name for  all the lands along the Nile
south of the First Cataract; later Nubia).

     A fortnight  after the  runaway slaves  had exchanged their underground
prison for  a  floating  gaol, at a distance of five hundred thousand cubits
upstream to  the south of  the capital of Tha-Quem, the following  scene was
enacted in the luxurious palace  of the Prince of the South on the Island of
Neb.
     The  Prince of the South and Governor of the Province of Neb, the cruel
and imperious Kabuefta, who considered himself second only to Pharaoh in the
Black Land, had summoned to his presence the Commander of the Host, the Lord
of the Hunt and the Chief Caravan Leader of the South.
     Kabuefta received  his guests on  the balcony  of  his  palace where an
abundant feast was spread; his Chief  Scribe was also  present. Kabuefta,  a
big muscular man, seated, in imitation of Pharaoh, on a high throne of ebony
and ivory, towered arrogantly above his companions.
     He  noticed  the  inquiring  glances,  which  the  assembled  officials
exchanged, and smiled to himself.
     The palace stood on the  highest  part of the island and the  view from
the balcony embraced the wide sleeves of the river sweeping round a group of
temples built of white limestone and-red granite. Along the banks were dense
growths of tall palms whose dark feathery  foliage stretched along  the foot
of  the  steep,  rocky  cliff  of  the river-bank. A  vertical  granite wall
bordering  a  high plateau shut off the southern view; the First Cataract of
the Nile  was situated at  the eastern point of this  plateau. At this point
the  valley  of  the  river  suddenly narrowed  and  the  expanse  of  calm,
well-tilled  fields  was  broken  off abruptly  by  the  immeasurably  great
expanses of the  deserts of  Nub,  the  land  of gold.  From terraces on the
cliffside the  tombs  of past  Princes of  the South  looked  down  upon the
palace-these were the graves of bold explorers of the countries inhabited by
the black people, beginning with the great Herkhuf who had led caravans into
the southern countries at the time of the 6th Dynasty. ( 2625-2475 B.C.)
     An experienced  desert traveller could  discern the  regular  lines  of
hieroglyphs of a tremendously long inscription that from  that distance  had
the appearance of the cuneiform  inscriptions  of the  Asian  countries. The
ruler of the south, however, had no need  to read the inscriptions.  He knew
by heart the proud words of Hemu relating  his journey  to the Land  of Punt
(Puoni): "In the eighth year ... the  keeper  of the seal, the keeper of all
that is  and is not, the curator of  the  temples, granaries and  the  white
house,  the  keeper of the  Gates  of the South..  ."- (  Retranslated  from
Golenishchev's Russian version of the  Egyptian  original.) all these titles
belonged to Kabuefta as much as to his legendary ancestor.
     The distance  was  lost in  the greyish haze caused by the heat, but it
was cool on the island-a  north  wind struggled against the heat encroaching
from the south, driving it back to the wilderness of sunburnt plains.
     The Prince of the South  gazed long at  the tombs  of his ancestors and
then with a gesture ordered a waiting slave to fill the glasses for the last
time. The feast was over;  the guests  rose and followed their host into the
inner  rooms  of the  palace. They entered  a square,  not  very high  room,
beautifully decorated  in the style of  the great days  of Tuthmosis  III. (
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III  (1501-1447 B.C.)-statesman and  soldier who added  to
Egyptian  conquests.) The smooth white walls  were decorated  at  the bottom
with a broad light blue border, containing an intricate straight-line design
composed of white lines, while  a narrow strip  of wall around  the  ceiling
bore  a pattern of lotus flowers and symbolic figures,  carried out in blue,
green, black and white tones on a background of dull gold.
     The ceiling was divided by  four wooden  beams of a  deep cherry colour
and surrounded by a checkered border in black  and gold.  The spaces between
the beams were painted in bright  colours-gold spirals and white rosettes on
a checker-board background in red and blue.
     The wide  door-posts  of polished cedar-wood were  bordered with narrow
black stripes broken by numerous pairs of blue lines drawn across them.
     A carpet, a  few folding chairs of ivory covered in leopard  skin,  two
armchairs of.  gold-inlaid  ebony, a few chests on legs which also served as
tables, constituted the entire furniture of the big, bright and airy room.
     Without undue haste Kabuefta took his  seat in one of the armchairs and
his  clear-cut  profile  stood  out  sharply  against  the  white wall.  The
officials pulled their  chairs closer to him and the Chief Scribe stood by a
tall table of ebony inlaid with gold and ivory.
     On the polished surface of the table lay a scroll of papyrus with a red
and white seal. At a sign from the Prince  of  the South the Scribe unrolled
the papyrus and stood for a moment in respectful silence.
     The Commander  of  the  Host, a  gaunt, bald-headed man without a  wig,
winked at the little,  stubby Caravan Leader, giving him  to understand that
the talk for which they had been summoned would now begin.
     Sure  enough  Kabuefta  inclined  his head  and spoke to the  assembled
officials.
     "His  Majesty,  the Ruler of  the  Upper and  Lower Black Lands,  life,
health, strength, has sent me an express letter. In  it His Majesty commands
me to do something  unheard  of-to bring to the  City a beast with a  horned
nose  such  as  inhabits   the   land  beyond   Wawat;*  these  animals  are
distinguished for their  monstrous strength and  ferocity.  In the past many
beasts from the  southern lands have been brought  alive to the Great House.
The people  of the  City and the people of Tha-Meri-Heb have seen huge apes,
giraffes, the beasts-of Seth** and the groundhogs; savage lions and leopards
accompanied Ramses  the  Great***  and even fought  against  the enemies  of
Tha-Quem, but never has a rhinoceros been caught alive.
     (* Wawat--the stretch of the Nile between modern Aswan and Khartoum.
     ** Beasts of  Seth-okapi, an animal from the same group as the giraffe.
They are now found only in the dense jungles of the Congo but  were formerly
widespread  throughout Africa, being very  numerous  in the Nile  Delta. The
figure of the dread Seth, god of darkness, is modelled after this animal.
     *** Ramses II (1229-1225 B.C.), the great conqueror.  Tame lions fought
on the side of the Egyptians against the Hittites.)
     "From time immemorial the  Princes of the South have provided the Black
Land  with everything needed from the lands of the black people; nothing has
ever been impossible for  them to perform. I wish to continue this  glorious
tradition: Tha-Quem must see a  live rhinoceros. I have summoned you that we
may take counsel on the  easiest way to bring at least one of these terrible
monsters to Tha-Quem. What do you say, Nehzi, who have seen so many glorious
hunts?"  he  asked, turning  to.  the  Lord of  the  Hunt,  a  morose, obese
individual whose wavy hair,  dark  skin and  humped nose  betrayed  in him a
descendant of the Hyksos.
     "The beast of the southern plains  is indescribably fierce; his skin is
impervious to our spears, his strength is that of the elephant," began Nehzi
importantly. "He attacks first, smashing and crushing everything that stands
in his way. He is  not to be caught in a pit:  the  heavy  animal would most
certainly be  injured. If we arrange a big hunt and  seek  a female with her
young we might kill the mother, capture the babe  and take it  to Quemt. . .
." Kabuefta struck angrily on the arm  of his chair. "Seven times seven will
I fall to the feet of the Great House, my ruler. Fie on you," the finger  of
the Prince of the South prodded the dumbfounded Lord of the Hunt, "who dares
to sin against His Majesty. Not a hall-dead  babe must we bring him,  but  a
great beast,  nefer-neferu,  the best of the best, an animal in the prime of
life, capable of inspiring fear in full measure. Nor can we wait until a cub
grows to maturity in captivity. . .  .  The royal command must be  fulfilled
with  all  haste  especially as the  animal lives far  from the Gates of the
South."
     Peheni, the Caravan Leader, suggested sending some three hundred of the
bravest  soldiers without arms  but  with  ropes and  nets  to  capture  the
monster.
     The  Commander  of  the Host, Senofri,  scowled  at  this and  Kabuefta
frowned at him.
     Then the Caravan Leader hastened to add  that it would not be necessary
to send soldiers but that it would be better to force the Nubians themselves
to capture the beast.
     Kabuefta shook his head, twisting his mouth into a derisive smile.
     "The  days  of   Tuthmosis  and  Ramses  are  long  past-the.  despised
inhabitants of the Land of Nub  are no  longer bowed  in submission. Senofri
knows with what efforts  and cunning  we are able to curb the lust  of their
hungry mouths.  . .  . No, that will  not  do, we  must capture  the  animal
ourselves. . . ."
     "And if, instead of soldiers,  we were to sacrifice slaves,"  suggested
Senofri with caution.
     The worried Kabuefta was suddenly aroused.
     "I swear  by Ma'at, the all-seeing goddess of truth, that you're right,
O wise commander! I'll take rebels and runaways from the prisons, these  are
the boldest of the slaves. They shall capture the monster."
     The Lord of the Hunt smiled an unbelieving smile.
     "You  are wise, O Prince of the South,  but, might I  make bold to ask,
how are  you going to compel the  slaves to  face  certain, death from  this
fierce monster? Threats will not help, you can only threaten them with death
instead of death. What difference will it make to them?"
     "You understand animals better than you do men, Nehzi, so leave the men
to me. I shall promise  them liberty. Those who have already faced death for
the sake of  liberty will be  willing to  do  EO again. That's exactly why I
shall take only rebellious slaves."
     "And will you fulfil your promise?" asked Nehzi again.
     Kabuefta stuck out his lower lip haughtily.
     "The majesty of the Prince of the South does not permit  him to sink so
low as  to lie to  slaves,  but they  will not return. Leave that to me. You
would  do  better to tell  me how many men you'll need to capture the animal
and how far it is to the places where it is to be found."
     "We'll need no less  than two hundred men. The animal will crush a half
of them and the remainder will overcome him by their numbers and tie him up.
Two months from now begins the  season of floods and the grass of the plains
will spring  up. At that time the animals will come north for  the grass and
we  shall  then be able to seek them  close  to  the river  near  the  Sixth
Cataract. The most important thing is to capture  the animal in the vicinity
of the river, since the  men will not  be able to carry a  live  animal that
weighs as much as seven bulls. Once on the river, we can take it by water in
a big cage as far as the City. . . ."
     The  Prince of the  South was thinking deeply, making calculations, and
his lips quivered.
     "Het!" he said at last. "So let it be.  A hundred and fifty slaves will
be enough if they fight well. A hundred soldiers, twenty hunters and guides.
. . . You  will take command of the whole party, Nehzi! Get busy making your
arrangements at  once.  Senofri  will select reliable  soldiers and peaceful
Negroes." (* Peaceful Negroes-the name given by the Egyptians to Negroes who
served in the army and police.)
     The Lord of the Hunt bowed.
     The  officials  left  the  chamber,   making  merry  over  Nehzi's  new
appointment.
     Kabuefta  seated  the  Scribe  and  began to  dictate  a letter  to the
governors of the prisons of the two towns at the Gates of the South, Neb and
Swan.




        V. THE GOLDEN PLAIN

     At the foot of a staircase, leading  down from  a hill at the  southern
end of the Island of Neb, stood  a crowd  of slaves chained to  huge  bronze
rings hanging  from the granite  pillars that rose above the lower  terrace.
All  the hundred and fourteen survivors of the flight were there and another
forty  Negroes and  Nubians with  savage faces and bodies criss-crossed with
the  scars of old  wounds.  The  crowd languished  long  in the  blazing sun
waiting to learn their fate.
     At last  a  man in  white raiment, with  the glitter  of  gold  on  his
forehead,  breast and on his  black staff,  appeared on the upper landing of
the staircase. He  walked slowly in the shade of two fans, carried by Nubian
soldiers. Several other  men, important officials, judging by their clothes,
surrounded the Prince. This was Kabuefta, the Prince of the South.
     The soldiers quickly drew a cordon around the  slaves; a prison scribe,
who accompanied the captives,  stepped forward and prostrated himself before
the Prince.
     Kabuefta, calmly, never changing the expression on  his immobile  face,
came down the  stairs and advanced  right up to the slaves. He cast a rapid,
contemptuous glance over all those present. Turning to one of the  officials
he  said  something in careless  tones,  although there was a slight note of
approval in his voice. The  Prince of  the South struck the ground  with his
staff, its bronze ferrule rang sharply on the stone pavement.
     "All of you look at me and listen! Let  those who do not understand the
language of Quemt be led aside; they will get an explanation later."
     The  soldiers hurriedly obeyed the order,  taking away fifteen  Negroes
who did not understand the language.
     Kabuefta spoke  loudly  and slowly, in  the  language  of  the  people,
carefully  selecting his words.  It was obvious that the Prince of the South
frequently had occasion to speak to foreigners.
     The Prince  explained to the slaves-the matter in hand; he did not  try
to  hide  the fact  that  it meant death for many  of them, but  he promised
liberty  to  the survivors.  The  majority of  the captives expressed  their
agreement in exclamations of approval, the  remainder kept a sullen silence,
but nobody refused.
     "Het!" continued Kabuefta, "so let it be." Again his glance  swept over
the lean and dirty bodies. "I'll order  that you be fed nourishing  food and
are given an opportunity to bathe. The journey through the five cataracts of
the Hapi is a hard one, it will be easier to  travel in light boats.  I will
give  orders for you to be  freed if you swear you  will make no  attempt to
escape. .  . ." Cries of joy  interrupted his speech. He waited  until  they
subsided and then continued: "In  addition to the oath I  give the following
order: for every one that runs away ten of his best comrades will be flayed,
sprinkled with salt and cast bound on to the sandy banks of the Land of Nub.
Those who  show  cowardice when  tackling the animal and  run away  will  be
subjected to horrible tortures; I have warned the inhabitants of the Land of
Nub and under threat of punishment they will track down all runaways."
     The end of the Prince's speech met with  morose silence which  Kabuefta
paid no attention to  as he  again looked  over the slaves.  His  experience
helped him make a faultless choice.
     "Come  here, you," said the Prince to Cavius. "You will be in charge of
the trappers and the mediator between my hunters and your companions."
     Cavius made an unhurried bow to the Prince and  his lips  curved  in  a
grim smile.
     "You are selling us liberty  at  a  high price, O Prince,  but  we  are
willing  to buy  It,"  said  the Etruscan and turned to  his comrades.  "The
savage beast is no worse  than the gold mines, and we have greater hope. . .
."
     Kabuefta left  them and the slaves  were  returned to their prison. The
Prince  of the South  kept his  promise: the rebels were well fed; they were
released from their chains and collars and  twice a  day  were taken down to
the Nile  to bathe  in coves fenced off to keep out the crocodiles. Two days
later a hundred and  fifty-four  slaves  were  joined  to  a  detachment  of
soldiers and hunters sailing upstream on light boats made of reeds.
     The journey was a long one.  The inhabitants of the Black Land reckoned
four million cubits from the Gates of the South to the Sixth Cataract of the
Nile. The river flowed almost  in a straight line through Wawat and Yer-thet
but in the Land of  Kush,  situated higher upstream, it made two wide bends,
one to the west and the other to the east. ( Kush-the name given by Egyptian
geographers  to  the part  of the Nile Valley between  the  Second and Fifth
Cataracts; it included the ancient lands of  Jam and Karoi.  Yerthet was the
province south of the Second Cataract, Wawat between the First and Second.)
     The Lord of the Hunt was in a hurry: the journey would take two months;
in nine weeks  time  the  water would  begin to rise  and  it  would be more
difficult  to  work  their  way  upstream  when  the  speed  of  the current
increased. Then, again, it would  only be possible  to bring the huge animal
in a heavy  boat over the cataracts when the  floods were at  their highest.
There would be but little time for the return journey.
     Throughout  the long journey the slaves  were  well  fed and  they felt
strong  and healthy, despite the  hard work  they did every  day  rowing the
boats against a current that was especially swift at the cataracts.
     They did not worry much about the hunt,  that  was  still  before them,
since every man was certain that he would survive and gain  his freedom. The
contrast between the wild unknown lands through which  they  passed  and the
period of waiting in a black hole in anticipation  of brutal punishment  was
too great for them. And the men now full of life and strong in mind and body
worked with a will. The Lord  of  the Hunt was pleased with them and did not
grudge  them food-it was provided by all the towns  and villages that lay on
their way.
     Immediately on leaving the Island of Neb, Pandion and his  comrades saw
the First Cataract of the Nile. The river was squeezed between  rocky cliffs
and  its swift current broke into  separate streams of seething white water,
that roared  and raged down the slope amongst a tangled mass of black rocks.
Hundreds of years before  Pandion's  time many thousands of slaves,  working
under the  guidance of  Tha-Quem's most skilled  engineers, had built canals
through the  granite  rocks  so that  even  the big warships could  pass the
cataract easily. The light boats of the hunting expedition did not find  any
great  difficulty in passing the  first or any of the  other cataracts.  The
slaves stood up to the waist  in water,' pushing  the light  boats from  one
rock to another.  Sometimes they  had to carry the boats  on their shoulders
along convenient ledges  cut on the banks by  the floodwaters. Day after day
the hunters made their way farther and farther southwards.
     They passed a  temple hewn  out of living rock on  the left bank of the
-river. Pandion's attention was  drawn  to four gigantic figures, each about
thirty  cubits high, standing  in a niche.  These  gigantic statues  of  the
conqueror, Pharaoh Ramses II, seemed to guard the entrance to the temple.
     The expedition passed the Second Cataract which stretched the length of
a whole day's  journey. Still higher up the river they came to the Island of
Uronartu with the rapids  of  Semne;  a fortress had  been built  there nine
centuries before on water-eroded granite cliffs by the Pharaoh who conquered
Nubia and had been given the name of "Repulse of the Savages." (Senusret III
(the  legendary  Sesostris)  1887-1849  B.C., a Pharaoh of the Xllth Dynasty
(2000-1788), famous for his huge building works.)

     The thick walls, twenty cubits high and  built of  sunbaked brick, were
still in an excellent state of preservation; they were thoroughly overhauled
every thirty years. On the cliffs there were stone tablets with inscriptions
forbidding the Negroes to enter the Land of Tha-Quem.
     The gloomy grey fortress with square turrets at the corners and several
other  turrets facing  the  river,  with  narrow staircases leading from the
river through the  rocks,  rose high above the surrounding country, a symbol
of the proud might of Quemt. None of the slaves, however, suspected that the
great days of mighty Quemt were past, that a  country that had been built up
by  the labour  of  countless  slaves was  being  rent  asunder by  constant
rebellions  and  that  she was threatened by  the  growing  strength of  new
peoples.
     On  their way they  passed  four  other  fortresses  standing on  rocky
islands or cliffs on the river-bank. The boats then rounded an ox-bow in the
river  in the centre of which was  situated the town  of  Hem-Aton, that had
been  built  by  the  same heretic  Pharaoh  who had built the  capital city
amongst the ruins of which  Pandion  had found the statue  of the mysterious
girl. The inhabitants of the town were Egyptians who had  either been exiled
or had fled from the Black Land in times long past. At the end of the ox-bow
the river turned at right angles, forced into its new course by high  cliffs
of  dark sandstone. Here began the third  narrow  stretch  of  swift-flowing
water almost a hundred thousand cubits in length which took the hunters four
days to pass.
     The  fourth  stretch of the Nile, above the  city of Napata, capital of
the  kings of Nub, was  still  longer-it took five days  to  navigate it.  A
further delay of two days was caused by negotiations between the Lord of the
Hunt and  the  rulers of Kush.  At the  Fourth  Cataract  the  hunters  were
overtaken by three boats carrying Nubians, who were sent ahead to locate the
rhinoceros.
     Riverside  settlements were fewer  and farther apart  than in Tha-Quem.
The valley itself was much narrower and the  cliffs that bounded  the desert
plateaux  could  be  clearly  discerned through  the heat haze.  Hundreds of
crocodiles, some of them of enormous size, hid in the reed  thickets  or lay
on the  sand-banks exposing their greenish-black  backs to the blazing  sun.
Several careless slaves and soldiers fell victims to the cunning attacks  of
the silent reptiles right before the eyes of their comrades.
     There were  large numbers of hippopotamuses in  these waters.  Pandion,
the Etruscans  and  other slaves from  the  northern countries were  already
familiar with these ugly animals that bore in  Egyptian the name of hie. The
hippopotamuses did not  show any fear of  people nor  did  they attack  them
without cause so that  the  slaves were able to pass quite  close to them. A
large number of blue patches in front  of the green wall of rushes ahead  of
them  showed the resting places of the  hippopotamuses in the wider parts of
the valley, where the river spread into a broad,  smooth-surfaced  lake. The
wet skin of the  animals had  a bluish tinge.  The ungainly monsters watched
the  boats  pass, holding  above the water their  strange blunt heads,  that
looked  as though the  snouts had been chopped  off. Very  often the animals
held their square  jowls  under the water  so that the yellow, muddy  stream
flowed over the dark mounds of foreheads surmounted by tiny protruding ears.
The eyes of the  hippopotamuses, situated  on  bumps on the  head and giving
them  an  expression  of ferocity,  gazed  at the  passing boats  in  stupid
persistence.
     In  those  places  where  the granite  cliffs  rose straight  from  the
river-bed, forming cataracts and rapids, they came across deep holes between
the  crags  filled with unruffled, transparent water. On one occasion,  when
the men were carrying the boats over  a portage that ran along the edge of a
granite cliff,  they saw a huge hippopotamus walking along the bottom of one
of these holes on  his short stumpy legs. Under the water the bluish skin of
the animal  turned  a deeper blue.  Experienced  Negroes  explained to their
comrades  that the Me often walk along the beds of rivers in  search of  the
roots of water-plants.
     The river  valley changed its  direction for the  last time -at  a big,
densely  populated and fertile island it turned almost due south and  only a
short distance divided them from their goal.
     The  steep banks of the  river grew lower, they were  cut by  wide, dry
watercourses in which thick growths of thorny trees occurred. On the journey
between the Fourth and  Fifth Cataracts two boats overturned and eleven men,
all of them poor swimmers, were drowned.
     After passing the  Fifth Cataract they met the first  tributary  of the
Nile.  The wide mouth  of the River of  Perfumes, a right  tributary  of the
Nile, joined  the main stream in an extensive jungle of reeds and papyri. An
impassable  green wail,  up to  twenty cubits in height, intersected by  the
zigzags of  streams and backwaters,  barred the  entrance to the river.  The
banks of the Nile had now become separate, clearly defined ranges  of hills,
on  which groves of  trees were becoming more frequent;  their thorny trunks
were  higher and the  long  dark ribbons  of the  groves  ran far  into  the
interior  of  an unknown and  unpopulated  land. The  slopes  of  the  hills
bristled with clumps of coarse grass that rustled in the wind. The time  was
drawing near  when they  would  have  to pay for their  journey in  freedom,
without chains and without prisons, and a suppressed alarm filled the hearts
of the slaves.
     ( River of Perfumes-the Atbara, falling into the Nile from the East.)
     Soon the terrible trial will begin: some will be  saved  at the cost of
the blood and sufferings of their comrades,  others  will remain for ever in
this unknown  land, having  made  the supreme sacrifice. Such  were  Cavius'
thoughts  as  he cast an  involuntary glance over  his companions, trying to
imagine what the future held in store.
     As they sailed farther upstream, the country took on the character of a
plain. Marshy banks framed  the smooth surface  of  the water  in  a sharply
defined line of  dark grass that  stretched away inland  as  far  as the eye
could reach. The star-shaped brushes  of the  papyrus plants  hung  over the
river, breaking the monotonous line of the level banks. Grass-covered islets
broke the stream into a labyrinth  of narrow passages, where  the deep water
lay  dark  and mysterious between the green walls. In places where there was
hard  ground  on the  banks the travellers  saw  large  patches  of cracked,
sun-baked clay bearing the footprints  of many  animals. Birds  that  looked
like  storks  but were  the  height  of  a  man  amazed  the slaves by their
monstrous beaks. It looked to them as if the birds' heads were surmounted by
huge chests with the edges  of the lids  turned  upwards. The monsters' evil
yellow eyes gleamed from under pendent orbits.
     After passing the point where  the River of  Perfumes entered the Nile,
they journeyed  for two  days along  a  stretch of the river  straight as  a
spear-shaft until they saw the faint smoke of two signal fires on a ledge of
the bank. Here they were  awaited by the hunters and  Nubian  guides who had
gone ahead; the signal told them that the beast had been found. That night a
hundred and forty slaves  escorted by ninety soldiers marched westwards from
the river. Warm, heavy  rain poured  down  on the  heated soil. The humidity
made the men dizzy, for they had long forgotten what rain was like under the
permanently cloudless sky of Tha-Quem.
     The  hunters  marched  through  coarse  grass  that  grew   waist-high,
occasionally passing  the  black silhouettes of  trees.  Hyenas  and jackals
howled and barked  on  all sides, wild  cats rent  the  air with  their loud
mewing and the raucous voices  of  night birds, calling to each other, had a
particularly ominous sound. A new country, mysterious  and indefinite in the
darkness, opened  up before the dwellers of  Asia and the Northern Shores, a
country teeming with life independent of man and unsubdued by him.
     Ahead of them  appeared a  huge tree  whose gigantic crown covered half
the sky;  its trunk was thicker than  any  of the big obelisks  of the Black
Land. The people made camp  under this tree and there  spent  the night that
was to be the last for many of  them. Pandion could  not get to sleep for  a
long time-he was excited  by thoughts  of the coming tight and lay listening
to the sounds of the African plain lands.
     Cavius sat by the camp-fire discussing plans of action for the next day
with the hunters; then he, too, lay down with a heavy sigh as he looked over
the  restlessly  dozing  or sleepless figures  of his comrades. He could not
understand the  carefree  attitude of Kidogo who was calmly sleeping between
Pandion  and  Remdus-throughout  the  journey  the  four  friends  had  kept
together.  The Negro's unconcern  seemed to  him the  very highest degree of
bravery which even he, a soldier  who had many times faced  death, could not
lay claim to.
     Morning came  and the slaves were divided into three groups each headed
by  five  hunters and two local guides. Every slave was provided with a long
rope or thong with a noose at the end. Four men in  each party carried a big
net made of especially strong ropes,  the mesh of which was a cubit  across.
Their task was to catch the monster with the ropes, entangle him in the nets
and then bind his feet.
     In complete silence  they set out  across the plain, each group at some
distance from the others. The soldiers  stretched out in a long line, arrows
held to their bows as they did not trust the slaves. Before  Pandion and his
comrades stretched a level plain overgrown  with grass more than  waist high
and dotted here and there by trees with umbrella-shaped crowns. (The African
acacia  and certain varieties of  mimosa.)Their  grey trunks spread out into
branches  almost  from  the  roots,  forming a huge funnel so that the trees
looked  like inverted  cones  while  their transparent,  dull  green foliage
seemed to be floating in the air.
     Between the trees there were dark patches of tall, small-leaved shrubs,
at times stretching along the scarcely perceptible depression of a temporary
watercourse and at other times visible from the distance as a shapeless dark
mass. Occasionally they came across trees with  trunks of enormous thickness
whose huge gnarled  and knotted branches were covered with young leaves  and
bunches of white  flowers.  These massive  trees stood  out sharply  in  the
plain,  their far-spreading crowns  casting huge  patches of  black  shadow.
Their fibrous bark had a metallic hue that looked like lead;  their branches
seemed  to  be  cast from  copper  and the  aroma  spread by  their  flowers
resembled that of almonds.
     The sun turned the scarcely moving, coarse grass to gold over which the
green lacework of the trees seemed to be floating in the air.
     A row  of  black  thin spears appeared  above the  grass-  a  group  of
antelopes-the  oryx-showed  their horns  and disappeared  behind  a line  of
bushes. The  grass was still rather scanty, patches  of bare, cracked  earth
showed on  all sides since the rains  had  only  just  begun. On  their left
appeared  a grove of trees  whose  feather-like  leaves  resembled palms but
their trunks opened  out  into  two  branches at  the  top, like the  spread
fingers of a hand, and on these, in turn, other branches grew.
     (The baobab-a tree typical of the African savanna. )
     It was here that the hunters  had seen the rhinoceroses on the previous
day and,  making a  sign  to  the slaves to stay  where  they  were, crawled
cautiously towards the grove, and peered amongst the trees where it was dark
after  the  bright  sunlight outside. There  were no  animals there  and the
hunters  led the  slaves  towards a dry  watercourse  densely overgrown with
bushes.  Here there  was a spring which the  rhinoceroses had  turned into a
mud-hole where  they  lay during the hottest  hours of  the day. The hunters
came to an  open space around which  were three of  the  big umbrella-headed
acacias. They were still about  two thousand cubits from the dry watercourse
when one of the Nubian guides at the head of the party stopped and threw out
his  arms  in a  signal to halt. It  became  so silent that the  humming  of
insects  could be plainly heard. Kidogo touched Pandion on  the  shoulder-he
pointed to one side where Pandion saw something under  the low, thorny trees
that looked  like  two smooth blocks of  stone. These were the awe-inspiring
animals of  the southern plains.  At  first the  animals did  not notice the
hunters and continued lying on the ground with their backs towards them. The
animals  did not seem very big  to Pandion, and one of them, a  female,  was
much  smaller than  the  other.  The slaves  did  not know that the hunters,
hoping for a generous  reward,  had picked out an exceptionally  large  male
rhinoceros  of the light-skinned  variety* that was  much  bigger  than  its
southern relatives, was higher  in the shoulder, had a wide square jowl  and
light  grey skin. The hunters  decided to change  the plan of attack so that
the female would not intervene and spoil the hunt.
     ( In former times the white rhinoceros was considerably  more common in
Northern Sudan.)
     The Lord of the  Hunt and the Captain of the escort troops climbed up a
tree, cursing  the long thorns on its trunk. The soldiers hid behind bushes.
The slaves joined forces in a single group, spread out in several lines and,
together  with  the hunters,  rushed  across the  open plain  with deafening
shouts,  waving their ropes and giving themselves  courage by shouting their
war-cries. The two animals jumped to their feet with amazing speed. The huge
male stood still for a second, his eyes fixed on the people approaching him,
but the female, more frightened than he, ran away to one side. This was what
the hunters had counted on and they ran swiftly away to the right to cut her
off from her companion.
     From the tree-top the Lord  of the  Hunt could see the gigantic body of
the  immobile  rhinoceros,  the  black  curve of  ears  peeked  forward  and
separated by the high hill-like crown of the animal's head. Behind his  ears
rose  the high hump of  its massive withers and in front of them gleamed the
sharp end of its horn. It seemed to the Egyptian that the animal's tiny eyes
were  looking down at the  ground with a stupid  and  even offended look  in
them.
     A minute later the  rhinoceros  turned and  the Egyptian  saw its  long
head, awkwardly curved in the middle,  the steep  slope of  its withers, the
ridge of bones protruding on its rump, its  legs as thick as tree-trunks and
its little tail sticking up in a warlike manner.
     The huge  shining horn, no less  than two cubits long, situated  on the
animal's nose, was very  thick at the root and sharply  pointed at  the tip.
Behind it was another horn, smaller than the first, also sharp, with a round
wide base..
     The  hearts  of   the  people  running  towards   the  rhinoceros  beat
furiously-close at hand it seemed a most fearful  monster. The gigantic body
was no less than  eight cubits in length and its powerful  withers towered a
good four cubits above  the  ground. The  rhinoceros snorted so loudly  that
every  man heard  it and  then hurled itself at the oncoming people. With an
agility unbelievable in so great a body the  massive animal  was  an instant
later in the  middle of  the crowd. Nobody had time  to lift a rope. Pandion
found himself some distance from the massive animal that rushed  past like a
whirlwind.  He  just had  time  to  notice  the  animal's distended nostrils
surrounded by folds of skin, a torn right ear and flanks covered with little
hillocks like  growths of lichen.  After that  everything  was  mixed up  in
Pandion's  head. A  shrill  scream  rang out across the plain, an  awkwardly
twisted human figure flew  through the air. The rhinoceros made a  wide path
through  the  crowd of  slaves  and dashed  past them  into  the open plain,
leaving  several  prostrated bodies  behind him, turned,  and  again  hurled
himself  at  the  unfortunate people. This time human figures hung on to the
rapidly moving mass of flesh. But the  monster was  made up of solid muscles
and thick bones and clothed in a skin as hard as armour-plating and the  men
flew off in  different directions. Again the  rhinoceros began stamping  the
doomed  slaves  underfoot,  crushing  them  and goring them  with  its horn.
Pandion,  who had run  forward together with the  others, was  stopped  by a
dull, heavy blow and found himself on all fours. Wailing groans and piercing
shrieks swept across the field and the air was  filled  with clouds of dust.
The Lord of the Hunt, who had  been shouting  from his tree-top to encourage
the  slaves, was now silent as  he looked in confusion at the battle. Not  a
single rope had been fastened to the animal and already some thirty men  lay
dead  or wounded. The  soldiers, pale and  trembling, took  cover behind the
trees, praying to the gods of Tha-Quem for salvation. For the third time the
rhinoceros  attacked  the people  and  although they  gave way before him he
managed  to  gore  Remdus, the  younger Etruscan, with his horn. With abrupt
snorts the animal  dashed  furiously amongst the  people,  goring  them  and
trampling them underfoot. Foam  flew  from the animal's  nostrils;  his tiny
eyes gleamed with rage.
     With  a furious howl Cavius hurled himself at the monster but  his rope
slipped  off the horn; the Etruscan himself  flew aside,  bleeding-the rough
hide of the rhinoceros had torn the skin from his shoulder and chest.
     Cavius  got  to  his  feet  with difficulty, roaring in helpless  fury.
Scared by the strength of the rhinoceros the people staggered back from him,
the less brave of them Sliding behind the backs of their comrades.
     It  seemed that little more was required to make them  scatter  in  all
directions, abandoning their hopes of liberty.
     Again the rhinoceros  turned  to attack  the people,  again the air was
filled  with  howls.  Kidogo stepped  forward.  The  Negro's  nostrils  were
distended; he was  filled  with that fire  of battle  that is born of mortal
d-anger  when  a man forgets  everything except the necessity  to fight,  to
fight for life.  Leaping aside from the awful  horn that threatened  certain
death, Kidogo  ran after the animal  and  seized  hold of its tail. Pandion,
recovering from the terrible  shaking he had received, picked up a  net that
was  lying on the ground. At that moment he realized that he should be ahead
of his  comrades whose bodies had shielded him when he lay stupefied  on the
grass. Some faint memories flitted through his mind-the glade in Crete,  the
dangerous games with the bull. The  rhinoceros was not much like a bull, but
Pandion decided to use the same methods. Throwing the rolled-up net over his
shoulder, he  rushed at  the rhinoceros. The  animal had come to a halt, was
pawing  the  ground with its hind-legs, churning up clouds of dust,  and had
thrown Kidogo far away. Two Libyans, understanding Pandion's plan, attracted
the animal's attention  to one side and, with a single bound, he reached the
animal  and  pressed  closely  to  its  side.  The  rhinoceros  turned  like
lightning,  its rough hide tearing Pandion's  skin. Pandion felt  a terrific
pain, but,  forgetting all else, hung on to the animal's  ear. In the way he
had seen it done in Crete, Pandion threw his body across that  of the animal
and landed on  his broad back.  The rhinoceros  twisted  and turned. Pandion
hung  on for all he was worth. If  I can only hold on, was" the  one thought
that repeated itself in his brain.
     And Pandion held  on for  the number of seconds necessary  to throw the
net over the  animal's head. The horns protruded through the mesh of the net
and Pandion was filled with wild joy, but instantly  he became blind  to his
surroundings  and lost consciousness. Something cracked, a heavy weight fell
on him and everything went dark before his eyes.
     In the  heat  of battle Pandion  had not noticed that Kidogo  had again
caught hold of the animal's tail and that ten Libyans and six Amu had seized
the net he had flung over the animal's head. In his effort to throw off 'the
people the  rhinoceros had rolled over on to one  side breaking the arm  and
collar-bone of the young Hellene who fell heavily to the ground.  The people
took immediate advantage of the monster's fall. With loud shouts the  slav