Kill them." The meeting concluded by a request
for meat; and the sheiks having given instructions to certain
messengers, despatched them to summon their people to the sand-bank,
where the remains of the elephants were lying.
In a short time, swarms of natives, lately our enemies, were collecting
from all quarters, and hurrying towards the attractive spot, as though
they were going to a fair.
I gave the headmen [*] a present of beads, and took them to admire
themselves in the large glass within the cabin of the diahbeeah. I
scrambled some pounds of beads among their people, and got up foot-races
for prizes.
[*Footnote: The superior chief was presented with a costume which
delighted him. This was a long blue shirt with red waist-band, a bright
tin funnel inverted to form a helmet with a feather in the tube, and a
pair of spectacles. He declared that he would be "the admiration of the
women."]
The natives selected some of their best runners; but although they ran
well, they were all beaten by Ali Nedjar of the "Forty Thieves," who was
the champion runner of the expedition.
The sheiks requested that the cannon might be fired for their amusement.
A shot with blank cartridge made them look very serious. They then went
to look at the two elephants' heads, which they believed had been blown
off by the cannon on the day of the hunt.
They returned to the diahbeeah, and ordered their people to bring the
present they had prepared for me. This consisted of thirty-one jars of
merissa, each of which was duly tasted by themselves as a proof of the
absence of poison.
Before they departed, I was assured, not only of their regret that any
misunderstanding should have taken place, but that after their bean
crop, which would be in about two months, they would unite with Bedden
and carry all my baggage into the interior. They took leave and went off
in the direction of the dead elephants.
Here was a sudden change in the politics of the country! Peace had been
effected by the sacrifice of two elephants!
This peace was the result of greediness and envy. The natives had pined
for the flesh, and envied the Baris of Bedden who were carrying it away;
therefore they sued for peace.
At the same time, they had originally declined my offer of a large herd
of cattle that would have been worth a hundred elephants. Thus they had
courted war, in which they had lost some of their people, together with
much corn, all of which they might have sold for cows; and they now
desired peace, only to join in the scramble, like vultures, over the
flesh of two elephants.
