Into the Desert
5th December (Wednesday)
Today we departed from Massaua with a caravan of trucks and troops. We were fortunate to spare our feet (if perhaps not our stomachs) by riding inside one of the trucks. In either case the sun is simply scorchingly hot here, with shade providing little relief. We did see some zebras and I took a few photographs of them and the local landscape for Erik which he says he may use for his next book (despite it being set in Egypt), which I enjoyed. I only hope I managed to keep the camera steady enough for them to be in focus.
We had a bit of a fright several hours into the journey, when a bullet hole was sighted by Erik, a stray from the locals shooting at the convoy. The soldiers were quite un-fussed about it, but Howard told us to get down so we complied. They say this land is exotic, but I am quickly learning that isn’t all positive. It was a great relief to arrive at the military compound and be shown to some better shade, and at least be out of the dusty, bumpy truck.
We were told Acuna was indeed onsite, in his tent, where he spends most of his time alone, and drinking. After some discussion about how to approach him, I decided to remain behind (being a woman can be very distracting in this sort of company, whether I like it or not) and sent the others off (including Howard) to meet Professor Acuna and learn what they could of Ayers. Their conversation, I’m told, although a bit deceitful (as they had predetermined it would be) was frank and productive.
Professor Acuna, we were told, has been grumpy, being trapped on the wrong side of the border from his quarry in Adua. My associates found Acuna to be a greasy, rotund but cheerful (in his cups, at least) man with a great memory of his time with Ayers. Acuna spat at the very mention of his name. He admitted the mission would not have succeeded without the money Ayers came up with (which came from Echavarria, he said), and that it was Ayers who contacted Acuna about the dig.
Acuna believes Ayers is dead. When the volcano erupted in 1926, the entire site was destroyed. Acuna and the others all abandoned the dig, but Ayers insisted on going back into the desert. He hasn’t been seen since, and without a solid team around him it seems impossible Ayers could have survived. The area is compared to hell itself.
Acuna told us they were working with the CMC (Mining Corp) who provided the tools and labor. There were no artifacts to take back. But Acuna did recognize the stone Erik has been carrying around with the “evil eye”, and told my associates more of the original tale. Professor Acuna was researching a text, re-translating and studying it: Revelations of Gla'aki.
The text discusses an ancient deity and orgiastic rituals, with an ancient focus on Dallol. His research and the dig led him to an ancient temple, precisely where he expected to find it (which, I’ll admit, I do find both fascinating and impressive). There were reliefs upon the door, protective reliefs – of which, the stone Erik carries is one, chipped away and probably the sole remnant of the entire ancient temple. The fragment had been sent to Echavarria, upon Ayers’ instruction (and as we know, found its way into the possession of Douglas Henslowe).
The door sealed off the inner complex, which the company did not manage to breach until 1926. Around the temple, Acuna said everything seemed to slow down. Their labor became lazy, there was delay upon delay with CMC. Once they were inside, however, it only took a few days to reach the Inner Sanctum. Inside there was a mouth, a statue similar to the wallpaper stain (so I’m told), carved in incredible detail in a rock they had never seen before – possibly “more ancient than Christ”. Acuna had sketches of these, which he sold to Otto. Inside the mouth there were dozens & dozens of teeth, and lips and lips and the tongue, all obscene!
Always this focus on the mouth....
His text, he says, is at the Universidad, as his attention has turned to other projects now (the volcano having rendered their site useless).
The reliefs inside the sanctum were very different from what was sketched – these were of people venerating the deity, preparing for it, even sacrificing themselves for it.
When the company broke through the reliefs, the trouble doubled and the company cut off their supplies.It was during a trip back to Mersa Fatma, only a few days later, to re-negotiate with CMC that the volcano erupted.They could hear it even from so far away.Ayers said he had to go back, but Acuna didn’t want to see, saw no sense in it.
Acuna did draw us a map (on a napkin), but described the place like a literal hell, “casa de diablo”.
He further told us the last people to see Ayers alive would have been a tribe who did work in the area and for the CMC.
Along with the sketches, there was one bit of text (which had not matched anything Acuna had read in the Revelations text) they had copied & attempted to translate:
Apparently, this was the end sum of what my associates were able to glean from Acuna; for when the man apparently dozed off Erik snooped a bit, and they were caught. It is a pity to have lost the trust of such a useful man, but we have indeed learned much from him.
Our next move is to return to Massaua, and then follow our original intended path to Dallol via Mersa Fatma. Perhaps there we can learn of this tribe who last saw Ayers alive.
6th December (Thursday)
And so return to Massaua we did, and provisioned ourselves for the hard trek ahead. War is definitely looming now, there has been an incident during our absence, ‘though we do not know the details. Better we finish in this dangerous bit of our journey, and quickly. We booked a boat to leave for Mersa Fatma the very next day.
7th December (Friday)
And leave we did. Howard has been everything Janet Winston-Rogers promised, and more. We travelled half a day by boat, which gave us a small respite from the heat. The shark fins in the water, however, were just as unnerving. What an adventure this is turning out to be! If only I weren’t secretly so terrified. Death by desert is not high on my to-do list.
We arrived to find a much smaller town, this one not swarmed by Italian troops but filled with local people. Which was both comforting and terrifying in its own way, as there would be even fewer people with whom we can carry on even the most basic of conversations. We had better not lose or upset Howard, or getting home will be one mighty challenge.
Mersa Fatma is dominated by very large buildings, the remnants of the CMC mining heyday.. warehouses and a giant industrial complex. We did not feel particularly welcome, and Quincy believed he spotted a man tailing us – possibly out of sheer curiosity, but there could be more malice to it. Howard arranges a guest house for our brief stay, which is much more primitive than we’ve become accustomed, merely a few rooms and shared bathroom. Still, as much was to be expected, really, and at least we are not yet sleeping in the desert.
Quincy and Howard visited the CMC headquarters, and spoke to an Italian named Lorenzo Samian, who remembered Acuna and Ayers from their visit a decade ago (I suppose they do not get many European visitors). He recalls they had a poor relationship, and remembers Acuna coming in to rant about supplies. He said some of the wives of the men of Kalluli would meddle, others would steal supplies, spread rumours – any excuse not to work. There were good people in Mersa Fatma, so they hired from there. They no longer move product from the South, so they no longer hire from there at all.
Quincy arranges with the man for a single locomotive, if they can get one working, to take us down the railway. But he warns it will be both hot and dangerous, and that the rail line may no longer be clear. When they departed, Quincy & Howard noticed the same man (in his 40sh but youthful in appearance); they tried to separate and trap him, but failed. In any case, we shall not be staying long, and it will be apparent enough if he follows us out into the desert. Now we have only to decide whether to risk the train or camels….
