On the other hand, the presence of King obviated many dangers. The vicious buffaloes they met that day on their way to the small lake, where all the animals in the neighborhood congregated at nightfall, also fled when he looked at them, and ran to the other side of the lake to drink. With his left foot tied to a tree, King guarded the tent in which Nell slept, and this so thoroughly protected her that although Stasch kept a fire burning, he thought it unnecessary to build a hedge around the camp, although he knew that there must certainly be lions in the vicinity of so many herds of antelope; in fact, some of them began to roar that very night among the enormous juniper-trees[[29]] on the mountain slope. Attracted by the scent of the horses, they approached the camp, notwithstanding the burning fire, but when King could no longer stand their constant roaring, and began to send forth his threatening, thunder-like trumpeting, they quieted down humbly, for they seemed to know that they had better not come in contact with such an antagonist. After this the children slept soundly for the remainder of the night, and they did not continue their journey until daybreak.
But now Stasch was to have new troubles and worries. He noticed that they were traveling very slowly and that they could not cover more than ten kilometers a day. If they progressed no faster than that they would certainly not reach the borders of Abyssinia in a month, but as Stasch had decided to follow Linde’s advice implicitly (he had distinctly said that they would not be able to reach Abyssinia), the road to the ocean was the only one that they could take. But according to the calculation made by the Swiss, more than a thousand kilometers lay between them and the ocean; that is, in a direct line; for by way of Mombasa, which lies in a more southerly direction, it is farther away, and it would take more than three months to make the journey. Stasch was terrified when he thought that this meant three months of fatigue, excitement, and danger from encounters with tribes of negroes. Now they were still in a barren country, depopulated by smallpox and rumors of attacks by the Dervishes; but as, on the whole, Africa is fairly well populated, sooner or later they were bound to come to places inhabited by strange tribes, which would probably be ruled by savage and treacherous chiefs. It was no easy task to retain one’s freedom and one’s life amid such dangers.
Therefore Stasch calculated that if they could come across the Wa-hima tribe he would teach several of the warriors how to shoot, and by making great promises would induce them to accompany their party to the ocean. But Kali had not the least idea where his tribe lived, and Linde, who had heard something about them, could neither tell how to reach them, nor could he give an exact description of the place where they lived. Linde had also mentioned having heard about a large lake, and Kali distinctly declared the Wa-hima live on one side of this lake, which he called Basso-Narok, on the other side of which the Samburu live. But now Stasch was worried because that lake was not mentioned in the geography of Africa, which he had studied carefully at school in Port Said. If Kali had been the only one to mention it Stasch would have supposed it to be Victoria-Nyanza, but Linde could not have made a mistake like that if he had marched from Victoria Lake northward along the Karamajo Mountains. Stasch came to the conclusion, after questioning the inhabitants of these mountains, that this mysterious lake ought to lie further to the east and north. Stasch did not know what to think of all this; he was also afraid he might miss the lake and come across the Wa-himas or other savage tribes, arid jungles, impassable mountains, the tsetse-flies, which might kill the animals, the sleeping-sickness, the fever for Nell, the heat, and worst of all those interminable distances which still separated them from the ocean.
But having left Linde Mountain, the only thing to do was to advance steadily due east. Linde had said that this was a journey to tax the strength of an experienced and energetic explorer to the utmost, but Stasch had already had great experience, and for Nell’s sake he determined not to think of himself and to spare no energy to accomplish his purpose. For the present it was necessary to save the girl’s strength, and so he decided to travel only between six and ten o’clock in the morning, and from three to six o’clock in the evening, when there happened to be no water at their first halting-place. However, as there had been plenty of rain during the rainy season, they found water everywhere. The small lakes formed on the lowlands by the showers were still well filled, and here and there rivers of crystal-clear cold water flowed from the mountains; these were very inviting to bathe in, and also very safe, for crocodiles only live in larger streams where there are plenty of fish, upon which they chiefly subsist. As Stasch had found a very good filter among Linde’s things, he did not allow the girl to drink unfiltered water. The filter always surprised Kali and Mea, for they saw that, though filled with clouded and whitish water, only clean and clear water flowed from it into the reservoir beneath. At this they laughed and slapped their knees, to show their pleasure and surprise.
On the whole the beginning of their journey was made by easy stages. They had received from Linde large supplies of coffee, tea, sugar, bouillon, various canned goods, and all kinds of medicines. Stasch was not sparing of these, for they had more than they could take with them. They also had plenty of utensils of all kinds, weapons of various caliber, and rockets, which would be of great service when meeting negroes. The country was very fertile, and there was plenty of fruit and fresh meat. In the lowlands they occasionally came across swamps, which had not evaporated sufficiently to poison the air with their deadly odors, being still covered over with water. At this height there were no mosquitoes to innoculate one with the fever; still, the altitude did not prevent it from becoming unbearably hot by ten o’clock. The small travelers made a halt during the so-called “white hours” in the deep shade of large trees, through the thick foliage of which not a ray of sun could penetrate. And so Nell, Stasch, and the negroes kept in excellent health.
| [28] | Eschinops giganteus grows in this country and is especially abundant in Abyssinia. |
| [29] | In Abyssinia in the Karamajo Mountains, the juniper trees attain a height of fifty feet. |
CHAPTER XVII
On the fifth day of their journey Stasch rode with Nell on King, for they had come to a broad belt of acacias, which were so thick that the horses had to follow in the path made by the elephant. It was now early in the morning, and the landscape was glistening, fresh with dew. The children talked about the journey, and how every day was bringing them nearer to their fathers, for both children had never ceased to long for them since they were taken from Fayoum; their conversation centered around this subject, and they always ended by weeping. They repeated over and over again the same thoughts: their fathers think that they are now dead, or that they have disappeared never to return; both are grieving, and, although hope is well nigh dead, they send Arabians to Khartum to try to get news of them, and all this time they are not only far away from Khartum, but also from Fashoda—in five days they will be even further off—then further and further still, and at last they will reach the ocean, or perhaps before they come to the sea they may reach a place where they can send a telegram. The only person in the caravan who knew what they had before them was Stasch, while Nell was positively convinced that there was nothing in the world that he could not achieve, and she was quite sure that he would bring her to the coast. So she anticipated events, and planned in her little head more than once what would happen when the first news of them should be received. Chirping like a little bird, she told Stasch about it. “Our papas,” she said, “are sitting in Port Said, and they are weeping; then suddenly a boy comes in with a telegram. What’s that? Either your papa or mine opens it, looks at the signature and reads: ‘Stasch and Nell!’ How happy they are! They will make all haste to meet us! There will be joy in the whole house! Our papas and every one in the house will be happy—they will be delighted and will immediately come driving up. I shall fall on papa’s neck; then we shall always be together, and——”