Suddenly one of the men gave a shout of delight; it was the first sound uttered by any one during the searching process. He had discovered the swastika.
Cutting away the cord that held it, the finder reverently presented it to the chief.
The latter, displaying considerable emotion, minutely examined the gold and copper amulet, then, holding it aloft, he shouted:
"Ad idda ver h'lenga soya."
Although utterly ignorant of the language, Colin realised its import. The chief had announced to his people that the much-sought-for amulet had been found.
A roar of exultation greeted the words. Almost before the volume of sound had abated a weird-looking contrivance was carried into the centre of the ring by a dozen huge men. It resembled a gigantic ram's horn, the bell mouth rising a good ten feet from the ground. At the other end was a hollow cylinder with a disc of goat's skin stretched tightly over the outer part.
Armed with a club-shaped stick, one of the natives began banging upon the drum portion of the instrument, keeping up the performance for the space of about a minute, the beats resembling the tapping of a morse code buzzer.
The volume of sound emitted from the bell-mouthed horn was stupendous. It seemed loud enough to deafen everyone within fifty yards. Even the ground shook perceptibly under the roar of the deep-pitched instrument.
The last long-drawn reverberations died away, and utter silence fell upon the close ranks of the Makoh'lenga warriors. Then, after a lapse of nearly five minutes, came a low, bass roar from a distant source. Somewhere, far up in the rugged mountains, an alert sentinel was replying to the sonorous message of the ram's horn.
The message was short and obviously satisfactory and to the point, for the moment the sound ceased the chief issued an order.