During the days that followed the party suffered from want of meat. They had deemed it advisable not to shoot. Though they were still some distance from Makanda, there was always a chance that Cæsar and his Arabs were somewhere abroad in the forest, and they did not wish the man to suspect that they had returned. In the forest they found nothing to eat but manioc, and a continual diet of the tubers of this peculiar plant is somewhat monotonous and is apt to set up a kind of blood poisoning, to which some people are more liable than others. Edward, whose large carcass required a considerable amount of nourishment, began to suffer from some kind of bilious fever.
After a day's rest they set out upon their southward journey. Day by day as they progressed, the nature of the vegetation changed. The forest trees became thinner and not so large. The atmosphere became cooler and more rarefied. The slope grew steeper and steeper, until at last they were confronted by a sharp, rocky bluff which enclosed the jungle like a wall. They followed this to the left, and came presently to a gully, a dried-up watercourse, up which it was possible to climb. At the top they found themselves upon a hillock--one of those bare, flat-topped eminences which are scattered throughout the whole continent of Africa. Hence it was possible to obtain a bird's-eye view of the country.
To the north, as far as the eye could reach, extended the forest through which they had passed. About twenty miles to the eastward they could see the Kasai above Date Palm Island. To the west there was no sign of the Hidden River, which, being narrower and flowing in a direction almost due south to north, was hidden among the trees. To the south a magnificent panorama was extended to their view. The foreground fell away in a valley which, to some extent, had been given over to cultivation; and beyond, in rugged majesty, arose Solitude Peak. The great mountain towered into the sky, its crest wrapped in clouds; and over the valley hung a thin blue mist, above which some great bird of prey hung like a gnat, with outstretched wings, in the very midst of space.
It was Max who was the first to see the village, half-way up the mountain slope, lying--as M'Wané had described it--like a bird's nest in the forked branches of a tree. He pointed it out to his companions, and then the party began to descend into the valley, one behind the other in single file, following a track which had been made by elephants. An elephant trail can never be mistaken; however hard the ground, the imprints of their great feet remain, and they have a habit of tearing branches from the trees as they pass, not so much for food, as from pure love of destruction.
It took them several hours to cross the valley, and then they began the steep ascent of the mountain. Suddenly M'Wané, who was leading, came to an abrupt standstill, and stood upon a sharp pinnacle of rock, pointing to the east. There was something noble in his dark, savage figure, standing upright, straight as a larch, in the midst of these wild surroundings. A moment later he was joined by the two Hardens and Crouch.
There, in the distance, they could discern the broad waters of the lake before Makanda. They could see the granite hills, which were red in the glow of the setting sun. They could see, also, the narrow gorge in the south, and far in the distance was a great range of undiscovered mountains. As they looked, a sound issued from the valley, which, like a long peal of distant thunder, rolled away to the north upon the wind, echoing through the forest.
[CHAPTER XIV--"BLACK IVORY"]
"The Fire-gods' thunder!" said M'Wané, in a kind of hushed whisper, with his lips parted and his eyes staring in the direction of the Hidden River.
It was obvious that the man was afraid. He belonged to a wild race that for centuries has roamed the jungle, catching fish in baskets at the waterfalls and setting traps in the forest. Until a few days before he had never seen a firearm in his life. He had heard tales of white men who were traders on the Coast, but he had never associated these with the Fire-gods who inhabited the Hidden Valley, whom he regarded as superhuman.
Crouch looked at Edward. "What do you make of it?" he asked.