On the road he had to pass near the place where he had lost our thirty sheep and goats, and he determined to recapture them, if possible. Seeing a large flock being driven off across the plain he gave chase, followed by two of his boys, while the main caravan halted. After a sharp dash over the roughest country imaginable, semi-disintegrated lava and scrubby bush, he succeeded in collecting twenty-five goats, and in driving them to his camping-place. The natives meanwhile collected in large numbers and fired volleys of arrows at him, all of which fortunately missed their mark. When he rejoined the main body of his caravan he found that two men had been wounded by arrows. An enormous concourse of natives rapidly gathered on the surrounding hills.
Having pitched his camp and put the place in a position of defence, he was hailed by a deputation from the chief, who said that he wished to pay Sharp "hongo." Sharp promptly informed them that the chief must arrive with wood, water, and thirty-five goats, as compensation for the loss which we had sustained and the trouble which they had caused us. All this the chief undertook to do. He was a fine native, standing over 6 ft. After a long delay he returned with three goats, and without wood or water. So he was promptly bound with his four headmen and placed in the guard-tent. After much prevarication and some little delay the goats were produced, and with them a small tusk of ivory; whereupon the prisoners were released and their hearts made glad by a handsome present of cloth and beads to show that, now that the account was squared, there was no ill-feeling.
The following day he had much difficulty in getting his caravan through the difficult country, and failing to find water, he was compelled to descend to the shore of Kivu, where a sharp attack of fever delayed him for some days.
The boys, who had picked up wild rumours of the existence of bad men in the country to be penetrated, almost mutinied, and Sharp was fortunately relieved of the necessity of risking a mutiny through pushing on by the receipt of a note from me to the effect that he must return at once, as the country was full of cannibals and devastated from end to end.
CHAPTER XII.
MUSHARI AND ITS CANNIBALS.
After these two unsuccessful attempts to reach Mushari--first, north by Kahanga's country, and secondly, by the path that runs round the base of Mount Götzen--I determined to cut straight across the lava-streams, in spite of everything that the natives said to dissuade me. Lies, lies, lies, I was sick to death of them, and resolved to go to Mushari by the direct route, cost what it might, the behaviour of my pagazi,[#] which caused my second attempt to fail, making me only the more determined to show them that their little games were of no use. In vain I sent out to the villages for guides, none were forthcoming; frightened, as I afterwards discovered, by my boys, they obstinately assured me there was no way across; that we should die of thirst, be eaten by lions, and so forth, ad nauseam. I gave out orders that all my boys were to make sandals, and prepare food and water for two days. In the morning three-quarters of them hobbled up on sticks, pleading sickness; and when I finally started, half of them burst into tears and swore that they were not slaves, to be led into the wilderness to die. When we reached the edge of the lava-stream, there were no shoes or food or water; but when I once stepped on to the stones, the whole scene changed. Beads were produced, natives with sandals for sale brought forth, guides sprang up in bewildering plenty, and, as I had half suspected, I found there was a well-used track across. There is one thing to be said for the Manyema: they play their game right out to the end.
[#] Porters.
We went south-west for four hours across the eastern stream, making about half a mile an hour; it is like a very broken glacier such as that which lies under the north-west side of the Aiguille du Dru near Chamounix, huge blocks of lava piled one upon the other, and sharp as razors. The length is about twenty miles, and breadth about two in the narrowest part. Further north it branches off to the east and west, the western branch mingling with the great western stream about fifteen miles from the pass between Mount Götzen and Mount Sharp. The natives say that the lava came down two years ago, and that great numbers of elephants were killed; I myself saw the bones of one in our comparatively short traverse.
Already there are patches of bush several miles in extent where the stream eddied, stayed by some extra strong clump of trees, and so wonderful is the tropical growth produced by the combination of damp and fertile soil, that in another twenty years all obvious trace of the great eruption will have been erased. The trees on all the higher spurs which were above the level of the streams were snapped off short by the wind, and lie in regular rows towards the main centres of disturbance. The eruption must have been accompanied by considerable seismic waves, huge rents occurring in the surrounding forests; and very beautiful these rents are, being already converted by a luxuriant nature into exotic ferneries. After leaving the lava the path led west into the bush, and about 4 p.m. we reached a pool of water formed by an old crater. My inquiry as to the death-rate caused much merriment, and the evening passed with howls of joy and those unearthly noises which in Africa pass current for song.