branches.
Though they slept little that night, lying and listening to the hyena and the jackal howling and gibbering below the tree where the meat hung, the lions did not trouble them again. In the dawn they left the stockade to begin work once more on their preparations for the river crossing.
Ned Tyler finished the construction of the raft by lashing the poles together with rawhide rope.
'Tis a rickety vessel.' Sukeena eyed it with obvious misgivings. 'One of those great river dragons could overturn it with a flick of its tail.'
'That is why Aboli has prepared his snares for them.' They went back up the slope to where Althuda and Zwaantie were helping Aboli wrap the coiled green-wood circlets with a thick covering of half-putrid eland meat.
'The crocodile cannot chew his food,' Aboli explained to them as he worked. 'Each of these lumps of meat is the right size for one of the monsters to swallow whole.'
When all the baits had been prepared, they carried them down to the water's edge. As they approached the sandbank where the great saurians lay like stranded logs, they shouted clapped their hands and fired off the muskets, creating a commotion that alarmed even these huge beasts.
They raised their massive bulks on short stubby legs and lumbered to the shelter of their natural element, sliding into the deep green pools with mighty splashes and setting up waves that broke upon the far bank. As soon as the sandbank was clear, the men rushed out and placed the lumps of stinking meat along the water's edge. Then they hurried back and climbed up to where the women waited on the safety of the high bluff above the river.
After a while, the eye knuckles of the crocodiles began to pop up everywhere over the surface of the pool, and then to move in slowly towards the sandbank.
'They are cowardly, sneaking beasts,' Aboli said, with hatred in his tone and revulsion in his expression, 'but soon, when they smell the meat, their greed will overcome their fear.'
As he spoke one of the largest reptiles lifted itself out of the shallows at the edge and waddled cautiously out on to the sandbank, its massive crested tail ploughing a furrow behind it. Suddenly, with surprising speed and agility, it darted forward and seized one of the lumps of eland meat. It opened its jaws to their full stretch as it strained to swallow. From the bluff they watched in awe as the huge lump of meat slid down into its maw, bulging the soft white scales on the outside of its throat. It turned and rushed back into the pool, but immediately another of the scaly reptiles emerged and gobbled a bait. There followed a general melee of long slithering bodies, shining wet in the sunlight, that hissed and snapped and tumbled over each other as they fought for the meat.
Once every bait had been consumed, some crocodiles splashed back into the pool, but many settled down again in the sun-warmed sand from where they had been disturbed. Peace fell over the riverbank again, and the kingfishers darted and hovered over the green waters. A great grey hippopotamus thrust out his head on the far side of the pool and gave vent to a raucous grunt of laughter. His cows clustered around him, their backs like a pile of shiny black boulders.
'Your plan has not worked,' said Sabah in Dutch. 'The crocodiles are unharmed and still ready to fall upon any of us who goes near the water.'
'Be patient, Sabah,' Aboli told him. 'It will take a while for the juices of their stomach to eat through the rawhide. But when they do the sticks will spring open and the sharpened ends will pierce their guts and stab through their vitals.'
As he finished speaking, one of the largest reptiles, the first to take the bait, suddenly let out a thunderous roar and arched its back until the cox combed tail flapped over its head. It roared again, and spun round to snap with mighty jaws at its own flank, its spiked yellow fangs tearing through the armoured scales, ripping out lumps of its own flesh.
'See there!' Aboli sprang to his feet and pointed. 'The sharp end of the stake has cut right through his belly.' Then they saw the fire-blackened point of sharpened green wood protruding a hand's breadth through the scaly hide. As the bull crocodile writhed and hissed in his hideous death throes, a second reptile began to thrash about in gargantuan convulsions, and then another and another, until the pool was turned to white foam, and their terrible stricken cries and roars echoed along the bluffs of the river, startling the eagles and vultures from their nesting platforms high on the cliffs.
'Bravely done, Aboli! You have cleared the way for us.' Hal leaped to his feet.
'Yes! We can cross now,'Aboli agreed. 'But be swift and do not linger in the water or near the edge for there may still be some of the ngovenya who have not felt the spikes in their bellies.'
They heeded his advice. Lifting the clumsy raft between them they rushed it down the bank, and as soon as it was afloat they flung aboard the baskets of provisions, the saddle-bags and the bags of gunpowder, then urged the two women and little Bobby onto the frail craft. The men were stripped to their petticoats, and swam the craft across the sluggish current. As soon as they reached the opposite bank they seized their possessions and scampered in haste up the rocky slope until they were well clear of the riverbank.
High above the water they could at last fall upon each other with laughter and congratulation. They camped there that night, and in the dawn Aboli asked Hal quietly, 'How far now to Elephant Lagoon?'
Hal unrolled his chart and pointed out his estimate of their position. 'Here, we are five leagues inland from the seashore and not more than fifty leagues from the lagoon. Unless there is another river as wide as this to bar our way, we should be there in five more days of hard marching.'
'Then let us march hard,' said Aboli, and roused the rest of the depleted band. At his urging, they took up their loads and, with the rays of the rising sun beating full into their faces, fell once more into the order of march that they had maintained through all the long journey.
The four longboats from the Golden Bough were crowded with seamen as they rowed ashore in that dark hour before the dawn. A sailor in the bow of each boat held high a lantern to light their way, and the reflections danced like fireflies on the calm black surface of the lagoon.
'Llewellyn is bringing half his crew ashore with him!' the Buzzard gloated, as he watched the little fleet head in towards the beach.
'He suspects treachery,' Sam Bowles laughed delightedly, 'so he comes in force.'
'What a churlish guest, to suspect us of villainy.' The Buzzard shook his head sadly. 'He deserves whatever Fate has in store for him.'
'He has split his force. There are at least fifty men in those boats, Sam estimated. 'He makes it easier for us. From here it should all be plane sailing and a following wind.'
'Let us hope so, Mister Bowles,' the Buzzard grunted. 'I go now to meet our guests. Remember, the signal is a red Chinese rocket. Wait until you see it burn.'
'Aye, Captain!' Sam knuckled his forehead and slipped away into the shadows. Cumbrae strode down the sand to meet the leading boat. As it came in to the beach he could see in the lamplight that Llewellyn and Vincent Winterton were sitting together in the stern sheets. Vincent wore a dark woollen cloak against the dawn chill, but his head was bare. He had braided his hair into a thick pigtail down his back. He followed his captain ashore.
'Good morrow, gentlemen,' Cumbrae greeted them. 'I commend you for your punctuality.'
Llewellyn nodded a greeting. 'Mister Winterton is ready to begin.'
The Buzzard waggled his beard. 'Colonel Schreuder is waiting. This way, if you please.' They strode abreast along the beach, the seamen from the boats following in an orderly column. 'It is unusual to have such a crowd of ruffians to witness an affair of honour,' he remarked.
'There are but a few conventions out here beyond the Line,' Llewellyn retorted, 'but one is to keep your back well covered.'
'I take your point.' Cumbrae chuckled. 'But to demonstrate my good faith, I will not invite any of my own lads to join us. I am unarmed.' He showed his hands, then opened the front of his tunic to demonstrate the fact. Making a comforting lump in the small of his back, where it was tucked into his belt, was one of the newfangled wheel-lock pistols, made by Fallon of Glasgow. It was a marvelous invention but prohibitively expensive, which was the main reason why it was not more widely employed. On pressing the trigger the spring-loaded wheel of the lock spun and the iron pyrites striker sent a shower of sparks into the pan to detonate the charge. The weapon had cost him well over twenty pounds but was worth the price for there was no burning match to betray its presence.
'To demonstrate your own good faith, my dear Christopher, will you kindly keep your men together at your side of the square and under your direct control?'
A short way down the beach, they came to the area where the sand had been levelled and a square roped off. A water cask had been set up at each of the four corners. 'Twenty paces each side,' Cumbrae told Llewellyn. 'Will that give your man enough sea room in which to work?'
Winterton surveyed the square then nodded briefly. 'It will suit us well enough.' Llewellyn spoke for him.
'We will have some time to wait for the light to strengthen' Cumbrae said. 'My cook has prepared a breakfast of hot biscuit and spiced wine. Will you partake?'
'Thank you, my lord. A cup of wine would be welcome.' A steward brought the steaming cups to them, and Cumbrae said, 'If you
