Hill of the Moon

02. Hill of the Moon – Part II

Four months later. End of March.

The railway from Mombasa ran to Kisumu-Victoria along Lake Nyanza—a branch line of which was then under construction. The place is three hundred and fifty miles west of Mombasa. Seventy-two miles south-west corner of Stroudsburg Station on the Uganda Railway. Shankar came here as a construction camp clerk and government storekeeper. Lives in a small tent. Many tents around him. As houses have not been built here yet, everyone lives in tents. The tents are arranged in a circle in an open space—surrounding them is a vast expanse of open wilderness, filled with tall grass, and the occasional tree. A large baobab tree is at the edge of the open space right next to the tents. The famous tree of Africa, Shankar has seen many times in the film, this time Shankar's hope is not fulfilled when he sees the real baobab.

A new country, Shankar's young fresh mind—may he find the fulfillment of his dreams in these desolate fields and forests of Uganda. As soon as the work was done, he would leave the tent every day - go for a walk wherever his eyes would go - east, west, south, north. Tall grass everywhere. Some places are as high as human heads, some are higher than that.

The engineer in charge of the construction tent called Shankar one day and said - listen to Roy, don't come here like that. Don't step here without a gun. First - you can lose your way in this grass land. People lost their way and died in these places due to lack of water. Second - Uganda is the land of lions. Here the lions may have gone a little farther at our shouts and hammerings—but they have no faith. be very careful These areas are not safe at all.

One afternoon, while the work was in full swing, a human voice was heard shouting in the tall grass not far from the tent. Everyone rushed there to see what was the matter. Shankar also ran. Searched the grass land - nothing there.

What screams though?

The engineer came. The porters were called, it was found that one porter was missing. On investigation, it was revealed that he had gone to the grassy forest for some work, but no one had seen him return.

While searching, lion's paw prints were found on some sand outside the grassy forest. Sahib, accompanied by people with a gun, saw the footprints and went a long way to hide the bloody body of the unfortunate coolie behind a big rock. He was captured and brought to the tent. But there was no sign of the lion. He left the victim and ran away with the screams of the people. The porter died before evening.

The long grass around the tent was cut to a distance and cleared the next day. There is no other story in the tent except the story of Dink At Ak Singh. Then a month later, the incident became old, it stuck in everyone's mind. Work went well again.

It is very hot that day. A little later in the evening, however, it got cold. A fire was made by burning wood in front of the coolies' tent. Everyone in the tent is sitting around and gossiping. Shankar is also there, listening to their stories and reading the Kenya Morning News by the firelight. The newspaper is five days old. But in this uninhabited wilderness, there is still some news of the outside world.

Shankar became very friendly with a madrasa clerk named Thermal Appa. Terminal is a young man, knows English well, and is very enthusiastic. He has run away from home with an addiction to adventure. Sitting next to Shankar, she has been continuously talking about the country, her parents, and her younger sister since this evening. He loves his younger sister a lot. After leaving the house, Thermal thinks of his words. Once he will head towards the country at the end of September. Two months leave will not be granted sir?

Gradually the night got longer. Sometimes the fire goes out, and the coolies throw wood into it. Many others got up and went to sleep. The broken moon of Krishna slowly appeared on the far horizon—a flicker of light and darkness across the desert and the long shadows of wild trees.

Shankar felt very strange the beauty of this silent night in a far foreign country. Leaning on a pole in the porter's house, he gazed at the light-dark form of the vast uninhabited meadow before him. On the other side of that baobab tree, the bounds of the unknown country extend to Cape Town — how many mountains, forests, the prehistoric city of Jamboree — the vast and terrible Kalahari desert, the land of diamonds, the land of gold mines!

A big gold prospector tripped and fell. He picked up the stone on which he tripped and examined it carefully, seeing that it was mixed with gold. A big gold mine came out in that place. How many such stories has he read while living in the country.

This is Africa, that mysterious continent, the land of gold, the land of diamonds — how many unknown races, unknown landscapes, unknown animals are hiding in its boundless tropical forests, who has counted them?

When Shankar fell asleep wondering how much. Suddenly he woke up to the sound of something. He sat up with a jolt. The moon is high in the sky. The sparkling white light is clear as day. The fire in the fireplace has gone out. The coolies are lying on the fire with all coils twisted. There is no sound anywhere.

Suddenly Shankar's eyes fell beside him - here Thermal Appa was sitting and talking to him. where is he Then he will go to sleep in the tent.

Shankar himself was about to get up and go to bed, when a lion's roar was heard in the field at a short distance in the western corner. He trembled in the dim night light. The coolies woke up with a jolt. The engineer came out of the tent with a gun. Shankar heard the lion's roar for the first time in his life - what an unpredictable feeling that roar evoked in his mind in last night's Jyoti in that directionless meadow! It's not fear, it's a mysterious complex attitude. An old Maasai porter was in the tent. He said - the lion killed the man. People don't roar like that if they don't kill.

Terminals companion came from inside the tent and suddenly informed that Terminals bed was empty. He is nowhere in the tent.

Everyone was shocked to hear that. Shankar himself entered the tent and saw that there was really no one there. Then the coolies lighted the light and came out with sticks. A search was made in all the tents, shouting by name, all together - Thermal did not get any response.

The place where Thermal was lying was well seen. Marks of dragging a heavy object are evident on the ground. No one was late to understand the matter. A small piece of Terminals shirt sleeve was found near a baobab tree. The engineer went ahead with the gun, Shankar followed him. Coolies followed them. That late night, many places were searched around the field away from the tent, but no trace of Terminals body was found. This time the lion's roar was heard again - but far away. It was as if the screams of a mysterious demon possessed this lonely wilderness.

Masai Kula said - The lion is leaving with the body. But we have to suffer with him. Many more people will not leave unscathed. Everyone be careful. Once a lion starts eating humans it becomes very cunning.

At about three o'clock in the night, everyone returned to the tent. The whole field has become light with quite a lot of astrologers. In this part of Africa, birds are not much seen during the day, but a kind of nocturnal bird call can be heard at night - the melody is unearthly sweet. Just now that bird called far away in the top of a tree. The mind gets bored in a moment. Shankar did not go to sleep. And everyone went to sleep in the tent because the toil did not diminish. In front of the tent, a large fire was made of burning wood. Shankar couldn't dare to sit outside—there was no point in such an adventure. But he lay in his room and gazed out the window at the vast, sunlit unknown wilderness.

What a strange feeling. This is probably why Terminals epitaph drew him to Africa. What brought him here for his invisible, who knows the news?

Africa looks strangely beautiful — but Africa is terrifying. What will happen if it looks like the fields of Bangladesh full of acacia forest, Africa is an unknown death knell! Where there is a sudden cruel death trap... What will happen in the next moment, no one can say at this moment.

Africa received the first sacrifice — the young Hindu youth Tirumala. He wants to say…

Thermal went, immediately the situation in the camp from the next day became such that it could no longer be there under the threat of lions. Mankato lion very terrible beast! He is as cunning as he is brave. Even though the evening is far away, you can't go far alone during the day. Before evening, large bonfires were made in various places in the tent field. Coolies sit around the fire and talk, cook, eat and drink. The engineer guarded the tent three or four times a night with a gun, making empty dashes—in spite of all these precautions a coolie escaped with a lion in the evening just two days after Thermal was killed.

The next day a Somali porter went to break stone in a rock mound within three hundred yards of the tent at noon—he did not return in the evening.

That same night, after ten o'clock at night — Shankar is returning from the engineer's tent, there are no people outside, everyone is sleeping in their rooms, only here and there one or two almost extinguished fires. A jackal is calling in the distance - when Shankar hears the call of a jackal, he feels that he is in the suburbs of Bangladesh - he closes his eyes and tries to think of his own village, tries to think of that Built Amra tree in the corner of their house - even today he stops once and quickly closes his eyes.

What a wonderful feeling! where is he Lying on a blanket next to the window of their country house? Will you see the branches of the Amra tree when you open your eyes? right? Will he open his eyes?

Shankar slowly opened his eyes.

dark wilderness In the distance, the big baobab tree stood like a giant in the dim darkness. Suddenly he felt something moving on the low straw bale like an umbrella in front of him. Immediately he was frozen in fear and amazement.

A big lion is trying to dig a hole in the haystack with its paws and sometimes it takes its nose to the hole and smells what it is!

The distance of the boat from him is twenty cubits.

Shankar realizes that he is in dire danger. The lion was busy digging a hole in the straw of the chala, through which he would enter and take the man— Shankara he had not yet seen. There is no one outside the tent, no one stays out late at night for fear of lions.

He himself is completely unarmed, not even a stick in his hand.

Shankar silently retreated towards the engineer's tent, keeping his eyes on the lion. One minute… two minutes… Shankar had never known that he had so much control over his own nervous system. Not a fearful sound came out of his mouth nor did he suddenly try to run back.

Lifting the curtain of the engineer's tent, he entered and saw Sahib sitting at the table still working. Saheb was surprised to see his appearance and before he could ask anything, he said - Saheb, lion!

Mr. jumped up - what? Where?

There was a 375 Moniker rifle in the gun rack, Sahib took it down. Another rifle was given to Shankar. The two of them lifted the curtain of the tent and came out slowly. Cooley drove that goal from the line a little away. But where is the lion on the run? Shankar pointed with his finger and said, I just saw this sir. The lion is digging the straw with his paw on that chala.

Saheb said - ran away. wake up everyone

A little later there was a great commotion in the tent. The team of coolies came out with sticks, sticks, sticks, and mugur - looking around, the hay shed was really leaky. Footprints of lions were also found. But the lion has disappeared. The fire was rekindled by adding more wood and dry straw to the fire pit. Many did not sleep well that night, not even a large one was left outside the tent. Towards the end of the night, Shankar had fallen asleep in his tent — he was awakened by a great noise. Maasai coolies shouting 'Simba' 'Simba'. Gunshots rang out twice. When Shankar came out of the tent and inquired about the matter, he learned that a lion had come and injured a loaded horse in the stable - just now! Everyone was a bit sleepy last night and at that time in this case.

The next day at dusk a young coolie was led from the tent by a lion within a hundred hands. Four days later another coolie was taken from under the baobab tree.

No coolies want to work anymore. Long lines of porters often have to work in very small groups—they don't want to leave their tents, even during the day. Even staying in a tent is not safe at night. Fear in everyone's mind—everyone thinks it's his turn. There is no certainty when to take whom. In this case it does not work. Only the Maasai coolies remained steadfast—they were not even afraid of Yama. Two miles from the tent they do the carpentry work, the Sahib comes to look after them four or five times a day with a gun.

No matter how many new arrangements have been made, nothing has reduced the problem of lions. Despite all efforts, the lion could not be hunted. Many people said that the lion is not one, but many - how many can be killed? Saheb said - There are not many lions that eat humans. This is the work of a lion.

One day Saheb called Shankar and asked him to take the gun and take a look at the coolies. Shankar said - Sir, give me your manicure.

Sahib agreed. Shankar rode off on a horse with his gun—a small swamp a mile from the tent. When Shankar saw the swamp from a distance, it was around three in the afternoon. No one is around, the sun has created a heat wave in the field.

Suddenly the horse stopped. And it doesn't want to move forward at all. Shankar felt that the horse was afraid to go towards the place. A little later something moved in the nearby bushes. But he could not see anything. He dismounted. Still the horse does not want to move.

Suddenly Shankar's body felt like electricity. The lion in the bush is not sitting for him? He knows that many times it happens, that the lion hides in the bushes by the side of the road and silently follows his prey for a long distance. Taking advantage of the secluded spot, jumped on his neck. If so? If Shankar does not consider that he should proceed further with the horse. If I think I go back to the tent. He had just turned his horse's face towards the tent when something stirred in the bushes. Immediately a terrible lion roared and a huge body of gray color came down on the horse. Shankar was four arms ahead when he immediately stood back and raised his gun and fired twice in quick succession. It was not clear whether the bullet hit, but then the horse fell to the ground — the gray beast was on the run. When Shankar examines, the horse's shoulder has a lot of torn flesh, blood is covering the ground. He is writhing in pain. Shankar ended his suffering with a single shot.

Then he returned to the tent. Saheb said - the lion must have been injured. If the gun shot hit him, he must have been injured. But was shot? Shankar said - he can't talk about the gunshots. The gun was fired, that's all. Even after searching with people for two or three days, no injured or dead lion was found anywhere.

Monsoon fell from the first of June. Some because of the lion's nuisance, some because of the proximity of the swamp, the place being unhealthy, the tent went up from there.

Shankar no longer had to live in the construction tent. He got a job as station master at a small station about thirty miles from Kisumu and moved there with his belongings.