第18章 The Desert

The desert was now before them,and when on 25th December,afterhaving measured a new degree and completed their fortyeighth triangle,Colonel Everest and his companions reached the northern edge of the Karrou,they found no difference between the region they had just quitted,and the new country,parched and burnt up as it was,which they were about to cross.

The oxen and animals belonging to the caravan were suffering much from want of pasture.Water also began to fail;the last drops of rain left in the ponds were dried up.The soil,a mixture of clay and sand,was little adapted to vegetation.The water which fell during the rainy season filtered through the layer of sand and disappeared almost at once into a soil consisting of nothing but sandstone which could not retain the slightest moisture.

This was one of those arid regions which Livingstone traversed more than once during his adventurous travels.Not only the ground but the atmosphere was so extremely dry that iron implements,though left in the open air,did not rust.According to the learned doctor’s account the leaves of the trees were flabby and wrinkled,and those of the mimosa stayed shut by day as well as by night.A beetle laid on the surface of the soil died in a few seconds—in fact,the bulb of a thermometer buried three inches in the ground at noon would send the mercury up to 134°Fahrenheit.

As certain parts of South Africa appeared to that famous traveller,so did that part of the continent lying between the Karrou and Lake Ngami appear to the English astronomers.Their fatigue was great,and their sufferings extreme,above all through the absence of water.This deprivation affected the domestic animals still more severely,for the scanty dry dusty grass gave them hardly any support.What was more,this area was a desert not only through dryness,but also because scarcely any living creature ventured into it.

The birds had flown beyond the Zambezi in search of trees and flowers,and the beasts of prey would not venture on this plain,which offered them no food whatever.During the first fortnight in January the hunters of the caravan had seen no more than two or three pairs of the antelopes,even though these can go without drinking for several weeks,some oryx similar to those which had so disappointed Sir John Murray,and some‘caamas’with soft eyes and ash-coloured coats with yellowish spots,very inoffensive and held in high esteem for their flesh,that seem to prefer dry plains to fertile prairies.

But travelling under a burning sun,breathing an atmosphere devoid of a drop of moisture,and carrying out trigonometrical operatons by day and by nights equally hot,had begun to tell visibly on the astronomers.Their store of water,contained in heated barrels,was running out.They had already put themselves on rations,and so they suffered badly,but their zeal and courage were so great that they mastered fatigue and privation,and neglected no detail of their minute and extensive operations.On 25th January the seventh part of the meridian,forming a new degree,had been calculated by operations which raised the number of triangles to fifty-seven.

The astronomers had now only part of the desert to cross,and the bushman was of opinion they ought to reach the shores of Lake Ngami before the last days of January.The Colonel and his companions could answer for themselves to hold out until then.

But the men of the caravan,the Boschjesmen who were not influenced by the same ambition but were merely paid servants whose interests were not involved in the scientific projects of the expedition,natives very indisposed to continue their onward march,those men supported the fatigue of the journey very indifferently.Several of the draught cattle,weakened by hunger and thirst,had had to be left behind,and it was to be feared that their number would diminish daily.Grumbling and recrimination were increasing with their privations.Mokoum’s task hart become very difficult,and his influence was fast waning.

It was soon clear that the lack of water would form an insurmountable obstacle,and that the travellers would have to abandon their march northward,and either to turn back or to diverge to the right of the meridian,though this would be to risk falling in with the Russian expedition,so as to reach the towns of less arid country on the same route as that of David Livingstone.

On 15th February the bushman informed Colonel Everest about the increasing difficulties of their situation,against,which he was struggling in vain.Already the drivers of the waggons were refusing to obey him,and every morning when the camp was struck scenes of insurbordination occurred.Those poor creatures the natives,it must be confessed,overcome with heat and burning with thirst,excited more pity than blame;besides,the oxen and horses,insufficiently fed on a short dry grass and completely without water,could no longer move.

Colonel Everest realised his position quite well;but severe with regard to himself,he was equally unyielding where others were concerned.He would not in any way suspend the trigonometrical work,and declared that he would go forward even if he went alone.His two colleagues took the same view,and they were ready to follow him as far as he chose to go.

By great exertion the bushman succeeded in persuading the natives to follow him for some time longer:to his mind the caravan ought not to be more than five or six days’march from Lake Ngami.There the oxen and horses would find fresh pasture and shady forests and the men a sea of fresh water for their refreshment.Mokoum set these inducements as prominently as he could before the principal Boschjesmen,showing them that the speediest way of obtaining supplies was to keep to the north.To turn westward now would be to trust entirely to chance;to turn back would be to find the Karrou barren,and all the streams dried up.At last the natives gave in to his arguments,and the exhausted caravan resumed its march towards the Ngami.

It was fortunate that on this vast plain their operations were easily carried on by means of signal pylons and sights.So as not to lose time the astronomers worked night and day.Guided by the light of electric lamps,they obtained very clear angles,which afterwards proved to be as accurate as they could wish.

Their work went on methodically,and the chain of triangles was gradually lengthened.

On 16th January the travellers believed for a moment that they were about to revel in that water of which nature had lately been so niggardly.A lake about two miles wide was seen on the horizon,and the whole caravan hurried rapidly towards a large sheet of water that glittered in the rays of the sun.

The lake was reached about five in the afternoon.Some of the horses broke loose from the men and galloped off to the water they were panting for:they could see it and scent it,and they could be seen plunging into it up to their bellies.But the animals turned back at once;they could not drink those deceptive waters,and when the Boschjesmen arrived they found the water so impregnated with salt as to be useless.

Mokoum began to fear he should have to abandon his hope of inducing the natives to go any farther.But,fortunately for the future prospects of the expedition,the caravan was now much nearer the Ngami and the tributaries of the Zambezi than it was to any other point where drinkable water could be found,so that their safety depended on the progress they made.In four days,if their operations were not in any way impeded,the expedition would find itself on the shores of the Ngami.

Again they set out.By taking advantage of the ground,Colonel Everest was able to construct triangles so large that he could dispense with a large number of the trigonometrical stations.As they often worked on very clear nights their signal lights were perfectly visible,and their exact position definable by means of the theodolite.But for these brave savants,inflamed with zeal in the cause of science,as for the poor natives languishing for want of water under such a burning sky,as well as for the animals,it was time they reached the Ngami;not one of them could have supported another fortnight’s march under such circumstances.

On 21st January the flat ground began to become rough and broken.About ten in the morning a hill,five or six hundred feet high,was reported in the north-east,about fifteen miles distant.It was Mount Scorzef.

The bushman scrutinized his surroundings for a long time,and then pointing northwards:‘There’s the Ngami,’he announced.

‘The Ngami!—the Ngami!’cried the natives,accompanying their shouts with moving demonstrations of joy.

The Boschjesmen wanted to hurry on at once,and to run the fifteen miles which lay between them and the lake.But the hunter managed to restrain them,pointing out that in this country,infested as it was by the Makololos,it was most important for their mutual safety that they should keep together.

Wishing to get his little troop to the Ngansi as quickly as possible Colonel Everest decided to connect the station the then occupied with the Scorzef by one large triangle.The bearings of the hilltop,which ended in a peak,could be taken very exactly,and thus facilitated a good observation.There was no point in waiting for night or sending forward the sailors and natives to light a beacon on the top of Mount Scorzef.

The instruments were set up and the angle at the apex of the last triangle,already obtained towards the south,was again measured from the new station for the sake of greater accuracy.

Mokoum,extremely impatient to reach the banks of the Ngami,had pitched a provisional camp.He was anxious to reach the longed-for lake before night;but he neglected none of his usual precautions on that account.The sur-roundings of the camp were examined by a few mounted men,as to right and left were some thickets and bushes which it was only prudent to search.Since the oryx hunt they had seen notraces of the Makololos,and the watch which had been kept on the caravan now seemed to be given up;but the wary bushman was always on his guard and prepared for everything.

While the hunter was attending to their safety the astronomers were employed in setting out their new triangle.According to the bearings taken by William Emery,this triangle would bring them close to the twentieth parallel,the end of the arc which they had come to Africa to measure.A few more operations on the other side of the Ngami,and then,probably,the eighth section of the meridian would be obtained;then by verifying these calculations by means of a new base measured directly on the ground,the great enterprise would be completed.It will at once be realised how the prospect of so soon attaining the successful completion of their labours inspired these brave men with courage.

And how during this time,had the Russians fared?The members of the international commission had now been separated for six months,and where,at this moment,were Matthew Strux,Nicolas Palander,and Michel Zorn?Had they endured the same fatigues as their English colleagues?Had they,too,suffered from thirst and the intense heat of the climate?Along their route,which was close to the itinerary followed by David Livingstone,had the country been less arid?Perhaps it had,for after Kolobeng they might have reached other hamlets and villages—near the right of the meridian,where their caravan could have found supplies.But might it not be feared that in those regions,less deserted,and consequently more exposed to the plundering expeditions of the wandering tribes,Matthew Strux’s small band was in still greater danger?Since the Makololos had given up pursuing the English expedition,might it not be concluded that they were now on the track of the Russian?

Colonel Everest,always absorbed in his work,did not or would not form any conjecture;but Sir John Murray and William Emery often speculated as to the fate of their former colleagues,Would they ever see them again?Would the Russians accomplish their share of the work successfully?Would the same mathematical results—the length of the degree of longitude in this part of Africa—be identical in both the expeditions which had set up simultaneously,but separately,part of the trigonometrical network?Emery especially thought of his companion,whose absence he so much regretted;he still felt assured that Michel Zorn would never forget him.

To measure the angle adjacent to the station they had taken two sighting points,one formed by the conical summit of the Scorzef.

A tapering hillock to the left of the meridian and only four miles distant was chosen for the other point,its direction being ascertained.This was done twenty separate times,so as to reduce the possibility of error.

These complicated operations,notwithstanding the impatience of the natives,were conducted by the impassive Colonel with the same care as if he were in his own observatory at Cambridge:the whole of 21st February was passed in this manner,and it was only at the close of day,towards half-past five,when it was difficult to read the figures on the instruments,that the Colonel had finished his observations.

‘Now I’m at your orders,Mokoum,’he said.

‘And not too soon,Colonel,’replied Mokoum;‘and I’m sorry you hadn’t finished your work before dark,for we should have tried to pitch our next camp on the shore of the lake.

‘But what’s to prevent our starting at once?’asked Colonel Everest‘fifteen miles,even on a dark night,ought not to stop us.The route is clear enough—straight across the plain before us,and we needn’t be afraid of losing our way.’

‘Well,yes,’the bushman seemed to hesitate a little,‘perhaps we had better set out,though I should have preferred marching along the lands near the Ngami by day.Our men are all impatience to advance and reach the fresh waters of the lake.We shall start at once,Colonel.’

‘Whenever you like,Mokoum,’replied Colonel Everest.

This decision met with general approval;oxen were harnessed to the waggons,horses were mounted,instruments put away.At seven in the evening,the bushman having given the signal to advance,the caravan,stimulated by its hope of soon reaching water,was moving towards the Ngami.

From his instincts as a hunter,the bushman had begged the three Englishmen to take their arms and a supply of ammunition.He himself carried the rifle Sir John had given him,and he was well supplied with cartridges.

They set off at last.The night was dark,thick clouds obscured the stars,but the atmosphere near the ground was clear of mist.Mokoum,whose sight was of the keenest,kept watch ahead and on the flanks of the caravan.A few words he had dropped to Sir John showed that he did not think the country very safe.So Sir John held himself ready for whatever might happen.

The caravan had been marching northward for three hours,but it was in such a state of fatigue and exhaustion that it could move but slowly.It often had to halt to let the stragglers come up.They only made about three miles an hour,and by ten there were still six miles between them and the shores of the Ngami.

The panting oxen could hardly breathe,so oppressively warm was the night,while the atmosphere was so dry that the most sensitive hygrometer would have given no indication of moisture.

Notwithstanding the bushman’s remonstrances,the caravan no longer formed a compact body.Men and animals were straggling along regardless of order,and sometimes an exhausted ox would fall.The dismounted horsemen could hardly drag their wearied limbs along,and they would have easily been cut off by the smallest hostile party of natives.Mokoum,still very uneasy,spared neither words nor gestures,going from one to the other,trying to get his troop into something like order,but without success;and already,without his noticing it,several of his men were missing.

At eleven in the evening the leading waggons were hot more than three miles from the Scorzef.Though dark,this isolated hill appeared fairly plainly,and rose in the gloom like an enormous pyramid.Night,adding to its size,doubled its real height.If Mokoum had made no mistake,the Ngami was behind the Scorzef.So it was necessary to go round the mountain the shortest way to reach that vast extent of fresh water.

Accompanied by the three Europeans,the bushman had put himself at the head of the caravan and was preparing to turn off to the left,when the sound of firearms,in the distance but quite clear,suddenly checked him.The English had also pulled up their horses.They listened with an anxiety easy to understand.In a country where the natives only use lances and arrows,the sound of firearms surprised and alarmed them.

‘What was that?’asked the Colonel.

‘Firing,’replied Sir John.

‘Firing?’cried the Colonel‘Where?’

He was asking the bushman,who replied:‘That firing is on the summit of the Scorzef.Look at the shadows of men against the sky!There’s fighting on there!The Makololos must be attacking a party of Europeans.’

‘Europeans!’exclaimed William Emery.

‘Yes,Mr.William,’replied Mokoum,‘those loud explosions come only from European arms,and I might also add,from rifles.’

‘Then these Europeans must be—’

But the Colonel interrupted him:‘Gentlemen,whoever these Europeans may be we must go to their assistance.’

‘Yes,we must go at once,’repeated William Emery,whose heart began to beat with anxiety.

Before starting for the mountain the bushman tried to rally his men,who might be suddenly cut off by a marauding party.But when the hunter went back to the caravan it had already dispersed;the horses and oxen had been taken out of the abandoned waggons,and a few shadows gliding across the plain were already disappearing towards the south.

‘The cowards!’cried Mokoum‘thirst,fatigue,everything forgotten but flight.’

Then turning back to the astronomers and the sailors,he shouted:‘Forward!’

Europeans and hunter then rode off towards the north,forcing the poor horses to their utmost speed.

In twenty minutes they could distinctly hear the war-cry of the Makololos,though as yet they could not estimate their number.These native bandits were obviously assaulting the Scorzef,whose summit seemed crowned with fire.

Colonel Everest and his companions soon reached the rear of the besieging party.Leaving their exhausted horses,and giving a loud shout which the besieged might be able to hear,they opened fire upon the natives.When the Makololos heard this burst of rapid fire,they thought they were being attacked by a numerous body of men.This sudden assault took them by surprise,and they retreated without making use of their assegais and arrows.

Then the astronomers,bushman and seamen,loading and firing without ceasing,charged the robbers,fifteen of whom were already lying on the ground.

The Makololos broke and ran.The Europeans pressed forward and,again opening fire,they started climbing the hill.In ten minutes they had reached the top.It was lost in darkness,for the besieged had ceased firing,lest they might hit their unexpected rescuers.

And the besieged were the Russians!All of them were there—Matthew Strux,Nicolas Palander,Michel Zorn,and their five sailors.But of the natives who had formed their caravan,there remained only the devoted vorloper.These wretched Boschjesman,like those of the English,had forsaken them at the moment of danger.

As soon as the Colonel appeared,Matthew Strux leaped over the low wall which crowned the Scorzef.

‘You are the gentleman from England?’exclaimed the astronomer from Poulkowa.

‘Ourselves,gentlemen from Russia,’the Colonel replied in grave tones.‘But here there are no longer Russians or English,but only Europeans united in self-defence!’