We had left the direct route to Foweera when we
had made the detour to avoid the M'was' camp. I knew that, as we had
then turned to the north, our course should now be due east. There was a
path leading in that direction; but just as we were quietly deliberating
upon the most advisable course, we heard distant voices. Any voice in
this neighbourhood I concluded must be that of an enemy, therefore I
ordered my people to sit down, while two men concealed themselves on the
borders of a jungle, about a hundred yards distant, as sentries.
I then sent Bacheeta and one of the guides towards the spot from which
the sound of voices had proceeded, to listen to their language, and to
report whether they were M'was, or people of Foweera. The spies started
cautiously on their errand.
About five minutes passed in utter silence; the voices that we had heard
had ceased. We were very cold, being wet through with the dew. My wife
was much fatigued, and now rested by sitting on the bag of blankets. I
was afraid of remaining long in inaction, lest she should become stiff
and be unable to march.
We had been thus waiting for about ten minutes, when we were suddenly
startled by the most fearful and piercing yell I ever heard. This
proceeded from the jungle where one of my men was on guard, about a
hundred yards distant.
For the moment I thought he had been caught by a lion, and cocking my
rifle, I ran towards the spot. Before I reached the jungle I saw one of
the sentries running in the same direction, and two other figures
approaching, one being dragged along by the throat by my man Moosa. He
had a prisoner. It appeared, that while he was crouching beneath the
bushes at the entrance of the main path that led through the jungle, he
suddenly observed a man quietly stealing along the forest close to him.
He waited, unobserved, until the figure had passed him, when he quickly
sprang upon him from behind, seizing his spear with his left hand and
grasping his throat with his right.
This sudden and unexpected attack from an unseen enemy had so terrified
the native that he had uttered the extraordinary yell that had startled
our party. He was now triumphantly led by his captor, but he was so
prostrated by fear that he trembled as though in an ague fit. I
endeavoured to reassure him, and Bacheeta shortly returning with the
guide, we discovered the value of our prize.
Far from being an enemy, he was one of Kalloe's men, who had been sent
to spy the M'was from Foweera: thus we had a dependable guide. This
little incident was as refreshing as a glass of sherry during the
night's march, and we enjoyed a hearty laugh. Bacheeta had been
unsuccessful in finding the origin of the voices, as they had ceased
shortly after she had left us. It appeared that our captive had also
heard the voices, and he was stealthily endeavouring to ascertain the
cause when he was so roughly seized by Moosa. We now explained to him
our route, and he at once led the way, relieving the native who had
hitherto carried the bag of blankets. We had made a considerable circuit
by turning from the direct path, but we now had the advantage of seeing
the open country before us, and marching upon a good and even path. We
walked for about three hours from this spot at a brisk pace, my wife
falling three times from sheer fatigue, which induced stumbling over the
slightest inequalities in the road. At length we descended a valley, and
crossing a slight hollow, we commenced the ascent of a gentle
inclination upon a beautiful grassy undulation crowned by a clump of
large trees. In the stillness of the night wherever we had halted we had
distinctly heard the distant roar of the river; but the sound had so
much increased within the last hour that I felt convinced we must be
near Foweera at the bend of the Victoria Nile. My wife was so exhausted
with the long march, rendered doubly fatiguing by the dew that had added
additional weight to her clothes, that she could hardly ascend the hill
we had just commenced. For the last hour our guide had declared that
Foweera was close to us; but experienced in natives' descriptions of
distance, we were quite uncertain as to the hour at which we should
arrive. We were already at the top of the hill, and within about two
hundred yards of the dense clump of trees my wife was obliged to confess
that she could go no farther. Just at that moment a cock crowed; another
replied immediately from the clump of trees close to us, and the guide,
little appreciating the blessing of his announcement, told us that we
had arrived at Kalloe's village, for which we were bound.
It was nearly 5 A.M., and we had marched from Deang at 9 P.M. There was
some caution required in approaching the village, as, should one of the
Turks' sentries be on guard, he would in all probability fire at the
first object he might see, without a challenge. I therefore ordered my
men to shout, while I gave my well-known whistle that would be a signal
of our arrival. For some time we exerted our lungs in this manner before
we received a reply, and I began to fear that our people were not at
this village: at length a well-known voice replied in Arabic. The
sentries and the whole party were positively ASLEEP, although close to
an enemy's country. They were soon awake when it was reported that we
had arrived, and upon our entering the village they crowded around us
with the usual welcome.
