es
fell on the rhinoceros,  a second net enveloped its head and two nooses were
made fast  on  a  hind-leg  and  one  on  a foreleg.. The  animal's snorting
developed into a deep roar; it rolled over on  to the  left side, then on to
its back,  crushing people's bones under its  heavy weight.  It  seemed that
there was no limit to the animal's strength. Six times it rose  to its feet,
got mixed up in the ropes and rolled over on to its back again, killing more
than fifty men. Still  the ropes  and thongs on its legs increased in number
and the  hunters drew'  the strong nooses  tight. Three nets  enveloped  the
animal from head to foot.  Soon  a crowd of people, bleeding,  sweating  and
covered in dirt, lay on the  madly struggling rhinoceros. The animal's hide,
covered with  human blood, 'had  become slippery,  the men's crooked fingers
would not hold,  but still the ropes  were  drawn tighter  and tighter. Even
those who had  been crushed by the animal's heavy weight  in its last effort
to free itself clung to the ropes with the rigid grip of death. '
     The hunters came up to the recumbent animal with fresh ropes, bound all
four tree-like legs and tied its head to its forelegs by ropes passed behind
the horn.
     The terrible battle was over.
     The  panic-stricken people gradually  came to their senses; the muscles
of their lacerated bodies began to twitch as though they were in a fever and
black patches floated before their unseeing eyes.
     At  last the  frantically beating hearts grew  calmer; here  and  there
sighs of relief were to be  heard, for the  people had begun to realize that
death had passed them by. Cavius,  covered with bloody  mud, rose staggering
to  his feet; Kidogo, trembling all over, but  already smiling,  came up  to
him. The smile, however, immediately left the Negro's  greying face when  he
found that Pandion was not amongst the living.
     Seventy-three men had survived, the remainder had either been killed or
had  received  mortal wounds.  The  Etruscan  and Kidogo sought for  Pandion
amongst the dead in the  down-trodden grass, found his body and  carried  it
into the shade. Cavius examined him carefully but could not  find any mortal
injuries. Remdus was dead; the fiery leader of the Amu had also perished and
the brave Libyan Akhmi, his chest crushed, lay dying.
     While the slaves were counting their  losses and carrying the  dying to
the shade of the trees, the soldiers brought a huge wooden platform from the
river-the bottom of the cage that had been prepared for the rhinoceros; they
rolled the body of the bound monster on to it and dragged it to the river on
rollers.
     Cavius went up to the Lord of the Hunt.
     "Order them to  help us carry  away  the wounded," he said, pointing to
the soldiers.
     "What do you want to do with them?" asked the Lord of the Hunt, looking
with involuntary  admiration at the mighty  Etruscan, smeared with blood and
dust, whose face was all stern grief.
     "We'll take them back down the river: perhaps some of them will live as
far as Tha-Quem and its skilled physicians," answered Cavius, gloomily.
     "Who told you that you  will return to Tha-Quem?" the Lord  of the Hunt
interrupted him.
     The Etruscan shuddered and stepped back a pace.
     "Was the Prince  of  the South  lying to  us, then?  Are  we not free?"
shouted Cavius.
     "No, the  Prince did  not lie  to you, despised one-you are free!" With
these words the  Lord of the Hunt  held but a small  papyrus  scroll  to the
Etruscan. "Here's his ordinance."
     With great care Cavius took the precious document that made free men of
the slaves. . . .
     "If that's so, then why..." he began.
     "Be silent," snapped the Lord of the Hunt haughtily, "and listen to me.
You're free  here," the Lord of the Hunt stressed the last word. "You may go
wherever you please -there, there and there,"  his hand pointed to the west,
east and south, "but not to  Tha-Quem or to Nub that  is under our  rule. If
you  disobey  you'll again become slaves.  I  presume," he added  in  brutal
tones, "that when you've  thought matters over you'll return and fall to the
feet of our ruler and suffer what  fate has predestined  for you as servants
of the Chosen 'People of the Black Land."
     Cavius took two steps  forward.  His eyes gleamed. He stretched out his
hand to one of the soldiers who was looking in perplexity at the Lord of the
Hunt, and  with a bold  gesture  pulled the short sword from  his belt.  The
Etruscan  raised  the flashing weapon point  upwards,  kissed  it  and spoke
quickly in his own language, which nobody could understand.
     "I swear by  the  Supreme God of Lightning, I swear by the God of Death
whose name I bear, that despite all the evil deeds of this accursed people I
will return alive  to  the land of  my birth. I swear that from  this hour I
shall  not rest until I sail to the shores of Tha-Quem with a strong army to
take payment in full for all the evil that has been done."
     Cavius waved his hand over the field where the bodies lay scattered and
then with great force hurled the sword to his feet. The sword sank deep into
the  earth. The Etruscan  turned sharply round  and walked off  towards  his
comrades but suddenly turned back.
     "I ask you  only one thing," he said to  the Lord of  the Hunt who  was
going  off  with the  last of the soldiers.  "Order them to leave  us  a few
spears, knives and bows. We have to protect our wounded."
     The Lord of the Hunt nodded his head without  speaking  and disappeared
behind the bushes, making his way to the river by the broad path made by the
platform on which the rhinoceros had been dragged away.
     Cavius  told his comrades what  had been said. Cries of wrath, muttered
curses and helpless threats mingled with the plaintive moans of the dying.
     "We'll think  about what  we're going to do  later on," shouted Cavius.
"The first thing we have  to decide is  what to do with the  wounded. It's a
long  way to the  river, we're tired and  can't carry them  that far. Let us
rest a little and then fifty  men can go to the river and twenty will remain
here  on guard-there are  many wild beasts  about." Cavius  pointed  to  the
spotted backs  of  hyenas flashing through the long grass, attracted  by the
smell of  blood.  Huge birds with  long, bare necks circled round the field,
landed and then flew off again.
     The  dry earth, burned  by the sun, gave off waves of heat, the network
of  sunspots under  the trees trembled very slightly and  the cries of  wild
doves sounded mournful  in the hot silence. The fever of  battle had passed,
wounds and knocks were beginning  to  ache,  grazed  skin began  to burn and
fester.
     The death of Remdus  had been a heavy blow to Cavius -the youngster had
been the one link with the Etruscan's distant  homeland. Now that  link  was
broken.
     Kidogo, forgetting his own wounds, sat  over Pandion. The young Hellene
had  apparently  received  some  internal  injury  and  did  not  return  to
consciousness.  He  was breathing,  however, his  breath coming through  his
parched lips in a scarcely  audible whistle. Several times Kidogo looked  at
his comrades  lying in  the shade, then jumped  to his  feet and called  for
volunteers to go to the river for water for the wounded.
     Groaning involuntarily,  the men  rose to  their feet. Immediately they
felt an intolerable thirst that stung and burned their throats. If they, the
survivors, were so much in need of water, what must be the sufferings of the
wounded  who were silent only because they had not strength enough to groan.
It was no less  than two hours fast walking to  the river  if they went in a
straight line.
     Suddenly the sound  of voices  came  from beyond the bushes-a party  of
soldiers,  about  fifty  of them,  carrying  vessels  with  water and  food,
appeared in the glade. There  were no Egyptians amongst  them, only  Nubians
and Negroes had come, led by two guides.
     The soldiers  stopped talking as soon as they saw the battlefield. They
made their way to the tree under which Cavius  was standing and,  without  a
word, placed  at  his feet earthen and wooden vessels,  a dozen spears,  six
bows with full quivers,  four heavy knives and four  small hippopotamus-hide
shields studded with brass plates. The thirsty men threw themselves madly at
the water jars. Kidogo seized one of the heavy knives and said he would kill
anybody who touched  the water. They  began hurriedly pouring water from two
of the vessels into the parched mouths of the wounded after which the others
were allowed to drink. The soldiers went away without saying a single word.
     Amongst the  slaves there were  two  men  skilled  in  the treatment of
wounds  and they, together with  Cavius, set about bandaging their comrades'
injuries. Pandion's broken  bones  were set and put in splints of hard  bark
and  bound  with  strips torn  from  his own  loin-cloth.  When  he  removed
Pandion's loin-cloth, Kidogo saw the brightly shining stone  that was hidden
in the folds of  the cloth. The Negro hid it carefully, believing it to be a
magic amulet.
     Two other wounded had to be put in splints, one of them a Libyan with a
broken arm, and the other a slim, muscular Negro, who  lay helpless with his
leg  broken  below  the knee.  The condition of the  others  was  apparently
hopeless, since the terrible  horn of  the rhinoceros had gored them deeply,
injuring them internally. Some of them had been crushed under the tremendous
weight of the animal or under its tree-trunk legs.
     Before  Cavius  had  time  enough  to treat all the  wounded,  the dark
silhouette of a man hurrying towards the scene of the battle appeared in the
yellow grass. This  was one  of those local inhabitants who  had guided  the
soldiers with the food arid water and had now returned of his own accord.
     Breathing heavily from the exertion of  his rapid journey he approached
Cavius with his hands outstretched,  palms upwards. The  Etruscan recognized
this as a sign of friendship  and answered  with the same gesture. The guide
then squatted on his heels in the shade of the tree and, leaning on his long
spear, began to talk rapidly,  pointing towards the river and to  the south.
His  listeners, however, were at a  loss: the Nubian did not  know more than
ten  words  of  the  language of Tha-Quem  while Cavius did not understand a
single word of what the Nubian was saying. Amongst the slaves, however, they
found interpreters.
     It turned  out  that  the  guide  had dropped back  from  the party  of
soldiers and had  returned in order to help the slaves  find  their way. The
Nubian told them  that the liberated slaves were driven out of the districts
subordinate to Tha-Quem so  that it would be dangerous for them to return to
the river-they might be enslaved again. The guide  advised Cavius to journey
to the  west where  they would  soon  come to  a  big, dry valley. They must
travel  southwards through this valley for four days until they met peaceful
nomad herdsmen.
     "You will give them this," said the Nubian, taking out of a sheet, that
was thrown across his shoulder, a kind of symbol made of red twigs, bent and
plaited  into  a special shape,  "then they will  receive you hospitably and
will give you asses to carry the wounded. Still farther to  the south is the
country of a rich and peaceful people, who hate Quemt. There the wounded can
be  healed. The farther you go to the south the more water you will find and
the  rains will be  more frequent. You  will always  find  water  in the dry
watercourse that you will follow if you dig a hole two cubits deep. . . ."
     The Nubian rose to his feet, in a  hurry to go; Cavius wanted to  thank
him but  suddenly they  were  approached by  one of the  Asian slaves with a
long, tangled and dirty beard and a mass of uncombed hair on his head.
     "Why do  you  advise  us to  go to the west  and  the south? Our home's
there." And the Asian pointed to the east, in the direction of the river.
     The  Nubian  stared  fixedly  at the speaker  and then answered slowly,
pausing after each word:
     "If you cross the river, you  will find a waterless stony desert in the
east.  If you  cross the desert and the high mountains, you will  reach  the
shores of the sea where Tha-Quem rules. If you are able to cross the sea, on
the  other  side, it is said, there is a desert still more terrible. In  the
mountains and  along  the River of Perfumes  there  live tribes that provide
slaves for Tha-Quem in exchange for weapons. Think it over for yourself!"
     "Is there  no road to the north?" asked one of the Libyans in wheedling
tones.
     "Two days journey to the north begins an endless desert: at first it is
dry clay and stones and beyond them there is sand.  How will you go that way
and for what? It may be that there are roads and sources of water there, but
I do not  know  them.  I have  told you of the easiest road, the one  I know
well.  . . ." Indicating  with  a gesture that the talk  was  at an  end the
Nubian left the shade of the tree.
     Cavius  followed him, placed his arm  round his  shoulders and began to
thank  him,  mixing   Egyptian  and  Etruscan  words;  then  he  called   an
interpreter.
     "I  have nothing  I can  give, I have nothing  myself except.  .."  the
Etruscan touched his  dirty loin-cloth, "... but I  shall always keep you in
my heart."
     "I  want no  payment for my  help,  I, too,  follow  the dictates of my
heart," answered  the Nubian with a  smile. "Who of us  that  have known the
oppression of  Tha-Quem would  not help you brave men  who have gained  your
liberty at  such a  terrible  price?! Look here, you take my advice and keep
the  symbol  I gave  you. .  . .  I'll  tell  you something  else: there's a
water-hole to your  right,  about two thousand cubits from here, but you had
better  go  away  today,  before nightfall.  Good-bye,  bold  foreigner,  my
greetings to your comrades. I must hurry."
     The guide disappeared and Cavius, wrapped in thought, looked long after
him.
     No,  they could not leave today and abandon their dying  comrades to be
torn  to pieces  by the hyenas. If there were water nearby that would be all
the more reason for staying where they were.
     Cavius returned to his comrades who were discussing what was to be done
next. Since  they  had  quenched their thirst and eaten, the men had  become
cooler in their judgement and were carefully weighing up the next move.
     It  was clear  to  all  of  them  that  it  would be  impossible  to go
north-they  had to get  away  from  the  river  as  quickly as possible, but
opinions were divided on the question of whether to go south or east.
     The  Asians, who constituted  almost  a  half of the survivors, did not
want  to  go deeper  into  the Land of  the  Black  People and  insisted  on
travelling eastwards. The Nubians said that in three, weeks they could reach
the  shores of the  narrow sea that divided Nubia from  Asia  and the Asians
were ready  to attempt another journey  through the desert to  get home more
quickly.
     Cavius  had been taken captive  during  an armed  expedition.  He had a
family  in his  native land,  and he hesitated: the  possibility of a speedy
return  home was very  tempting.  His shortest  way  would be through Quemt,
floating  downstream in  a  boat  until  they  reached  the sea; but  as  an
experienced soldier, who  had spent much of his life  wandering, he realized
that  a small  group of people, lost  in a  strange  land, especially  in  a
desert, where every water-hole was  known, could only survive  by a miracle.
So  far the Etruscan had not  met with any miracles in his life and  did not
have much faith in them. :
     Kidogo, who had left Pandion in order to take part in the, council, now
put in his word. It turned out that Kidogo was the son of a  potter and came
from a rich and numerous tribe living on the seacoast that forms the western
boundary of the Land of the  Black People. Here the dry land was indented by
a  huge  bay called the Southern Horn...(The Gulf of Guinea.) Kidogo did not
know the road home from Nubia: he had been taken captive on  the edge of the
Great Desert  when he was on  his way  to  Quemt,  impelled by  a passionate
desire to see for  himself the miracles of  craftsmanship performed in  that
country. The Negro, however, believed  that his  homeland  could not be very
far to the south-west from the scene of  the  recent battle. Kidogo  assured
the others that they could learn the right road from that tribe to which the
Nubian guide had advised them to go. Kidogo  promised hospitality to all his
comrades  if they reached the  country  where his people lived; he then told
Cavius that in his  childhood he had heard that people like  him and Pandion
had sailed from  the northern  seas to  visit his country.  After Cavius had
weighed  everything  up  he advised his comrades to take  the advice  of the
Nubian guide and  journey  to the south, for Kidogo's words made the unknown
Land of the Black People seem less hostile  to him.  The sea there was free,
was not under the rule  of  the hated Tha-Quem and would provide the road by
which they could return to  their homes.  The  Etruscan trusted the sea more
than he did the desert. The  Asians  protested and  would not  agree but the
Libyans  supported Cavius,  to say  nothing of the Negroes-all of them  were
prepared to journey to  the south and the west: there lay the  road to their
homes.
     The Asians maintained that they did not know how the nomads would treat
them, and especially how they would be received by  that  numerous tribe the
guide had spoken  of; they  said that the  symbol the guide had given Cavius
might be a trap and that they would again be made slaves.
     It  was  then  that  the Negro  who lay  with  a  broken leg  attracted
attention to himself by snouts and gestures. Hurriedly, swallowing his words
and spluttering, he said something, trying to  smile and  frequently beating
his  breast. From that impassioned speech, from that flood of unknown words,
Cavius understood that the Negro came from that tribe the guide advised them
to try to reach with the aid of the nomad  herdsmen, and that he was avowing
the peacefulness of his people. Then Cavius made  his decision and took  the
side of the Negroes and  Libyans; he spoke against the Asians who  continued
to insist on their  plan. The sun was already sinking and they had  to think
about  water  and a bivouac  for the night, so Cavius advised them  to  wait
until  morning.  Although they all wanted to  get away  from  that  terrible
glade, strewn with  their dead, they had to stay there in order not to cause
the  dying  unnecessary  suffering  by-moving  them.  Ten men  went  to  the
water-hole indicated  by  the Nubian and returned with jars  full  of  warm,
brackish water that smelled of clay. On the advice of the Negroes a fence of
thorn branches  was built between the trees to  ward  off the attacks of the
hyenas.  On the side facing the glade,  three fires were  built.  Three  men
remained to watch the wounded and ten men with spears  sat  by the fires. In
those parts night falls quickly. The  clouds were still  visible in the west
when, from the north  and the  east, there  came rolling a wave of darkness,
that  drowned the tops of the trees, lighting the  countless  lamps  of  the
stars  above  them.  Very soon  Cavius,  who was  unacquainted with southern
countries, understood why the guide had advised  them to leave this place as
soon as  possible. The howling of  the jackals filled  the  air and from all
sides came the hysterical laughing of the hyenas. It seemed that hundreds of
the animals had come running from all directions to devour not only the dead
but the  living  as well. There was a fearful racket on the glade, grunting,
the  cracking of  bones  and  sounds of gnawing. The  sickly-sweet smell  of
bodies decomposing in the heat spread rapidly over the earth.
     The  men shouted, threw clots of earth and stones, ran out with flaming
brands,  but it  was  all in  vain-the  number  of carrion  seekers steadily
increased.
     Suddenly a  dull  rattling  sound  came  from beyond the thorn  barrier
followed by a thunderous roar that seemed to roll along the ground and shake
the  earth. The animals  feeding on the glade fell  silent. The men  who had
been sleeping awoke and jumped to their feet; in the silence that ensued the
wounded groaned more loudly. The roar  drew  nearer to them, a  low sound of
terrible  strength that  seemed to  come from  a huge trumpet. An indistinct
silhouette  with  a huge head appeared beside the  end tree-an enormous lion
was approaching the frightened men and behind it slunk the sinuous shape  of
a lioness. Spears were turned in the direction of the animals,  their bronze
tips shining faintly in the dull flames of  the fires. At the risk of firing
the  dry grass the men  shouted and threw burning  brands at the lions.  The
stupefied  animals stopped  in their tracks, then ran  off to the glade. The
men stood with their  spears ready, for -a long  time, but the lions did not
attack.
     Those whose turn it was to rest had not had time  to fall asleep before
the air was  again  rent by the  thunderous  roar of  a  lion, followed by a
second and a third. No less than  three lions were wandering round the  camp
and the  lioness, who had  appeared earlier, made a fourth. The men realized
that the  low, carelessly built barrier was  unpardonable neglect  on  their
part. Four men with spears stood  ready  to  repel any possible attack  from
behind, while the six other spearmen remained standing  by the fires. Nobody
slept any more. The men armed themselves with whatever they could and sat or
stood staring into the darkness. Another roar rent the air and  an  enormous
lion  with  a sand-coloured mane appeared near the end fire. The  flickering
flames of the fire made the huge beast seem still bigger and his eyes, fixed
on the people, radiated a green gleam. By sheer bad luck one of the northern
Asians, inexperienced in hunting, stood nearby with a bow. Frightened by the
animal's  roar, he sent an arrow straight into its face. The  roar broke off
with a drawn-out moan, that turned to a hoarse cough and then ceased.
     "Look out!" came the desperate cry of one of the Nubians.
     The lion's body whirled through the air; with a single bound the animal
crossed the line of fires and landed between the  people. It was not easy to
cause  confusion  amongst  the  conquerors  of the  white  rhinoceros-spears
stopped the lion, biting into his flanks and chest while four arrows pierced
his sinuous  body. Two spear-shafts broke with  a  dry crack under the heavy
blows  of the  lion's paws and at that moment three tall Negroes, projecting
themselves  with round shields, thrust their  heavy knives into  the beast's
chest. . . . The lion howled long and plaintively and the _men, covered with
his blood, jumped back.
     A momentary  silence  was  broken by  deafening shouts of  victory that
rolled across the  plain. The body of the dead lion was thrown down in front
of  the fires  and the  men  set about binding  the  injuries of two freshly
wounded, who were still trembling with the fever of battle.
     The  lions  wandered  round   the  encampment  until  sunrise,  roaring
furiously from time to time, but they made no further attacks.
     With the dawn of a new day, that came with blinding suddenness, five of
the badly wounded men died. Another seven were found to have died during the
night-in the excitement of the scuffle with the lion nobody had noticed when
it occurred. Akhnii was still breathing,  his grey lips moving  faintly from
time to time.
     Pandion  lay with  his eyes open, his breast rose  and  fell with calm,
regular breathing. Kidogo bent  over him and  was horrified to discover that
his friend could not see him.  But when  he  brought water Pandion drank  it
immediately and slowly closed his eyes.
     After a breakfast from the remnants of yesterday's food Cavius proposed
to start out. The Asians  had come to an agreement amongst themselves during
the night and objected. They  shouted that in a country where there  were so
many beasts of prey they must inevitably perish;  they  must hurry to escape
from  this  diabolical plain and the desert was  safer and  better  known to
them. No matter how much Cavius and the Negroes tried to persuade  them they
remained resolute.
     "Very well, do  as  you please," said the Etruscan with  determination.
"I'm going south with Kidogo.  Let those who want to go with  us  come here,
those who want to go east, over there to the left."
     A group of  black and bronze-coloured  bodies immediately formed around
the  Etruscan-the  Negroes, Libyans and  Nubians  were with him,  altogether
thirty-seven men, not counting Pandion and the Negro with the broken leg who
had raised himself on one elbow and was listening intently to what was going
on.
     Thirty-two men went to the left  and stood with  their heads stubbornly
bowed.
     The weapons and vessels for water were  divided equally between the two
groups  so  that the Asians would  not be able to blame their comrades for a
possible failure.
     As  soon as the  things had been shared out, the long-bearded leader of
the Asians  led his people away  to the east,  towards the river, as  though
their affection for their  comrades might shake  their  determination. Those
who remained  stood for a long  time looking after those who had parted from
them on the threshold of liberty, then with sighs of sadness set about their
own affairs.
     Cavius and Kidogo examined  Pandion and  the wounded Negro and  carried
them  over to another thin-branched  tree. When they tried  to lift Akhmi, a
howl escaped the Libyan's  throat and the last breath of life left  the body
of that bold fighter for freedom.
     Cavius  advised the Libyans  to lift the dead man on to  a tree and tie
him securely with  ropes.  This was immediately done although they knew that
the body would  be torn  to pieces by carrion birds; nevertheless  it seemed
less repulsive than leaving him as food for the foul hyenas.
     In silence,  without a single word, Cavius and Kidogo  cut a number  of
branches.
     "What are  you  doing?" asked one of the tall Negroes,  approaching the
Etruscan.
     "Litters. Kidogo and I will carry him." Cavius pointed to Pandion. "And
you will  carry him," he pointed to the Negro with his  leg in splints. "The
Libyan will be able to walk without help with his arm in a sling."
     "We'll  all  carry  the  man  who  was  the first  to  jump  on to  the
rhinoceros," answered the  Negro, turning to his companions. "That brave man
saved us all. How can we forget it? Wait a bit, we can make better litters."
     Four Negroes set  to work with great  skill  making  litters. They were
soon ready-the many  ropes left lying on  the scene of  the  battle with the
rhinoceros were plaited between  long  poles which were kept rigid by double
struts'  between  them. In  the centre  of  the  struts  they  placed little
cushions  made of  hard bark and  covered with a piece of  lion's  skin. The
Negro with the broken leg watched them  at  work, smiling joyously, his dark
eyes filled with an expression of loyalty.
     The wounded men were placed on the litters and everything was ready for
the departure. The Negroes stood in pairs by the  litters, lifted them  high
to the  full length of  their arms, and fixed  the little cushions firmly on
their heads. The  litter-bearers started out  first, marching easily  and in
step.
     Thus  it  was  that Pandion set  out  on  his  journey  without  having
recovered  consciousness. Two  Nubians  and a Negro, armed with spears and a
bow,  undertook to  act as guides; they went ahead and  the other thirty men
followed in  single file behind the  litters. The end of the procession  was
brought  up by another three armed men,  two with spears and one with a bow.
The travellers passed round the edge of the open glade westwards, trying not
to  look at  the  remains of  their comrades and carrying with them a bitter
memory of guilt at not having been  able to  shield  them from the nocturnal
depredations of the carrion eaters.
     Shortly  after  their  midday  halt they reached a wide dry watercourse
that even from a distance was visible on account of the lines of bushes that
edged it and stood out clearly against the yellow grass of the plain.
     The watercourse took them due south and  they continued without further
halts  until  sundown. That day they did not have  to dig  for water-a small
spring sent its waters  to the surface through a crack between two blocks of
coarse-grained,  friable stone;  but they  had  to work hard preparing their
camp  and  encircling it with a wall  of thorn-bushes. That  night  they all
slept soundly, not in  the least troubled by the distant roars  of lions and
hyenas prowling in the darkness.
     The second  and third days passed  quietly.  Only once did they see the
black mass of a rhinoceros plodding through the grass with  lowered head. In
their confusion the men  stood still-their recent experience was still fresh
in  their memories. The travellers lay  down in  the  grass.  The rhinoceros
raised its head and again, as  at that terrible moment,  they saw its curved
ears set wide apart, with the tip of the horn rising between them. The folds
of  its  thick skin encircled its  shoulders and  hung  down in rolls to its
heavy legs that were hidden by the grass. The massive animal stood still and
then turned and continued on its way in the former direction.
     They frequently  came across  small herds  of  yellowish-grey antelopes
which the  hunters  brought down with their  arrows; they made excellent and
tasty  food.  On  the  fourth  day  the  watercourse  widened out  and  then
disappeared; the  yellow clay earth gave  way to  strange, bright red  soil*
that covered the  crushed granite  in  a thin  layer.  Rounded granite hills
formed  dark patches on that  tiresome red  plain.  The grass  had gone, its
place was taken by hard  leaves that stuck out of the ground like bunches of
sharp narrow sword-blades.**  The guides made  a  wide detour  of patches of
this strange plant with leaves whose edges were as sharp as razors.
     (* Laterite-a  red,  ferrous  soil, found  in  southern  countries, the
product of  the erosion  of  igneous rocks.  ** Sansevieria-a  strange plant
found in dry laterite deposits)
     The red plain spread out in front of them, clouds of dust, all the same
size, rose  into pillars  and shut  out the glare of the  sun. The  heat was
overwhelming  but the travellers  kept going, fearing  that  this  waterless
plain  might prove  very extensive.  The watercourse  with  its subterranean
stream of water was far behind them. Who knew when they would find the water
that is so essential to man in this country!
     From the  summit of one of the granite hills they noticed that ahead of
them lay a line of something golden- apparently the red soil came  to an end
there and  the grassy plain began again. This proved  to be true and shadows
had only lengthened by a half after the midday halt when the travellers were
already marching over rustling grass, shorter than before, but much thicker.
To  one side of their road  they saw a  huge  green cloud, that seemed to be
floating in the  air  over the blue-green patch of its own shadow-the mighty
"guest  tree" was inviting  them to rest  in the  shade of its branches. The
guides  turned towards the tree.  The tired  travellers hastened their steps
and soon  the litters were standing in the shade  beside  a tree-trunk, that
was divided by longitudinal depressions into separate rounded ribs.
     A number of  the Negroes formed a living ladder up which others climbed
to reach the huge branches of the  tree. Shouts  of triumph  from above told
the  others  that they had not  been  mistaken  in  their  assumptions:  the
tree-trunk, some fifteen  cubits in diameter, was hollow and contained water
from the recent  rains. The jars were filled  with cool dark-coloured water.
The Negroes threw down some  of the fruits  of the tree, long fruits, as big
as a man's head and tapering to a point at  each  end. Under its thin,  hard
skin, the  fruit contained  a floury yellow substance, sour-sweet in  taste,
that was  very refreshing to the dry mouths of the travellers.  Kidogo broke
open two of the  fruits, took out a number of small seeds, crushed and mixed
them with a small quantity of water and started feeding Pandion with them.
     To the  joy of the Negro the  young Hellene ate with good appetite  and
for the first time  that day  raised  his head  in an effort  to  look round
(during  the  march, when he lay  on the litter,  Pandion's face was usually
kept covered with big leaves plucked from bushes near the water-holes). With
an effort Pandion stretched  out  his  hands to Kidogo  and his weak fingers
pressed  the Negro's  hand.  But there was something dull and pitiful in the
young Hellene's eyes.
     Kidogo was very excited and asked his young friend how he felt, but got
no answer. The wounded man's eyes again closed as though the feeble spark of
returning life had tired him beyond all measure.  Kidogo  left his friend in
peace and hurried to  tell Cavius the good news. Cavius, who had grown still
more morose since the day  of the awful battle, went  over to the litter and
sat down, peering into  his friend's face. By placing  his hand on Pandion's
breast he tried to judge the strength of his heart-beats.
     While he was sitting by Pandion, one of the Nubians, who had climbed to
the top of the tree to survey the surrounding land, let out a loud shout. He
called out that far ahead of them,  almost on the  horizon, he could see the
dark lines  of fences of thorn-bushes such  as the  nomad herdsmen build  to
protect their cattle from predatory animals.
     It was decided, to spend the night under the tree and  set out  at dawn
in order  to  reach the nomad  encampment early in  the  day. By sundown the
whole sky was overcast with heavy  clouds; the starless  night was unusually
quiet and dark; the velvet darkness was so intense that they could not see a
hand held before the face.
     Very soon zigzag  shafts  of lightning made  a ring round the whole sky
and peals of thunder  came rolling from  afar. The lightning flashes grew in
number, hundreds of fiery snakes twisted across  the  sky  like the huge dry
branches of  some gigantic  tree. The roar of the  thunder deafened them and
the  lightning blinded those who sought to leave their refuge.  From a great
distance came a noise that steadily increased to a fierce roar. This  was an
approaching wall of violent rain. The tree shook as an entire ocean of water
poured down from the  heavens. Cascades of cool rain beat on the  earth with
an awful noise and a lake  formed around the  tree that hid its thick roots.
In the  light  of  the solid walls of  fire that  alternated  with  absolute
darkness it seemed that  the whole plain would be flooded  by the great mass
of  rainwater  that  kept pouring  down  on  it.  The flashes  of lightning,
however, soon stopped, the rain died  down and a starlit sky spread over the
plain; a  slight  breeze brought  with it the odours of  grasses and flowers
invisible in the darkness. The Libyans and the Etruscan were  dumbfounded at
a storm  which seemed  like a terrible catastrophe to them,  but the Negroes
laughed gleefully, telling them that it was an ordinary  shower, such as are
common in the rainy season, and not a very heavy one at  that.  Cavius could
only shake  his head, telling  himself that if  such  rains  were considered
ordinary  in  these  parts  they  were likely  to  meet  with  many  strange
adventures in the Land of the Black People.
     And he guessed right.
     Next day their journey was suddenly interrupted by the barking of dogs.
Long thorn  hedges  appeared  through the mist, caused by the evaporation of
the previous day's rain-water, and behind  the hedges they  saw the low huts
of the herdsmen.
     A crowd  of men wearing leather aprons surrounded the travellers. Their
high-cheekboned  faces  were  inscrutable,  their  narrow eyes  looked  with
suspicion at the  Egyptian weapons carried by the former  slaves. The symbol
they  had received from  the Nubian,  however,  produced a  most  favourable
impression.  Out  of the  crowd  stepped five men wearing  black  and  white
feathers,  their  hair  dressed high  on  their  heads and held in place  by
plaited twigs with green leaves.
     The Nubians could understand  the  language of the  nomads and soon the
newcomers were seated sipping sour milk within a close circle of  listeners.
The Nubian  slaves told  their story. Interrupting each other they jumped up
and  down  in their excitement and their tale was  greeted  by a  chorus  of
exclamations of astonishment. The feather-bedecked chieftains merely slapped
their thighs.
     The nomads provided six  guides and ten asses to help the  strangers on
their way. The guides were to take the travellers some seven days journey to
the south-west to the big village of a settled tribe that stood on the banks
of a river that always contained water.
     The litters  were  remade  and fixed  to four asses,  the other animals
carried water, sour milk and hard cheese  in strong leather bags. As the men
now had no loads to carry, they could make longer journeys, covering no less
than a hundred and twenty thousand cubits a day.
     Day followed  day. The  endless plain  lay under  the broiling  sun, at
times silent and languid in the heat, at others swept by winds that made the
grass  billow like the waves of the sea. The  travellers  penetrated farther
and farther into the  wild  lands of  the south where  there were  countless
herds  of savage  beasts. Their  unaccustomed eyes did  not at  first notice
herds of animals that flashed by in the tall grass-only their backs could be
seen above  the grass or  sometimes their horns,  short and curved, long and
straight or twisted into  a spiral.  Later they  learned  to distinguish the
different kinds-the long-antlered oryx, the reddish bull antelope, heavy and
short in the  body,  the  hairy  gnu, with its  ugly  humped nose,  and  the
long-eared  antelopes,  no bigger  than a small calf,  that danced on  their
hind-legs  under the trees.  (The gerenuk or Waller's antelope-a long-necked
animal that  stands  on  its hind-legs  to reach the leaves of  the trees on
which it feeds.)
     Coarse,  hard-stemmed  grass, the  height of a man, waved round them on
all  sides like a  boundless  field  of corn.  This expanse of grass, turned
golden  in  the sunlight, was broken by patches  of  fresh  green  along the
wadies  and holes that were now filled with water. The blue and purple spurs
of mountains piled up beyond the horizon cut deep into the grassy plain.
     At times the trees grew close together, forming a darker island in  the
yellow grass, then again they would be scattered far from each other like  a
flock of frightened birds. They were  mostly  the umbrella-shaped trees that
had so astonished Cavius  when he first made the acquaintance of  the golden
plain-their thorny trunks spread upwards and outwards from the roots to form
a funnel so  that they looked  like inverted cones. Some  of the  trees  had
thicker  and  shorter  trunks  that  also  divided into  a  huge  number  of
branches-the thick,  dark foliage of  these latter looked like green  domes.
The palms were  visible from a great distance  on account of  their  double,
forked  branches with the dishevelled, knife-like feathery leaves bunched at
the ends of them.
     As the days passed Cavius  noticed that the Negroes and the Nubians who
had been so clumsy and  slow-witted in Tha-Quem  and on the Great  River had
now become stronger, more resolute and confident in themselves. And although
his authority as leader was still undisputed, he began to lose confidence in
himself in this strange land with laws of life that he could not understand.
     The  Libyans  who  had  shown  themselves  so well  in  the desert were
helpless here. They were afraid of the grassy plain, inhabited  by thousands
of animals;  they imagined countless dangers in  the grass  and thought they
were threatened with unknowable calamities at every step.
     It was certainly no  easy road  to travel.  They came across growths of
grass  with heads containing millions of needle-like thorns* that penetrated
the skin,  causing great  pain and suppuration. During the hottest h