The Project Gutenberg EBook of Black Man's Burden, by Dallas McCord Reynolds

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Title: Black Man's Burden

Author: Dallas McCord Reynolds

Illustrator: Schoenherr

Release Date: May 15, 2010 [EBook #32390]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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BLACK MAN'S BURDEN

BY MACK REYNOLDS

Illustrated by Schoenherr

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact &
Fiction December 1961 and January 1962. Extensive research did not
uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was
renewed.]

"Take up the white man's burden
Send forth the best ye breed...."
--Kipling

* * * * *

The turmoil in Africa is only beginning--and it must grow worse
before it's better. Not until the people of Africa know they are
Africans--not warring tribesmen--will there be peace....

I

The two-vehicle caravan emerged from the sandy wastes of the _erg_ and
approached the small encampment of Taitoq Tuareg which consisted of
seven goat leather tents. They were not unanticipated, the camp's scouts
had noted the strange pillars of high-flung dust which were set up by
the air rotors an hour earlier and for the past fifteen minutes they had
been visible to all.

Moussa-ag-Amastan, headman of the clan, awaited the newcomers at first
with a certain trepidation in spite of his warrior blood. Although he
hadn't expressed himself thus to his followers, his first opinion had
been that the unprecedented pillars were djinn come out of the erg for
no good purpose. It wasn't until they were quite close that it could be
seen the vehicles bore resemblance to those of the Rouma which were of
recent years spreading endlessly through the lands of the Ahaggar Tuareg
and beggaring those who formerly had conducted the commerce of the
Sahara.

But the vehicles traveling through the sand dunes! That had been the
last advantage of the camel. No wheeled vehicle could cross the vast
stretches of th