The storm of the previous night, by swelling the tributaries of the
Coanza, had caused the main river to overflow its banks. The inundation
had entirely changed the aspect of the country, transforming the plain
into a lake, where the peaks of a number of ant-hills were the sole
objects that emerged above the watery expanse.
The Coanza, which is one of the principal rivers of Angola, falls into
the Atlantic about a hundred miles from the spot at which the "Pilgrim"
was stranded. The stream, which a few years later was crossed by
Cameron on his way to Benguela, seems destined to become the chief
highway of traffic between Angola and the interior; steamers already
ply upon its lower waters, and probably ten years will not elapse
before they perform regular service along its entire course.
Dick Sands had been quite right in searching northwards for the
navigable stream he had been so anxious to find; the rivulet he had
been following fell into the Coanza scarce a mile away, and had it not
been for this unexpected attack he and his friends might reasonably
have hoped to descend the river upon a raft, until they reached one of
the Portuguese forts where steam vessels put in. But their fate was
ordered otherwise.
The camp which Dick had descried from the ant-hill was pitched upon an
eminence crowned by an enormous sycamore-fig, one of those giant trees
occasionally found in Central Africa, of which the spreading foliage
will shelter some five hundred men. Some of the non-fruit-bearing kind
of banyan-trees formed the background of the landscape.
Beneath the shelter of the sycamore, the caravan which had been
referred to in the conversation between Negoro and Harris had just made
a halt. Torn from their villages by the agents of the slave-dealer
Alvez, the large troop of natives was on its way to the market of
Kazonndé, thence to be sent as occasion required either to the west
coast, or to Nyangwé, in the great lake district, to be dispersed into
Upper Egypt or Zanzibar.
Immediately on reaching the camp, the four negroes and old Nan were
placed under precisely the same treatment as the rest of the captives.
In spite of a desperate resistance, they were deprived of their
weapons, and fastened two and two, one behind another, by means of a
pole about six feet long, forked at each end, and attached to their
necks by an iron bolt. Their arms were left free, that they might carry
any burdens, and in order to prevent an attempt to escape a heavy chain
was passed round their waists. It was thus in single file, unable to
turn either right or left, they would have to march hundreds of miles,
goaded along their toilsome road by the havildar's whip. The lot of
Hercules seemed preferable, exposed though undoubtedly he would be in
his flight to hunger, and to the attacks of wild beasts, and to all the
perils of that dreary country. But solitude, with its worst privations,
was a thing to be envied in comparison to being in the hands of those
pitiless drivers, who did not speak a word of the language of their
victims, but communicated with them only by threatening gestures or by
actual violence.
As a white man, Dick was not attached to any other captive. The drivers
were probably afraid to subject him to the same treatment as the
negroes, and he was left unfettered, but placed under the strict
surveillance of a havildar. At first he felt considerable surprise at
not seeing Harris or Negoro in the camp, as he could not entertain a
doubt that it was at their instigation the attack had been made upon
their retreat; but when he came to reflect that Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and
Cousin Benedict had not been allowed to come with them, but had been
carried off in some other direction, he began to think it probable that
the two rascals had some scheme to carry out with regard to them
elsewhere.
The caravan consisted of nearly eight hundred, including about five
hundred slaves of both sexes, two hundred soldiers and freebooters, and
a considerable number of havildars and drivers, over whom the agents
acted as superior officers.
These agents are usually of Portuguese or Arab extraction; and the
cruelties they inflict upon the miserable captives are almost beyond
conception; they beat them continually, and if any unfortunate slave
sinks from exhaustion, or in any way becomes unfit for the market, he
is forthwith either stabbed or shot. As the result of this brutality it
rarely happens that fifty per cent of the slaves reach their
destination; some few may contrive to escape, and many are left as
skeletons along the line of route.
Such of the agents as are Portuguese are (as it may well be imagined)
of the very lowest dregs of society, outlaws, escaped criminals, and
men of the most desperate character; of this stamp were the associates
of Negoro and Harris, now in the employ of José Antonio Alvez, one of
the most notorious of all the slave-dealers of Central Africa, and of
whom Commander Cameron has given some curious information.
Most frequently the soldiers who escort the captives are natives hired
by the dealers, but they do not possess the entire monopoly of the
forays made for the purpose of securing slaves; the native negro kings
make war upon each other with this express design, and sell their
vanquished antagonists, men, women, and children, to the traders for
calico, guns, gunpowder and red beads; or in times of famine, according
to Livingstone, even for a few grains of maize.
The escort of old Alvez' caravan was an average specimen of these
African soldiers. It was simply a horde of half-naked banditti,
carrying old flint-locked muskets, the barrels of which were decorated
with copper rings. The agents are very often put to their wits' end to
know how to manage them; their orders are called in question, halts are
continually demanded, and in order to avert desertion they are
frequently obliged to yield to the obstreperous will of their
undisciplined force.
Although the slaves, both male and female, are compelled to carry
burdens whilst on their march, a certain number of porters, called
-pagazis-, is specially engaged to carry the more valuable merchandize,
and principally the ivory. Tusks occasionally weigh as much as 160
lbs., and require two men to carry them to the dépôts, whence they are
sent to the markets of Khartoom, Natal, and Zanzibar. On their arrival
the -pagazis- are paid by the dealers according to contract, which is
generally either by about twenty yards of the cotton stuff known as
-merikani-, or by a little powder, by a handful or two of cowries, by
some beads, or if all these be scarce, they are paid by being allotted
some of the slaves who are otherwise unsalable.
Among the five hundred slaves in the caravan, very few were at all
advanced in years. The explanation of this circumstance was that
whenever a raid is made, and a village is set on fire, every inhabitant
above the age of forty is mercilessly massacred or hung upon the
neighbouring trees; only the children and young adults of both sexes
are reserved for the market, and as these constitute only a small
proportion of the vanquished, some idea may be formed of the frightful
depopulation which these vast districts of Equinoctial Africa are
undergoing.
Nothing could be more pitiable than the condition of this miserable
herd. All alike were destitute of clothing, having nothing on them but
a few strips of the stuff known as -mbuza-, made from the bark of
trees; many of the women were covered with bleeding wounds from the
drivers' lashes, and had their feet lacerated by the constant friction
of the road, but in addition to other burdens were compelled to carry
their own emaciated children; young men, too, there were who had lost
their voices from exhaustion, and who, to use Livingstone's expression,
had been reduced to "ebony skeletons" by toiling under the yoke of the
fork, which is far more galling than the galley-chain. It was a sight
that might have moved the most stony-hearted, but yet there was no
symptom of compassion on the part of those Arab and Portuguese drivers
whom Cameron pronounces "worse than brutes."[1]
[Footnote 1: Cameron says, "In order to obtain the fifty women of whom
Alvez is the owner, ten villages, containing altogether a population of
not less than 1500, were totally destroyed. A few of the inhabitants
contrived to escape, but the majority either perished in the flames,
were slain in defending their families, or were killed by hunger or
wild beasts in the jungle.... The crimes which are perpetuated in
Africa, by men who call themselves Christians, seem incredible to the
inhabitants of civilized countries. It is impossible that the
government at Lisbon can be aware of the atrocities committed by those
who boast of being subject to her flag." -Tour du Monde-.
N.B.--Against these assertions of Cameron, loud protestations have been
made in Portugal.]
The guard over the prisoners was so strict that Dick Sands felt it
would be utterly useless for him to make any attempt to seek for Mrs.
Weldon. She and her son had doubtless been carried off by Negoro, and
his heart sank when he thought of the dangers to which too probably she
would be exposed. Again and again he repeated his reproaches on himself
that he had ever allowed either Negoro or Harris to escape his hands.
Neither Mrs. Weldon nor Jack could expect the least assistance from
Cousin Benedict; the good man was barely able to consult for himself.
All three of them would, he conjectured, be conveyed to some remote
district of Angola; the poor mother, like some miserable slave, would
insist upon carrying her own sick son until her strength failed her,
and, exhausted by her endurances, she sank down helpless on the way.
A prisoner, and powerless to help! the very thought was itself a
torture to poor Dick. Even Dingo was gone! It would have been a
satisfaction to have had the dog to send off upon the track of the lost
ones. One only hope remained. Hercules still was free. All that human
strength could attempt in Mrs. Weldon's behalf, Hercules would not fail
to try. Perhaps, too, under cover of the night, it was not altogether
improbable that the stalwart negro would mingle with the crowd of
negroes (amongst whom his dark skin would enable him to pass
unnoticed), and make his way to Dick himself; then might not the two
together elude the vigilance of the watch? might they not follow after
and overtake Mrs. Weldon in the forest? would they not perchance be
able either by stealth or by force to liberate her, and once free they
would effect an escape to the river, and finally accomplish the
undertaking in which they had been so lamentably frustrated. Such were
the sanguine visions in which Dick permitted himself to indulge; his
temperament overcame all tendency to despair, and kept him alive to the
faintest chance of deliverance.
The next thing of importance was to ascertain the destination of the
caravan. It was a matter of the most serious moment whether the convoy
of slaves were going to be carried to one of the dépôts of Angola, or
whether they were to be sent hundreds of miles into the interior to
Nyangwe, in the heart of the great lake district that Livingstone was
then exploring. To reach the latter spot would occupy some months, and
to return thence to the coast, even if they should be fortunate enough
to regain their liberty, would be a work of insuperable difficulty.
He was not long left in suspense. Although he could not understand the
half-African, half-Arab dialect that was used by the leaders of the
caravan, he noticed that the word Kazonndé occurred very frequently,
and knowing it as the name of an important market in the province, he
naturally concluded that it was there the slaves were to be disposed
of; whether for the advantage of the king of the district, or of one of
the rich traders, he had no means of telling. Unless his geographical
knowledge was at fault, he was aware that Kazonndé must be about 400
miles from S. Paul de Loanda, and consequently that it could hardly be
more than 250 miles from the part of the Coanza where they were now
encamped. Under favourable circumstances it was a journey that could
not be accomplished in less than twelve or fourteen days, but allowing
for the retarded progress of a caravan already exhausted by a
lengthened march, Dick was convinced that they could not reach the
place for at least three weeks.
He was most anxious to communicate to his companions in adversity his
impression that they were not to be carried into the heart of the
country, and began to cogitate whether some plan could not be devised
for exchanging a few words with them.
Forked together, as it has been said, two and two, the four negroes
were at the right-hand extremity of the camp; Bat attached to his
father, Austin to Actæon. A havildar, with twelve soldiers, formed
their guard. Dick, at first, was about fifty yards away from the group,
but being left free to move about, contrived gradually to diminish the
distance between himself and them. Tom seemed to apprehend his
intention, and whispered a word to his companions that they should be
on the look-out. Without moving they were all on their guard in a
moment. Dick, careful to conceal his design, strolled backward with a
feigned indifference, and succeeded in getting so near that he might
have called out and informed Tom that they were going to Kazonndé. But
he was desirous of accomplishing more than this; he wanted to get an
opportunity of having some conversation as to their future plans, and
he ventured to approach still nearer. His heart beat high as he
believed he was on the point of attaining his object, when all at once
the havildar, becoming aware of his design, rushed upon him like a
madman, summoned some soldiers, and with considerable violence sent him
back to the front. Tom and the others were quickly removed to another
part of the encampment.
Exasperated by the rough attack that was made upon him, Dick had seized
the havildar's gun and broken it, almost wrenching it from his hands,
when several soldiers simultaneously assailed him, and would have
struck him down and killed him upon the spot, had not one of the
chiefs, an Arab of huge stature and ferocious countenance, interfered
to stop them.
This Arab was the Ibn Hamish of whom Harris had spoken to Negoro. He
said a few words which Dick could not understand, and the soldiers,
with manifest reluctance, relaxed their hold and retired. It was
evident that although Dick was not to be permitted to hold any
communication with the rest of his party, orders had been given that
his life was to be protected.
[Illustration: The start was made.]
It was now nine o'clock, and the beating of drums and the blowing of
coodoo[1] horns gave the signal that the morning march was to be
continued. Instantly chiefs, soldiers, porters, and slaves were upon
their feet, and arranged themselves in their various groups with a
havildar bearing a bright-coloured banner at their head.
[Footnote: Coodoo, a ruminant common in Africa.]
The order was given; the start was made. A strange song was heard
rising in the air. It was a song, not of the victors, but of the
vanquished. The slaves were chanting an imprecation on their
oppressors; and the burden of the chorus was that captured, tortured,
slain--after death they would return and avenge their wrongs upon their
murderers!
CHAPTER VIII.
NOTES BY THE WAY.
The storm of the preceding evening had now passed away, but the sky was
still cloudy and the weather far from settled. It was the 19th of
April, the time of the -masika-, or second period of the rainy season,
so that for the next two or three weeks the nights might be expected to
be wet.
On leaving the banks of the Coanza the caravan proceeded due east.
Soldiers marched at the head and in the rear, as well as upon the
flanks of the troop; any escape of the prisoners, therefore, even if
they had not been loaded with their fetters, would have been utterly
impossible. They were all driven along without any attempt at order,
the havildars using their whips unsparingly upon them whenever they
showed signs of flagging. Some poor mothers could be seen carrying two
infants, one on each arm, whilst others led by the hand naked children,
whose feet were sorely cut by the rough ground over which they had trod.
Ibn Hamish, the Arab who had interfered between Dick and the havildar,
acted as commander to the caravan, and was here, there, and everywhere;
not moved in the least by the sufferings of the captives, but obliged
to be attentive to the importunities of the soldiers and porters, who
were perpetually clamouring for extra rations, or demanding an
immediate halt. Loud were the discussions that arose, and the uproar
became positively deafening when the quarrelsome voices rose above the
shrieks of the slaves, many of whom found themselves treading upon soil
already stained by the blood of the ranks in front.
[Illustration: If ever the havildar strolled a few yards away, Bat took
the opportunity of murmuring a few words of encouragement to this poor
old father.]
No chance again opened for Dick to get any communication with his
friends, who had been sent to the van of the procession. Urged on by
the whip they continued to march in single file, their heads in the
heavy forks. If ever the havildar strolled a few yards away, Bat took
the opportunity of murmuring a few words of encouragement to his poor
old father, while he tried to pick out the easiest path for him, and to
relax the pace to suit his enfeebled limbs. Large tears rolled down old
Tom's cheeks when he found that his son's efforts only resulted in
bringing down upon his back some sharp cuts of the havildar's whip.
Actæon and Austin, subject to hardly less brutality, followed a few
steps behind, but all four could not help feeling envious at the luck
of Hercules, who might have dangers to encounter, but at least had his
liberty.
Immediately upon their capture, Tom had revealed to his companions the
fact that they were in Africa, and informing them how they had been
betrayed by Harris, made them understand that they had no mercy to
expect.
Old Nan had been placed amongst a group of women in the central ranks.
She was chained to a young mother with two children, the one at the
breast, the other only three years old, and scarcely able to walk.
Moved by compassion, Nan took the little one into her own arms, thus
not only saving it from fatigue, but from the blows it would very
likely have received for lagging behind. The mother shed tears of
gratitude, but the weight was almost too much for Nan's strength, and
she felt as if she must break down under her self-imposed burden. She
thought fondly of little Jack, and imagining him borne along in the
arms of his weary mother, could not help asking herself whether she
should ever see him or her kind mistress again.
Far in the rear, Dick could not see the head of the caravan except
occasionally, when the ground was rather on the rise. The voices of the
agents and drivers, harsh and excited as they were, scarcely roused him
from his melancholy reflections. His thoughts were not of himself nor
of his own sufferings; his whole attention was absorbed in looking for
some traces of Mrs. Weldon's progress; if she, too, was being taken to
Kazonndé, her route must also lie this way. But he could discover no
trace of her having been conducted by this line of march, and could
only hope that she was being spared the cruelties which he was himself
witnessing.
The forest extended for about twenty miles to the east of the Coanza,
but whether it was that the trees had been destroyed by the ravages of
insects, or broken down before they had made their growth by being
trampled on by elephants, they were growing much less thickly than in
the immediate vicinity of the river. There were numbers of
cotton-trees, seven or eight feet high, from which are manufactured the
black-and-white striped stuffs that are worn in the interior of the
province; but, upon the whole, progress was not much impeded either by
shrubs or underwood. Occasionally the caravan plunged into jungles of
reeds like bamboos, their stalks an inch in diameter, so tall that only
an elephant or giraffe could have reared above them, and through which
none excepting such as had a very intimate knowledge of the country
could possibly have made their way.
Starting every morning at daybreak they marched till noon, when an
hour's halt was made. Packets of manioc were then unfastened, and doled
out in sparing quantities among the slaves; sometimes, when the
soldiers had plundered some village, a little goat's flesh or some
sweet potatoes were added to the meal; but generally the fatigue,
aggravated by inadequate rest, took away the appetite, and when
meal-time arrived many of the slaves could hardly eat at all. During
the first eight days' march from the Coanza no less than twenty
unfortunate wretches had fallen upon the road, and had been left
behind, a prey to the lions, panthers, and leopards that prowled in the
wake. As Dick heard their roars in the stillness of the night, he
trembled as he thought of Hercules. Nevertheless, had the opportunity
offered itself, he would not for a moment have hesitated in making his
own escape to the wilderness.
[Illustration: The caravan had been attacked on the flank by a dozen or
more crocodiles.]
The two hundred and fifty miles between the river and Kazonndé were
accomplished in what the traders call marches of ten miles each,
including the halts at night and midday. The journey cannot be better
described than by a few rough notes that Dick Sands made upon his way.
-April 25th-.--Saw a village surrounded with bamboo palisading, eight
or nine feet high. Fields round planted with maize, beans, and sorghum.
Two negroes captured, fifteen killed, rest took to flight.
-26th-.--Crossed a torrent 150 yards wide. Bridge formed of trunks of
trees and creepers. Piles nearly gave way; two women fastened to a
fork; one of them, carrying a baby, fell into the water. Water quickly
tinged with blood; crocodiles seen under bridge; risk of stepping into
their very jaws.
-28th-.--Crossed a forest of bauhinias; great trees, the iron-wood of
the Portuguese. Heavy rain; ground sodden; marching difficult. Caught
sight of Nan in the middle of caravan; she was toiling along with a
black child in her arms; the woman with her limping, and blood
trickling from her shoulder.
-29th-.--Camp at night under a huge baobab, with white flowers and
light green leaves. Lions and leopards roaring all night. A soldier
fired at a panther. What has become of Hercules?
-30th-.--Rainy season said to be over till November. First touch of
African winter. Dew very heavy. Plains all flooded. Easterly winds:
difficulty of respiration; susceptibility to fever. No trace of Mrs.
Weldon; cannot tell whether she is ahead. Fear Jack may have a return
of fever.
-May 5th-.--Forced to march several stages across flooded plains, water
up to the waist; many leeches sticking to the skin. Lotus and papyrus
upon higher ground. Great heavy leaves, like cabbages, beneath the
water, make many stumble as they walk. Saw large numbers of little
fish, silurus-species; these are caught by the natives, and sold to the
caravans.
-7th-.--Plain still inundated. Last night, no halting-place to be
found. Marched on through the darkness. Great misery. Except for Mrs.
Weldon, life not worth having; for her sake must hold out. Loud cries
heard. Saw, by the lightning, soldiers breaking large boughs from the
resinous trees that emerged from the water. The caravan had been
attacked on the flank by a dozen or more crocodiles; women and children
seized and carried off to what Livingstone calls their "pasture-lands,"
the holes where they deposit their prey until it is decomposed. Myself
grazed by the scales of one of them. A slave close beside me torn out
of the fork, which was snapped in half. How the poor fellow's cry of
agony rings in my ear! This morning, twenty missing. Tom and the
others, thank God! are still alive. They are on in front. Once Bat made
a sharp turn, and Tom caught sight of me. Nothing to be seen of Nan;
was she, poor creature, one of those that the crocodiles had got?
-8th-.--After twenty-four hours in the water we have crossed the plain.
We have halted on a hill. The sun helps to dry us. Nothing to eat
except a little manioc and a few handfuls of maize. Only muddy water to
drink. Impossible for Mrs. Weldon to survive these hardships; I hope
from my heart that she has been taken some other way. Small-pox has
broken out in the caravan; those that have it are to be left behind.
-9th-.--Started at dawn. No stragglers allowed; sick and weary must be
kept together by havildars' whip; the losses were considerable. Living
skeletons all round. Rejoiced once more to catch sight of Nan. She was
not carrying the child any longer; she was alone; the chain was round
her waist, but she had the loose end thrown over her shoulder. I got
close to her; suppose I am altered, as she did not know me. After I had
called her by name several times she stared at me, and at last said,
"Ah, Mr. Dick, is it you? you will not see me here much longer." Her
cadaverous look pained my very soul, but I tried to speak hopefully.
Poor Nan shook her head. "I shall never see my dear mistress again; no,
nor master Jack; I shall soon die." Anxious to help her, I would gladly
have carried the end of the chain which she had been obliged to bear
because her fellow-prisoner was dead. A rough hand was soon upon my
shoulder; a cruel lash had made Nan retreat to the general crowd,
whilst, at the bidding of an Arab chief, I was hustled back to the very
hindmost rank of the procession. I overheard the word Negoro, in a way
that convinced me that it is under the direction of the Portuguese that
I am subject to this hard indignity.
[Illustration: [**no caption, or it is cut off]]
-11th-.--Last night encamped under some large trees on the skirts of a
forest. Several escaped prisoners recaptured; their punishment
barbarously cruel. Loud roaring of lions and hyenas heard at nightfall,
also snorting of hippopotamuses; probably some lake or water-course not
far off. Tired, but could not sleep; heard a rustling in the grass;
felt sure that something was going to attack me; what could I do? I had
no gun. For Mrs. Weldon's sake, must, if possible, preserve my life.
The night was dark; no moon; two eyes gleamed upon me; I was about to
utter a cry of alarm; fortunately, I suppressed it; the creature that
had sprung to my feet was Dingo! The dog licked my hands all over,
persisting in rubbing his neck against them, evidently to make me feel
there; found a reed fastened to the well-known collar upon which the
initials S.V. had so often awakened our curiosity; breaking open the
reed, I took a note from inside; it was too dark for me to see to read
it. I tried, by caressing Dingo, to detain him; but the dog appeared to
know that his mission with me was at an end; he licked my hands
affectionately, made a sudden bound, and disappeared in the long grass
as mysteriously as he had come. The howling of the wild beasts
increased. How I dreaded that the faithful creature would become their
prey! No more sleep this night for me. It seemed that daylight would
never dawn; at length it broke with the suddenness that marks a
tropical morn. I was able cautiously to read my note; the handwriting,
I knew at a glance, was that of Hercules; there were but a few lines in
pencil:--
"Mrs. Weldon and Jack carried away in a kitanda.
"Harris and Negoro both with them. Mr. Benedict too. Only a few marches
ahead, but cannot be communicated with at present. Found Dingo wounded
by a gun-shot. Dear Mr. Dick, do not despair; keep up your courage. I
may help you yet.
"Your ever true and faithful
"HERCULES."
As far as it went, this intelligence was satisfactory. A kitanda, I
know, is a kind of litter made of dry grass, protected by a curtain,
and carried on the shoulders of two men by a long bamboo. What a relief
to know that Mrs. Weldon and Jack have been spared the miseries of this
dreadful march! May I not indulge the hope of seeing them at Kazonndé?
-12th-.--The prisoners getting more and more weary and worn out.
Blood-stains on the way still more conspicuous. Many poor wretches are
a mass of wounds. One poor woman for two days has carried her dead
child, from which she refuses to be parted.
-16th-.--Small-pox raging; the road strewn with corpses. Still ten days
before we reach Kazonndé. Just passed a tree from which slaves who had
died from hunger were hanging by the neck.
-18th-.--Must not give in, but I am almost exhausted. Rains have
ceased. We are to make what the dealers call -trikesa-, extra marches
in the after-part of the day. Road very steep; runs through -nyassi-,
tall grass of which the stalks scratch my face, and the seeds get under
my tattered clothes and make my skin smart painfully. My boots
fortunately are thick, and have not worn out. More slaves sick and
abandoned to take their chance. Provisions running very short; soldiers
and pagazis must be satisfied, otherwise they desert; consequently the
slaves are all but starved. "They can eat each other," say the agents.
A young slave, apparently in good health, dropped down dead. It made me
think of Livingstone's description of how free-born men, reduced to
slavery, will suddenly press their hand on their side, and die of a
broken heart.
[Illustration: More slaves sick, and abandoned to take their chance.]
-24th-.--Twenty captives, incapable any longer of keeping pace with the
rest, put to death by the havildars, the Arab chief offering no
opposition. Poor old Nan one of the victims of this horrible butchery.
My foot struck her corpse as I passed, but I was not permitted to give
her a decent burial. Poor old Nan! the first of the survivors of the
"Pilgrim" to go to her long rest! Poor old Nan!
Every night I watch for Dingo; but he never comes. Has Hercules nothing
more to communicate? or has any mishap befallen him? If he is alive he
will do what mortal strength can do to aid us.
CHAPTER IX.
KAZONNDÉ.
By the 26th of May, when the caravan reached Kazonndé the number of the
slaves had diminished by more than half, so numerous had been the
casualties along the road. But the dealers were quite prepared to make
a market of their loss; the demand for slaves was very great, and the
price must be raised accordingly.
Angola at that time was the scene of a large negro-traffic, and as the
caravans principally wended their way towards the interior, the
Portuguese authorities at Loanda and Benguela had practically no power
to prevent it. The barracks on the shore were crowded to overflowing
with prisoners, the few slave-ships that managed to elude the cruisers
being quite inadequate to embark the whole number for the Spanish
colonies to America.
Kazonndé, the point whence the caravans diverge to the various parts of
the lake district, is situated three miles from the mouth of the
Coanza, and is one of the most important -lakonis-, or markets of the
province. The open marketplace where the slaves are exposed for sale is
called the -chitoka-.
All the larger towns of Central Africa are divided into two distinct
parts; one occupied by the Arab, Portuguese, or native merchants, and
containing their slave-barracks; the other being the residence of the
negro king, often a fierce drunken potentate, whose rule is a reign of
terror, and who lives by subsidies allowed him by the traders.
The commercial quarter of Kazonndé now belonged to José Antonio Alvez.
It was his largest dépôt, although he had another at Bihé, and a third
at Cassangé, where Cameron subsequently met him. It consisted of one
long street, on each side of which were groups of flat-roofed houses
called -tembés-, built of rough earth, and provided with square yards
for cattle. The end of it opened into the -chitoka-, which was
surrounded by the barracks. Above the houses some fine banyan-trees
waved their branches, surmounted here and there by the crests of
graceful palms. There was at least a score of birds of prey that
hovered about the streets, and came down to perform the office of
public scavengers. At no great distance flowed the Loohi, a river not
yet explored, but which is supposed to be an affluent or sub-affluent
of the Congo.
[Illustration: Adjoining the commercial quarter was the royal
residence.]
Adjoining the commercial quarter was the royal residence, nothing more
nor less than a collection of dirty huts, extending over an area of
nearly a square mile.
Some of these huts were unenclosed; others were surrounded by a
palisade of reeds, or by a hedge of bushy figs.
In an enclosure within a papyrus fence were about thirty huts
appropriated to the king's slaves, another group for his wives, and in
the middle, almost hidden by a plantation of manioc, a -tembé- larger
and loftier than the rest, the abode of the monarch himself.
He had sorely declined from the dignity and importance of his
predecessors, and his army, which by the early Portuguese traders had
been estimated at 20,000, now numbered less than 4000 men; no longer
could he afford, as in the good old time, to order a sacrifice of
twenty-five or thirty slaves at one offering.
His name was Moené Loonga. Little over fifty, he was prematurely aged
by drink and debauchery, and scarcely better than a maniac. His
subjects, officers, and ministers, were all liable to be mutilated at
his pleasure, and noses and ears, feet and hands, were cut off
unsparingly whenever his caprice so willed it. His death would have
been a cause of regret to no one, with the exception, perhaps, of
Alvez, who was on very good terms with him. Alvez, moreover, feared
that in the event of the present king's death, the succession of his
chief wife, Queen Moena, might be disputed, and that his dominions
would be invaded by a younger and more active neighbour, one of the
kings of Ukusu, who had already seized upon some villages dependent on
the government of Kazonndé, and who was in alliance with a rival trader
named Tipo-Tipo, a man of pure Arab extraction, from whom Cameron
afterwards received a visit at Nyangwé.
To all intents and purposes Alvez was the real sovereign of the
district, having fostered the vices of the brutalized king till he had
him completely in his power. He was a man considerably advanced in
years; he was not (as his name might imply) a white man, but had merely
assumed his Portuguese title for purposes of business; his true name
was Kendélé, and he was a pure negro by birth, being a native of Dondo
on the Coanza. He had commenced life as a slave-dealer's agent, and was
now on his way towards becoming a first-class trader; that is to say,
he was a consummate rascal under the guise of an honest man. He it was
whom Cameron met at the end of 1874 at Kilemba, the capital of Urua, of
which Kasongo is chief, and with whose caravan he travelled to Bihé, a
distance of seven hundred miles.
It was midday when the caravan entered Kazonndé. The journey from the
Coanza had lasted thirty-eight days, more than five weeks of misery as
great as was within human power to endure. Amidst the noise of drums
and coodoo-horns the slaves were conducted to the marketplace. The
soldiers of the caravan discharged their guns into the air, and old
Alvez' resident retinue responded with a similar salute. The bandits,
than which the soldiers were nothing better, were delighted to meet
again, and would celebrate their return by a season of riot and excess.
The slaves, reduced to a total of about two hundred and fifty, were
many of them almost dead from exhaustion; the forks were removed from
their necks, though the chains were still retained, and the whole of
them were driven into barracks that were unfit even for cattle, to
await (in company with 1200 to 1500 other captives already there) the
great market which would be held two days hence.
The -pagazis-, after delivering their loads of ivory, would only stay
to receive their payment of a few yards of calico or other stuff, and
would then depart at once to join some other caravan.
On being relieved from the forks which they had carried for so many
weary days, Tom and his companions heartily wrung each other's hands,
but they could not venture to utter one word of mutual encouragement.
The three younger men, more full of life and vigour, had resisted the
effects of the fatigue, but poor old Tom was nearly exhausted, and had
the march been protracted for a few more days he must have shared Nan's
fate and been left behind, a prey to the wild beasts.
Upon their arrival all four were packed into a narrow cell, where some
food was provided, and the door was immediately locked upon them.
The -chitoka- was now almost deserted, and Dick Sands was left there
under the special charge of a havildar: he lost no opportunity of
peering into every hut in the hope of catching a glimpse of Mrs.
Weldon, who, if Hercules had not misinformed him, had come on hither
just in front.
But he was very much perplexed. He could well understand that Mrs.
Weldon, if still a prisoner, would be kept out of sight, but why Negoro
and Harris did not appear to triumph over him in his humiliation was
quite a mystery to him. It was likely enough that the presence of
either one or the other of them would be the signal for himself to be
exposed to fresh indignity, or even to torture, but Dick would have
welcomed the sight of them at Kazonndé, were it only as an indication
that Mrs. Weldon and Jack were there also.
It disappointed him, too, that Dingo did not come back. Ever since the
dog had brought him the first note, he had kept an answer written ready
to send to Hercules, imploring him to look after Mrs. Weldon, and to
keep him informed of everything. He began to fear that the faithful
creature must be dead, perhaps perished in some attempt to reach
himself; it was, however, quite possible that Hercules had taken the
dog in some other direction, hoping to gain somedépôt in the interior.
But so thoroughly had Dick persuaded himself that Mrs. Weldon had
preceded him to Kazonndé that his disappointment became more and more
keen when he failed to discover her. For a while he seemed to yield to
despair, and sat down sorrowful and sick at heart.
Suddenly a chorus of voices and trumpets broke upon his ear; he was
startled into taking a new interest in what was going on.
"Alvez! Alvez!" was the cry again and again repeated by the crowd.
Here, then, was the great man himself about to appear. Was it not
likely that Harris or Negoro might be with him?
Dick stood erect and resolute, his eye vivid with expectation; he felt
all eagerness to stand face to face with his betrayers; boy as he was,
he was equal to cope with them both.
The -kitanda-, which came in sight at the end of the street, was
nothing more than a kind of hammock covered by a faded and ragged
curtain. An old negro stepped out of it. His attendants greeted him
with noisy acclamations.
This, then, was the great trader, José Antonio Alvez.
Immediately following him was his friend Coïmbra, son of the chief
Coïmbra of Bihé, and, according to Cameron, the greatest blackguard in
the province. This sworn ally of Alvez, this organizer of his
slave-raids, this commander, worthy of his own horde of bandits, was
utterly loathsome in his appearance, his flesh was filthily dirty, his
eyes were bloodshot, his skin yellow, and his long hair all
dishevelled. He had no other attire than a tattered shirt, a tunic made
of grass, and a battered straw hat, under which his countenance
appeared like that of some old hag.
Alvez himself, whose clothes were like those of an old Turk the day
after a carnival, was one degree more respectable in appearance than
his satellite, not that his looks spoke much for the very highest class
of African slave-dealers. To Dick's great disappointment, neither
Harris nor Negoro was among his retinue.
Both Alvez and Coïmbra shook hands with Ibn Hamish, the leader of the
caravan, and congratulated him on the success of the expedition. Alvez
made a grimace on being told that half the slaves had died on the way,
but on the whole he seemed satisfied; he could meet the demand that at
present existed, and would lose no time in bartering the new arrival
for ivory or -hannas-, copper in the shape of a St. Andrew's cross, the
form in which the metal is exported in Central Africa.
After complimenting the havildars upon the way in which they had done
their work, the trader gave orders that the porters should be paid and
dismissed. The conversations were carried on in a mixture of Portuguese
and native idioms, in which the African element abounded so largely
that a native of Lisbon would have been at a loss to understand them.
Dick, of course, could not comprehend what was said, and it was only
when he saw a havildar go towards the cell in which Tom and the others
were confined, that he realized that the talk was about himself and his
party.
When the negroes were brought out, Dick came close up, being anxious to
learn as much as he could of what was in contemplation. The old
trader's eyes seemed to brighten as he glanced upon the three strapping
young men who, he knew, would soon be restored to their full strength
by rest and proper food. They at least would get a good price; as for
poor old Tom, he was manifestly so broken down by infirmity and age,
that he would have no value in the market.
In a few words of broken English, which Alvez had picked up from some
of his agents, he ironically gave them all a welcome.
"Glad to see you!" he said, with a diabolical grin.
Tom knew what he meant, and drew himself up proudly.
"We are free men!" he protested, "free citizens of the United States!"
"Yes, yes!" replied Alvez, grinning, "you are Americans; very glad to
see you!"
"Very glad to see you!" echoed Coïmbra, and walking up to Austin he
felt his chest and shoulders, and then proceeded to open his mouth in
order to examine his teeth.
A blow from Austin's powerful fist sent the satellite staggering
backwards.
Some soldiers made a dash and seized the young negro, evidently ready
to make him pay dearly for his temerity; but Alvez was by no means
willing to have any injury done to his newly-acquired property, and
called them off. He hardly attempted to conceal his amusement at
Coïmbra's discomfiture, although the blow had cost him one of his front
teeth.
After he had recovered somewhat from the shock, Coïmbra stood scowling
at Austin, as if mentally vowing vengeance on some future occasion.
Dick Sands was now himself brought forward in the custody of a
havildar. It was clear that Alvez had been told all about him, for
after scanning him for a moment, he stammered out in his broken
English,--
"Ah! ah! the little Yankee!"
"Yes," replied Dick; "I see you know who I am. What are you going to do
with me and my friends?"
"Yankee! little Yankee!" repeated the trader, who either did not or
would not comprehend the meaning of Dick's question.
Dick turned to Coïmbra and made the same inquiry of him; in spite of
his degraded features, now still farther disfigured by being swollen
from the blow, it was easy to recognize that he was not of native
origin. He refused to answer a word, and only stared again with the
vicious glare of malevolence.
Meanwhile, Alvez had begun to talk to Ibn Hamish. Dick felt sure that
they intended to separate him from the negroes, and accordingly took
the opportunity of whispering a few words to them.
"My friends, I have heard from Hercules. Dingo brought me a note from
him, tied round his neck. He says Harris and Negoro have carried off
Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and Mr. Benedict. He did not know where. Have
patience, and we will find them yet."
[Illustration: With a yell and a curse, the American fell dead at his
feet.]
"And where's Nan?" muttered Tom, in a low voice.
"Dead," replied Dick, and was about to add more, when a hand was laid
upon his shoulder, and a voice that he knew too well exclaimed,--
"Well, my young friend, how are you? I am glad to see you again."
He turned round quickly. Harris stood before him.
"Where is Mrs. Weldon?" asked Dick impetuously.
"Ah, poor thing!" answered Harris, with an air of deep commiseration.
"What! is she dead?" Dick almost shrieked; "where is her child?"
"Poor little fellow!" said Harris, in the same mournful tone.
These insinuations, that those in whose welfare he was so deeply
interested had succumbed to the hardships of the journey, awoke in
Dick's mind a sudden and irresistible desire for vengeance. Darting
forwards he seized the cutlass that Harris wore in his belt, and
plunged it into his heart.
With a yell and a curse, the American fell dead at his feet.
CHAPTER X.
MARKET-DAY.
So sudden was Dick's action that it had been impossible to parry his
blow. Several of the natives rushed on him, and in all likelihood would
have struck him down upon the spot had not Negoro arrived at that very
moment. At a sign from him the natives drew back, and proceeded to
raise and carry away Harris's corpse.
Alvez and Coïmbra were urgent in their demand that Dick should
forthwith be punished by death, but Negoro whispered to them that they
would assuredly be the gainers by delay, and they accordingly contented
themselves with ordering the youth to be placed under strict
supervision.
This was the first time that Dick had set eyes upon Negoro since he had
left the coast; nevertheless, so heartbroken was he at the intelligence
he had just received, that he did not deign to address a word to the
man whom he knew to be the real author of all his misery. He cared not
now what became of him.
Loaded with chains, he was placed in the dungeon where Alvez was
accustomed to confine slaves who had been condemned to death for mutiny
or violence. That he had no communication with the outer world gave him
no concern; he had avenged the death of those for whose safety he had
felt himself responsible, and could now calmly await the fate which he
could not doubt was in store for him; he did not dare to suppose that
he had been temporarily spared otherwise than that he might suffer the
cruellest tortures that native ingenuity could devise. That the
"Pilgrim's" cook now held in his power the boy captain he so thoroughly
hated was warrant enough that the sternest possible measure of
vengeance would be exacted.
[Illustration: Accompanied by Coïmbra, Alvez himself was one of the
first arrivals.]
Two days later, the great market, the -lakoni-, commenced. Although
many of the principal traders were there from the interior, it was by
no means exclusively a slave-mart; a considerable proportion of the
natives from the neighbouring provinces assembled to dispose of the
various products of the country.
Quite early the great -chitoka- of Kazonndé was all alive with a
bustling concourse of little under five thousand people, including the
slaves of old Alvez, amongst whom were Tom and his three partners in
adversity--an item by no means inconsiderable in the dealer's stock.
Accompanied by Coïmbra, Alvez himself was one of the first arrivals. He
was going to sell his slaves in lots to be conveyed in caravans into
the interior. The dealers for the most part consisted of half-breeds
from Ujiji, the principal market on Lake Tanganyika, whilst some of a
superior class were manifestly Arabs.
The natives that were assembled were of both sexes, and of every
variety of age, the women in particular displaying an aptitude in
making bargains that is shared by their sisters elsewhere of a lighter
hue; and it may be said that no market of the most civilized region
could be characterized by greater excitement or animation, for amongst
the savages of Africa the customer makes his offer in equally noisy
terms as the vendor.
The -lakoni- was always considered a kind of fète-day; consequently the
natives of both sexes, though their clothing was scanty in extent, made
a point of appearing in a most lavish display of ornaments. Their
head-gear was most remarkable. The men had their hair arranged in every
variety of eccentric device; some had it divided into four parts,
rolled over cushions and fastened into a chignon, or mounted in front
into a bunch of tails adorned with red feathers; others plastered it
thickly with a mixture of red mud and oil similar to that used for
greasing machinery, and formed it into cones or lumps, into which they
inserted a medley of iron pins and ivory skewers; whilst the greatest
dandies had a glass bead threaded upon every single hair, the whole
being fastened together by a tattooing-knife driven through the
glittering mass.
As a general rule, the women preferred dressing their hair in little
tufts about the size of a cherry, arranging it into the shape of a cap,
with corkscrew ringlets on each side of the face. Some wore it simply
hanging down their backs, others in French fashion, with a fringe
across the forehead; but every -coiffure-, without exception, was
daubed and caked either with the mixture of mud and grease, or with a
bright red extract of sandal-wood called -nkola-.
But it was not only on their heads that they made this extraordinary
display of ornaments; the lobes of their ears were loaded till they
reached their shoulders with a profusion of wooden pegs, open-work
copper rings, grains of maize, or little gourds, which served the
purpose of snuff-boxes; their necks, arms, wrists, legs, and ankles
were a perfect mass of brass and copper rings, or sometimes were
covered with a lot of bright buttons. Rows of red beads, called
-sames-sames-, or -talakas-, seemed also very popular. As they had no
pockets, they attached their knives, pipes and other articles to
various parts of their body; so that altogether, in their holiday
attire, the rich men of the district might not inappropriately be
compared to walking shrines.
With their teeth they had all played the strangest of vagaries; the
upper and lower incisors had generally been extracted, and the others
had been filed to points or carved into hooks, like the fangs of a
rattle-snake. Their fingernails were allowed to grow to such an
immoderate length as to render the hands well-nigh useless, and their
swarthy skins were tattooed with figures of trees, birds, crescents and
discs, or, not unfrequently, with those zigzag lines which Livingstone
thinks he recognizes as resembling those observed in ancient Egyptian
drawings. The tattooing is effected by means of a blue substance
inserted into incisions previously made in the skin. Every child is
tattooed in precisely the same pattern as his father before him, and
thus it may always be ascertained to what family he belongs. Instead of
carrying his armorial bearings upon his plate or upon the panels of his
carriage, the African magnate wears them emblazoned on his own bosom!
The garments that were usually worn were simply aprons of
antelope-skins descending to the knees, but occasionally a short
petticoat might be seen made of woven grass and dyed with bright
colours. The ladies not unfrequently wore girdles of beads attached to
green skirts embroidered with silk and ornamented with bits of glass or
cowries, or sometimes the skirts were made of the grass cloth called
-lambda-, which, in blue, yellow, or black, is so much valued by the
people of Zanzibar.
Garments of these pretensions, however, always indicated that the
wearers belonged to the upper classes; the lower orders, such as the
smaller dealers, as well as the slaves, had hardly any clothes at all.
The women commonly acted as porters, and arrived at the market with
huge baskets on their backs, which they secured by means of straps
passed across the forehead. Having deposited their loads upon the
chitoka, they turned out their goods, and then seated themselves inside
the empty baskets.
As the result of the extreme fertility of the country all the articles
offered for sale were of a first-rate quality. There were large stores
of rice, which had been grown at a profit a hundred times as great as
the cost, and maize which, producing three crops in eight months,
yielded a profit as large again as the rice. There were also sesame,
Urua pepper stronger than Cayenne, manioc, nutmegs, salt, and palm-oil.
In the market, too, were hundreds of goats, pigs and sheep, evidently
of a Tartar breed, with hair instead of wool; and there was a good
supply of fish and poultry. Besides all these there was an attractive
display of bright-coloured pottery, the designs of which were very
symmetrical.
In shrill, squeaky voices, children were crying several varieties of
native drinks; banana-wine, -pombé-, which, whatever it was, seemed to
be in great demand; -malofoo-, a kind of beer compounded of bananas,
and mead, a mixture of honey and water, fermented with malt.
But the most prominent feature in the whole market was the traffic in
stuffs and ivory. The pieces could be counted by thousands of the
unbleached -mcrikani- from Salem in Massachusetts, of the blue cotton,
-kaniki-, thirty-four inches wide, and of the checked -sohari-, blue
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345
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