"Let me see," said Cæsar; "of what were we speaking? Ah, yes, I remember. I was asking if the natives had made any mention of us."
"We asked many questions," said Harden, "but they knew little or nothing of the Hidden River. For some reason or other, they seemed to fear it."
Cæsar regarded Edward intently for a few seconds; and then, seeming satisfied, he shrugged his shoulders.
"Their minds are filled with superstitions," said he. "And now it remains for me to explain myself. I came to this valley two years ago. I had already journeyed some distance up the Congo, in search of ivory. I discovered that in the jungle in this valley elephants abound; moreover, these elephants are finer than any others I have ever seen in any part of Africa, even those of the East Coast, whose tusks are stored at Zanzibar. I made this place my headquarters. I regard the whole country as my own happy hunting-ground. I naturally resent all new-comers, especially Europeans. I look upon them as trespassers. Of course, I have no right to do so; I know that quite well. But you must understand that here, in the heart of Africa, the laws of civilized nations hardly apply. To all intents and purposes this country is my own. In the kraal yonder I have two hundred of the finest elephant hunters between the Zambesi and the Congo. I pay them well. I have already a great store of ivory. In another two years I hope to retire to Portugal, a wealthy man. That is all my story."
"How do you kill your elephants?" asked Edward. The hunting of big game was the foremost interest of his life.
Cæsar smiled.
"You will not approve of my methods," said he. "You are a sportsman; I am only a trader. I send my natives into the jungle, in the direction in which a herd of elephants has been located. These fellows creep on all-fours amid the undergrowth. They are as invisible as snakes. They are armed with long knives, with which they cut the tendons of the elephants' hind-legs, just below the knee. If an elephant tries to walk after that tendon has been severed, it falls to the ground and breaks its leg. The great beasts seem to know this, for they remain motionless as statues. When all the finest tuskers have been thus disposed of, I come with my rifle and shoot them, one after the other. Thus it is that I have collected a great store of tusks."
Edward Harden made a wry face.
"I have heard of that manner of hunting," said he. "It is much practised on the East Coast. I consider it barbarous and cruel."
Cæsar smiled again.