Another person upon whom the news of the discovery had had a similar reaction was MYalu. Her proximity released the primitive desire to go forth and seize her. But such action was arrested by fear of the consequences from his fellows to whom the tabu was still real, and of the white man, Moonspirit. MYalu could never overcome the fiat of the witch-doctors while he remained with them. Yonder—his decision to go with Yabolo and Sakamata was clinched, but—he would take Bakuma with him.
Straight to the hut of Bakahenzie, who seemed to be expecting him, stalked Marufa. Marufa squatted [pg 189] solemnly near to him. These catastrophic events had caused a general unrest which had weakened the discipline of superstition.
There are two types of magicians: those who are partially conscious hypocrites, and those who are gulled by their own fakes; for he who makes magic must be ever ready with an explanation of failure and very ingenious in the making. The fool, believing in his own medicine, is as much astounded at failure as the victim is angry. Bakahenzie and Marufa belonged to the first class; yet being of their particular mental development they were possessed of beliefs just as deeply as the most credulous layman. That the wizard, personally, of his own individual power could slay an enemy by incantation they did not believe; but that the spirit of the Banana or of other inanimate objects could do so, they believed most profoundly. Their creed was a form of pure animism; the storms, the winds, the lightning, trees, rocks, rivers had separate and conscious souls; other inanimate objects not included in an arbitrary list, had unconscious souls, each and every one capable of doing mischief or of good; hence the essence of religion in the act of imploring the good offices of the most powerful spirits, or in moments of exasperation of threatening them with dire punishments. Their hypocrisy lay not in disbelief but in pretending to the people that their intercession with the gods was infallible; they knew only too well that the said gods would seldom incline an ear to the magician.
Of course nearly every doctor had a slightly different dogma, usually based upon an incorrect deduction from a false premise. One doctor would place all his [pg 190] confidence in the spirit of the Banana—the most popular spirit; and another in the spirit of the river, because out of a dozen times that he had implored aid, five “miracles” at least had been vouchsafed, therefore, argued he, the spirit of the river is the true and most powerful god. The arguments of others were equally unsound as they were dominated by some hidden desire, much as reputable scientists, while rejecting phenomena accepted by the populace, cling fatuously to a belief in spooks in order to satisfy a subconscious desire for immortality, fear of death.
Hence the confusion in the heart of Bakahenzie. To him it appeared that the spirits had deserted him entirely; to him it seemed that perhaps these white men had indeed the true “magic,” the art of controlling the spirits to their will. This terror had urged him to the destruction of the white man, Moonspirit. Now Zalu Zako had mutinied, and being unaware of the powerful impulse from which Zalu Zako had gotten this sudden strength, Bakahenzie attributed it to the magic influence of Moonspirit. At any cost, he argued, must Zalu Zako and the white man be kept apart.
But other pressing points were how to accomplish the slaughter of the white man, and what he should do now after the attempt to kill him had failed. Either Moonspirit would flee, which would be most happy proof to Bakahenzie that he was an impostor and no magician, or he would seek revenge immediately. No other action was conceivable to Bakahenzie. Therefore in such a case the obvious act was to strike the quicker. He contemplated his colleague without looking at him. What was his attitude? Bakahenzie, on general [pg 191] principles, was suspicious. If Marufa thought that by supporting the white man he might be able to attain Bakahenzie’s overthrow and gain the position of chief [witch-doctor], he would do it, even as he, Bakahenzie, would have done in his place. Therefore upon these matters did he talk very guardedly with Marufa, who was unusually reticent. However, after communing with himself in sphinx-like gravity, Marufa assented to the proposal that Zalu Zako be isolated in the godhood immediately.
So the slow rhythmic beat, which was the summons to the craft to assemble, throbbed in the clammy air. Before the humid shadows had lengthened a hand’s breadth, were some twenty wizards, greater and lesser, fully dressed in the green feathers of the order, collected within the compound of Bakahenzie. Silently and woodenly they squatted in a half circle before the chief witch-doctor, each and every one excited by the marvellous stories circulated by the warriors returned from the camp of Moonspirit, stories which amply corroborated the tales of Mungongo. Those who supported Bakahenzie’s party believed implicitly, because they wished so to do, the “reason” for the impotence of their united magic to be the breaking of the magic circle by Bakuma. But others who cherished personal ambitions for the head witch-doctorship were suspicious of each other and of Bakahenzie, each one according to his grade and consequent knowledge in the craft.
When the drum had ceased and they sat in impressive silence, Bakahenzie, squatting motionless on the threshold of his hut, began to mutter incantations and to rock from side to side. Now every one of the inner [pg 192] cult knew well enough that this performance was merely a ceremony prescribed by tradition and expediency; yet for that very reason and particularly for the benefit of the lesser wizards, they solemnly accepted it, grunting in chorus as heartily as the others to the chant of Bakahenzie. As suddenly as dramatically, Bakahenzie stopped with eyes staring upon another world and fell upon his back, to scream and to writhe realistically as practice assured him. Then when the mouth was flecked with foam, the spirit of Tarum spake through the rigid body which lay as in catalepsy with eyes inverted:
“Aie! Aie! I am the spirit of Kintu!
Aie! Aie! I am he who first was!