Kanenge selected twelve of his most tried warriors to escort them till they should reach the neighbourhood of the enemy’s camp. The Makololo were then to remain in ambush, to assist in any way which might be found practicable.
Among the stores was an English flag which Mr Vincent had been accustomed to hoist on a high pole above his waggon when prepared to trade with the natives. This Martin fixed to a staff with the intention of unfurling it on approaching the enemy.
Martin and his companions were some distance on their journey before daybreak. They hurried on till fatigue and hunger compelled them to halt. After breakfasting and taking a short rest they again proceeded. In vain they endeavoured to obtain information as to the movements of the enemy. No inhabitants were to be seen.
They passed, however, several villages which had been burned, and saw numerous bodies of men, women, and even of children, shot down while attempting to escape. Some of the men also had evidently been killed while fighting for their homes.
Masiko told Martin that the object of this raid, as well as of numberless others, had been solely to procure slaves to sell to the slave-dealers, who sent up parties many miles to the interior from the east coast.
“Unless the Christian people of your country and others unite to put a stop to the cruel traffic, there will be no peace or happiness for poor Africa,” he observed.
At length a spot where a village had lately stood was reached. The remains of the huts were still smouldering, and it was evident that the enemy had not long quitted it. Numerous dead bodies lay about, shot through by bullets, showing that the enemy had firearms supplied by the white slave-dealers to enable them to carry out their nefarious undertaking. One man was found still breathing. The Makololo showed very little feeling for his sufferings, but Masiko stooping down, poured some water from his leathern bottle into his mouth, which somewhat revived him. The wounded man then told Masiko that the village having been surprised at night, most of the inhabitants had been carried off, and he supposed that the enemy could not be many miles off.
The sufferer’s life was ebbing fast, and in a few minutes he ceased to breathe. Most of those killed were old men and old women, not considered worth carrying off as slaves; or, sadder still, several infants, who, incapable of enduring the fatigues of the journey, had been torn from their mother’s arms and dashed lifeless on the ground.
Martin, unaccustomed to such scenes, felt sick at heart as he contemplated the spectacle, though the Makololo warriors regarded it with indifference. Too often, probably, they had treated their enemies in a similar manner.
The party now proceeded with the greatest caution, as it was difficult to ascertain how far off the enemy might have got. At any moment they might overtake them. Not a single native could be seen from whom they could gain intelligence.