Adventures in Many Lands

by Various

  XIV

  IN PERIL IN AFRICA

  The attempt to open up new countries, the natives of which object to theprocess, naturally leads to adventures, often of a very dangerous kind.Nevertheless, explorers and traders take their lives in their hands,considering the possible results well worth the risk.

  So does the missionary. In place of worldly fame and wealth, his effortsare likely to bring him suffering and death; but, while facing these, hemay spread the faith which is dearer to him than life; he may bring thenews of the love of God, with its uplifting power, to those who, sunk inignorance and degradation, tremble before idols; and he, too, feels thatpersonal dangers are not worth weighing in comparison with the gloriouscause in which they are dared. As Bishop Hannington said just beforegoing out as a missionary--

  "If I lose my life in Africa, no one must think it has been wasted. Thelives that have been already given for the cause are not lost. They are_filling up the trench so that others may the more easily pass over totake the fort in the name of the Lord_!"

  That is the spirit in which he went out and in turn laid down hislife--helping to fill the trench to such good purpose that his own son,in after years, baptised the son of his murderer! Hannington's life inAfrica was a constant succession of dangers faced, difficultiesovercome, and hardships endured, all of which his intense faith, and hisgift of humour, enabled him to go through cheerfully.

  He was a keen sportsman, ever eager to add to his collection of rarecreatures, and his letters home give vivid account of some of hisadventures. On one or two occasions he had narrow escapes from death--

  "This part of the country abounds with game. On one occasion a herd ofantelopes crossed the path as tamely as if they had been sheep, andtracks of giraffe and larger game were frequently seen. Guinea-fowl wereso plentiful that one of the white men at Mpwapwa told us that he didnot trouble to fire at them unless he could ensure killing two or threeat a shot.

  "I had two narrow escapes in one of my walks with a gun in search ofgame. I came to a belt of jungle so dense that the only way to getthrough it was to creep on all fours along the tracks made by hyenas andsmaller game; and as I was crawling along I saw close in front of me adeadly puff-adder; in another second I should have been on it.

  "The same day, on my return, I espied in one of these same tracks apeculiar arrangement of grass, which I at once recognised to be over apitfall; but though I had seen it I had already gone too far, and fellwith a tremendous crash, my double-barrel gun full-cocked in my hand. Ihad the presence of mind to let myself go and look out only for my gun,which fortunately did not explode. On arriving at the bottom I calledout to my terrified boy, 'Mikuke Hapana,' 'There are no spears,' a mostmerciful providence; for they often stake these pitfalls in order toensure the death of animals that fall into them. The pitfall could nothave been less than ten feet deep, for when I proceeded to extricatemyself I found that I could not reach the top with my uplifted hands.

  "Undaunted by my adventures, and urged on by the monotony of nothing buttough goat on the sideboard, I started before the break of next morningin pursuit of game, and was soon to be seen crawling on hands and kneesafter antelope, I am afraid unmindful of puff-adders and pitfalls.

  "By and by the path followed the bed of a narrow stream, which wascompletely ploughed with the tracks of buffalo and giraffe, as fresh asfresh could be. Our impression was, and probably it was right, that theformer were lurking in the dense thicket close by. The breathlessexcitement that such a position keeps you in does much to help along theweary miles of the march, and to ward off attacks of fever. Allexperienced hands out here recommend that men should, while not losingsight of their one grand object, keep themselves amused.

  "Your cousin Gordon and I, with our boys, had led the van all themorning. He, having lately had fever, complained of being tired, andbegged me to continue in pursuit of game alone, merely taking my onefaithful boy with me to carry my gun; but I refused to leave him, fornever had I complained of an ache or pain but what he was at my side tohelp and comfort me. We sat down and rested, and the other brethren,with a party of a dozen or fourteen, marched on ahead. They had not gonemany hundred yards before I heard the whiz of a bullet. 'They have foundgame,' said I. Bang went a second shot. 'It's a herd.' Then another.'Yes, it must be a herd.' Then a fourth, and it dawned on me that theywere attacked by robbers--the far-famed Ruga-Ruga.

  "'Stay where' you are,' I cried, and dashed off, closely followed by myboys. The bangs had now reached seven, and we had not the slightestdoubt it was an attack of robbers, and so it proved to be. My anxietywas relieved by seeing our men all intact, standing together at bay witha foe that was nowhere to be beheld. I soon learnt that as they werequietly proceeding a party of the savage Wahumba tribe had swooped downupon them; but seeing white men with rifles had fled with the utmostprecipitation, without even discharging a poisoned arrow. To make theirflight more rapid the white men had fired their rifles in the air; andone in grabbing his gun from his boy had managed to discharge it insuch a manner as to blow off the sight of his neighbour's rifle. Findingthat danger was at an end for the time being, I begged them to remain asthey were, ready to receive an attack, while I returned with my boys toGordon, and got the stragglers together, after which we all proceeded ina body. I have always thought that it was I who had the greatest escapeof all; for had I gone on, as Gordon proposed, with only one, or at theoutside two boys, I should most probably have been attacked."

  A little later the Bishop had an even narrower escape from ajustly-enraged lion and lioness--

  "Presently, while hunting for insects in short mimosa tangle up to theknee, I disturbed a strange-looking animal, about the size of a sheep,brownish colour, long tail, short legs, feline in aspect and movement,but quite strange to me. I took my gun and shot it dead--yes, quitedead. Away tore my boy as fast as his legs would carry him, terrifiedbeyond measure at what I had done! What, indeed? you may well ask. I hadkilled the cub of a lioness! Terror was written on every line andfeature of the lad, and dank beads of perspiration stood on his face. Isaw it as he passed me in his flight, and his fear for the momentcommunicated itself to me. I turned to flee, and had gone a few paces,when I heard a savage growl, and a tremendous lioness--I say advisedly atremendous one--bounded straight at me.

  "In spite of the loaded gun in my hand, it seemed to me that I waslost. The boy knew more about lions than I did, and his fear knew nobounds. I began to realise that I was in a dangerous situation, for alioness robbed of her whelp is not the most gentle creature to dealwith. I retreated hastily. No; I will out with it, children, in plainlanguage--I ran five or six steps; every step she gained upon me, andthe growls grew fiercer and louder. Do I say _she_ gained?--_they_gained, for the lion was close behind her, and both were making straightfor me. They will pause at the dead cub? No; they take no notice of it;they come at me. What is to be done?

  "It now struck me that retreat was altogether wrong. Like a cat with amouse, it induced them to follow. Escape in this manner was impossible.I halted, and just at that moment came a parting yell from my boy,'Hakuna! Kimbia!'

  "I thought he had seen and heard the lion and lioness, and that,speaking as he does bad Kiswahili, he had said, 'Kakuna Kimbia!' whichmight be roughly, though wrongly, translated, 'Don't run away!' insteadof which he meant to say--in fact, did say--'No! Run away!'

  "I have no hesitation in saying that a stop wrongly read but rightlymade saved my life. I had in the second or two that had elapseddetermined to face it out; and now, strengthened as I thought by hisadvice, I made a full stop and turned sharply on them. This new policyon my part caused them to check instantly. They now stood lashing theirtails and growling, and displaying unfeigned wrath, but a few paces fromme.

  "I then had time to inspect them. They were a right royal pair of thepale sandy variety, a species which is noted for its fierceness, theknowledge of which by no means made my situation more pleasant. There westood; both parties evidently feeling that there was no direct
solutionto the matter in hand. I cannot tell you exactly what passed throughtheir minds, but they evidently thought that it was unsafe to advanceupon this strange and new being, the like of which they had never seenbefore. I cannot tell you either how long a time we stood face to face.Minutes seemed hours, and perhaps the minutes were only seconds; butthis I know, my boy was out of hearing when the drama was concluded.

  "And this is how it ended: After an interval I decided not to fire atthem, but to try instead what a little noise would do. So I suddenlythrew up my arms in the air, and set up a yell, and danced and shoutedlike a madman. Do you know, the lions were so astonished to see yoursober old uncle acting in such a strange way that they both bounded intothe bushes as if they had been shot, and I saw them no more!

  "As the coast was now clear I thought I might as well secure my prize, areal little beauty. So I seized it by its hind legs and dragged it asquickly as I could along the ground, the bushes quite keeping it out ofsight. When I had gone what I had deemed a sufficient distance I took itup and swung it over my back, and beat a hasty retreat, keeping a sharpeye open in case the parents should lay claim to the body, for I shouldnot have been dishonest enough not to let them have it had they reallycome to ask for it!

  "I soon found the cub was heavier than I bargained for, being about thesize of a South Down sheep, so I shouted for my boy. It was a long time,however, before I could make him hear. I began to be afraid I mustabandon my spoil. At length I saw him in the far distance. Fortunatelyfor me he did not know his way back to the camp, otherwise his intentionwas to return to the camp, and ask the men to come and look for myremains.

  "The arrival of the cub caused a tremendous sensation among the natives;dozens of men came to see it, nor would they believe until they had seenthe skin that I had dared to kill a 'child of the lioness,' it beingmore dangerous than killing a lion itself. I do not think that I waswise in shooting; but the fact was it was done, and I was in the scrapebefore I knew where I was, and having got into trouble, of course thequestion then was how best to get out of it."

  "In some of the places I passed through they had never seen a white manbefore. They would gather round me in dozens, and gaze upon me in theutmost astonishment. One would suggest that I was not beautiful--inplainer language, that I was amazingly ugly. Fancy a set of hideoussavages regarding a white man, regarding your uncle, as a strangeoutlandish creature frightful to behold. You little boys that run aftera black man in the park and laugh at him, think what you may come towhen you grow old! The tables may be turned on you if you take totravelling, just as they were with me.

  "As with other travellers, my boots hardly ever failed to attractattention.

  "'Are those your feet, white man?'

  "'No, gentlemen, they are not. They are my sandals.'

  "'But do they grow to your feet?'

  "'No, gentlemen, they do not, I will show you.'

  "So forthwith I would proceed to unlace a boot. A roar of astonishmentfollowed when they beheld my blue sock, as they generally surmised thatmy feet were blue and toeless. Greater astonishment still followed thewithdrawal of the sock, and the revelation of a white five-toed foot. Ifrequently found that they considered that only the visible parts of mewere white, namely, my face and hands, and that the rest of me was asblack as they were. An almost endless source of amusement was theimmense amount of clothing, according to their calculation, that Ipossessed. That I should have waistcoat and shirt and jersey underneatha coat, seemed almost incredible, and the more so when I told them thatit was chiefly on account of the sun I wore so much.

  "My watch, too, was an unfailing attraction: 'There's a man in it,' 'Itis Lubari; it is witch-craft,' they would cry.' He talks; he says, Teek,teek, teek,' My nose they would compare to a spear; it struck them as sosharp and thin compared to the African production, and ofttimes onebolder than the rest would give my hair and my beard a sharp pull,imagining them to be wigs worn for ornament. Many of them had a potenthorror for this white ghost, and a snap of the fingers or a stamp of thefoot was enough to send them flying helter-skelter from my tent, whichthey generally crowded round in ranks five deep. For once in a way thiswas amusing enough; but when it came to be repeated every day and allday, one had really a little too much of a good thing."

  Of the discomforts of an African march the Bishop made light, his senseof humour often enabling him to enjoy a good laugh at occurrences whichwould have irritated some men almost beyond endurance. Of some of thehardships, however, his letters and diary give glimpses--

  "Our first experience in this region was not a pleasant one. We had sentour men on before while we dallied with our friends at Mpwapwa. When wereached the summit of the pass we could see various villages with theirfires in the plains below, but nowhere was the camp to be discerned. Itwas a weary time before we could alight on it, and when we did, what ascene presented itself to our gaze!

  "The wind was so high that the camp fires were extinguished, and the menhad betaken themselves to a deep trench cut through the sandy plain bya mountain torrent, but now perfectly dry; hence our difficulty inmaking out where the camp was. Two of the tents were in a prostratecondition, while the others were fast getting adrift. Volumes of dustwere swamping beds, blankets, boxes, buckets, and in fact everything;and a more miserable scene could scarcely be beheld by a party ofbenighted pilgrims. It was no use staring at it. I seized a hammer andtent pegs, forgot I was tired, and before very long had things fairly torights; but I slept that night in a dust-heap.

  "Nor did the morning mend matters, and to encourage us the Mpwapwabrethren prophesied this state of things all through Ugogo. It is badenough in a hot climate to have dust in your hair and down your neck,and filling your boxes; but when it comes to food, and every mouthfulyou take grates your teeth, I leave you to imagine the pleasure oftent-life in a sandy plain.

  "A day or two after this we arrived at a camp where the water wasexcessively bad. We had to draw it for everybody from one deep hole, andprobably rats, mice, lizards, and other small animals had fallen in andbeen drowned, and allowed to remain and putrefy. The water smelt mostdreadfully, no filtering or boiling seemed to have any effect upon it,and soup, coffee, and all food were flavoured by it.

  "That afternoon I went for a stroll with my boy and two guns toendeavour to supply the table with a little better meat than tough goat.I soon struck on the dry bed of a masika (wet season) torrent.Following this up a little way I saw a fine troop of monkeys, andwanting the skin of one of them for my collection I sent a bullet flyingamongst them, without, however, producing any effect beyond a tremendousscamper. My boy then said to me, 'If you want to kill monkey, master,you should try buck-shot'; so returning him my rifle I took myfowling-piece.

  "Perhaps it was fortunate I did so, for about a hundred yards farther onthe river bed took a sharp turn, and coming round the corner I lightedon three fine tawny lions. They were quite close to me, and had I had myrifle my first impulse might have been too strong for me to resistspeeding the parting guest with a bullet. As it was, I came to a suddenhalt, and they ran away. In vain my boy begged me to retreat. I seizedthe rifle and ran after them as fast as my legs would carry me; but theywere soon hid in the dense jungle that lines the river banks; andalthough I could hear one growling and breathing hard about ten yardsfrom me, I could not get a shot."

  Like Moses of old, Bishop Hannington did not enter the land he had comeso far to reach. The people of Uganda were alarmed and angry at hisapproaching their country from the north-east, which they called theback door to their land. Worn out with fever he was seized, draggedbackwards over stony ground, and kept a prisoner for some days. OnOctober 29, 1885, he was conducted to an open space outside the villageand placed among his followers, having been falsely told on the previousday that King Mwanga had sent word that the party was to be allowed toproceed.

  But he was soon undeceived. With a wild shout the savage warriors fellupon the Bishop's enfeebled followers, and their flashing spearsspeedily covered the ground
with dead and dying. As the natives told offto murder him closed round, Hannington drew himself up and bade themtell the king that he was about to die for the people of Uganda, andthat he had purchased the road to their country with his life. Then asthey still hesitated he pointed to his own gun, which one of them firedand Hannington fell dead.

  His last words to his friends--scribbled by the light of somecamp-fire--were--

  "If this is the last chapter of my earthly history, then the next willbe the first page of the heavenly--no blots and smudges, no incoherence,but sweet converse in the presence of the Lamb!"