At these words he beckoned to Kali.
“Kali, has the sick negro heard anything about a war?”
“Yes. There is a great, a very great war between Fumba and Samburu.”
“Then what will happen? How can we travel through the Samburu land?”
“The Samburu will run away from the great man, from King and from Kali.”
“And from you?”
“And from Kali, for Kali has a gun that thunders and kills.”
Stasch began to consider what part he would have to take in the war between the Wa-hima and Samburu tribes; he determined that the war should not interfere with their journey. He knew that their arrival would be a great surprise, and that it would give Fumba the upper hand. Therefore, all he need do would be to turn the prospective victory to his own advantage.
On arriving in the small villages of which the sick hunter had made mention, they made further inquiries in regard to the war. And the news became more and more reliable, but at the same time unfavorable to Fumba. The small travelers learned that he was on the defensive, and that the Samburu, led by Mamba, their king, had taken a considerable portion of the Wa-hima’s country and captured a great many cows. It was said that the seat of war was on the south bank of the large sheet of water, where Fumba’s great “boma”[[36]] was situated, on a high and broad mountain.
This news made Kali feel very sad. He begged Stasch to travel as fast as he could over the mountain which separated them from the district that was menaced by the war, and he promised to find a road over which they could lead King as well as the horses. They were now in a country with which Kali was very familiar, and he recognized the mountain peaks he had known since childhood.