第14章 Declaration of War

The work was recommenced the same day,for all excuses for aquarrel had now disappeared.Neither Colonel Everest nor Matthew Strux could ever forgive one another,but they continued to work together at the trigonometrical operations.

On the left of the wide opening left by the fire rose a hillock,visible five miles away;its top could be used as a sight,and form the apex of a fresh triangle.The angle which it made with the last station was measured,and next day the whole caravan moved forward through the burnt forest.

The road was paved with charcoal;the soil was still hot;trunks of trees lay smoking,and a warm vapour rose from the ground.In many places lay the carcases of animals,surprised in their lairs,and unable to save themselves by flight.Black columns of smoke,rising here and there,showed that the fire was not yet extinct,but that,aided by the wind,it might burst out again with renewed force and devour the whole of the forest.

For this reason the scientific commission pressed onward;had the caravan been caught in a ring of fire it must have been lost.Mokoum urged on the drivers,and about noon the camp was pitched at the foot of the hillock.

The mass of rock which surmounted this seemed to have been arranged by the hand of man.It looked like an assemblage of Druidical stones,which an archaeologist would have been very much surprised to find in such a place.An enormous cone of sandstone crowned this primitive erection,which must have been an African altar.

The two younger astronomers and Sir John Murray wanted to inspect this strange construction more closely.Accompanied by the Mokoum,they set off to ascend the hillock,and they were hardly twenty yards from it,when a man,hitherto concealed behind one of the stones which formed its base,showed himself for a moment;then running,or rather rolling,down the hillock,he quickly disappeared in a part of a copse which the fire had left untouched.

The bushman saw the man only for a moment,but that was enough to recognise him.‘A Makololo,’he cried,as he dashed off in pursuit of the fugitive.

Sir John Murray instinctively followed his friend the hunter.They searched the wood thoroughly without coming upon the fugitive,who by this time had reached the forest,and whom the most skilful hunter would never have come up with.

Colonel Everest,as soon as he heard of this incident,sent for the bushman and questioned him.‘Who or what was this native?What was he doing there?And why did he give chase to the fugitive?’

‘It is a Makololo,Colonel,’replied Makoum,‘a native of the northern tribes who frequent the tributaries of the Zambezi;he is an enemy,a robber,the dread not only of the boschjesman but of every traveller who ventures into the interior of South Africa.That man was watching us,and we may perhaps regret we did not catch him.’

‘But,bushman,’asked the Colonel Everest,‘What have we to fear from a band of these robbers?Aren’t we strong enough to keep them off?’

‘At the moment we are,’replied the bushman,‘but these plundering tribes are met with much oftener to the northward,and there it’s more difficult to escape them.If this Makololo is a spy—of which I have little doubt—he is certain to set several hundred thieves along our route,and when once they are there,Colonel,I would not give you a farthing for all your triangles.’

Colonel Everest was deeply annoyed at this.He knew the bushman was not the man to exaggerate,and that he was bound to pay attention to his warning.The native’s intentions were obviously suspicious:his sudden appearance and immediate flight showed he was a spy,and it seemed impossible that the presence of the Anglo-Russian Commission would not be quickly reported to the northern tribes.But there was no help for it.They determined to keep a stricter lookout as the caravan advanced,and then continued working at the triangulation.

By 17th August,a third degree of the meridian had been obtained and careful observations of latitude exactly fixed the point they had reached.The astronomers had now measured three degrees of the arc,and this had involved the formation of twentytwo triangles from the extreme point of the southern base.

Reference to the map showed that the town of Kolobeng was situated about a hundred miles to the north-east.The astronomers decided on going there,and on resting for some days there where they might expect to find news from Europe.For nearly six months,since they left the shores of the Orange River and had been lost in the solitudes of South Africa,they had been completely out of touch with the civilised world.

At Kolobeng,a town of some importance,and a principal missionary station,they might perchance renew the link between Europe and themselves.Here too the caravan might recover its strength after all its fatigues,and their stores might also partially,if not entirely,renewed.

The Europeans arrived at Kolobeng on 22nd August,after an uneventful journey.A mere assemblage of native huts,ruled by a missionary settlement,it is also called Litoubarouda on certain maps and was formerly known as Lepelole.It is there that David Livingstone passed several months in 1843,when he became familiar with the manners and customs of the Bechuanas,more usually called Bakouins in this part of South Africa.

The missionaries gave a hospitable reception to the members of the scientific commission,and put all the country’s resources at their disposal.The house formerly inhabited by Livingstone was still to be seen,but plundered and ruined,for the Boers showed no respect to it whatever in their raid of 1852.

As soon as the astronomers had taken up their quarters with the missionaries,their first inquiry was for news from Europe.The principal was unable to satisfy their curiosity;for six months no couriers had arrived at the mission.

In a few days,however,a native bringing letters and newspapers was expected to arrive,as he had been reported some time ago on the shores of the Upper Zambezi.This gave the astronomers the time needed for rest;so they passed this week in complete dolce far niente,while Nicolas Palander profited by this to run over all his calculations once more.

On 30th August the messenger so impatiently expected arrived.He was a native of Kilmiane,a town situated at one of the mouths of the Zambezi.A merchant vessel from Mauritius,trading in gum and ivory,had touched at this part of the coast early in July,and left the despatches which it had brought for the missionaries at Kolobeng.These despatches were more than two months old,for the native courier had taken no less than four weeks to ascend the Zambezi,but their arrival very seriously compromised the future of the scientific expedition.

The principal father of the mission,as soon as the messenger arrived,sent a bundle of European newspapers to Colonel Everest;most were numbers of the Times,the Daily News,and the Journal des D～bats.The news they contained were of special importance.

The members of the Commission were assembled in the principal room in the mission.Colonel Everest,having untied the bundle of newspapers,took up a number of the Daily News of 13th May,1854,and was about to read aloud.

But he had hardly looked at the heading of a leader when the expression of his countenance changed suddenly.He looked very grave,and the paper trembled in his hands.In a few moments,however,he succeeded in mastering his emotion,and he resumed his habitually calm demeanour.

‘What is there so especially interesting in the paper?’asked Sir John Murray.

‘The news is very serious indeed,gentlemen,’replied the Colonel—‘very serious news indeed.’

He was still holding the Daily News in his hand.His colleagues,their eyes fixed upon him,could not fail to be impressed by his attitude,and waited impatiently for him to speak.

The Colonel rose,to the great astonishment of everyone,and of none more so than of him who was the object of this action.He walked up to Matthew Strux and said:

‘Before I make known the news contained in this paper,I should wish,Sir,to say something.’

‘I am ready to hear you,’replied the Russian astronomer.

Colonel Everest then said very impressively:‘Until now,Mr.Strux,a rivalry,personal rather than scientific,has divided us,and rendered our working together in the labours which we have undertaken in a common interest more difficult.I believe this state of things to be solely attributed to the circumstance of our being both placed as leaders at the head of this expedition.This position has been the cause of incessant antagonism.Every enterprise,be it what it may,should have but one leader.Do you not agree?’

Matthew Strux nodded.

‘Mr.Strux,’resumed the Colonel,‘in consequence of certain circumstan-ces this situation,painful to us both,is about to come to an end.But first,allow me to tell you,Sir,that I hold you in profound esteem—esteem due to the position you occupy in the world of science;I beg you,therefore,to accept my expression of regret for what has passed between us.’

These words were uttered in very dignified tones,and even with a suggestion of pride.There was no humiliation in these voluntary apologies so nobly expressed.

Neither Matthew Strux nor his colleagues had any idea what was to come next,nor could they divine the motive which prompted the Colonel to act thus.Perhaps the Russian astronomer,not having the same reasons as his colleague for such views,was less disposed to forget his personal resentment.But he conquered his antipathy,and expressed himself in these terms:

‘I think,Colonel,as you do,that our rivalry,to whose origin I will not allude,ought under no circumstance to be injurious to the scientific task in which we are both engaged.I feel for you the esteem which your talents deserve,and as far as it rests with me,I will so act that in future there shall be no personal feeling on my part in our relations with one another.But you spoke of a change which circumstances have caused in our relative situations.I do not understand—’

‘You will do so quite soon,Mr.Strux,’replied Colonel Everest,in a tone not unmixed with sadness;‘but first give me your hand.’

‘Here it is,’returned Matthew Strux,not without betraying some slight hesitation.

The two astronomers shook hands without speaking.

‘At last you are friends,’said Sir John Murray.

‘No,Sir John,’replied Colonel Everest,letting fall the Russian astronomer’s hand‘henceforward we are enemies—enemies separated by a wide abyss—enemies who must not meet again as friends,even on the neutral ground of science.’

Then,turning to his colleagues‘Gentlemen,’‘war has been declared between Russia and England;here are the English,French,and Russian papers which report this declaration.’

And,indeed,the Crimean War had broken out—the English,French and Turks were before Sebastopol;the Eastern question was then being disputed by cannonballs in the Black Sea.

These words of Colonel Everest fell like a thunder-clap on the ears of his hearers.The impression they made was far-reaching,on English and Russians alike,for both possess the sentiment of nationality in the highest degree.They sprang to their feet at once—these few words,‘war is declared,’were enough.They were no longer colleagues,comrades,or savants,working together for the accomplishment of a scientific object,but enemies,who were already taking each other’s measure—so great is the influence which these national duels have over men’s hearts.

A sort of instinctive movement had led the groups to stand a little apart.Even Nicolas Palander felt the general influence.Perhaps Michel Zorn and William Emery were the only two who looked on one another more in sorrow than in anger,and who regretted not having grasped each other’s hand before they heard Colonel Everest’s communication.

Not a word was spoken.Having exchanged bows,the Russians and the English parted.This novel,situation,this division of the party,would render the continuation of the operations more difficult,but would not stop them altogether.Each,in the interest of his country,intended to carry out what had been begun;but now the measuring would be continued on two different meridians.

These details were settled in an interview between Colonel Everest and Matthew Strux.Fate decided the Russians should continue to operate on the meridian already partly measured.The English,taking for granted the work executed in common,were to choose another arc sixty or eighty miles to the westward,which they could connect with the first by a series of auxiliary triangles;then they would continue their triangulation as far as the twentieth parallel.

All these question were settled by the two savants,and without any unseemly discussion whatever.Their personal rivalry was absorbed in a great national rivalry.Neither Matthew Strux nor Colonel Everest made use of an objectionable expression;they strictly observed all the rules of propriety.

It was settled that the caravan should be divided into two,each keeping its own material.Fate again favoured the Russians by giving them the steam launch,which obviously could not be divided into two.

The bushman,who was much attached to the English,especially to Sir John,remained with the English caravan;the vorloper,also a man of experience,was placed at the head of the Russians.Each part kept its own instruments,as well as one of the duplicate registers on which all the results of the operations had been set down.

On 31st August,the members of the former international commission parted.The English were the first to leave to link up their new meridian with their last station.They left Kolobeng at 8 in the morning after thanking the fathers at the mission for their hospitality they had shown them.

And if one of these missionaries had gone into Michel Zorn’s room a few moments before the departure of the English,he would have found William Emery shaking hands with his former friend and present enemy,by the will of their Majesties the Queen and the Czar!