The King of the Maleggas only left us at the farthest extremity of his kingdom, and very sorry we were to part with this intelligent, humane, and, relatively speaking, civilized chief, who has behaved so well to our caravan. He, too, had tears in his eyes as he warmly shook hands with us, and for a long time we could see him following us with his gaze as we went farther and farther away from him. Miss Poles, of course, assumed that all this was intended for her, and, by way of reply, sent countless kisses through the intervening air. But Delange, notwithstanding his protests, had constituted himself the guardian of this impressionable creature, and he had taken very good care to confine Miss Poles to aerial osculation.
Ali has not misled us; the country through which we are passing does not in any way resemble that of the Maleggas. No more pasture land, no more cultivation, no more pretty little villages nestling among wooded slopes; torrents, rocks, and sharp-pointed stones have replaced all these. We are evidently upon an old spur of the mountain range already visible in the horizon. Some severe volcanic shock must have produced this effect in days gone by; a portion of the mountain must have been detached, in the first instance, and subjected afterwards to a leveling process which has brought about the stony, unequal, deeply indented ground over which we have been passing to-day.
But vegetation is so luxuriant and irresistible in these parts that superb trees raise their heads amidst weird and jagged ridges, and palms, with their bare stems and fan-like foliage, stand side by side with aloes on the banks of the torrents.
The temperature, in this semi-desert, is stifling; there is but an imperceptible line of shadow at the foot of the rocks, and the earth seems to faint under the burden of the heat. Our army winds slowly, like a huge serpent, along the turnings and twistings of the road. The men march in silence, step by step, rifles in hand, and ready for any emergency. A scouting party has been organized by de Morin to warn us of coming danger, and the army is composed of several battalions, subdivided into companies. We occupy the centre of this force with our own personal escort, and the Monbuttoos whom we have trained in the use of the rifle.
Munza, still suffering from his wound, is close to us, carried on a shield. Madame de Guéran reclines in a hammock slung from large poles, borne by eight Nubians, who advance with measured step. Delange, de Morin, and I are on foot, the last horse we had having been attacked in the Malegga country by the tsetse, a fly whose bite, though harmless to human beings and wild animals, is fatal to horses.
Finally, Joseph, induced by his natural indolence to prolong his period of convalescence, is carried on the back of an ox, converted for the nonce into a beast of burden. The flocks and herds follow after, and they are of considerable dimensions, thanks to the generosity of Kadjoro. We cannot count upon receiving any hospitality at the hands of the Walindis, and we have taken our precautions accordingly. Our caravan and the army generally are plentifully supplied with cattle and grain, for we have come to an arrangement with Munza that there shall be no plundering until we are attacked.
However, there are at present no symptoms of hostility; nobody opposes our advance; no one flies at our approach. On the contrary, in front of every village (we go round them instead of passing through them) the inhabitants assemble to see us pass.
Has Queen Walinda changed her mind about us, or is she at this moment collecting her forces and waiting until we have advanced farther into the interior of her country to attack us? This latter supposition is the more probable one.
The natives of this district are evidently conscious of their strength, and are not tormented by a thousand and one fears on the approach of strangers. Consequently, when we see them gathered together, it often happens that Delange, de Morin, and I leave the army for the purpose of making a more minute inspection of them.
They are a fine race, superior even to the Maleggas, whose physical attractions have already commanded our admiration. Their facial angle is strictly correct, the forehead rather wide, the lips thick but not swollen, the teeth good and even, and if their noses are not aquiline they are, at all events, delicately rounded. The most complete nudity appears to be obligatory throughout the entire tribe, a decree of banishment having apparently been pronounced against the slightest strip of hide, or the minutest leaf. Some sovereign, in order to give his people full liberty to develop themselves and spread out unfettered, must have decreed a sumptuary law on the most radical lines.