“I’d try to find out what language they speak while they are here, to avoid going to their village,” said Cavius. “These people are only unarmed youngsters and if the man on the elephant attacks us, we can hide in the grass and bushes. In their village we’d all be killed if we didn’t come to an agreement with the Elephant People…”
Kidogo liked Cavius’ advice. He stood up, displaying his full height, and walked slowly towards the river. A shout from the man on the elephant put a sudden stop to the fun in the water; the bathers stood still, up to their waists in water, looking at the opposite bank.
The elephant turned menacingly in the direction of the approaching Kidogo; his trunk made a rustling noise as it waved over the long, white tusks, and its ears, like huge, pendant wings, spread out again. The man on the elephant’s back looked fixedly at the newcomer; in his right hand he held a broad knife with a hook at the end that trembled slightly as he raised it, ready to use it.
Without a word Kidogo walked almost to the edge of the water, laid his spear on the ground, placed his foot on it, and spread out his weaponless arms.
“Greetings, friend,” he said slowly, carefully pronouncing every word. “I am here with my companions. We are lonely fugitives on our way home. We want to ask for help from your tribe…”
The man on the elephant remained silent. The travellers hiding under the tree waited with bated breath to see whether the man would understand Kidogo’s speech or not. An important turning point in the fate of the fugitives depended on what was to follow.
The man on the elephant slowly lowered his knife. The elephant shifted its weight from one foot to another in the swirling water and lowered its trunk, allowing it to hang between its tusks. Suddenly the man spoke and a sigh of relief burst from Pandion’s breast, while a shudder of joy ran through Kidogo who was standing with his body tensely strained. The speech of the elephant driver contained strong stresses and sibilant sounds that were not to be heard in Kidogo’s melodious language, but even Pandion recognized some familiar words.
“Where are you from, stranger?” came the question that seemed arrogant from the height of the elephant’s back. “And where are your companions?”
Kidogo explained that they had been captives in Tha-Quem and were making their way back home, to the sea coast. The Negro beckoned the others and the whole party of nineteen, downcast and emaciated, came down to the river-bank.
“Tha-Quem?” repeated the man on the elephant, pronouncing the syllables with difficulty. “What’s that? Where is that country?”
Kidogo told of the powerful country that stretched along a mighty river in the north-east, and the elephant driver nodded his head understandingly.
“I’ve heard of it, but it’s a terribly long way away. How could you have come so far?” There was a note of mistrust in the man’s words.
“That is a long story,” answered Kidogo wearily. “Look at these men.” The Negro pointed to Cavius, Pandion and the group of Libyans. “Have you ever seen anybody like them near here?”
With a look of interest the man on the elephant examined faces such as he had never before seen. The distrust gradually faded from his face; he slapped the elephant’s head with his hand.
“I am too young to decide anything without the elders. Come over to our bank of the river while the elephant is still in the water and wait there. What shall I tell the chiefs about you?”
“Tell them that weary travellers ask permission to rest in your village and find out the way to the sea. We need nothing more,” answered Kidogo laconically.
“Never have we heard such things or seen such people,” mused the elephant driver. Turning to his own people, he shouted: “You go ahead, I’ll follow!”
The young people, who had been studying the newcomers in silence, hurried obediently to the bank, looking back and talking amongst themselves. The driver turned his elephant so that it stood sideways across the stream. The travellers crossed the river, breast high in the water. Then the driver made his animal set out at a smart pace and, following the bathers, soon disappeared amongst the scanty trees. The former slaves sat down on big stones to await their fate with some trepidation. The Libyans were more worried than the others, although Kidogo assured them that the Elephant People would not do them any harm.
Shortly after this four elephants appeared, coming across the fields, with wide platforms of plaited branches on their backs. Six warriors armed with bows and exceptionally broad spears sat on each of the platforms. Under this escort the former slaves reached the village which proved to be quite close to the meeting place, on a bend of the same river, some four thousand cubits to the south-west.
There were about three hundred huts dotted amongst green trees on a hilly site.
To the left of the village spread an open forest, and some distance to the right of it stood a huge palisade of gigantic logs with pointed tops, solidly buttressed on the outside with other logs. Around this structure there was a deep moat fenced with a second palisade of pointed logs. Pandion expressed surprise at the size of the structure, but Kidogo made a guess that this was the pen for the elephants.
Just as they had done many days ago in the east, the travellers stood before the chiefs and elders of a big village; again and again they told their marvellous tale of insurgent slaves to which the great feat of a long journey through an unknown land was now added. The chiefs questioned the travellers closely, examined their weapons and the brand of Pharaoh on their backs and made Cavius and Pandion tell them about their countries to the north of the distant sea.
Pandion was astonished at the extensive knowledge of these people; they had not only heard of the Land of Nub, where the travellers had come from, but they also knew many other places in Africa in the north, south, east and west.
Kidogo was delighted. The local inhabitants would show him the way to his home and the wanderers would soon reach their goal by following the true road.
A short meeting of the Council of Elders decided the fate of the newcomers: they were to be permitted to rest for a few days in the village and would be given food and shelter in accordance with the sacred laws of hospitality.
The former slaves were given a big hut on the outskirts of the village where they could enjoy a good rest. They were still more encouraged by the fact that the Elephant People would show them the right way and that their wanderings were coming to an end.
Pandion, Kidogo and Cavius wandered about the village, observing the life of the people who had won their admiration by their power over the gigantic animals. Pandion was astounded by the long fences of elephant tusks where cattle were impounded. (Amongst the Shilluks, on the upper reaches of the Nile, fences of elephant tusks were still to be met with in the middle of the 19th century.)
It seemed to Pandion that this was a display of deliberate contempt for the terrible monsters. What number of tusks must these people possess if they could waste the valuable ivory on such things? When Pandion asked this question of one of the villagers, the latter very importantly suggested that he ask the chiefs for permission to see the big storehouse in the centre of the village.
“So many tusks are stacked there,” said the man, pointing to an open space between two huts, a hundred and fifty cubits in length, and he raised a stick above his head to indicate the height of the stack of tusks.
“How do you make the elephants obey you?” asked Pandion, unable to repress his curiosity.
The man frowned and looked at him with suspicion.
“That’s kept secret from strangers,” he answered slowly. “Ask the chiefs about it, if you want to know. Those who wear round their necks a gold chain with a red stone in it are the elephant trainers.”