The Mystery of Munroe Island

by Satyajit Ray

  Mahoney instantly picked up his gun, but in a flash from his left an arrow appeared and hit the butt of his gun, which fell to the ground.

  And then the archer himself picked up the gun and said something in Bantu. Mahoney turned towards us and said, ‘They want us to follow them.’

  ‘Where?’ I asked.

  ‘Wherever they take us.’

  ‘Who are they?’

  ‘They are Bantus, but not Bushmen exactly. One can make out that they are following someone’s orders. Unless we go with them we can’t find out who this person is.’

  We had no choice. When there are at least fifty people pointing arrows at you then there’s no question of not obeying them.

  After walking for five minutes against the mountainside, we reached a clearing that was obviously man-made. Trees had been chopped off in all directions. On one side of the clearing stood a wonderful wooden cabin on wooden stilts. It could be called a forest bungalow.

  Under the direction of our captors, we proceeded towards the cabin. Was there any human presence inside it?

  Yes, indeed there was.

  First it was only a voice and then the owner of the voice came out on to the verandah of the cabin.

  ‘Good morning, good morning!’

  The face was replete with a bushy red beard and moustache and it wasn’t difficult to recognize the man.

  He was the renowned German scientist Professor Karl Haimendorf.

  ‘Welcome, Professor Shonku! Welcome, Herr Crole!’

  With a clap of his hands he dismissed the Bantu group.

  ‘Come along, all of you, let’s go upstairs.’

  We followed Haimendorf up the stairs into the cabin. There were two other white men present, men I knew well—Dr Gouws and Professor Ehrlich. After the introductions were over, Haimendorf said, ‘Another member of our group, engineer Helmsman, is a little preoccupied with his own work. You will get to meet him later.’ Then he turned towards me and said, ‘I received the information that you are visiting this area. We are in touch with Nairobi via radio and with Kisangani as well. And via Kisangani I’m in touch with my own country. As a result we get to know what’s happening all across the world.’

  I said, ‘But the people outside don’t know that you all are still alive.’

  Haimendorf let out a hearty chuckle. ‘If this news is allowed to reach them they’ll definitely know. Perhaps we didn’t let them know.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘It’ll create problems, in our work.’

  I decided to say no more. It’s obvious that some venture was in progress, though I’ve no idea about the nature of the work.

  This time Saunders asked a question. ‘If you are in touch with the outside world then you must have heard about the arrival and the disappearance of the Italian and the British groups in the forests of the Congo as well.’

  ‘Yes, indeed, I heard about their coming. But then I did not receive any further news about them. ‘

  ‘Have you any knowledge of a prehistoric animal living in your vicinity?’ asked Crole.

  Elmendorf’s jaw dropped. ‘A prehistoric animal?’

  ‘The Tyrannosaurus Rex, to be exact.’

  ‘Have you seen him?’ Haimendorf asked.

  ‘Not just seen him . . . the animal attacked our camp. Three of our porters were crushed under his feet.’

  ‘How strange,’ said Haimendorf. ‘He hasn’t appeared in this locality.’

  A native servant served us coffee, and we sipped it cautiously, still bemused by the presence of Haimendorf and his team. Soon, Haimendorf got up and said, ‘I deeply regret bringing you over forcefully but it was essential that we meet. When I heard you had come here, I couldn’t let go of this opportunity. Now let’s walk around. I’d like to show you this place. I think you’ll find this interesting.’

  Haimendorf, Gouws and Ehrlich started off. Forming a line we followed them down the wooden staircase. The sides of the bungalow had been cleared of all bush and the trees had been spruced up. However, there were still signs of volcanic ash on the ground. During a volcanic eruption the lava flow is perhaps the least of the problems; far more dangerous is this ash and associated poisonous gases. A lava flow is slow and a man can easily run and outpace it in order to save himself.

  We were walking along the sides of the dormant volcano. On the eastern side, the mountain range, we noticed a huge wall had been built on one portion of which was a huge wooden door. It was shut.

  ‘We are using this natural cave as a working space,’ said Haimendorf. ‘The cave is almost forty yards deep. There are two more such caves, both in use. Nature seems to be blessing our work.’

  ‘What if nature creates havoc?’ asked Crole.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘There’s no guarantee that these volcanoes won’t ever erupt?’

  ‘If we see such signs we have our ways to escape,’ Haimendorf said mysteriously.

  Walking further we reached the entrance to a tunnel. The moment I entered the tunnel a thought crossed my mind, and this was echoed by the words spoken by Haimendorf.

  ‘This is a kimberlite pipe,’ said Haimendorf. ‘The stones which you notice on the wall have diamonds embedded in them.’

  In the scientific world there are a number of theories regarding the origin of diamonds. One theory states that 1000 miles underground, due to tremendous pressure and heat, carbon crystallizes into diamond. These diamonds are brought up with lava and other melted minerals during a volcanic eruption and become embedded on the walls of the tunnels.

  Haimendorf was speaking. ‘One ordinary hundred tonnes kimberlite pipe yields hardly thirty-two carat diamonds. That is, one fifth of an ounce. But with one strike of a crowbar in this tunnel, we won’t be surprised if we get 500 carat diamond.’

  It’s obvious that the tunnel is being dug here. Crowbars are lying on the floor, lights are fixed up against the entire wall of the tunnel, and a trolley is lined up on the ground—to take the supplies outside.

  ‘Is this a blue diamond?’ I asked, pointing to a stone in the wall.

  ‘So you keep yourself quite well informed,’ answered Haimendorf with a crooked smile. ‘Yes, this is a blue diamond. A particular brand of blue diamond–Type II-B. It has no value as a gem. But this variety of diamond has revolutionized work in the field of electronics. I believe that there’s no other place in the world which contains such an endless supply of diamonds. There are many such pipes available here where the work is on in full swing. If you can control the locals well they produce good work for you. In my mine both the labourers as well as the police are black.’

  We came out of the tunnel. The afternoon was now ebbing. We took the same route by which we had come. When we reached the shut door we had seen earlier, Haimendorf unlocked it and ushered us inside.

  It was like Aladdin’s cave. In the presence of such a variety of tools and machinery you hardly felt you were within a mountain. A laboratory, restroom, conference room—they were all there.

  ‘You must be surprised to see so many items,’ said Haimendorf. ‘In today’s day and age if you’re connected to the city then receiving supplies is never a problem.’

  Now four armed men appeared at the door. By their uniforms, it was clear they were from the police.

  Apart from Crole, all of us settled down on a sofa. Crole looked very restless; he roamed around the room looking at everything. He came to a halt in front of a machine and asked, ‘Are you operating some device through remote control? I can see a switch full of various instructions.’

  In a dry voice, Haimendorf said, ‘Helmsman is an able engineer. Morever, Gouws has earned his own reputation as an inventor, even if he is not Professor Shonku’s equal. If to reduce a man’s hard work is the main aim in the field of electronics, we indeed try out our experiments on how one can conduct various external jobs while sitting at home. I came to know of your arrival in this direction while sitting inside this cave.’

  On one side of
the cave I saw four TV screens placed in a row. When Haimendorf got up and pressed four buttons, we could see four different scenes from the forest.

  ‘We have fixed cameras against the trees across many areas of the forest,’ said Haimendorf.

  Crole finally sat down.

  Now we noticed a distinct change in Haimendorf’s face. The easy, friendly expression was now replaced by a grave and solemn one. He paced up and down, cleared his throat and said, ‘I’m sure you can make out that the work we are pursuing here demands utmost discretion. Other than the four of us, our fellows based in Kisangani and Nairobi, our local employees, the sponsors of our expedition who are based in Germany and the few of you, no one else knows anything about the blue diamond mines. You’ve come to know because you’d come too close to this area and I was obliged to tell you. But I’m sure you’re aware that I’ll not allow this news to be carried out by you.’

  Haimendorf stopped talking. There was pindrop silence in the cave. Mahoney was grinding his teeth but somehow managing to keep calm. The rest of us sat like stones, looking straight at Haimendorf. It was Crole who broke the silence. ‘Karl, will you tell them about your own role during the reign of Hitler? In the Buchenwald concentration camp what kind of torture was carried out on Jew prisoners by a young physicist—’

  ‘Wilhelm!’ Haimendorf growled. Crole now fell silent as he had already let the cat out of the bag. In horror I looked at Haimendorf. Those cold, cruel eyes, the icy, steely voice—how accurately they all matched up to my idea of a former Nazi.

  Another white man entered the cave. He was six feet in height with black, bushy eyebrows, a head full of unruly black hair and thick glasses. This must be Helmsman I thought. Looking at Haimendorf, he gently nodded his head as if indicating that the work had been completed.

  ‘Sanga, Mobut!’

  At Haimendorf’s shout two black men came forward. He issued orders in Bantu and the guns in the hands of Mahoney and Crole were immediately taken away. It was pointless to protest as the other two guards were aiming at us with their arrows.

  Now Haimendorf looked at me. ‘Professor Shonku, I’ve a request for you.’

  ‘Tell me.’

  ‘I need you to be part of my group.’

  I was speechless for a moment at this absurd proposal. Pausing a little, Haimendorf once again began to speak. ‘I’ve heard of two amazing discoveries made by you from Gouws. One is a pistol and the other, a pill. A cartridge is not just expensive to produce; if the aim is not definite it’s impossible to kill an animal. We don’t have any first-class hunters among us. Just the other day a herd of elephants created a great deal of chaos for us. I have heard that your pistol always works when its trigger is pressed. In the same way your pill too works like magic, I’m told. African diseases are peculiar. Soon after arriving Ehrlich contracted malaria and Helmsman fell ill with sleeping sickness. German medicines are no less effective but unlike your medicines they are not always a sure hit. I need you chiefly because I require these two products. In addition to this, I may also need your advice occasionally. Do not fear, you’ll live in great comfort. We always honour our esteemed guests. We have done so in the case of another person too.’

  I had this great urge to take out my pistol and make this disgusting man vanish, but I also knew that these archers would immediately kill all of us.

  I said, ‘There’s no question of my leaving this group.’

  Haimendorf did not seem convinced. He said, ‘I agree, I do not have such extraordinary talent to match your genius. What’s the real strength of Type 2-BW diamond? Will this help to improve an electronic revolver?—Unlike others, it’s you who can easily work on this. Needless to say, we’ll suitably recompense you for this.’

  I found my voice. ‘Please forgive me as I’ve no wish to help you in any way.’

  ‘Is this your final word on the matter?’

  ‘Yes.’

  Looking in my direction for a few moments, Haimendorf opened his mouth.

  ‘Very well.’

  All this while, I had been aware of Rocket’s restlessness and whining. Was it the sounds of monkeys and apes? On my way here I’d noticed some colobus monkeys on the trees. The shrill scream which I now heard from outside, was it coming from a monkey?

  ‘Gentleman,’ said Haimendorf. ‘Now the time has come to bid farewell to you all. We have work to do. I don’t wish to waste my time by talking, especially when it’s not going to yield any fruitful result. Our guards will drop you back at the appointed place.’

  He walked to the instrument Crole had been examining earlier. ‘You may leave now,’ said Haimendorf.

  We all exited the cave, all except Haimendorf. The sun had by now receded behind the mountain, bringing darkness all around.

  Four local men were aiming their arrows at us. I could feel our end was near. Something needed to be done right now. There was only one way.

  The advantage of my pistol is that it doesn’t look like one. In desperation I took it out of my pocket and, aiming at the archers, pressed the trigger. In an instant three of them vanished. I wasn’t as quick with the fourth one: his arrow whizzed by my left ear, taking along a tuft of my hair and hit the door of the cave, before the archer vanished.

  Rocket still seemed very restless. The colobus monkeys were jumping about and screeching loudly on the trees.

  ‘Mein gott,’ screamed Crole. ‘Look at that!’

  Twenty yards away towards the east from between the rows of trees, charging towards us, was the Tyrannosaurus Rex! In the dusky light we could see his eyes gleam like a blazing fire, and its mouth was stretched up to the ears, showing rows of sharpened teeth.

  I took out my Annihilin from my pocket but instantly realized that the pistol would not work on this beast.

  Because it was not a living being! It was a robot, created by the Haimendorf Company. This prehistoric animal was a mechanized being!

  The engineer Helmsman was controlling it from within the cave.

  Crole too had figured this out and in an instant he rushed back into the cave.

  The mechanical beast was now moving quickly towards us. We all retreated into the cave for refuge.

  Inside, we witnessed a dramatic scenario.

  Helmsman’s left hand was on the controls of the machine and his right hand was holding a gun aimed straight at Crole. But Crole’s behaviour was peculiar. In a gentle voice he was calling out Helmsman’s name even while slowly approaching him, one step at a time.

  ‘Helmsman . . . Helmsman . . . Helmsman . . . Please put down the revolver, Helmsman . . . Drop the revolver . . .’

  To our amazement, Helmsman’s right hand came down gradually.

  ‘Now please stop the movement of your animal, Helmsman, stop the animal and do not let him come here.’

  Helmsman’s left hand now went towards a button.

  It all became very clear to us. Crole had hypnotized Helmsman. Outside the sounds of the beast approaching had come to a halt but our legs suddenly began to shake.

  The ground was trembling. All the equipment inside the cave was shaking. Rocket was barking loudly.

  An earthquake—and it would not be surprising if a volcano too now erupted. Birds and animals often get to know of an earthquake well in advance due to their sixth sense. Now I could understand the reason for Rocket’s restlessness. The screeching noises by the monkeys were probably for the same reason.

  We ran out of the cave. Ten yards away the Tyrannosaurus lay lifeless, his body vibrating in the earthquake. Human cries could be heard from all directions. We were about to run when we heard a very familiar voice.

  ‘Shonku! Shonku! This way—Shonku!’

  I turned—another shock on this already eventful day! From afar Chris McPherson was waving to us desperately. Just behind him was a hot-air balloon, the colour of a bright yellow sun. Solving this mystery could wait—we needed to escape first.

  We ran in his direction.

  ‘Don’t let them come!’ McPhe
rson shouted, pointing behind us.

  Turning I saw Haimendorf, Ehrlich and Gouws racing in the direction of McPherson.

  In a split second, Mahoney’s blow knocked the first two down. Saunders’s blow stopped Gouws in his tracks. Kahindi had definitely fled with his other teammates. Now there was no time to think of them.

  Within seconds the five of us including Rocket tumbled into the hot-air balloon and drifted off the mountain. As we rose, we could see Mount Mukenku erupt, emitting fire from its crater. Streams of lava were flowing down the mountainside. The sky and the wind were wrapped up in smoke; with each explosion countless stones were being thrown out of the crater and scattered all over the earth. We could see all kinds of wild animals—big and small—escaping the area to save themselves from this natural calamity.

  Soon, everything receded. The sounds of the explosions were getting fainter as we drifted away in the evening breeze. The sun cast one final illuminating glow before finally setting. Amidst the eternal foliage of Congo’s ancient forest, a speck of tiny orange flame reminded us of the sudden awakening of the sleeping Mukenku.

  Finally McPherson spoke.

  ‘I saw you from a distance but didn’t know how to establish contact. At last I got the opportunity thanks to this catastrophe.’

  I asked, ‘But why did they capture you?’

  McPherson said, ‘This gas balloon belongs to us; it’s not Haimendorf’s. As we had to work within the volcanic region we carried this along with us. This is the best option for a getaway in times like this. But there’s another reason too.’

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘The doctorate I got in geology was on the subject of the blue diamond. That is why Haimendorf detained me. Or else, like the others in my group, I too would have been crushed under the feet of that mechanical demon. Of course, such a death would have perhaps been better than this slavery.’

  David asked, ‘Who invented this amazing beast?’

  ‘The plan was hatched by Haimendorf. The form was created by Gouws, Ehrlich, Helmsman and fifty Bantu craftsmen. Few in this world can match up to Bantu craftsmanship. This demon was produced chiefly to keep investigators and explorers away.’