the warriors and, having ordered them to preserve
the deepest silence, began to survey the situation. The summit of the
mountain on which the defenders had sought refuge was dark; on the
other hand the Samburus burnt a multitude of camp-fires. Their glare
illuminated the steep walls of the rock and the gigantic trees growing
at its foot. From a distance came the hollow sounds of drums and the
shouts and songs of warriors who evidently were not sparing in their
indulgence of pombe,* [* A beer of millet with which the negroes
intoxicate themselves.] desiring already to celebrate a near and
decisive victory. Stas advanced at the head of his division still
farther, so that finally not more than a hundred paces separated him
from the last camp-fires. There were no signs of camp sentinels and the
moonless night did not permit the savages to catch sight of the King
who, besides, was screened by the underwood. Stas, sitting on his neck,
quietly issued the final orders, after which he gave Kali the signal to
light one of the sky-rockets. A red ribbon flew up, hissing, high in
the dark sky, after which, with an explosive sound, it scattered into a
bouquet of red, blue, and golden stars. All voices became hushed and a
moment of gloomy silence ensued. A few seconds later two more fiery
snakes flew out, as though with an infernal hiss, but this time they
were aimed horizontally directly at the Samburu camp; simultaneously
resounded the King's roar and the loud cries of the three hundred
Wahimas who, armed with assagais,* [* Negro spears.] maces, and knives,
rushed ahead with irrepressible speed. A battle began, which was the
more terrible because it took place in the darkness, as all the
camp-fires in the confusion were at once trampled out. But, at the very
beginning, blind terror at the sight of the fiery snakes seized the
Samburus. What was happening passed entirely beyond their
understanding. They only knew that they were attacked by some terrible
beings and that horrible and unavoidable destruction threatened them. A
greater part of them ran away before they could be reached by the
spears and maces of the Wahimas. A hundred and a few tens of warriors,
whom Mamba succeeded in rallying about him, offered stubborn
resistance; when, however, in the flashes of the shots, they saw a
gigantic beast and on him a person dressed in white, and when their
ears were dinned with the reports of the weapon which Kali from time to
time discharg