CHAPTER II.

Whilst the two friends, Dr. Desrioux and the Count de Pommerelle, were getting ready to set out for equatorial Africa, the European caravan, whose course we have followed up to now, escorted by the army of Munza, King of the Monbuttoos, was making its onward way through unknown tribes, in districts marked on the map by these words—unexplored regions. We resume the journal of the expedition, edited by M. Périères.

"To think that we should ever have complained of the slow progress of our caravan! We used to do our four or five leagues a day, and we even managed to get over from five to six when the country was open; now with Munza's army we scarcely move more than six or eight miles (English) in the twenty-four hours. We are, it is true, in the midst of innumerable water-courses, which, by their entwinings, form a net-work similar to that met with by Livingstone in other parts of Africa, and compared by him to the patterns formed by the frost on a window-pane.

The rainy season, now on the point of coming to an end, appears desirous of leaving behind it lingering memorials of its stay in the provinces of the equator it converts plains into marshes and makes every stream a river. For quite half our time we do not walk, we dabble. If we were to meet with a regular river, like the Gadda, for instance, a whole morning would be taken up in transporting the army from one bank to the other. There is, nevertheless, no lack of boatmen, numbers of them having joined us by Munza's order, and placed at our disposal not only their canoes, but also enormous trees, felled on the bank, and forming a raft or a floating bridge according to circumstances.

When it comes to making our way through a forest, our delays are even greater, an afternoon being frequently consumed in marching a league. The men are obliged to hew a passage with their axes through the dense thickets, destitute of even a track, for nature in a very few days conceals those which may from time to time be made. And yet, notwithstanding the difficulties which spring up without intermission when crossing these almost virgin forests, and in spite of the humid heat which is so oppressive underneath their leafy vaults, it is impossible to resist the temptation, every now and then, to stop and gaze around in admiration. The continuous showers have succeeded in making their way at last through the overhanging foliage and the interlacing creepers, and everywhere flowers of every sort are in full bloom. Here the Ashantee pepper tree, with its coral berries, completely encircles the trunks of the trees; there are garlands, rich festoons, clusters of flowers of a brilliant scarlet, and bell-flowers of bright orange, all sparkling in the darkness of the undergrowth, and apparently specially destined to give light to these profound solitudes wherein is an unending night.

As it is a matter of considerable difficulty to maintain a close surveillance over Munza's army or to preserve strict discipline on the march through this labyrinth, the men take advantage of the position to stray away amongst the least bushy thickets and, ever mindful of their appetites, to hunt everything, eatable and uneatable. One band of twenty or thirty men will make an attack on the chimpanzees, the usual denizens of these forests; another lays siege with burning torches to a beehive, and swallows with equal greed the wax and the honey, and the insects which produce them. Here and there a solitary soldier will stumble across a regular town of ant-hills, from ten to twelve feet high, and, making a raid on the insects, crushes them in his hands, and eats them up.

In the villages our task is still more difficult, owing to the gross immorality which prevails throughout the kingdom of Munza, but, nevertheless, by dint of continually struggling against the powers of nature and the passions of man, we contrive to traverse the tract which separates us from the district governed by Degberra, and encounter that chief on his way to meet us.

Though Munza has preserved an absolute silence as regards his brother, Nassar, some time ago, drew for us a gloomy enough portrait of this ruler. To begin with, Degberra is a parricide, neither more nor less. His father lived too long for him, and became a bore; so he had him assassinated. But this crime, intended as a stepping stone to the Monbuttoo throne, was of advantage to Munza alone, who lost no time is assuming the crown, and made his brother merely his lieutenant or viceroy.

We are led to suppose that our host and friend is ignorant of the murder, from the circumstance that, since he has been secure on the throne, he does not appear to have thought of getting rid of his brother. A parricide would scarcely falter on his amiable way, and would not have recoiled, from excess of sensitiveness, before a convenient act of fratricide, almost marked out for him. It is quite possible, however, that Munza's conduct furnishes another instance of his tact; if he did not put Degberra out of the way, he took very good care to make him innocuous. Knowing that his brother was a slave to his passions, he furnished his harem with the prettiest women in the kingdom, and Degberra forgot politics in sensuality. He is now, consequently, an effeminate, listless being, incapable of revolting against his sovereign, who, also, is a source of constant terror to him.

The meeting of the two brothers was utterly devoid of sentiment, and took place in our presence. The conversation between them, translated on the spot by Nassar, was of such importance to us, that I give it almost word for word—

"Why are you dressed in this fashion?" said Munza to his lieutenant. "You know that in my kingdom all my subjects, great and small, must wear the same style of dress."

Munza, who had noticed that his brother's head was arrayed in a species of silken turban, and that his feet were encased in Oriental slippers, was, in a roundabout way, leading the conversation into the channel interesting to himself.

Degberra, timid to excess in presence of the King, although amongst his own subjects he is a terrible despot, made some incoherent explanations, and wound up by saying that he had received the articles, as presents, from Aboo-Sammit.

"That is a lie," said Munza, roughly. "You got them from a white man who passed through your district some time ago, and of whom you nave never spoken to me. Now you will have to tell me all about him."

Taken thus, at a disadvantage, the Viceroy was at a loss what to say. He turned towards his officers, and was about to question them, but Munza gave a _sotto-voce_ order to his own subordinates, and in a moment those in the service of Degberra were separated from their master, and isolated from each other.

We did not at first realise the full meaning of this manoeuvre, but we very speedily came to the conclusion that it was both excellent and ingenious. In fact, if Degberra were to take it into his head to lie, all his myrmidons would repeat the same falsehood, and Munza would not be able to get at the truth. To learn that, he was first of all going to make the accused speak, and then he would examine the witnesses in turn. A _juge d'instruction,_ or a judge of assize in France, would have adopted a similar course.

"Answer," said the King of the Monbuttoos to his brother, when the latter stood alone before him. "A stranger has resided in your dominions without my knowledge. Tell me everything you know about him. On that condition alone will I pardon you."

"Ask, and I will answer," replied Degberra.

"First of all, when was this white man with you?"

We had to pause for a reply. The most intelligent negroes have great difficulty in accounting for time. The new moon is the general basis of their calculations, which consequently are rather indefinite, and often inaccurate. However, after considerable effort, Degberra managed to fix, very clearly, as far as we were concerned, the date when M. de Guéran passed through his district. This date agreed with the indications given by Nassar, as well as with the heading of the letter entrusted to him.

This first point settled, Munza proceeded to further details—

"Describe the white man to me," said he.

This question caused a general stir amongst us. We had, it may be remembered, described M. de Guéran as a father, and not as a husband. If he were described as young, Munza might begin by suspecting, and end by finding out the truth. But when a man's age is under consideration, the ideas of equatorial tribes differ from ours; amongst them a man is old at fifty, and, as the Baron de Guéran attained his fortieth year in 1872, Degberra would not dream of exhibiting him as a young man.

The portrait drawn by him was similar to that limned by Madame de Guéran for our benefit, and the emotion of our fair companion was almost painful to witness. Her tear-dimmed eyes, her pallor, and the whole expression of her face told their tale eloquently. Munza watched her narrowly, and, if he still had any lingering doubt about the truth of our tale, he was evidently now convinced that she was in search of some one beloved, whose traces she had at length found.

The examination became, in consequence, closer and more searching.

"Whence came the stranger?" asked the King. "Had he crossed any portion of the kingdom before he arrived in your district?"

"No," replied Degberra, struggling with his faulty memory. "He never set foot in the western portion of your empire. He came from the north and, to reach the south, he passed through the Momvoo country, and over the mountains to the east of your possessions."

These words confirmed Nassar's statements; more than that, even his suppositions were, so to speak, certified to.

"And why," asked the King, with some severity, "did you not apprise me of the arrival of the white man?"

Degberra again hesitated, but warned by his brother's look that he had better obey, he answered—

"He begged me not to tell you. He feared you, and knew that you had prevented another traveller from going southwards."

"Why do you not say at once," exclaimed Munza, "that you were paid by him for your silence and your treason? You exact tribute from all foreigners, and, to avoid sharing it with me, you conceal from me the fact of their having been with you. But I have already told you that I will pardon you on condition that you speak the truth. How long did your guest stay with you?"

"I do not remember," said Degberra. "From one moon to another, I think."

"Was his caravan a numerous one?"

"No; during his stay amongst the Zandeys, the small-pox committed great ravages amongst his soldiers and bearers."

"Did he appear to be in good health?"

"Yes, as long as he was with us; but he had suffered from fever in the marshes amongst other tribes."

All these questions took a long time to ask, and still longer to answer.

"You treated him well, at all events?" resumed Munza.

"I received him in my palace, and he was a constant source of amusement to my harem, for he made music all day long with an instrument he had with him which played of its own accord."

This was a very precious piece of information. Madame de Guéran was aware that her husband, just as he was about to leave for Africa, had bought a large musical box at a shop in Paris, and this evidently was the instrument alluded to by Degberra. The Baron, profiting by the experience gained in former travels, was bent, by means of music, upon getting into the good graces of the Africans.

At length, Munza thought the moment had arrived to put the crowning question for him and for us, the one which was to decide our future.

"In what direction," he said suddenly to his brother, "did the white man go when he left you? Which way did he take?"

In excitement and anxiety we awaited Degberra's reply.