Witch-Doctors

by Charles Beadle

No Wongolo nor any wizard, not even Bakahenzie, would touch the enchanted coughing monsters; but as the holy slaves were already doomed they were set to pull and to push the Nordenfeldt from the embrasure beside the entrance across the levee until it toppled over and rolled half-way down the hill, where it was allowed to stay, surrounded from morning to night by a crowd of women and children and idle warriors.

The thirst which afflicted Birnier rendered him oblivious of his godhood and of the sacred office of Mungongo who was dutifully busy upon his knees blowing up the sacred fires from the ember which he had carried; so that at a summons to bring water [pg 290] he was both embarrassed and awed, for the presence of the High Priest intensified his natural terror of breaking any of the meshes of the tabu. At the second imperative demand Bakahenzie soothed the angry god by commanding a slave to run to fetch water from without. But even then Birnier had the parched felicity of waiting while the High Priest solemnly exorcised the gourd of water which, as all food, could not be permitted to pass the lips of the King-God without the prescribed incantations.

However, within quite a reasonable time the sacred prisoner was accommodated with the possession of his goods, magic and culinary. The bungalow of the Kommandant, Birnier gathered, was to be converted into the temple after the ceremony of purification, and the idol was to stand in front in the place occupied by its predecessor at the coronation of the late Kawa Kendi.

All that day were Bakahenzie and Marufa and the wizards working hard at the various ceremonies of purification of those who had slain, the consecration of the Holy Hill, and the exorcising of the evil spirits attached thereto by the residence of the Son-of-the-Earthquake. Meanwhile Birnier and Mungongo were left to themselves within the enclosure to listen to the chanting and thrumming of the drums. Birnier had much to do in compiling his notes and reflections; Mungongo nothing save to prepare their meals and attend the Sacred Fires.

Exactly what had happened Birnier did not know and could not extract from Bakahenzie, who adopted his usual effective method of ignoring every direct question. Before they had left the place in the forest [pg 291] he had informed Birnier that the commands of the spirit of Tarum through the magic ear had been performed, but with what restrictions, modifications, or embroideries, Birnier had no means of ascertaining. His definite knowledge was that Zalu Zako, together with other chiefs and a vast crowd of warriors, were to remain in the forest where zu Pfeiffer was to be led into ambush by the power of the magic which he had sent, the American flag, an idea which certainly tickled Birnier’s sense of humour considerably, particularly as it appealed to him, if successful, as an ideal case of poetic justice.

That zu Pfeiffer’s fort had fallen was obvious, although what the disposition of his forces had been and of how the assault had been carried, Birnier had no idea. But of one thing he was reasonably sure, and that was that his analysis of zu Pfeiffer’s reactions and the psychological effect upon the natives of having the idol reinstated in the Place of Kings, had been entirely correct. After all, as he admitted with a smile, zu Pfeiffer’s system of native psychology had been based on the same fundamental principles as his own except that he had not reckoned with the unknown quantity, the equal intelligence working against him and able to discount his moves, plus heavier artillery in the form of an emotional broadside, the possibility of which rather naturally had never occurred to him.

An item which worried Birnier was that he had no means, and could hope for none apparently, of discovering whether and to what extent his orders through the phonograph had been carried out regarding the treatment of the white men. Their [pg 292] fate at the hands of the Wongolo, particularly after the merciless massacres inflicted by zu Pfeiffer, would scarcely bear imagining. From the fact of the instant and apparently easy success of the assault on the forts, he did not doubt that zu Pfeiffer, who had been foolish enough to be lured into dividing his forces, was doomed to defeat. In this instance he would not have any of the advantages of his triumphal entry into the country; would not be able to accomplish a surprise attack, and the weakening of the native moral by massacre and the downfall of the idol; in fact he had these very forces against him: for the success of their first venture, their overwhelming numbers in the forest, the exaltation of fanaticism excited by the restoration of their tribal god, practically tacked a label of suicide upon his military actions.

During that day Bakahenzie, evidently too busy with the duties of his office, did not come near to him. But that evening, in order to ensure as far as possible obedience to his orders through the mouth of the oracle, Birnier caused Mungongo to chant further instructions into the phonograph commanding that the Son-of-the-Earthquake was to be brought alive to receive judgment from the Unmentionable One through the Incarnation, the son of the Lord-of-many-Lands. Whether this would work or not Birnier of course could not know. Already had he discovered that nobody could control the complicated machinery of the native tabu any more than any one statesman could manage always any vast political machine; indeed he, as many others, might more than conceivably be ground up by the gargantuan engine with whose starting lever he had played. All [pg 293] he could do had been done; nothing remained but to adopt Marufa’s favourite maxim: “wait and see.”

In the evening Mungongo, who had at length been persuaded to project his eyes beyond the sacred ground even if he would not his feet, reported that much chanting and drumming indicated that the warriors, or a great number of them, had departed, evidently to reinforce the troops of Zalu Zako or with the object of taking zu Pfeiffer in the rear: a fact which made Birnier a little uneasy lest the news of the fall of the station might bring zu Pfeiffer to his senses and cause him to return, in which case the position might prove to be somewhat uncomfortable.

However, the night passed to the soft thrumming of the drums. At dawn appeared Bakahenzie as solemnly as usual. He began by demanding that the “pod of the soul” of Tarum should be prepared to listen to him. Birnier observed a slight increase in the domineering manner and realized more keenly that unless he checked that tendency the worthy High Priest would become altogether unmanageable.