With astonishing agility the Negroes stalked the red antelopes and there was always an abundance of their succulent and tasty meat so that former slaves grew strong from the nourishing food. When a herd of enormous grey-black bulls** with long horns curving downwards appeared in the distance, the Negroes sounded the alarm and the whole party sought cover amongst the trees to escape the most terrible animal that inhabits the African plains.
(* The thorny heads of ascanite grass.
**The African buffalo.)
The guides had apparently misjudged the distance: the travellers had been on their way for nine days and there was still no sign of any human habitation. The Libyan’s arm had healed. The Negro with the broken leg had so far recovered as to sit up in his litter and at night he hopped and crawled around the fire to the delight of his companions who shared the joy of his convalescence. Only Pandion still lay silent and indifferent, although Kidogo and Cavius forced him to take more nourishment.
This being the period of the rains, the abundant life of the plains was at its peak.
Millions of insects sang and hummed noisily in the grass; brightly-hued birds flashed like blue, yellow, emerald-green and black-velvet apparitions through the tangle of gnarled grey branches. The resonant cries of diminutive bustards became more and more frequent in the heat of the day — “mac-har, mac-har,” they cried.
For the first time in his life Cavius saw the giants of Africa close at hand.
Noiselessly and serenely the huge grey bulk of the elephants was frequently to be seen sailing over the grass, their leathery ears extended like sails in the direction of the travellers and the brilliant white of their tusks contrasting sharply with the snaky black trunks that waved above them. Cavius liked the look of the elephants, the calm wisdom of their behaviour made them so different from the fussy antelopes, the malicious rhinoceroses and the lithesome beasts of prey that seemed like coiled springs. On several occasions the men had an opportunity to observe the majestic beasts at rest: the herd stood closely packed in the shade of the trees. The huge old bull elephants bowed their domed heads, heavy with great tusks, while the cows, whose heads were flatter, held them high as they stood sleeping. Once they came across a lonely old bull. The giant was standing fast asleep in the sun. He had apparently dozed off in the shade but the sun had moved on in its course and the old elephant, deep in slumber, did not feel the heat. Cavius stood still for some time admiring the mighty giant of the plains.
The elephant stood like a statue, its hind-legs somewhat apart. The lowered trunk was coiled, the tiny eyes closed and the thin tail hung over the sloping rump. The thick curved tusks projected menacingly in front of him, their points far apart on either side.
In places where trees were scanty, they saw animals of strange shape. Their long legs carried short bodies with steeply sloping backs, the forelegs being much longer than the hinds. From their massive shoulders and broad chests stretched an extremely long neck, which sloped forward, surmounted by a very small head with short horns and tubular ears — giraffes that travelled in groups from five up to a hundred. A big herd of giraffes in the open plain was a sight never to be forgotten: it was as though a forest of trees, inclined in one direction by the strength of the wind, was moving from place to place in the bright sunlight, casting patches of fantastic shadow as it went. The giraffes would move at times at a trot, at times they galloped with a peculiar gait, bending their forelegs under them and stretching their hinds out far behind. The bright yellow network of fine lines on their skins, separated by big irregular black patehes, was so much like the shadows cast by the trees that the animals were quite invisible under them. Carefully they plucked leaves from the branches with their lips, eating their fill, without any show of greed, their big sensitive ears turning from side to side.
A long line of their necks was frequently to be seen above the waving sea of tall grass — they moved slowly, their heads with their flashing black eyes held proudly at a height of ten cubits from the ground.
The restrained movements of the giraffes were so beautiful that the harmless animals called forth involuntary admiration.
Through the thick wall of grass the travellers sometimes heard the malicious snorts of a rhinoceros but they had already learned how to avoid this short-sighted animal and the possibility of meeting the monster no longer filled the former slaves with fear.
The travellers marched in single file, treading in each other’s footsteps, only their spears and the tops of their heads, shielded from the sun by rags and leaves, being visible above the grass on either side of the narrow lane. The monotonous grassy plain stretched away on all sides, seemingly endless. Grass and the burning sky followed the travellers by day, grass came to them in their dreams at night and they began to feel that they were lost for ever in that stifling, rustling, never-ending-vegetation. Not until the tenth day did they see ahead of them a ridge of rocks over which spread a bluish haze. Ascending the rocks the travellers found themselves on a stony plateau overgrown with bushes and leafless trees whose branches stretched up towards the sky like outstretched arms. (Euphorbia candelabrum — a plant related to the European euphorbia but outwardly resembling a cactus.) Their trunks and branches were of the same venomous green colour; the trees looked like round brushes, the bristles trimmed on top, placed on short poles. Growths of these trees gave off a sharp, acrid smell, their fragile branches were easily broken by the wind and from the places where they snapped off there flowed abundant sap like thick milk, that congealed quickly into long grey drops. The guides hurried through these thickets since they believed that if the wind grew fresher it might blow down these strange trees and crush anybody near them.
The plain began again beyond the thickets, but this time it was undulating country with fresh, green grass. When the travellers reached the summit of a hill, they were unexpectedly confronted by wide expanses of tilled land stretching right up to a dense forest of high trees. In an opening deep in the forest a large group of conical huts occupied a low hill, surrounded by a massive stockade. Heavy gates, built of irregular logs and decorated with garlands of lions’ skulls hanging from the. top, stared straight at the newcomers.
Tall, stern-looking warriors came out of the gates to meet the group of former slaves slowly climbing the hill. The local inhabitants resembled Nubians except that their skin was of a somewhat lighter bronze colour.
The warriors carried spears with huge heads like short swords and big shields decorated with a black and white ornament. War clubs of ebony, very hard and heavy, hung from their giraffe-hide girdles.
The view from the hill-top was very picturesque. Out of the golden grass of the plain rose the abundant emerald-green vegetation of the river-banks between which flashed the blue ribbon of the river. Bushes surmounted by fluffy pink balls were vaguely trembling; bunches of yellow and white flowers hung down from the trees.
Preliminary talks between the natives and the newcomers lasted a long time. The Negro with the broken leg, who had said he belonged to this people, served as interpreter. With the aid of a stick he hobbled over to the warriors, making a sign to his companions to remain behind.
Cavius, the Negro with the broken leg, Kidogo, one of the Nubians and one of the nomad guides were allowed. to enter the gates and were taken to the house of the chief.