In Search of the Okapi Part 28

"We must get her aground," said Mr. Hume; and they poked into the banks here and there in search of a likely landing, ultimately finding a spot where a huge tree had fallen bodily into the river, dragging away with its roots a ma.s.s of earth. They marked the place, and returned to the clearing to camp for the night. By the light of a fire and of the lamps they went through the stores, and made up five packages, one for each man to carry. Sheets of oiled canvas were left out, rubber boots, and oilskin coverings for their hats and shoulders. In the morning Compton was left behind in the clearing in charge of the packages, while the other two took the Okapi down to her berth, which was about half a mile down on the same side. They drove the boat into the little natural dock, then with their Ghoorka knives cleared a little place in the forest, and next, with a small pioneer spade, dug a trench in the soft mould more than large enough to hold the boat. Then a foundation was laid of saplings; the walls were also lined with tough wood, and the Okapi, lightened of her cargo and steel deck, was bodily dragged up, and, after a long effort, safely lowered into the dry dock.

Everything was made trim, a layer of branches placed over all, then the leaf-mould restored, and all leveled down. Working unceasingly, the job took them till well on into the afternoon, when they rested a while; then, with their knives in hand, set off to work their way back to the clearing. All they had to do was to follow the river. It was simple enough in theory, but in practice it was a tough job, as they had to struggle every foot of the way, squirming and crawling.

When they heard Compton's hail they had come to the conclusion that the forest was a trap, its mysteries a delusion, and its general qualities altogether disgusting.

"You have been a time!" shouted Compton, as the two, hot, red-faced, and tattered, stepped out and straightened themselves up with hands to the small of the back.

"I'm as hungry as three, and have been under a terrific strain to keep from eating the finest and fattest baked 'possum you ever saw.

Come on."

"'Possum?" said Venning, hurrying forward. "There are no 'possums in Africa."

"Well, it's something."

"Smells nice."

"Sit down--sit down, and we'll find out what it is afterwards."

They sat down with sighs of relief, and the "'possum" disappeared without a word being spoken.

"Beggar was eating earth-nuts over there, and I bowled him over with a stick. See, there's his skin--long tail and sharp face."

"Monkey," said Mr. Hume.

"Prehensile tail," muttered Venning, examining that appendage.

"Anyway, it was good. See anything more?"

"Lots. One crocodile, and about one million ants and insect things.

Finished your job?"

"We buried the boat on the bank, and you youngsters had better be at great pains to take your bearings, in case anything happens; and for a sign we'll lash that pole and its bit of rag to the top of a tree.

Up you go, Venning, and make it fast."

The pole with its dirty flag was lashed to a tall tree, and then they waited for Muata. The jackal was the first to make its appearance, but the chief was not long after, and the river-man, a few minutes later, looking quite exhausted. The chief first ate, then he washed, then at last he condescended to take notice of things, and then to give particulars. He had followed the trail of the cannibals. It led straight into the forest. They could follow in the morning.

With the morning came a heavy white mist that made travelling impossible, and all they could do was to wait in the mugginess until, through a window in the sluggish clouds which hung low overhead, the sun shot its rays and sucked up the moisture. Then they started, and a minute later they were in the silence and the gloom of the most tremendous extent of unbroken wood on the face of the earth--a Sahara of leaves, stretching away to the east for five hundred miles, and reaching over the same extent north and south.

Trackless, the forest was, to any one not acquainted with its secrets; but there were paths through it, and the villagers had made their own approaches to the main system of thoroughfares, so that the going was not difficult, especially as the direction up to a certain distance had been decided upon by the previous day's tracking.

They had, however, to walk in single file, with much care to their steps, for the obstacles were ceaseless in the way of trailing vines, saplings, and fallen trees. The narrow and tortuous avenue they threaded was gloomy in the extreme, affording scarcely any glimpse of the sky, and opening out no vistas between the serried ranks of steins, each clothed in a covering of velvet moss, and all looped together by the parasitical vines, whose boles were often as thick as cables.

As they plunged deeper into the woods over a yielding surface of leaf-mould, which sent up a warm smell, the silence was as the silence of a huge cavern, into which is borne the hollow rumbling of the waves, the sound in place of that being the continual murmur of the sea of leaves moved by a breeze ever so slight, so soft that no chance breath of it found its way below.

Yet the place was not really silent, and by-and-by, as their ears grew attuned to the new surroundings, the boys detected the sounds made by living things large and small, far and near--sounds which seemed a part of the silence, because they were all soft and a little mysterious, with a pause in between, as if the insect or creature which made them was listening to find if any enemy had heard him. They were little detached sounds, as if an insect would start out to sing its song, and then suddenly think better of it; and even when some large animal made its presence known by the snapping of a branch, or a sudden scurry in the undergrowth, the noise ceased almost as soon as it began.

"It gives me the creeps," muttered Venning, after a long silence.

"That's just it," said Compton; "everything appears to be creeping."

"Even the trees. They seem to watch and whisper and wait, and the news of our coming has been carried right away for miles. Shouldn't wonder if the trees were to close in and shut us up."

"Oh, come, now; that's a bit too fanciful."

They s.h.i.+fted their loads to relieve aching shoulders, and kept on through the unending avenues in another long spell of silence.

"Reminds me of the reeds again," said Compton; "only this is worse."

"By Jenkins! just imagine the blaze and the scorch if this forest caught afire like your reeds."

"Couldn't--too damp. We've been tramping for two hours, and I have not seen a bird, or an animal, or a reptile; nothing but snails and ants. Don't see where the game comes in."

"We're not after game; we're after cannibals."

"By Jove! yes, I suppose we are--that is, if they are cannibals. I thought the species had died out."

"It will be a long time before cannibalism dies out," said Mr. Hume, who was bringing up the rear, "particularly in those parts where the people find a difficulty in getting flesh-food; but, at the same time, scarcity of flesh-food does not always turn a tribe to cannibalism. What does happen is this--that people who live in a poor district become small In the Kalihari you find the bushmen, in the forest you find the pigmies."

"Then the forest is poor in animals?"

"It has its types, but I should say they must be very few. You see, animals want sun, And where would they find it here? No! what animals haunt the forest will not be found on the ground."

"I see," said Compton, with a grin; "they fly."

"I know," interposed Venning, triumphantly; "they live in the tree- tops."

Compton looked up at the matted roof of leaves and branches.

"Well, all I hope is that a tall giraffe will not fall through on top of me."

"There is one thing that should give you comfort," said Venning, solemnly.

"What is that?"

"It would be the giraffe who would suffer."

"Wait till I have got rid of these parcels, young 'un," said Compton. "Are you getting tired?"

"Well, I am," said Venning--"tired and stuffy."

"Glad to be back on the boat again--eh? Well, if it's any comfort to you, I'm tired too. Haven't got my land-legs yet."

Mr. Hume cried a halt, to their great content, and though there were some hours yet to evening, he set them to work to make the camp. The work was the same they undertook each evening they were in the forest. First they cleared a circle about twenty feet in diameter, with an outer ring of large trees, and, using the trunks as posts, built a fence with the saplings and young trees. A hole was dug in the soft ground for the fireplace, and another fence built round to screen the glare of the fire. Next their waterproof sheets were arranged, the sheet of canvas stretched overhead, and, when all was s.h.i.+pshape, the three white members of the party went through a course of ma.s.sage, which prepared them for the one good meal of the day. Then they overhauled their clothing, repaired any tears, oiled the rifles, and entered up the log-books. There was always something to do, and according to the man-of-war discipline observed, every man had to do his share of work--a rule which gave the mind employment, and kept it from dwelling on the monotony and the depressing silence of the woods. While the camp was springing into existence out of the tangled woods, the jackal kept guard, circling at a distance, like a well-trained collie herding a flock of sheep.

The first night was a repet.i.tion of many others. When the night came down, as it did long before darkness set in on the wide river, where the afterglow was reflected from the waters, it was black beyond thought, so black that a few yards from the fire the sharpest pair of eyes could not see a hand held a foot away. And with the darkness came a sense of mystery, a hollow murmur as of the surf heard a long way off, which intensified the brooding stillness; and at times the groaning of the trees.

"What noise is that?" asked Venning, hearing the sound.

"The trees talk," said Muata, gravely.

"Eh? The trees talk! Wonderful!" muttered Compton, sarcastically; but, nevertheless, he listened with open mouth and staring eyes.

"What do they say, chief?"