They both protested earnestly that they were our friends; so at 9 a.m., having struck camp, we commenced what, by the general indications, bade fair to prove the crucial march of the safari.
The country was very rugged, and most densely cultivated. M’bu seemed to be prodigiously rich in food. We saw thousands of acres planted with muhindi, stretching as far as the eye could reach. There were no boundaries between the shambas. It occurred to us that perhaps the Wa’M’bu, unlike the other tribes of A’kikuyu, owned the ground in common, but we had no opportunity of deciding this point, as the Wa’M’bu did not appear to us to encourage any degree of intimacy. Indeed, soon after the start we had proofs that they meant to make matters lively for us en route.
When we left camp, El Hakim with one guide took the head of the column, and George and I brought up the rear with the other. At every cross-path great crowds of warriors, fully armed, watched our passage in ominous silence. As soon as we passed they closed in on our rear and followed at a distance of two or three hundred yards, their numbers being continually augmented by other bodies who joined them on the road. The path lay through narrow valleys, and on the heights on each side were more bodies of natives who shouted at us, and informed us in a most insulting manner that they were coming to kill us. They really did seem inclined to try conclusions with us, and things looked very nasty for a time, whilst we needed all our wits about us to preserve some sort of discipline among our men.
George and I especially had a very difficult task in the rear, when crossing the small rivers, or spruits, of which there were many in the road. It was no easy task to keep off the armed bands of natives simply by moral force, without firing a shot, whilst we unloaded the refractory donkeys, and half pushed half dragged them unwillingly across a rocky little stream, and loaded again on the other side. In the meantime, in consequence of the delay, the main safari would have moved on and left George and myself alone with the six donkeys and as many men, and with something over three or four hundred aggressive Wa’M’bu within two hundred yards trying to make up their minds to attack us.
At such times George and I, leaving Jumbi to get the donkeys across, would face round with our rifles at the ready, and direct our reluctant guide to inform his bloodthirsty friends that if they came a step nearer the Wa’sungu would slay them with their guns. Our determined attitude, no doubt, prevented an actual collision, but we had an exceedingly anxious time, being within measurable distance of a violent death on several occasions during that memorable march. If we had relaxed our vigilance for one single instant we should undoubtedly have been attacked, and at a tremendous disadvantage. It could only have had one ending—an ending which would have effectually prevented this description being penned. I am still undecided as to the reason why we accomplished that march without a fracas. The Wa’M’bu, being a numerous and united people, are, therefore, very dangerous to tackle in their mountain fastnesses. The weak spot in most of the other tribes of that region is the fact that they are ruled by numerous petty chiefs, and have no cohesion and consequently no real strength.
El Hakim had no inconsiderable task in the van of the safari, as he had to keep his eye upon the other guide in order to prevent him from leading us into an ambush, and had also to verify his course by compass.
This nerve-wearying march lasted till sundown, when we reached a partially cleared shamba on the crest of a rounded hill, and pitched our camp. There were no materials for a boma, so that we were obliged to depend for safety during the night on constant watchfulness. We trebled the sentries, and slept in our clothes, keeping our weapons within easy reach; but we were not disturbed.
I do not think the Wa’M’bu quite understood us. We played a game of pure bluff throughout, and, strange to say, it answered perfectly, though personally I have no wish to repeat the experience—at least, not without a much larger quantity of ammunition than we then carried. They were strong enough to have utterly annihilated us, though no doubt they would have suffered in the process; and it speaks well for the prestige of the white man that we three were able to pass unharmed through the most difficult part of their country, literally surrounded by thousands of their fighting men. Our forty men did not count for much in the eyes of the Wa’M’bu, as they knew them to be natives like themselves, and comparatively easily disposed of in spite of their guns.
After pitching our camp we interrogated the two guides, and found that another hour’s march would take us out of M’bu altogether, and into another country called Zuka, with the inhabitants of which the Wa’M’bu were at enmity.
As we were not pining for the further company of the Wa’M’bu, we were up and moving before daylight on the following morning. In these cold misty highlands the natives do not turn out till the sun is well up, so that by starting early we were perfectly safe from their unwelcome attentions, and were over the border before they realized that we had departed hence.