Selecting a fine morning, they broke up camp and started for the south. Now they were no longer afraid of being lost, for the boy had found among the many other articles of Linde’s outfit a compass and an excellent telescope, through which far distant places could be plainly seen. Besides Saba, King, and the donkey, five heavily laden horses were taken along. King, in addition to the baggage on his back, carried Nell, who sat on his neck between the enormous ears. She looked as though in a large armchair. Stasch left the peninsula-shaped promontory and the baobab-tree without regret, for the remembrance of Nell’s illness clung to the place. But, on the other hand, the girl looked regretfully at the rocks, the tree, and the waterfall, and said that she would return again when she was “grown up.”
But still sadder was the little Nasibu, who had really loved his former master. Now, as he rode on the donkey at the end of the caravan, he turned back every minute to look at the place where the body of poor Linde was to rest till the Day of Judgment.
The wind blew from the north, and the day was very cool. Consequently they did not need to rest from ten to three, the hours of the greatest heat, and therefore could go much further than caravans usually do in a day. The journey was not long, and a few hours after sunset Stasch perceived the mountain which was to be their destination. In the distance another chain of hills stood out against the sky, but the former was much nearer and stood out by itself like an island in the middle of a jungle sea. When they approached they saw that its precipitous sides were washed by an arm of the same river on the borders of which they had previously lived. Its summit was shaped like a round bowl, and seen from below, seemed to be completely covered by a thick forest. Stasch figured that as the strip of land in which their baobab-tree grew was 700 feet high, and this mountain 800 feet higher, they would be living at an altitude of 1500 feet, and in a climate which could not be much hotter than that of Egypt. The thought gave him courage and made him desire to take possession of this natural fortress as quickly as possible.
They soon found the mountain-pass, which was the only means of reaching the summit, and immediately began to climb the mountain. An hour and a half later they had reached the top. The grove they thought they had seen from below proved to be not only a grove, but a banana-grove. The sight of this greatly pleased them all, including King; but Stasch was especially delighted, for he knew that in all Africa there is no food more strengthening, more healthful, and a better preventive against illness than flour made of dried bananas. And here was a year’s supply.
Hidden in the foliage of these plants were negro huts, some of which had been burned during the invasion, and some destroyed by other means; however, a few remained in fair condition. In the middle stood the largest, which formerly belonged to the chief of the village. It had been tastefully constructed out of clay, with a broad roof forming a sort of veranda around the walls. Here and there in front of the huts lay single bones and also complete human skeletons, white as chalk, for they had been thoroughly cleaned by the ants, of whose invasion Linde had spoken. Many weeks had passed since the invasion of the little insects, but in the hut there was still a strong scent of formic acid, and in the dwellings not a trace could be found of the large black cockroaches—which usually infest the mud huts of the negroes—or spiders, or scorpions, or any other vermin. Everything had been destroyed by the terrible “siafu,” and so one could feel confident that on the entire summit there was not a snake to be found, for even the boas fall victims to these unconquerable warriors.
After Stasch had led Nell and Mea into the chieftain’s hut, he ordered Kali and Nasibu to clear away the human bones. The black boy obeyed by simply throwing them into the stream, and the force of the current carried them along. But during this work they discovered that Linde had made a mistake in telling them that they would not find a single living being on the mountain. The quiet which reigned after the kidnapping of the inhabitants by the Dervishes, and the tempting look of the bananas, had enticed a great many chimpanzees, which had arranged something resembling umbrellas, or small roofs, to protect them from the rain. Stasch did not want to kill them, so he decided to frighten them away by shooting into the air. This caused a general confusion, which increased when Saba’s angry bark was heard, and King, excited by the noise, began to trumpet vociferously. But the monkeys did not have to seek far to find a means of retreat, for they galloped to the edges of the cliff and let themselves down so quickly and with such agility by means of the trees growing alongside of the banks that King was unable to capture a single one with his trunk and tusks.
The sun had gone down, and Kali and Nasibu lighted a fire to cook the evening meal. After Stasch had unpacked the necessary things for the night, he wended his way to the chief’s hut, of which Nell had already taken possession. In the hut it was light and cosy, for Nell did not light the small lamp that had served to illuminate the interior of the baobab-tree, but a large traveling lamp which they had found among Linde’s things. As the day had been so cool, Nell did not feel particularly tired after the journey. She was in a cheerful frame of mind, which increased when Stasch told her that the bones, which had frightened her, had been cleared away.
“How good it is to be here,” she said. “Look, even the ground is covered with asphalt. Here we shall live luxuriously.”
“I shall wait till to-morrow before taking a good look at the whole settlement,” answered he; “but from what I have already seen to-day I conclude that it would be a good place to live in all one’s life.”
“If our papas were here, yes, it would then be all right. But what shall we name this settlement?”