The Africans with the expedition seem both excited and fearful at the sight of the great bird that flies overhead. Several make warding signs or avert their gaze, and the whispered name jub jub bird is uttered by some...
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This dried up riverbed... says one of the Bantu men, pointing out a dry valley running north from the river junction... leads north to Kukuanaland and the mountain range known as the Solomon Mountains... A pair of peaks called Sheba's Breasts form a natural gateway into Kukuanaland... A Zulu woman adds: Kukuanaland is ruled by a wicked, degenerate king, who takes council from evil night hags! We must tread carefully there, or we will wind up in the meat pots! They are vicious cannibals, the Kukuanalanders!
The recently freed slaves grow increasingly aware and alarmed at the vampire's presence and nature... In Bantu: Oh, Papa Gede! Preserve us! It be a bloodsucker there! Bad juju! Ward us from this demon of the night! In Swahili: Mother, save us! Save us from this darkness given a man's shape! In Zulu: They have bought us cheap to feed their vampire friend! Dammit! I'd rather mine diamonds for Turks than be fed on by monsters!
The Africans are relieved at their great fortune, and as soon as Mwikali tells them they are free to go as they wish but their service would be welcomed, they all agree to join the expedition as guides, porters, cooks, laborers, et cetera. Babatunde! declares one man, thumping his chest... Cadan! declares another man, bowing... Kenya! cries a woman, patting her breasts... One by one, the men and women give their names, which seem strange to European ears...
The slaves are a mix of Bantu, Guinean, and Mande Africans, nine men and six women. They are clearly apprehensive and despairing of their fate...
Nine men and six women stand on the stage behind the Arab auctioneer, naked except for loincloths, their wrists manacled and their ankles shackled, linked together by chains and collars. Their faces are uniformly downcast and subdued. Some of them openly weep. |