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CHAPTER XIX
THE END OF THE JOURNEY AN hour later the party began the ascent of the wall of
rock, which proved to be an even more difficult business than they had
anticipated. There was no path, for those who lived beyond this natural barrier
never came down it, and few of the dwellers in the plains had ever ventured to
go up. It was possible, for Soa herself had descended here in bygone years, and
this was all that could be said for it. In default of a better road they
followed the course of the river, which thundered down the face of the
precipice in four great waterfalls, connected by as many sullen pools, whose
cavities had been hollowed out in the course of centuries from the rock. The
second of these ledges proved so insurmountable that at one time Leonard
thought that they would be obliged to abandon their attempt, and follow the
foot of the cliff till they found some easier route. But at last Otter, who
could climb like a cat, succeeded in passing the most dangerous part at the
risk of his life, bearing a rope with him by means of which the rest of the
party and the loads of goods were hauled up one by one. It was evening before
the height was scaled, and they proceeded to encamp upon its summit, making a
scanty meal of some meat which they had brought with them. That night they passed in great discomfort, for it was midwinter
and here the climate proved to be very cold. Bitter winds swept across the vast
plain before them and searched them through, all the clothing and blankets they
had scarcely sufficing to keep them warm; indeed, the Settlement men and
Francisco, who had been bred in a southern clime, suffered severely. Nor were
matters improved when, on the breaking of the light, they woke from a troubled
sleep to find the plain hidden in a dense mist. However, they rose, made a fire
with reeds and dead wood which they gathered on the banks of the river, and
ate, waiting for the fog to vanish. But it did not vanish, so about nine o’clock they continued
their journey under Soa’s guidance, following the east bank of the river
northwards. The ground proved easy to travel over, for, with the exception of
isolated water-worn boulders of granite, the plain was perfectly smooth and
covered with turf as fine as any that grows in northern lands. All that day they marched on, wandering like ghosts through
the mist, and guided in their path by the murmuring sound of the river. They
met no man, but once or twice great herds of hairy creatures thundered past
them. Leonard fired into one of these herds with an express rifle, for they
wanted meat, and a prodigious snorting and bellowing told him that his shot
had taken effect. Running to the spot whence the sounds came, he found a huge
white bull kicking in its death struggle. The animal was covered with long
white hair like that of the British breed of wild cattle, and measured at least
seventeen hands in height. Round it stood others snorting with fear and wonder,
that, when they saw Leonard, put down their heads threateningly, tearing up
the turf with their great horns. He shouted aloud and fired another shot,
whereon they turned and disappeared into the mist. This happened towards nightfall, so they determined to camp
upon the spot; but while they were engaged in skinning the bull an incident
occurred that did not tend to raise their spirits. At sunset the sky cleared a
little, at least the sinking sun showed red through the mist as it does in a
London fog of the third density. Against this red ball of the sun, and some
dozen yards away, suddenly there appeared the gigantic figure of a man, for,
unless the fog deceived them, he must have been between six and seven feet high
and broad in proportion. Of his face they could see nothing, but he was clad in
goat-skins, and armed with a, great spear and a bow slung, upon his back. Juanna was the first to see and point him out to Leonard
with a start of fear, as he stood watching them in solemn silence. Obeying the
impulse of the moment, Leonard stepped forward towards the vision holding his
rifle ready, but before he reached the spot where it had stood the figure
vanished. Then he walked back again to Juanna. ‘I think we have heard
so much of giants that we begin to believe we see them,’ he said laughing. As he spoke something clove the air between them and stuck in
the earth beyond. They went to it. It was a large arrow having a barbed point
and flighted with red feathers. ‘This is a very tangible fancy at any rate,’ Juanna answered,
drawing the shaft out of the ground. ‘We have had a narrow escape.’ Leonard did not speak, but raising his rifle he fired it at
a venture in the direction whence the arrow had sped. Then he ran to put their
little band in a position of defence, Juanna following him. But, as it chanced,
he might have spared himself the trouble, for nothing further happened; indeed,
the net outward and visible result of this mysterious apparition was that they
spent a miserable night, waiting in the fog and wet — for it had come on to
rain, or rather to drizzle — for an enemy who, to their intense relief, never
appeared. But the inward and spiritual consequences were much greater,
for now they knew that Soa spoke truth and that the legend of the bushmen as to
I great men covered with hair’ was no mere savage invention. At length the morning came. It was damp and wretched, and
they were all half starved with cold and oppressed by fears. Indeed some of the
Settlement men were so terrified that they openly lamented having suffered
their sense of shame and loyalty to overcome their determination to retreat. Now
they could not do so, for the malcontents among them did not dare to retrace
their steps alone; moreover, Leonard spoke plainly on the matter, telling them
that he would drive away the first man who attempted any insubordination. Soaked through, shivering, and miserable, they pursued their
march across the unknown plain, Soa, who seemed to grow hourly grimmer now that
she was in her own country, stalking ahead of them as guide. It was warmer
walking than sitting still, and in one respect their lot was bettered, for a
little wind stirring the mist from time to time, revealed gleams of the watery
sun. All that day they journeyed on, seeing no more of the man who had shot the
arrow, or his fellows, till at length darkness drew near again. Then they halted, and Leonard and Otter walked to and fro
searching for a suitable place to make the camp and pitch their solitary tent.
Presently Otter shouted aloud. Leonard ran towards him, and found him staring
into the mist at something that loomed largely about a hundred yards away. ‘Look, Baas,’ he said, ‘there is a house, a house of stone
with grass growing on the roof.’ ‘Nonsense,’ said Leonard, ‘it must be some more boulders.
However, we can soon find out.’ They crept cautiously towards the object, that, as soon
became evident, was a house or a very good apology for one, built of huge
undressed boulders, bedded in turf by way of mortar, and roofed with the trunks
of small trees and a thick thatch of sods whereon the grass grew green. This
building may have measured forty feet in length by twenty in depth, and
seventeen from the ground line to the wall-plate. Also it had a doorway of
remarkable height and two window places, but all these openings were unclosed,
except by curtains of hide which hung before them. Leonard called Soa and asked
her what the place was. ‘Doubtless the house of a herdsman,’ she answered, ‘who is
set here to watch the cattle of the king, or of the priests. It may chance that
this is the dwelling of that man who shot the arrow yesterday,’ ‘Having assured themselves that here was a human habitation,
it remained to be ascertained whether it was tenanted. After waiting awhile to
see if anyone passed in or out, Otter undertook this task. Going down on to his
hands and knees he crept up to the wall, then along it to the doorway, and
after listening there awhile he lifted a corner of the hide curtain and peeped
into the interior. Presently he rose, saying: ‘All right, Baas, the place is empty.’ Then they both entered and examined the dwelling with
curiosity. It was rude enough. The walls were unplastered, and the damp
streamed down them; the floor was of trodden mud, and a hole in the roof served
as a chimney; but, by way of compensation, the internal space was divided into
two apartments, one of them a living room, and the other a sleeping chamber. It
was evident that the place had not been long deserted, for fire still
smouldered on the hearth, round which stood various earthen cooking dishes, and
in the sleeping room was a rough bedstead of wood whereon lay wrappings made
from the hides of cattle and goats. When they had seen everything there was to
be seen, they hurried back to the others to report their discovery, and just
then the rain set in more heavily than before. ‘A house!’ said Juanna, ‘then for goodness’ sake let us get
into it. We are all half dead with the cold and wet.’ ‘Yes,’ answered Leonard, ‘I think we had better take
possession, though it may be a little awkward if the rightful owners come
back.’ The best that can be said for the night which they spent in
this stone shanty, undisturbed by any visit from its lawful tenant, is that it
passed a shade more comfortably than it would have done outside. They were dry,
though the place was damp, and they had a fire. Still, until you are used to
it, it is trying to sit in the company of a score of black people and of many
thousand fleas, enveloped with a cloud of pungent smoke, according to the
custom of our Norse ancestors. Soon Juanna gave up the attempt and retired to the great bed
in the inner chamber, wondering much who had occupied it last. A herdsman, she
judged, as Soa had suggested, for in a corner of the room stood an ox-goad hugely
fashioned. But it was a bed, and she slept as soundly in it as its numerous
insect occupants would allow. The others were not so fortunate: they had the
insects indeed, but no bed. Again the morning came, wet, miserable, and misty, and
through the mist and the rain they pursued their course, whither they knew not.
All day they wandered on by the banks of the river till night fell and they
camped, this time without shelter. Now they had reached the extreme of
wretchedness, for they had little or no food left, and could not find fuel to
make a fire. Leonard took Soa aside and questioned her, for he saw clearly that
a couple more days of this suffering would put an end to all of them. ‘You say that these people of yours have a city, Soa?’ ‘They have a city, Deliverer,’ she answered,’ but whether
they will allow you to enter it, except as a victim for the sacrifice, is
another matter.’ ‘None of us will enter it unless we find shelter soon,’ he
answered. ‘How far is the place away?’ ‘It should be a day’s journey, Deliverer. Were the mist gone
you could see it now. The city is built at the foot of great mountains, there
are none higher, but the fog hides everything. To-morrow, if it lifts, you will
see that I speak truth.’ ‘Are there any houses near where we can shelter?’ he asked
again. ‘How can I tell?’ she answered. ‘It is forty years since I
passed this road, and here, where the land is barren, none dwell except the
herdsmen. Perhaps there is a house at hand, or perhaps there is none for many
miles. Who can say?’ Finding that Soa could give no further information, Leonard
returned to the others, and they huddled themselves together for warmth on the
wet ground as best they might, and sat out the hours in silence, not attempting
to sleep. The Settlement men were numb with cold, and Juanna also was overcome
for the first time, though she tried hard to be cheerful. Francisco and Leonard
heaped their own blankets on her, pretending that they had found spare ones,
but the wraps were wringing wet, and gave her little comfort. Soa alone did not
appear to suffer, perhaps because it was her native climate, and Otter kept his
spirits, which neither heat, nor cold, nor hunger seemed to affect. ‘While my heart is warm I am warm,’ he said cheerfully,
when Leonard asked him how he fared. As for Leonard himself, he sat silent
listening to the moans of the Settlement men, and reflecting that twenty-four
hours more of this misery would bring the troubles of most of them to an end.
Without food or shelter it was very certain that few of those alive to-night would
live to see a second dawn. At last the light came, and to their wonder and exceeding
joy they found that the rain had ceased and the mist was melting. Once more they beheld the face of the sun, and rejoiced in
its warmth as only those can rejoice who for days and nights have lived in semi-darkness,
wet to the skin and frozen to the marrow. The worst of the mist was gone indeed, but it was not until
they had breakfasted off a buck which Otter shot in the reeds by the river,
that the lingering veils of vapour withdrew themselves from the more distant
landscape. At last they had vanished, and for the first time the wanderers saw
the land through which they were travelling. They stood upon a vast plain that
sloped upwards gradually till it ended at the foot of a mighty range of
snow-capped mountains named, as they learned in after-days, the Bina Mountains. This range was shaped like a half-moon, or a bent bow, and
the nearest point of the curve, formed by a soaring snowy peak, was exactly
opposite to them, and to all appearance not more than five-and-twenty miles
away. On either side of this peak the unbroken line of mountains receded with a
vast and majestic sweep till the eye could follow them no more. The plain about
them was barren and everywhere strewn with granite boulders, between which
wandered herds of wild cattle, mixed with groups of antelopes; but the lower
slopes of the mountains were clothed with dense juniper forests, and among them
were clearings, presumably of cultivated land. Otter searched the scene with
his eyes, that were as those of a hawk; then said quietly: ‘Look yonder, Baas, the old hag has not lied to us. There is
the city of the People of the Mist.’ Following the line of the dwarf’s outstretched hand, Leonard
saw what had at first escaped him, that standing back in a wide bend at the
foot of the great mountain in front of them were a multitude of houses, built
of grey stone and roofed with green turf. Indeed, had not his attention been
called to it, the town might well have missed observation until he was quite
close to its walls, for the materials of which it was constructed resembled
those of the boulders that lay around them in thousands, and the vivid green of
its roofs gave it the appearance of a distant space of grassy land. ‘Yes, there is the kraal of the Great People,’ said Otter
again, I and it is a strong kraal. See, Baas, they know how to defend
themselves. The mountain is behind them that none can climb, and all around
their walls the river runs, joining itself together again on the plain beyond.
It would go ill with the “impi” which tried to take that kraal.’ For a while they all stood still and stared amazed. It
seemed strange that they should have reached this fabled city; and now that
they were there, how would they be received within its walls? This was the
question which each of them was asking of himself. There was but one way to
find out — they must go and see; no retreat was now possible. Even the
Settlement people felt this. ‘Better to die at the hands of the Great Men,’
said one of them aloud, ‘than to perish miserably in the mist and cold.’ ‘Be of good cheer,’ Leonard answered, I you are not yet
dead. The sun shines once more. It is a happy omen.’ When they had rested and
dried their clothes they marched on with a certain sense of relief. There
before them was the goal they had travelled so far to win; soon they would know
the worst that could befall, and anything was better than this long suspense. By midday they had covered about fifteen miles of ground,
and could now see the city clearly. It was a great town, surrounded by a
Cyclopean wall of boulders, about which the river ran on every side, forming a
natural moat. The buildings within the wall seemed to be arranged in streets,
and to be built on a plan similar to that of the house in which they had slept
two nights before, the vast conglomeration of grass-covered roofs giving the
city the appearance of a broken field of turf hillocks supported upon walls of
stone. For the rest the place was laid out upon a slope, and at its
head, immediately beneath the sheer steeps of the mountain-side; stood two
edifices very much larger in size than any of those below. One of these
resembled the other houses in construction, and was surrounded by a separate
enclosure; but the second, which was placed on higher ground, so far as they
could judge at that distance, was roofless, and had all the characteristics of
a Roman amphitheatre. At the far end of this amphitheatre stood a huge mass of
polished rock, bearing a grotesque resemblance to the figure of a man. ‘What are those buildings, Soa?’ asked Leonard. ‘The lower one is the house of the king, White Man, and that
above is the Temple of Deep Waters, where the river rises from the bowels of
the mountain.’ And what is the black stone beyond the temple?’ ‘That, White Man, is the statue of the god who sits there
for ever, watching over the city of his people.’ ‘He must be a great god,’ said Leonard, alluding to the size
of the statue. ‘He is great,’ she answered, ‘and my heart is afraid at the
sight of him.’ After resting for two hours they marched on again, and soon
it became apparent that their movements were watched. The roadway which they
were following — if a track beaten flat by the feet of men and cattle could be
called a road — wound to and fro between boulders of rock, and here and there
standing upon the boulders were men clad in goatskins, each of them carrying a
spear, a bow, and a horn. So soon as their party came within five or six
hundred yards of one of these men, he would shoot an arrow in their direction,
which, when picked up, proved to be barbed with iron, and flighted with red
feathers like the first that they had seen. Then the sentry would blow his horn, either as a signal or
in token of defiance, bound from the rock, and vanish. This did not look
encouraging, but there was worse to come. Presently, as they drew near to the
city, they descried large bodies of armed men crossing the river that
surrounded it in boats and on rafts, and mustering on the hither side. At
length all of them were across, and the regiment, which appeared to number more
than a thousand men, formed up in a hollow square and advanced upon them at the
double. The crisis was at hand. |