One thing, however, was clear. I must go to John without
any delay. How, in the name of wonder, was I to get
these men ?
As a preliminary to inducement, I gave each of them a
small piece of meat—just enough to whet their appetites—-
telling them at the same time that if they would proceed
with me in the morning I would give them white calico
and plenty of meat on the return of the party to the Ruia
river. Their reply to the proposal was shrewd enough.
They said that the Unyamwenda people would not give up
the things. Evidently the people did not understand me,
for they repeated over and over again that they would not
go without the white man. Finally, I knocked the facts
into their heads that, whether they went or not, before daybreak
I would be on the Waynge river, and that if they
chose to follow early in the morning I would be sure to
fulfil my promises.
They then disappeared in the surrounding darkness, but
Karemba told me that they would be sure to go.
That night, as anyone can understand, was an uneasy night
for me. I kept turning over in my mind what might be the
upshot if these rebellious Unyamwenda positively refus'ed to
let the things go without an exorbitant demand upon our
resources, that is to say, upon the store of goods. Of course
a discreet policy could be the only wise course to adopt.
With a few men, another line of action would not have
cost me a moment’s thought, but with a force of thirty, a
mistaken act of intimidation on our part might have proved
fatal.
Come what would, my mind was made up to be on
the Waynge river before, or soon after, sunrise. With that
resolution firmly fixed, I lay down to seek what rest might
be vouchsafed to me.
Very small ants were swarming in the blankets. These
little pests could even be found in the sugar; in fact,
everything savoured of ant.
The spot we had chosen for the camp was damp and
cold, for we were close to the river. After a long day’s
journey, however, it is better not to camp far from water, as
distance entails a great amount of labour in carrying the
indispensable support of life.
Little sleep came to refresh me during that brief night’s
recumbence, for my mind was in a quandary of doubts and
surmises. A cold, wetting mist hugged the land when I
got up. I t seemed as though it could penetrate even
through the skin. My garb, too, was so light that in less
severe circumstances I always went through a shivering fit
in the morning. As a matter of fact, it was that same
feeling which usually awoke me. I seemed to become a
second-grade Mashona, as it were, for I could get up early
and kindle flames from the smouldering fire, to crouch over
them, suffering their pungent smoke to blind and choke me.
Before the sun lit up Waynge camp a stiff fourteen miles
had to be covered. I wished to appear as an apparition, a
thorough stage ghost, stalking grim and gaunt out of a
hidden door in the dark and massive rocks. This I knew
would astonish the intractable Unyamwenda not a little.
Long before the proper time to start I sat up, meditating
beside the blinding and choking fire. In this position I
felt solitary, for looking at the slumbering boys as they lay
together, huddled close for the sake of warmth, and snoring
in blissful unconsciousness, I was loth to disturb them,
genuinely unwilling, in fact, to awake their minds, just then
so free from care, to the stern realities of the day’s work.
But circumstances permitted little delay. A veil of
darkness was still athwart the sky when I gently shook