The deputation then rose and withdrew, taking the fossil with them. We retired to our tent, but had not been seated more than a few moments when the sound of excited exclamations from the men caused us, ever on alert for news of our missing men, to spring to our feet. We rushed outside and saw an excited, heaving group of our men volubly discussing some object in their midst. I shouted an order, and the group separated and led towards our tent a man apparently in the last stage of exhaustion. Commanding silence, we called Ramathani to interpret. The man straightened himself, and we were horrified to observe a great gaping wound in his right arm, that looked like a sword-cut, which had been roughly stitched up with fibre. He announced amid breathless silence that he was the sole survivor of our five Swahilis and the eight native allies who had accompanied them. Our men groaned and wept at the news, but we again commanded silence, and bit by bit, by dint of careful questioning, we extracted the whole wretched story.
“Your four Zanzibaris,” said the native, “Sadi, Hamiz, Abdullah, and Marazuki, and one M’kamba, with eight of we Munithu people, slipped away from Wa’sungu so that we might collect cattle and sheep. We went very far and got many cattle. Presently we crossed the border of G’nainu into Nimbere, and there Sadi ben Heri, who commanded, seized many cattle and sheep from the Wa’Nimbere, who at once attacked us; but your men drove them away with their guns. We could not turn back, as the Wa’G’nainu were behind us, and Sadi ben Heri said, ‘Let us go on through this country, and so come to Munithu, where we shall be safe.’ We therefore crossed Nimbere, being many times attacked by the ‘Washenzi’ (savages) on the way, but the Zanzibaris always drove them off with their guns; but afterwards they had not many cartridges left.
“We then got into N’dakura, where there are many people, and there Sadi ben Heri said, ‘Let us take even more cattle and sheep from these people.’ So we took many cattle and sheep from the Wa’N’dakura, who then attacked us very fiercely; but your men again drove away the Washenzi with their guns. But their cartridges were very nearly finished, while the paths were narrow and the bush very thick. The Wa’G’nainu and Wa’Nimbere were behind us, and the Wa’N’dakura were in front. They came so close that we had to leave all the cattle and sheep that we had taken, so that we might try to save our lives. The enemy came closer and closer to us in the plantations and the bush, and then your men fired their last cartridge. Soon after that Abdullah was speared in the stomach, then Sadi was killed with spears, while the M’kamba was killed with a sword, and Marazuki and Hamiz were also killed with spears. There were very many of the ‘Washenzi.’ I was cut on my arm with a sword, and I ran away and hid in the forest. The other seven Munithu men were killed while trying to run away. Some were killed with spears and others with swords, and some with arrows. I waited till it was night, and then I came here.”
Such was the story of the missing man, and a ghastly business it was. It was entirely due to the disobedience of Sadi and his companions, and also to their stupidity in not confining their operations to the people with whom we were fighting. As it was, they had now given offence to two powerful tribes who had hitherto been friendly to us. In addition, four of our rifles were in the hands of the enemy, which might well be a source of bitter trouble to us in the future; as, indeed, it turned out.
At the conclusion of the narrative we sent the wounded man away, with orders that his wants should be attended to, and talked the matter over. It was then dusk, and much too late to think of starting for M’thara.
A few moments later Resarse arrived in camp from the village where the ivory was, and delivered his report. He informed us that it was a fair-sized tusk, and would weigh perhaps 50 lbs. An hour later the fossil and his friends turned up, and after a mild discussion we agreed to pay the price demanded, viz. a cow and three ewes with lambs—on the condition that they were to let us have the tusk very early on the following morning, as we explained that we were greatly desirous of starting early for M’thara; I, for one, being a little anxious about George.
Therefore at sunrise next morning we despatched Resarse to the fossil’s village with a cow, together with a message to the effect that he (Resarse) was to bring back the tusk with him, accompanied by one or two of their men, to whom we would hand over the balance of the purchase price due to them, i.e. the three ewes and their lambs.
Partaking of an early breakfast, we next packed up the tent and the numerous loads belonging to El Hakim which had been in Bei-Munithu’s charge, though we had to leave some of them behind. There were about fifteen loads of various beads, a 300-yard Alpine rope, ten or a dozen loads of mardūf (English drill), about six loads of iron, copper, and brass wire, some “bendera” (red cloth) and “kiniki” (blue cloth), and also some loads of camp equipment, medicines, and ammunition; which, together with some signal-rockets and gamekeepers’ flares, totalled up to some forty odd loads. The donkeys gave some trouble at first, as they were very fresh, and strongly objected to being loaded again after twelve days’ idleness. Finally, somewhere about ten o’clock we were ready for our long-delayed return to M’thara.
All this time there were no signs of Resarse or the ivory. Half an hour after we had finished packing he was descried approaching the camp, but was still driving the cow; there were no signs of the tusk. Our disgust and annoyance can be imagined when we heard that the fossil had hidden the tusk and run away! Bei-Munithu was peremptorily summoned, and we angrily demanded the reason of this treatment, expressing our displeasure in sufficiently severe terms. Bei-Munithu, much disturbed, departed to find out.
We simmered for another two hours till his return. From his account it appeared that there were two tusks, and the owner, seeing Resarse approaching with only one cow, thought we intended to cheat him, and incontinently fled. Bei-Munithu, however, had now persuaded him that we were honest, and he was now on his way to camp with the two tusks. Again we sat down and waited, with as much patience as we could command under the circumstances.