"Moreover," he went on, "I will load you with gold dust and any gifts
you may desire, and set you safe across the water among your friends,
the Mazitu."
"Look here," I broke in, "let us understand matters clearly, and,
John, do you translate to Stephen. Now, friend Kalubi, first of all,
who and what is this god you talk of?"
"Lord Macumazana, he is a huge ape white with age, or born white, I
know not which. He is twice as big as any man, and stronger than
twenty men, whom he can break in his hands, as I break a reed, or
whose heads he can bite off in his mouth, as he bit off my finger for
a warning. For that is how he treats the Kalubis when he wearies of
them. First he bites off a finger and lets them go, and next he breaks
them like a reed, as also he breaks those who are doomed to sacrifice
before the fire."
"Ah!" I said, "a great ape! I thought as much. Well, and how long has
this brute been a god among you?"
"I do not know how long. From the beginning. He was always there, as
the Motombo was always there, for they are one.
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