At the eastern corner of our _tata_, looking down-stream, we dug a deep hole, in which we buried all our old iron, with the nails and poles we no longer needed, and which would only have encumbered us. They may perhaps be useful to others who may halt on our island. We levelled the soil above them and so left them. We were fortunate indeed that no other cemetery was needed at Fort Archinard, and were most grateful for the mercy of Heaven, which had preserved us all for so long. We did not wish the natives who had treated us so badly to profit at all by our leavings, so we made a big bonfire of our tables, chairs, doors, etc., in fact of everything that would burn. The coolies and we whites all worked with a will at making the pile, and we set light to the whole at once—camp mattresses, abattis, etc. etc.—with torches of straw, and a grand blaze they made; the crackling of the dry wood and the occasional blowing up of the powder in the cartridges could be heard a long way off. The coolies meanwhile, like so many black devils, danced round the fire beating their tam-tams, each performing the figures peculiar to his tribe, whilst Suleyman alone looked thoughtfully on, and we watched, not without a certain _serrement de cœur_, the burning of what had been Fort Archinard, that remote islet in the land of the negroes where for five long months we had lived, and hoped, now buoyed up with illusive joy, now depressed with the knowledge of how we had been deceived. Somehow the heart gets attached to these lonely districts, where such thrilling emotions have been lived through, where real sufferings and privations have been endured. It is with them as with women, we often love best those who have given us the most pain. Fort Archinard burnt gloriously. When the smoke became too dense and nearly choked us, we embarked on our barges, which were already launched, and turned back just once more, like Lot’s wife after leaving Sodom, to gaze at the conflagration. [Illustration: THE BURNING OF FORT ARCHINARD.] We were off again with light hearts full of hope, to face new rapids! [Illustration: A YOUNG KURTEYE.] [Illustration: NATIVES OF MALALI.] CHAPTER IX FROM SAY TO BUSSA Below Fort Archinard the river divides into a number of arms; the islands formed by them as well as the banks of the river were deserted, but clothed with lofty trees, such as baobabs, palms, and other tropical growths. Although the water was now pretty well at its maximum height, a good many scarcely-covered rocks impeded its bed, and rapids were numerous. Of little danger to us, for we had seen worse, and safely passed them, but bad enough to make navigation impossible to a steamer.