Part 22 (2/2)

For the first time during our long and fatiguing search, sometimes across great tracts of virgin forest wherein man had never before set foot, we now at last heard it described minutely from the lips of an eyewitness. Eager and elated, we both felt that we were on the point of a discovery, and were prepared to risk the strange pestilence so dreaded by the pagans and the touch of the unseen evil hand, in order to explore the dark and gloomy crag, where it had been a.s.serted by Azala the Mystery of the Asps remained hidden.

Yakul, as he munched his bananas, told us how, eight years before, when a.s.sisting the Iyuku and Indebeya peoples against the Manuyema, there had been severe fighting, and with his warriors he had followed a host of the invaders south through an unknown part of the Great Forest, until at length he had driven the enemy into a natural trap, for, on account of the Lake of the Accursed and the range of inaccessible mountains beyond, they were unable to retreat further, and being compelled to again fight, they were completely wiped out by the Avejeli.

During the battle in that little-known region he discovered they were within actual sight of the Rock of the Great Sin, but of the whole of his brave warriors not a man dared to venture nearer on account of the declarations of their wise men, that if any attempted to approach the forbidden spot a terrible pestilence and total destruction would inevitably fall upon the tribe. In consequence of this he had stood afar off and viewed the rock and the unknown and unapproachable land beyond, fearing lest, by going nearer, he should invoke the wrath of his pagan G.o.ds, or cause revolt among his warriors, who had become cowed and terrified at discovering themselves in the shadow of the dark rock, which was the seat of the dreaded Evil Spirit of the Kivira.

While within sight of the Rock of the Great Sin, they declared the air was deadly. They began to suffer from joint aches, he told us; their knees were stiff, and pains travelled through their bodies, causing them to s.h.i.+ver and their teeth to chatter, after which their heads would burn and the hot sweat would pour from them, so that they knew no rest.

During the two days they remained there life was but one continuous ague, and they left the country declaring it to be bewitched.

CHAPTER THIRTY.

A PROPHECY.

”Fearest thou to return?” I asked the chief of the Avejeli, when he had concluded his interesting description of the overthrow of the Manuyema.

”If thou desirest me to bear thee company, I will guide thee until thine eyes can discern the black rock, and the poisonous waters surrounding it,” he answered. ”Then, if thou art fully determined to approach it, I will remain until thou returnest.”

”I cannot sufficiently thank thee for thy promise, O friend,” I answered. ”For many moons have I wandered with my slave, over the desert and through the endless and terrible Kivira, in search of some one who could direct me unto the spot I seek. Now that thou hast given me thy promise to conduct me thither, thou hast of a verity revived my hopes with the refres.h.i.+ng shower of thy good favour.”

”Are we not friends?” Yakul asked. ”Already thou hast shown, in manner plain, a boundless generosity towards me; therefore gladly will I conduct thee to the sacred place thou seekest.”

”Indeed thou art my friend. May the most perfect peace ever rest upon thee, and may wisdom always distinguish thee above thy fellows,” I answered, adding, ”Thou hast spoken of the rock as the seat of the Evil Spirit of the Forest. Tell me, why do thy people of the Avejeli regard it as sacred?”

”Because, beyond the rock is an inaccessible and mysterious tableland which none have ever gained. Some believe it to be a country filled to overflowing with bananas, yams, manioc, corn, honey and fruit, and peopled by a strange race of monkeys, who live in huts like ourselves, and are armed with bows and spears. Others declare that the plateau, though covered with gra.s.s at the edge, where visible, is nevertheless a glaring, barren, and uninhabited wilderness of endless extent.”

”And what is the name of this unknown country?” I asked, curious to know whether the pagan tribes entertained a belief similar to ours.

”It is called the Land of the Myriad Mysteries, because, to the dwellers on the edge of the forest, the first flush of dawn appeareth always like a mysterious blood-red streak from behind the rock. By our wise men it is said that away there dwelleth the great Evil Spirit, whose invisible myrmidons lurk in the silent depths of the forest, ever ready to bring destruction and death upon those they may seize.”

”Believest thou that the Evil Spirit hath power supreme?” I inquired.

”Yea, most a.s.suredly. Once, many years ago, the Good Spirit, who dwelleth in the sun, reigned supreme in the Kivira, until a rivalry arose between the G.o.d of Life, and the G.o.d of Destruction, and they struggled fiercely for the mastery. At first, the Good Spirit was the most powerful, for into the bright light which he shed the Evil One dared not venture. But at length the G.o.d of Darkness, with considerable ingenuity, invoked the aid of the trees of the forest, and they, obedient to him always, raised high their spreading heads, interlaced their giant branches, and shut out the sun's light, thus allowing their master, the Evil Spirit, to obtain complete control of the earth. It was then that he took up his abode in the Land of the Myriad Mysteries, placing between his seat and the dwelling-place of mortals a lake, the water of which will, it is said, poison arrows dipped into it, and a chain of mountains, unapproachable by reason of the death-dealing odours exhaled from the swamp in the deep valley at their base.”

The chief paused, hugged his knees, and gazed gravely into the dying embers.

”Hath no man ever been able to penetrate into the mysterious abode?” I asked.

”Many lives have, it is said, been lost in foolhardy attempts by the curious,” he answered, slowly. ”None has, however, successfully braved the wrath of the One of Evil, who dealeth death with aim unerring. Our wise men have said that when, generations ago, the Evil Spirit conquered his rival, entrance was gained to his kingdom by a remarkable cave in the rock, and that in the cave there lived a hideous wild beast with eight legs, whose tusks were each the length of a spear, whose claws were each an arrow's length, whose eyes were like flaming brands, and whose breath was as the smoke of a camp fire. The G.o.d's attendant spirits were forbidden to pa.s.s beyond the zealously-guarded portal, but one day a spirit, more adventurous than the rest, managed to escape into the abode of men. His spiritual form enabled him to cross the poisoned waters without a canoe, but as he was pa.s.sing rapidly over the plain his absence was detected by the G.o.d of Darkness, who, in his wrath, suddenly turned him into a human being, and doomed him to wander the earth as an outcast forever. He is wandering now, for aught we know. Truly, the wrath of the King of the Land of the Myriad Mysteries is to be feared, and death cometh swiftly to those who offer him not offerings of flesh, and arouse his anger by expressing disbelief that he ruleth the earth.”

”Then, according to thy belief, the Good Spirit is powerless?” I said.

”Yea, he hath, alas! been vanquished, and the G.o.d of Darkness holdeth supreme sway over men,” he answered. ”Among mine own people I have witnessed more than one case where a man expressed disbelief in the One of Evil at dawn, and ere darkness hath fallen he has come to a violent and unexpected end. The punishment of the sceptical is always death.”

”And the dwelling-place of the Ruler of the World is that high land, towards which, at sunrise, we shall be pus.h.i.+ng forward to discover?” I said.

”Yea. But have a care of thy life, O friend,” he urged, in a tone of consternation. ”Thou mayest gaze upon it from afar, but to approach it will be to encompa.s.s thine own end.”

”When we reach within sight of it I shall decide how to act,” I laughed, amused at the pagan's apprehensions. ”Strangely enough we have, in our land, a legend very similar to thine, which telleth how one adventurous man escaped from the mysterious region, after which the cave became closed and all entrance and egress barred. The mystery fascinateth me, and I am determined at all hazards to seek its solution.”

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