Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 228: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AN AFRICAN SECRET. 219 the Marotses, which would give them constant trouble, whereas they saw a way to make allies of the tribe. “To begin with, they blackened their already dark skins so as to dis- guise their nationality as far as pos- sible. Then, having presented them- selves to the king, they shrewdly took advantage of circumstances to play upon his superstitious nature and his gratitude as well. “For generations the Marotses’ chief town had been upon the bank of the Banje river, and the river had grad- ually changed its course. The change was not perceptible to the blacks, but it had turned the site of their town to an unwholesome marsh. The result was a pestilence, which the Marotses attributed to the malign influence of spirits. ‘They had sacrificed to their gods in vain, and at the time when Dirik and his partners appeared, a favorite son of Bangwe was stricken. Durik told Bangwe that the Marotse gods had fled, and that himself and companions were high priests of other gods who were desirous of finding a new country where they could live in quiet. “ Dirik said his gods would not only drive away the evil spirits that were in- flicting the tribe with pestilence, but would protect the king, make him ex- ceedingly rich, and bless the kingdom generally. “ It was only too evident that the old time gods were useless, and Bangwe told Dirik to prove the efficiency of the new gods by curing his son. With a great amount of ceremony and mys- tery, Dirik took the ailing boy some- where up into the hills where, natur- ally enough, he speedily recovered. ‘That settled it. Bangwe killed off the priests who had been beating their tom toms vainly against the pestilence, and told Dir1ik to instal his gods with- out delay. Dirik then imposed a con- dttion to the effect that the actual resi- dence of the gods should remain for- ever unknown even to the king. 3 A Bangwe agreed, and to fasten his hold more securely, Dirik directed the whole town to migrate to a mpre wholesome locality at a little distance. ‘“ Imposing ceremony attended this matter, the Arabs making it a feature of alleged religion and saying nothing about hygienic conditions. As a result the pestilence abated and the entire tribe believed in the new gods and yielded the most implicit obedience to the three high priests. “ Having once got their hold on Bangwe and his people, it was a simple matter for the Arabs gradually to im- pose other conditions to the continued good will of the gods. Men were nec- essary to the working of the diamond mine. So they informed the king that the gods needed servants whose lives must be devoted to the gods. In this way they contrived to get all the help they needed. “ Whenever Dirik calls for them a number of men are told off from the tribe and they accompany him, where, no man knows except yourself, Elmer, and they never return. “IT suspect that periodically Dirik executes his workmen in order to ter- rify the others into absolute subjection. At all events until this morning no one who ever went to the supposed home of the gods returned from it save the Arabs themselves.” Murdock paused, and Bradshaw asked: “How do the Arabs market their product?” “Two of them make a journey an- nually to the Transvaal. They are there now. Ah! they must have accu- mulated an immense fortune by this time.” “In that case, I wonder they have not retired before now to enjoy the fruits of their venture.” “ Retire!” cried Murdock; “ retire, Elmer, with millions left untouched in the ground? You do not realize what it means to devote one’s life to the quest for fortune. econnicboolke CO