Майн Рид
Ran Away to Sea
Chapter Twenty Eight
You will be surprised to hear, that I was not far more frightened than he. It would have been natural that I should – being younger and less courageous, but in reality I was not. In fact, after a little terror which I experienced at the first shock, I was not frightened at all.
Of course such a wild, hideous spectacle – those three skeleton forms, with rigid limbs and bodies, and rows of white grinning teeth – was calculated to produce fear in any one, particularly when discovered in such a singular place, and seen, as we saw them, under the glaring light of a torch: and I will not deny, that at the first glance I was as badly terrified as my companion, and perhaps even worse.
But my terror was short-lived, for almost in the next moment I was quite free from it; and I stood regarding the skeleton bodies with no other feelings than those of a keen curiosity – just as if I had been looking at mummies in a museum.
I know you will be surprised at this exhibition of sangfroid on my part, and deem it extraordinary; but there is nothing extraordinary about it. It was easily explained, and I proceed to give the explanation.
My “wonder book” is again the key – it was to this I was indebted for ridding me of my fright, and once more giving me the advantage over my unlettered companion. In that book I remembered having read – of course in the same chapter that treated of the baobab – how a curious practice existed among some tribes of negroes, of hollowing out the great trunks of these trees into vaults or chambers, and there depositing their dead. It was not those who died naturally who were thus disposed of, but malefactors – men who had been executed for some great crime; and whose bodies were denied the right of burial in the regular way; for these savage people have strong prejudices in such matters, just as we find among the most Christian and civilised nations.
Instead therefore of flinging the bodies, of those upon whom capital punishment has been inflicted, to the hyenas and jackals, and leaving them to be devoured by these voracious brutes, the negroes give them a species of sepulture; and that is as described, by closing them up in vaults hewn in trunks of the baobab – and in my opinion a very comfortable kind of tomb it is. The bodies thus deposited do not decompose or decay as those buried in the ordinary way; on the contrary, from some preservative quality in the wood, or the atmosphere of the place, they become desiccated, or dried up very much after the manner of mummies, and in this state remain for hundreds of years.
You may wonder why the negroes, for the sake of mere criminals, take so much trouble as to form these large vaults in the solid trunks of trees; and especially with such rude implements as they are used to make them with. But this wonder will cease when I inform you, that the hallowing out of a chamber in the trunk of a baobab is a mere bagatelle, and costs but trifling labour. The wood of this great tree is remarkably soft and porous, and a cavity can be scooped out in it, almost as easily as in the side of a turnip – at all events with not greater difficulty than in a hard bank of clay or earth; and it is not uncommon for the negroes to hew out large chambers in the trunks of the baobab for other purposes besides the one above-mentioned.
Remembering to have read the account of all these matters, I had, therefore, quite the advantage of my companion, who had never read a word about them; and, when Ben turned round and perceived that I was regarding the scene with perfect coolness, while he himself was shaking in his shoes, he appeared quite astonished at my behaviour.
I soon explained to him the reason why I was so brave; on hearing which Ben grew brave himself; and, after replenishing our torch by fresh faggots from the fire, we both squeezed ourselves through the narrow entrance, and stood within the chamber of the dead. We were no longer afraid, even to lay our hands upon the skeletons – which we found perfectly dry and in no way decayed, either by being eaten with moths, ants, or destroying insects of any kind – all of which must have been kept away from them by the peculiar odour of the wood by which they were surrounded.
Like enough the hyenas and jackals would have regarded this but little, and would long since have dragged the bodies forth; but as already stated there was a door – and a strong one, which had fitted exactly to the entrance of the chamber, and which was evidently the thick, bark of the tree, that had been carefully cut out, at the making of the chamber, and then replaced. This door fitting exactly had no doubt been firm enough to resist any attack of wild beasts – at the time the bodies had been first deposited within – but being now dry it had got loose, and easily yielded to the sturdy kick of the sailor.
We remained for some time inside this curious apartment and examined every corner of it minutely. It was evident to us that it had not been entered for years – as there was no sign of anything having been disturbed in it. Perhaps no human being had ever opened the door since the dead had been deposited within; and although there was no means of telling how long since that event might have taken place, the appearance of the dry withered bodies plainly pointed to a very ancient date for their interment. Perhaps it may have occurred at a time when the country around was thickly peopled with inhabitants; or at all events when some tribe dwelt in the neighbourhood, who had long ago perished by the hands of their enemies, or what is more likely had been made captive, sold into slavery, and carried across the Atlantic to the colonies of America.
Such reflections were passing through my mind as I stood within that singular chamber, and gazed upon the three strange creatures that had so long been its tenants. I think the reflections of my companion were of a different character. I suspect he was at that moment thinking, whether there might be some treasure entombed along with them, for he was carrying his torch into every corner of the apartment, and eagerly searching every crack and cranny with his eyes, as if he expected something to turn up – perhaps a bag of gold-dust, or some of those precious stones that are often found in possession of the savages.
If he had any such expectations, however, he was doomed to disappointment; for, with the exception of the three skeletons themselves, not one article of any kind – neither of dress or ornament – was found in the place.
Having satisfied himself about this, and taken one more glance at the three silent denizens of the tree-chamber, Ben, in a serio-comic fashion, made a salaam to them, and wished them good-night.
We now returned to our fire with the intention of going to sleep; for although it was not yet late, we felt wearied after the day’s wandering about and, stretching ourselves along the dry ground by the side of the blazing faggots, we composed ourselves for the night.
Chapter Twenty Nine
We both fell asleep almost instantaneously, but I am unable to say how long we continued to sleep. It did not seem more than five minutes, and then we were awakened by a noise, that was loud enough and disagreeable enough to have waked up the dead. It was one of the strangest noises I had ever heard in my life; and neither of us could make out what was causing it, though there could be no doubt it proceeded from some kind of animals.
At first we thought it was wolves, or rather hyenas and jackals – since these are the wolves of Africa – and some of the sounds resembled the voices of these creatures, with which we were already acquainted, from hearing them every night around the barracoons of King Dingo, and along the banks of the river. But there were other sounds of a different kind – shrill screams, and calls like the mewing of cats, and now and them a chattering and gibbering that bore a resemblance to the voices of human beings, or, more correctly, to the ravings of maniacs!
Evidently there were many creatures making these noises; but what sort of beings they were, neither my companion nor I could form any conjecture. The sounds were harsh and disagreeable – every tone of them calculated to produce terror in those who might listen to them, – and they terrified us as soon as we were awake to hear them.
Both of us sprang instantly up, and looked around in affright, expecting every moment to be attacked; but although we could hear the noises on every side, we were as yet unable to see who or what was making them. Our fire glimmered faintly, and enabled us to see only to a very short distance around us; but in order to get a better view, Ben mechanically kicked up the half-burnt sticks; and then a bright blaze was produced, which lit up the whole space shadowed by the branches of the baobab.
As yet we could see nothing – for the noises proceeded out of the thick darkness beyond; but we could perceive that they came from all sides – from behind as well as before us. Whatever creatures they were that were uttering these horrid sounds were not all in one place; they were everywhere around the great tree; we were in fact surrounded by a large host of them – completely encompassed.
The sounds now appeared to grow louder and nearer; and as we stood gazing out into the darkness, we began to perceive certain bright spots, that scintillated and sparkled like jets of moving fire. These spots were round and a greenish lustre; and as we looked upon them we were soon able to tell what they were – they were eyes!
Yes, they were the eyes of some animals, though of what sort we could not guess. That they were fierce creatures, perhaps beasts of prey, we had every reason to believe. Their wild cries, and the manner of their approach proved this; for they were approaching – every moment drawing nearer and nearer.
In a very few seconds they had got so close, that we could see them distinctly enough, and no longer conjectured about what kind of animals they were. I knew them as soon as the light enabled me to get a view of them. I knew them from having seen some of their kind in a menagerie, and my companion was even better acquainted with them – they were baboons.
The discovery did not in any way tend to allay the apprehensions which their voices had created. Quite the contrary was the effect produced. We both knew well enough the fierce disposition of these brutes – any one who has ever witnessed their behaviour in the cage must be acquainted with the fact, that they are the most spiteful and savage creatures that can be imagined, and exceedingly dangerous to be approached. And this, too, after being tamed and constantly receiving kindness from the hand of man! Still more dangerous when in their native haunts – so much so, that the woods which they inhabited are never traversed by the natives without great precaution, and only when several persons well-armed go together.
Now both my companion and I were well acquainted with these facts; and to say that we were scared, when we saw the baboons approaching our place of encampment, is only to declare the simple truth. We were scared and badly scared too – quite as much terrified as we had been by the sight of the lion.
We saw, moreover, that these baboons were of the largest, and most dangerous kind – for there are several different species of baboons in Africa. These were the hideous “mandrills,” as we could tell by their great swollen cheeks, of purple and scarlet colour, that shone conspicuously under the light of our fire. We could distinguish their thick hog-like snouts, and yellow chin-beards as they advanced; and we had no doubt about what sort of enemy was before us.
Had there been only one or two of these hideous brutes, an attack from them would have been dangerous enough – far more so than an encounter with hyenas or fierce mastiff dogs, for the mandrill is more than a match for either. But what was our dismay on perceiving that the brutes were in great numbers – in fact a whole flock or tribe was on the ground, and advancing towards us from all sides. Turn which way we would, their eyes were gleaming upon us, and their painted faces shining under the blaze. From all sides came their cries of menace – so shrill and loud that we could not hear our own voices, as we spoke to one another!
About their design there could be no doubt: they were evidently advancing to attack us: and the reason why they did not rush forward at once may have been that they had some dread of approaching the fire; or perhaps they had not yet made up their minds as to what sort of enemies we were.
It was not likely, however, that the fire would keep them off for any long period of time. They would soon become accustomed to it; and, in fact, every moment they appeared to gain confidence and drew nearer and nearer.
What was to be done? Against such a host we could not defend ourselves, not for five minutes, had we been armed ever so well. The powerful brutes would have pulled us down in the twinkling of an eye, and torn us to pieces with their strong hog-like tusks. Defence would be idle – there was no other mode of escape than to endeavour to get away from the ground.
But how? to climb up into the tree would not avail us, though it had saved us from the lion. These mandrills could climb better than we; they would soon overtake us, and tear us to pieces among the branches.
We next thought of running out into the open ground, and escaping by flight. Probably we should have made the attempt, but turn which way we might we saw that the baboons were in the way – a complete circle of them had formed around us, several ranks deep; and had we attempted to pass through them, it was plain they could have seized upon us and dragged us down. In short, we were surrounded, and our retreat cut off.
We were fairly at a stand, and could think of no means of escape. And yet to remain where we were, was to be attacked to a certainty; for every moment the threatening ranks were closing around us – still continuing to utter the same horrid cries – which, probably, were partly meant to terrify us, and partly to encourage each other in the outset. I am very sure that but for the fire – which was no doubt a strange sight to them – they would not have wasted time in the attack, but would have sprung forward upon us at once. But the fire, which they still appeared to regard with some degree of suspicion, held them back.
Perceiving this, my companion bethought him of a means of farther putting them in fear; and, calling me to follow his example, he caught up one of the blazing faggots, and, rushing out towards the nearest, waved the brand in their faces. I did as I saw him, only going towards the opposite side of the circle of our assailants.
The manoeuvre was not without its effect. The baboons retreated before this odd species of assault, but not so precipitately, as to leave any hope of our being able to drive them off altogether. On the contrary, as soon as we stopped they stopped also; and when we returned towards the fire to exchange our brands for others, they followed us up and came as close as ever. They grew even more furious and noisy – for the fact that we had not injured any of them taught them to look upon our firebrands as harmless weapons, and no longer to be dreaded.
We repeated the manoeuvre more than once; but it soon ceased to inspire them with fear; and we had to wave the torches before their very snouts before we could cause them to turn tail and run from us.
“This way won’t do, Will’m,” said my companion, in a voice that told his alarm, “they won’t be run off, lad! I’ll try ’em with a shot from the old piece – maybe that’ll send ’em a bit.”
The “Queen Anne,” was loaded, as usual, with small shot; and we had thought of firing at them when they first came up; but we knew that the small shot would only sting them, without doing any real injury, and, consequently, render them more furious, and implacable. We had, therefore, abstained from firing the gun, until we should try the effect of the firebrands.
Now, however, Ben was determined, that at least one of them should pay the forfeit; and I saw him pushing the ramrod into the gun – just as we had done when loading for the lion.
In a few seconds he had got ready; and then stepping forward till he stood near the line of the threatening mandrills, he pointed the piece at one of the largest and fired.
A scream of pain announced that he had aimed well; and the great brute was seen sprawling over the ground, and struggling in the agonies of death – while a crowd of its companions rushing from all sides gathered around it. At the same instant I had fired the pistol and wounded another of them, which also became the centre of a sympathising group, Ben and I, after firing, ran back to the fire. It was impossible to reload the gun – since the ramrod was now sticking in the body of the baboon – but, even had we been in possession of a dozen ramrods, we should not have found time to use them. The effect of our shots, fatal as they had been, was the very reverse of what might have been anticipated. Instead of intimidating our assailants, it had only increased their courage; and now, forsaking their fallen comrades, they returned to the attack with redoubled rage and with evident determination to close with us without more ado.
We saw that the crisis had come; I had seized one of the largest of the firebrands, and my companion held the musket clubbed and ready to deal blows around him. But what would these have availed against such numbers? we should soon be overpowered, and dragged down – never more to regain our feet – but to be torn to fragments by those terrible teeth, gnashing and threatening all around us.
And this would most certainly have been our fate, had not that moment offered a means of escape from our perilous position.
A means did offer itself, and it was odd we had not thought of it before.
Just as we were at the height of despair – expecting every moment to be our last – our eyes chanced to turn on the dark doorway that opened into the side of the tree – the entrance to the chamber of the dead. It was still open – for we had not returned the bark slab to its place, and it was lying where we had thrown it on the ground outside. Both of us noticed the doorway at the same instant, and simultaneously recognised in it a means of escape – for both shouted as with one voice and rushed towards it together.
Narrow as was the entrance we passed quickly through. A rabbit could scarce have glided more rapidly into its burrow; and, before any of the pursuing mandrills could lay a tooth upon our skirts, we had got inside, and were once more in the company of the skeletons.
Chapter Thirty
Do not suppose that we considered ourselves safe. We were simply safe for the moment – as our disappearance into the hollow of the tree, being sudden and unexpected, had taken the mandrills by surprise, and they had not followed us inside. Nevertheless they had rushed after – the whole troop of them at our heels – and from their demonstrations, it was evident they would not delay long before jumping through the doorway, and assailing us within the chamber. They were already close to the entrance, and with loud gibbering menaced us from the outside. Another moment, and we might expect them to charge in upon us.
The entrance was yet open – the slab lay outside, and we dared not go back for it – we had nothing to use for a door – nothing by which we could shut the brutes out; and all we could think of was to stand by the entrance and defend it as we best might. Ben with the long musket, and I with a brand, which I still clutched, but which no longer blazed, and could only be used as a bludgeon. Should these weapons fail, we would have to take out our knives, and make the best fight we could; but we knew that if the baboons once got inside, so as to surround us, we should not have long to live.
The screaming brutes had all come up, and we could see them plainly under the blaze of the faggots. They covered the whole space between the trunk of the tree and the fire; and as near as we could estimate their number, there were about three score of them. They danced madly about, uttering loud wails – as if lamenting their fallen comrades – and then breaking out into more clamorous cries, that expressed rage and the desire for vengeance. They had not yet made their rush for the entrance; but there was a large crowd of them standing, or rather leaping about in front of it, that seemingly only waited for some signal to spring forward.
We stood in anxious expectation – holding our weapons ready to dash them back. We knew we could do nothing more than “job” them; and we were apprehensive about the result. Despite all our efforts, some of them might get past us; and then we should be assailed in the rear, and of course vanquished and destroyed.
“If we only could get at the door?” said I, looking towards the slab, which could be seen where it lay outside.
“’Tan’t possible,” answered Ben, “the filthy beasts are all around it – they’d pull us to pieces if we only showed nose outside. Dash my buttons. Will! if I han’t got a plan – we’ll do without the door – you keep ’em back while I stop the gap. Here take the gun – its better’n that stick – look sharp, lad! – knock ’em back – that’s the way!”
And in this manner Ben continued to direct me, long after he had delivered the musket into my hands. I noticed that he had glided behind me, but for what purpose I could not guess; but, indeed, I had no time for guessing, as the baboons were now beyond all doubt resolved to force an entrance, and it required all my strength and activity to keep them back with the muzzle of the piece. One after another sprang up on the step of the narrow doorway, and one after another was sent rolling back again, by blows that I gave with all the force I could put into my arms; and these blows I was compelled to repeat as rapidly, as the strokes of a blacksmith’s hammer in the shoeing of a horse.
I could not have continued the exercise long. I should soon have been tired down at it; and then the implacable crowd would have rushed in; but it was not necessary for me to work very long – for just then, I felt my companion pressing past me towards the entrance, which the next moment became darkened up. Only through some chinks, could I distinguish the blaze beyond, and only through these was the light admitted into the chamber!
What had caused the interruption? What was it that was stopping up the entrance? was it the body of my companion, who was thus exposing himself to the assaults of the infuriated crowd without?
Not a bit of it. Ben Brace knew better than to sacrifice his life in that idle way; and, on stretching forward his hand, and touching the dark mass that was now interposed between us and the danger, I perceived what it was. It was one of the malefactors!
Neither more nor less was it than one of the mummies, which Ben had seized hold of, and, after doubling it up, had crammed chuck into the entrance, which it nearly filled from bottom to top.
The barricade was not yet complete; and my companion after directing me to hold it in place, glided back to procure another of the same. This he soon brought forward, and after doubling it up as he had done the first, and bundling it into the proper size and shape – regardless of the snapping of bones and the crackling of joints – he pushed it in alongside the other, until the two wedged each other, and completely shut up the doorway!
Such a scene might have been comic enough – notwithstanding the sacred character of the place – but neither my companion nor I were in any humour for comedy. Matters were still too serious; and although the idea of this skeleton barricade was a good one, we were not yet assured of safety. It might only give us a temporary respite; for we feared that our ferocious assailants would attack the mummies with their teeth, and soon demolish the barrier that lay between us.
And this they certainly would have done, but for a contrivance which occurred to us; and that was to leave two small apertures through which we could still “job” them, and keep them off. Two chinks were found between the bodies of the malefactors, and these were soon worked to the proper size – so that the musket could be protruded through one, and the stick through the other – and by keeping these weapons in constant play, we were able to push back the brutes, whenever they approached near enough to seize hold of our skeleton barricade.
Fortunately the doorway sloped out from the chamber – after the manner of an embrasure in a fortress – and on this account the bodies were wedged tightly against the cheeks on both sides; so that although it would have been easy to remove them from the inside, it would have required a strong pull to have drawn them outward. So long, therefore, as we could prevent the mandrills from tearing them to pieces, we should be safe enough.
For more than an hour we were kept at constant work, shoving our weapons backward and forward like a pair of sawyers. At length, however, the assaults of the enemy outside, became feebler, and more desultory. They began to perceive that they could not effect an entrance, and as most of them had by this time received a good punch in the head, or between the ribs, they were not so eager to try it again.
But, although they at length desisted from their attempts to break in upon us, we could still hear them as before. We could no longer see them – for the fire had gone out, and all was darkness, both outside and within.
Not a ray of light reached us from any quarter; and we passed the night in the midst of perfect darkness and gloom.
But not in silence: all night long the troop kept up its chorus of screams, and howlings and wailings; and although we listened attentively in the hopes that we might hear some signs of departure, our ears were not gratified by any such sounds.
It was certainly one of the most unpleasant nights that either my companion or I had ever passed. I need not say that neither of us slept, we had not a wink of sleep throughout the live-long night; nor would it have been possible for Morpheus himself to have slept under the circumstances. We had heard of the implacable disposition which not only the mandrills, but other baboon-monkeys exhibit when they have been assailed by an enemy; we had heard that their resentment once kindled, cannot be again allayed until the object of it either becomes their victim, or else escapes altogether beyond their reach. With the monkey tribe it is not as with lions, buffaloes, rhinoceroses, or other dangerous beasts that maybe encountered in the forests of Africa. When the enemy is out of sight, all these animals seem to forget the assault that may have been made upon them, or, at all events, soon give over their hostile intentions. Not so with the baboons. These monstrous creatures possess an intelligence far superior to that of ordinary quadrupeds. In fact, they are capable of a certain amount of reasoning power, which although far inferior in degree to that of the human species, is nevertheless of precisely the same character.
There are some people who think it savouring of profanity to make an assertion of this kind; but there are people of very weak minds, who are afraid to look philosophy in the face, lest it should contradict some favourite dogma, in which they have long been accustomed to put faith. Such people will boldly give denial to the most positive facts, that may be observed both in the geological and zoological world; and do not scruple to give hard names to those who have the candour to acknowledge these facts. It is absurd to deny that monkeys are possessed of reasoning powers; no man could stand five minutes in front of a monkeys’ cage in any of our great zoological gardens, without being convinced of this fact.
With the baboons, the reasoning faculty is not so strongly developed as it is in some other species of the ape tribe, as the great ourang and the chimpanzee; but for all that, Ben Brace and I knew it was strong enough to enable them fully to understand the situation in which we were placed, and to know that we could not possibly escape from our tree-prison without passing before their eyes. We knew, too, that their passions were still stronger than their reasoning powers; that after such offence as we had given them, by killing one of their number – perhaps a venerated leader of the tribe – wounding another, and administering violent “punches” to nearly every individual in the gang, there was not the slightest probability that they would suffer us to escape without first trying the effect of a long siege upon us.
If this was to be the case, we could have no hope of escape. The mandrills might remain upon the ground as long as they pleased. Some might go off to obtain food and drink, while the others watched; and thus they could relieve one another. For that matter, drink was to be had near at hand – at the fine spring where we had eaten our supper – though, for any good it could do us, it might as well have been fifty miles off. Food too the monkeys could easily procure in the woods close by the base of the hill, or they might sustain themselves on the large fruit of the baobab, which was their favourite and peculiar food, and on this account called the monkeys’ bread-fruit. In fact, my companion and I now suspected that the great tree was their habitual place of resort – their roost or dwelling-place – and that they had been just on their way home, from their day’s rambling in the woods, when they first came upon us. This would account for the fierce and unprovoked attack which they had at once made upon our camp.
Under all these considerations then it was no wonder that neither of us thought of going to sleep, but on the contrary, sat up throughout the whole night, kept awake by a full apprehension of our peril. We had hopes – though we were far from being sanguine about it – that as soon as day broke, our besiegers might be tempted to follow their habitual routine, and might go off into the woods.
