the travellers set off with Coja and one of the porters, leaving the rest in charge of the second Swahili.

They waded several small streams, and in the afternoon came to a broad river which, on consulting his map, Mr. Halliday felt sure was the one marked as forming the northern boundary of his suggested settlement. But though they searched its banks for some hours, they failed to discover the post, and had to return unsuccessful, reaching camp after nightfall.

Next day they set off again in a different direction, so as to strike the river at a point higher up its course. When they came to it, Coja pointed to a native village on high ground some distance on the other side, and suggested that inquiry should be made there. The river could only be crossed by swimming, and there being no sign of crocodiles, they plunged in, finding the water deliciously cold. Their approach was descried from the village, and they were soon met by a group of young warriors armed with bows and arrows, who, standing at a distance, demanded who they were and what was their business. Coja shouted in reply that they had come to make friends with the chief, and had brought some valuable presents for him. One of the men ran back to the village, the others remaining on guard, and forbidding the strangers to advance until the chief arrived.

Some little time elapsed before the chief made his appearance amid a group of elders. At first he stood suspiciously aloof while Coja explained the purpose of the white men's visit, but when Mr. Halliday displayed a strip of coloured cloth, and Coja announced that it was a gift for the chief, the natives drew a little nearer, and said that they were willing to be friends if the strangers would not rob them. Coja's reply to this was that the white men were very good, and would never dream of robbing their friends, adding that the cloth would be handed to the chief if he would come and answer a few questions.

"Give it him at once," said Mr. Halliday, "and say there's more if they'll tell us what we want to know."

The gift of the cloth finally disarmed the chief's suspicions. Looking very much pleased, he came forward with his men, and said that he was ready to give what help he could. Mr. Gillespie had warned Mr. Halliday not to believe too implicitly any statements made by natives, who would always say what they thought would please; so when, in answer to his question about a post with a man's head, the chief said that he certainly knew it, and asked for another piece of cloth, Mr. Halliday shook his head, promising to give more presents if the chief would lead him to the landmark. At this the chief looked much troubled, and his men began to talk eagerly, it being evident from their manner that they were trying to dissuade him from complying with the white man's request.

Mr. Halliday was at a loss to understand their reluctance until Coja, after a long colloquy with the chief, announced that they were afraid to go near the post, which was a terrible devil, for their medicine man had seen its eyes move, and its mouth grin at him. It had come there suddenly one day, no one knew how, but they thought it must have sprung out of the ground, and some of their cattle that grazed around it had soon afterwards died, so that they were sure it was a devil, and they had never since allowed their herds to roam in that direction.

"Where is it?" asked Mr. Halliday.

The chief pointed up the river, and said that if the white man had medicine strong enough to destroy the devil the people would be very grateful. Mr. Halliday thought he might turn this superst.i.tion to good account. He explained that he had come from the end of the world to make a home in this country, and the devil had no doubt established himself on the ground in order to show that it was to be a white man's property. But now that he had come, the devil's work of guarding the land was over, and if the chief would promise to be a friendly neighbour, the devil should be at once destroyed, and a good price should be paid for the land, since it was clearly a part of the chief's grazing grounds. The chief gave the promise with alacrity, adding that he would become the blood brother of any man who should rid the country of so terrible a creature. Thereupon Mr. Halliday asked him to lead the way as far as he dared, and he should see for himself that the devil had no power against the white man's magic.

The chief sent a messenger back to the village with this good news, and soon a great throng of people came flocking down, men, women, and children, some blowing rude horns, others beating drums, all in great excitement. The devil was on the bank of the river from which the white men had crossed. Having swum back in company with the chief and half-a-dozen of his men, the travellers marched up the river, the populace flocking along the other bank, being only occasionally visible among the trees.

After walking for about half-a-mile, the chief struck away from the river, and led the way to a saucer-like depression between two ranges of low hills. It was open gra.s.s country for the most part, but at the further end of the hollow, about three miles away, there was a thick ma.s.s of forest. All at once the chief came to a halt, and, pointing ahead, declared that the devil was there, and he would go no farther.

Neither Mr. Halliday nor John could distinguish the post among the long gra.s.s, but asking the chief to remain where he stood, they went forward to search for it. After a few steps they missed Coja, and turning to look for him, found that he had halted a hundred yards or so from the chief, being evidently unwilling to face the devil, and at the same time wishing to appear braver than the natives.

Walking some distance apart, so that they should not miss the post, Mr.

Halliday and his son in a minute or two caught sight simultaneously of what they sought. A thick k.n.o.bby post stood among the gra.s.s, its top about a foot above the level of the stalks. The k.n.o.b had been carved with some skill to the shape of a face with the mouth wide open.

"We may as well do the job with becoming solemnity," said Mr. Halliday.

"We'll have a shot or two at it before we go near. Range about a hundred, isn't it?"

"I should think so. Bet you I get most shots in his mouth."

"Considering that our rifles and cartridges are alike, I don't see how you're going to judge. Anyway, you take first shot."

John fired. A flock of birds rose with a great clatter of wings into the air, and the group of natives yelled and flung themselves face downward into the gra.s.s, whereupon Coja began to taunt them with cowardice. A shot from Mr. Halliday followed; then each fired again, and Mr. Halliday, turning round, declared that the devil was killed, and walked towards the post. Coja, now thoroughly rea.s.sured, ran after him, the natives following at a distance.

"All four shots in the mouth; the honours are easy," said Mr. Halliday.

"You're a better shot than I thought you, John. We'd better pull the thing up, hadn't we?"

But they found the post so firmly fixed that they could neither pull it up nor push it over. It was evidently a case for digging. Having no implements with them they were obliged to leave it standing; but Mr.

Halliday showed the admiring natives the bullet marks in the mouth, and, slapping the top of the head, a.s.sured them that the devil would do no more harm. He then gave the chief another strip of cloth and a handful of beads in reward for his services, and the party returned to the river, where the happy result of the expedition was announced to the main body of the villagers, from whom the proceedings had been hidden by the contour of the ground. The chief wished Mr. Halliday to feast with him, and afterwards witness a war-dance, and when the invitation was declined, he insisted on his white friend accepting a small pied goat.

"The pioneer of our stock, John," said Mr. Halliday. "But the chief must take charge of it until we come up to settle. I don't suppose we shall see it again."