forest and the drowsy men in the camp to a
midnight action as brisk as it was short.
Twit, twit, fell the arrows once more in
showers, piercing the brush fence, perforating
the foliage, or smartly tapping the trunks and
branches, while we, crouching down on the
ground, under the thick shadows of the brushwood,
replied with shot, slugs, and bullets, that
swept the base of the jungle.
Silence was soon again restored and the strict
watch renewed. From a distance the poisoned
reeds still pattered about us, but, protected by
our snug stockade and lying low in our covert,
they were harmless, though they kept us awake
listening to the low whizz and reminding one
another that the foe was still near.
Morning dawned upon the strange scene. The
cooks proceeded to make fires, to cook some
food, under the shelter of the high banks, that
we might break our long fasts. Frank and I
made a sufficient meal out of six roasted bananas
and a few cups of sugarless coffee.
After which, giving strict orders to Frank and
Sheikh Abdallah to be vigilant in my absence,
the boat was manned, and I was rowed to a
distance of 500 yards from the camp towards
the right bank. There, stopping to examine the
shores, I was surprised to see, only a quarter
of a mile below our camp, a large town, consisting,
like those above, of a series of villages,
in a uniform line along the high bank, while a
perfect wealth of palm-trees and banana plantations
proved unquestionably the prosperity of
the populous district. I recollected then that
the intelligent dwarf already mentioned had
spoken of a powerful chief, whose district, called
Vinya-Njara, possessed so many men that it
would be utterly impossible to pass him.
My plans were soon made. It was necessary
that we should occupy the southernmost village,
in order to house the sick, to obtain food for
ourselves, and to keep up communication with the
land division when it should announce its presence.
We rowed back to the camp, by this time
the observed of a thousand heads which projected
from the jungle between our camp and
the first village. As nothing had been unpacked
from the boat and the hospital-canoes, and only
the defenders of the camp had disembarked,
every soul was in a few seconds seated in his
place, and pulling swiftly over that intervening
quarter of a mile down to the landing of the
first village— targets, it is true, for several arrows
for a short time, but no one could stop to reply.
Arriving at the landing, two men were detailed
off to each canoe and the boat, and we rushed
up the high and steep bank. The village was
empty, and, by cutting some trees down to
block up each end, became at once perfectly
defensible.