governor-general, who resolved to do away with the Ajimba forever. Throughout the nineteenth century French soldiers skirmished with the Ajimba, driving them from their haunts along the coast, but the military had never penetrated to their ultimate stronghold, the banks of that healthfully sulfurous lagoon where they lived in surprising luxury, attended by many slaves who farmed and built for their masters mud houses which were replicas of Roman villas.
"This time the governor-general placed in charge of the expeditionary force his chef du cabinet militaire , Colonel Charles Delafosse, who had under his command veterans of the infamous Bataillon d' Afrique , a battle-hardened disciplinary unit that rivaled the voluntary and better-known Foreign Legion. Les Joyeux , they were called, rather ironically. The soldiers were well equipped, carrying explosives and automatic weapons in shallow-draft patrol boats capable of penetrating the tall, knife-edged grasses of the lagoon. After Dr. Holley was rescued, airplanes were used to strafe and bomb the Ajimba villages. Virtually nothing remained, to the dismay of anthropologists intrigued by the unique and predatory Ajimba."
"And Gen Loussaint?"
"Possibly she was spirited away by her bodyguard and other survivors into one of the natural tunnels that extended for miles into the rocky highlands. All of the tunnel entrances that could be located were dynamited. Gen Loussaint was never seen again."
"You said Holley was rescued. What was his condition?"
"Colonel Delafosse's report stated that Dr. Holley was gaunt but otherwise in good health. Initially he seemed confused, perhaps drugged. He thought at most three weeks had passed since his abduction. In reality he was rescued on October twenty-ninth. He had spent nearly three months in captivity, ministering to the failing Gen Loussaint. He talked freely about her to the colonel; surprisingly, he was rather taken with that terrifying ghoul, whom he saw as just another sick, helpless old woman. But there's no doubt it was she, and not a descendant. Her memory was unimpaired by her great age; she talked at length to Eustace about her girlhood in France. Her mother dutifully had recorded young Gen's birthmarks and broken bones in various letters, and these descriptions match exactly statements regarding her appearance which Eustace made in 1920."
"So it was not because of the Ajimba, or Gen Loussaint, that he lost his wits. How did that come about?"
"Upon his return to Tuleborné, Eustace was urged to take a leave of absence. Except for brief visits downriver and a short holiday in Tenerife, he had not been away from his beloved hospital for more than eight yearsâfool-hardy, considering the hours he put in, the working conditions. His wife was unwell; weeks of not knowing if he was alive or dead had drained her strength. Instead of returning to England, Eustace immediately began rebuilding that part of the hospital which was damaged during the raid. Meanwhile he dealt with a full schedule of patients, this time without his two Negro assistants, who had returned to the bush during his absence. For a week or so everyone was deceived by his energy and devotion, but it was a false recrudescence; he was spending all the remaining years of his life in one reckless binge. Despite his insistence that he was treated well by the Ajimba, something profoundly disturbing had happened to him in that remote place. The appearance of the most common water snake caused him to tremble and scream in anguish. He refused to sleep at night, preferring to sit up guardedly by the light of an acetylene lamp, shivering despite the several blankets in which he wrapped himself. Waiting, as if for the devil to appear. He took strong doses of morphia, scopolamine, chloral hydrate, and bromide of potassium."
"For his nerves?"
"Those are drugs used in the treatment of mental illness; He knew he was in grave danger of losing touch with reality."
"And so he
"This time the governor-general placed in charge of the expeditionary force his chef du cabinet militaire , Colonel Charles Delafosse, who had under his command veterans of the infamous Bataillon d' Afrique , a battle-hardened disciplinary unit that rivaled the voluntary and better-known Foreign Legion. Les Joyeux , they were called, rather ironically. The soldiers were well equipped, carrying explosives and automatic weapons in shallow-draft patrol boats capable of penetrating the tall, knife-edged grasses of the lagoon. After Dr. Holley was rescued, airplanes were used to strafe and bomb the Ajimba villages. Virtually nothing remained, to the dismay of anthropologists intrigued by the unique and predatory Ajimba."
"And Gen Loussaint?"
"Possibly she was spirited away by her bodyguard and other survivors into one of the natural tunnels that extended for miles into the rocky highlands. All of the tunnel entrances that could be located were dynamited. Gen Loussaint was never seen again."
"You said Holley was rescued. What was his condition?"
"Colonel Delafosse's report stated that Dr. Holley was gaunt but otherwise in good health. Initially he seemed confused, perhaps drugged. He thought at most three weeks had passed since his abduction. In reality he was rescued on October twenty-ninth. He had spent nearly three months in captivity, ministering to the failing Gen Loussaint. He talked freely about her to the colonel; surprisingly, he was rather taken with that terrifying ghoul, whom he saw as just another sick, helpless old woman. But there's no doubt it was she, and not a descendant. Her memory was unimpaired by her great age; she talked at length to Eustace about her girlhood in France. Her mother dutifully had recorded young Gen's birthmarks and broken bones in various letters, and these descriptions match exactly statements regarding her appearance which Eustace made in 1920."
"So it was not because of the Ajimba, or Gen Loussaint, that he lost his wits. How did that come about?"
"Upon his return to Tuleborné, Eustace was urged to take a leave of absence. Except for brief visits downriver and a short holiday in Tenerife, he had not been away from his beloved hospital for more than eight yearsâfool-hardy, considering the hours he put in, the working conditions. His wife was unwell; weeks of not knowing if he was alive or dead had drained her strength. Instead of returning to England, Eustace immediately began rebuilding that part of the hospital which was damaged during the raid. Meanwhile he dealt with a full schedule of patients, this time without his two Negro assistants, who had returned to the bush during his absence. For a week or so everyone was deceived by his energy and devotion, but it was a false recrudescence; he was spending all the remaining years of his life in one reckless binge. Despite his insistence that he was treated well by the Ajimba, something profoundly disturbing had happened to him in that remote place. The appearance of the most common water snake caused him to tremble and scream in anguish. He refused to sleep at night, preferring to sit up guardedly by the light of an acetylene lamp, shivering despite the several blankets in which he wrapped himself. Waiting, as if for the devil to appear. He took strong doses of morphia, scopolamine, chloral hydrate, and bromide of potassium."
"For his nerves?"
"Those are drugs used in the treatment of mental illness; He knew he was in grave danger of losing touch with reality."
"And so he
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