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 p.i

Information and Communication

Technology for Development (ICT4D)

Mobile phones are close to ubiquitous in developing countries;

Internet and broadband access are becoming commonplace.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) thus represent
the fastest, broadest and deepest technical change experienced in
international development. They now affect every development
sector – supporting the work of hundreds of millions of farmers and
micro-entrepreneurs; creating millions of ICT-based jobs; assisting
healthcare workers and teachers; facilitating political change;
impacting climate change; but also linked with digital inequalities
and harms – with the pace of change continuously accelerating.

Information and Communication Technology for Development

(ICT4D) provides the first dedicated textbook to examine and
explain these emerging phenomena. It will help students,
practitioners, researchers and other readers understand the place of
ICTs within development; the ICT-enabled changes already
underway; and the key issues and interventions that engage ICT4D
practice and strategy.

The book has a three-part structure. The first three chapters set out
the foundations of ICT4D: the core relation between ICTs and
development; the underlying components needed for ICT4D to
work; and best practice in implementing ICT4D. Five chapters then
analyse key development goals: economic growth, poverty
eradication, social development, good governance and
environmental sustainability. Each chapter assesses the goal-related
impact associated with ICTs and key lessons from real-world cases.
The final chapter looks ahead to emerging technologies and
emerging models of ICT-enabled development.

The book uses extensive in-text diagrams, tables and boxed

examples with chapter-end discussion and assignment questions and
further reading. Supported by online activities, video links, session
outlines and slides, this textbook provides the basis for
undergraduate, postgraduate and online learning modules on ICT4D.

Richard Heeks is Chair in Development Informatics at the

University of Manchester, UK. He has researched, taught and
practised ICTs and international development for more than 30
years.
 p.ii

Routledge Perspectives On Development

Series Editor: Professor Tony Binns, University of

Otago

www.routledge.com/Routledge-Perspectives-on-Development/book-
series/SE0684

Since it was established in 2000, the same year as the Millennium

Development Goals were set by the United Nations, the Routledge
Perspectives on Development series has become the pre-eminent
international textbook series on key development issues. Written by
leading authors in their fields, the books have been popular with
academics and students working in disciplines such as anthropology,
economics, geography, international relations, politics and sociology.
The series has also proved to be of particular interest to those
working in interdisciplinary fields, such as area studies (African,
Asian and Latin American studies), development studies,
environmental studies, peace and conflict studies, rural and urban
studies, travel and tourism.

If you would like to submit a book proposal for the series, please
contact the Series Editor, Tony Binns, on:
[email protected]

Climate Change and Development

Thomas Tanner and Leo Horn-Phathanothai

Global Finance and Development

David Hudson
Population and Development, 2nd Edition
W.T.S. Gould

Conservation and Development

Andrew Newsham and Shonil Bhagwat

Tourism and Development in the Developing World, 2nd

Edition
David J. Telfer and Richard Sharpley

Conflict and Development, 2nd Edition

Andrew Williams and Roger MacGinty

Cities and Development, 2nd Edition

Sean Fox and Tom Goodfellow

Children, Youth and Development, 2nd Edition

Nicola Ansell

Information and Communication Technology for

Development (ICT4D)
Richard Heeks
 p.iii

Information and
Communication Technology
for Development (ICT4D)

Richard Heeks
 p.iv

First published 2018

by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

© 2018 Richard Heeks

The right of Richard Heeks to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered

trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN: 978-1-138-10180-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-138-10181-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-65260-3 (ebk)

Typeset in Times New Roman

by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK

Visit the eResource: www.routledge.com/9781138101814

 p.v

Contents

List of figures
List of tables
List of boxes
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Introduction: information and communication

technology for development (ICT4D)

1 Understanding ICT4D
1.1. What do we mean by “ICT4D”?
1.2. What does “development” mean?
1.3. Theoretical foundations of ICT4D

2 Foundations of ICT4D
2.1. The ICT4D value chain
2.2. Technological foundations of ICT4D
2.3. Human foundations of ICT4D
2.4. Institutional foundations of ICT4D
2.5. Financing ICT4D
2.6. Digital inclusion and the “digital divide”

3 Implementing ICT4D
3.1. ICT4D strategy
3.2. ICT4D design and implementation
3.3. ICT4D adoption and use
3.4. ICT4D monitoring and evaluation

4 ICTs and economic growth

4.1. Economic growth as a development goal
4.2. ICTs and micro-economic growth
4.3. ICTs and meso-economic growth
4.4. ICTs and macro-economic growth
p.vi

5 ICTs, poverty and livelihoods

5.1. Poverty eradication as a development goal
5.2. ICTs and financial poverty
5.3. ICTs and livelihoods

6 ICTs and social development

6.1. Social development as a development goal
6.2. ICTs, health and development
6.3. ICTs, education and development
6.4. ICTs, capabilities and development

7 e-Governance and development

7.1. Good governance as a development goal
7.2. e-Services and development
7.3. e-Accountability and development
7.4. e-Democracy and development
8 ICTs and environmental sustainability
8.1. Environmental sustainability as a development goal
8.2. e-Mitigation and development
8.3. e-Monitoring, e-strategy and development
8.4. e-Adaptation, e-resilience and development

9 The future of ICT4D

9.1. Future directions in ICT4D
9.2. Development 2.0
9.3. Data-intensive development
9.4. Open development
9.5. ICT4D 3.0, Development 2.0 or Digital Development?

Bibliography
Index
 p.vii

Figures

1.1 The relation between data, information and knowledge

1.2 The “CIPSODAR” steps of the information value chain
1.3 The meaning of ICT4D
1.4 ICT functionalities and affordances
1.5 Chronology of development paradigms
1.6 Disciplinary foundations for development informatics
research
1.7 Structural “onion-ring” model of information systems
1.8 Dimensions of design–reality gaps
2.1 The ICT4D value chain
2.2 Changing focus of ICT4D priorities over time
2.3 The technological foundation layers of ICT4D
2.4 African undersea cables
2.5 An example telecommunications network
2.6 A PC kiosk
2.7 The technological architecture of ICT4D
2.8 Model of human motivation
2.9 Ladder of ICT-related roles
2.10 The role of knowledge in the information value chain
2.11 ICT4D institutions
2.12 Significant ICT4D actors within the UN system
2.13 ICT4D and development informatics timeline
2.14 Main ICT4D stakeholders
2.15 A generic ICT4D organisational ecosystem
2.16 ICT4D initiative stakeholder roles
p.viii

2.17 Sample power-interest stakeholder analysis

2.18 Domains of ICT4D policy
2.19 ICT4D Policy Collaboratory: process and structure
2.20 Stakeholders in Internet governance
2.21 Financing at different stages of an ICT4D project
2.22 Example areas of public ICT4D funding
2.23 Different technological divides over time
2.24 Digital divide vs. digital continuum
2.25 Value chain dimensions of the digital divide
2.26 Resources required for the information value chain
2.27 The politics of information and ICT4D
3.1 The steps of ICT4D strategy
3.2 Elements of ICT4D technical architecture
3.3 Example ICT model architecture
3.4 ICT4D Project Implementation Principles
3.5 ICT4D project lifecycle
3.6 Hybrid ICT4D project management
3.7 Expanded Technology Acceptance Model
3.8 Technology adoption curves
3.9 ICT4D project evaluation: planning overview
3.10 Multi-stakeholder approach to ICT4D evaluation
3.11 Worldviews on ICT4D impacts and causes
4.1 Income and life expectancy across countries
4.2 Mechanisms for economic growth
4.3 Enterprise value chain and wider supply chain
4.4 Simplified enterprise value chain
4.5 CIPSODAR/information value chain model of key
enterprise processes
4.6 Four levels of ICT4D-enabled change
4.7 Reorganisational enterprise participations
4.8 The information transition
4.9 ICTs and national income
4.10 Typology of ICT sub-sectors
5.1 Household income and Internet access in South Africa
5.2 Mobile money payment process
5.3 Mobile money as a platform for financial services
5.4 Mobile spending across income quintiles in select Asian
countries
5.5 The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework
6.1 Relation between health, education and economic
growth
6.2 Key health system actors
6.3 Key health system ICT applications
6.4 Paper-based hospital records (Pakistan)
 p.ix

6.5 FEWS NET food insecurity prediction for Nigeria

6.6 Trajectories of e-health for development
6.7 Data quality and motivation
6.8 Data system chains
6.9 Ways to address data quality problems
6.10 Conflicting institutional logics in a Brazilian e-health
project
6.11 Key education system actors
6.12 Key education system ICT applications
6.13 OLPC use in Nigeria
6.14 Education MIS display example from Nigeria
6.15 Trajectories of e-education for development
6.16 The capabilities framework
6.17 ICTs and the capabilities framework
7.1 Generic good governance agenda
7.2 Model of e-services adoption in developing countries
7.3 An informational model of the accountability cycle
7.4 Different governance models
7.5 Key factors determining outcomes of e-democracy
initiatives
8.1 Overview model of ICTs, environmental sustainability
and development
8.2 Example of GIS usage to monitor deforestation in China
8.3 Forest ranger using GIS output and GPS device to
identify and prosecute illegal deforestation in the Amazon
8.4 ICTs and formulation of environmental policy
8.5 The disaster management cycle
8.6 Disaster response information flows
8.7 Pakreport output
8.8 Contribution of ICTs to community resilience attributes
9.1 Application of emerging ICTs to water, sanitation and
energy sector development
9.2 ICT4D blog and microblog examples
9.3 Example of ICT4D-related wiki entry
9.4 Example of ICT4D-related social networking group
9.5 Example of Web-enabled community mapping in Kenya
9.6 ICT4D overview model
9.7 Example sensor used in development applications
9.8 Identifying income levels across Ivory Coast using
mobile phone data
p.x
9.9 Using real-time social media data to monitor food prices
in Indonesia
9.10 Tracking earthquake-displaced persons via mobile phone
records in Haiti
9.11 Heatmap of focus for key data-for-development
initiatives
9.12 “Ecosystem” of open technical and social technologies
9.13 HISP network locations
9.14 Open source 3D printers in Kenya
9.15 Potential relationship between process openness and
development benefits
 p.xi

Tables

1.1 Role of ICT under different development paradigms

1.2 Summary of ICT4D phases
2.1 ICT4D policy goals and instruments
3.1 ICT4D project management maturity model
5.1 Ways of making money from ICTs
7.1 Summary of e-services impacts
8.1 Third-order ICT effects
8.2 The RABIT model of resilience and e-resilience
9.1 Open development matrix
 p.xii

Boxes

1.1 Data, information, etc: a cooking analogy

1.2 Terms related to ICT4D
1.3 UN development goals
1.4 Critiques of ICT4D
1.5 ICT4D 2.0
1.6 ICT4D and other disciplines
2.1 ICT4D readiness indexes
2.2 Changing ICT4D value chain interests over time
2.3 ICT trends
2.4 Key ICT4D initiatives, events and publications
2.5 Development informatics research stakeholders
2.6 Uganda’s ICT policy
2.7 Digital divide or continuum?
3.1 Example ICT4D strategic objectives and principles
3.2 Example ICT4D strategy content
3.3 ICT4D project management maturity
3.4 HCI4D: designing ICT for low-income communities
3.5 ICT4D risk mitigation through design–reality gap closure
3.6 “Deep transformation” and the politics of ICT4D
3.7 A generic framework for ICT4D evaluation
4.1 Enterprise digital stage model
4.2 A mobile phone’s other digitisation functions
4.3 Mobiles and fishermen in Kerala, India
4.4 Digital improvement of enterprise operational
information
4.5 ICTs and enterprise formalisation
4.6 ICTs and the drive to enterprise
p.xiii
4.7 Limits to the impact of mobiles on cloth-weaving supply
chains in Nigeria
4.8 ICTs and structural (non-)transformation of supply
chains
5.1 The M-Pesa mobile money system
5.2 Impact sourcing and the potential of low-income ICT
jobs
5.3 Working in the grey and black digital economies
5.4 Grameen “phone ladies” and fragility of the ICT sector
5.5 The symbolic value of ICTs
5.6 Reducing inequalities through the digital provide
5.7 Information gap analysis
5.8 ICTs, conflict and peace
5.9 Seeing the doughnut not the hole in poor communities
5.10 Indian village bars women from using mobile phones
6.1 ICTs, food security and hunger
6.2 Addressing the ICT4D data quality challenge
6.3 Institutional logics and e-health systems
6.4 E4ICT
6.5 The One Laptop per Child initiative
6.6 ICTs, disability and capabilities
6.7 Converting ICTs into functionings
6.8 FOSS and freedoms
7.1 Impact of e-services implementation in Bhutan
7.2 e-ID schemes
7.3 e-Services adoption in developing countries
7.4 Dualistic analysis of challenged e-services projects
7.5 Control mechanisms in an e-accountability project
7.6 e-Accountability of non-state actors
7.7 ICTs and human rights
7.8 ICTs and the Arab Spring
8.1 ICT4D’s raw materials
8.2 Changing consumer behaviour on e-waste in developing
countries
8.3 Overview of carbon emission-reducing smart
applications
8.4 Drone applications in ICT4D
8.5 ICT-enabled monitoring of deforestation in Brazil
8.6 Front-line feedback on disaster risk reduction policy
8.7 Crowdsourcing disaster reports in Pakistan
8.8 Hazard mitigation through PPGIS in Vietnam
8.9 Phone-based flood early warning in Nepal
8.10 ICT4CCA as ICT4D: an example and an exception
8.11 Building e-resilience in Ugandan coffee communities
9.1 “Smart development”: autonomous decision-making
within international development
9.2 Making women visible in data-intensive development
 p.xiv

Acknowledgements

The content of this book derives from many decades of research,

consultancy, teaching and discussions with ICT4D policy-makers and
practitioners from across the world. But it has particularly benefited
from my interactions with two groups: the students participating in
the University of Manchester’s MSc programme in ICTs for
Development; and especially the students who participated in my
“ICTs and Socio-Economic Development” module, with whom the
content was tested out and iteratively revised. I am also grateful to
the reviewers at proposal and draft stages who provided really
valuable feedback and guidance on improvement.
 p.xv

Abbreviations

3G, 4G, Generations of mobile telecommunications standards

5G
ATM Automated teller machine
CC Creative Commons
CGNet Central Gondwana network
CIPSODAR Capture, Input, Process, Store, Output, Decision,
Action, Result
CO2 Carbon dioxide
CRT Cathode-ray tube
DANIDA Danish Development Cooperation (was Danish
International Development Agency)
DFID Department for International Development
DHIS2 District Health Information Software v.2
DIRT Digitisation – improvement – redesign –
transformation
DOTForce Digital Opportunities Taskforce
DRC Democratic Republic of Congo
DRR Disaster risk reduction
DVD Digital versatile/video disk
EEE Electrical and electronic equipment
e-ID Electronic identity
EMIS Education management information system
FabLab Fabrication Laboratory
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
FEWS NET Famine Early Warning Systems Network
FOSS Free and open source software
GDP Gross domestic product
GEM Gender evaluation methodology
p.xvi
GIS Geographic information system
GKP Global Knowledge Partnership
GPS Global positioning system
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
GSMA Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (the global mobile
operators association)
HCI4D Human-computer interaction for development
HISP Health Information Systems Programme
HMIS Health management information system
HTML Hypertext markup language
HTTP Hypertext transmission protocol
ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers
ICT Information and communication technology
ICT4CCA Information and communication technology for climate
change adaptation
ICT4D Information and communication technology for
development
ICT4E Information and communication technology for
education
IDRC International Development Research Centre
IETF Internet Engineering Task Force
IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
IGF Internet Governance Forum
IICD International Institute for Communication and
Development
ILO International Labour Organization
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
IPID International Network for Postgraduate Students in the
Area of ICT4D
IPR Intellectual property rights
IPv6 Internet Protocol Version 6
IS Information system
ISAD Information Society and Development conference
ISP Internet service provider
ITPOSMO Information, Technology, Processes, Objectives and
values, Skills and knowledge, Management systems and
structures, Other resources
ITU International Telecommunication Union
KISS Keep it simple, stupid
Mbps Million bits per second
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MIS Management information system
MOOC Massive open online course
p.xvii
NGO Non-governmental organisation
NORAD Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
OCARA Openness, completeness, accuracy, relevance,
appropriateness of presentation
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development
OER Open educational resources
OLPC One Laptop per Child
OSS Open source software
PC Personal computer
PPGIS Public-participation geographic information system
RABIT Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact
Toolkit
REDD Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest
Degradation
SDC Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SIDA Swedish International Development Cooperation
Agency
SIM Subscriber identity module
SLF Sustainable Livelihoods Framework
SMS Short message service
SPIDER Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions
TAM Technology Acceptance Model
TCP/IP Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol
UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle
UNCSTD United Nations Commission on Science and Technology
for Development
UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
UNDESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social
Affairs
UNDP United Nations Development Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization
UN-GAID United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and
Development
UNGIS United Nations Group on the Information Society
UNI Union Network International
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency
Fund
UNWCED United Nations World Commission on Environment and
Development
USAID United States Agency for International Development
USF Universal service fund
VPO Village phone operator
p.xviii
W3C World Wide Web Consortium
WB World Bank
WHO World Health Organization
WiFi Wireless fidelity
WiMAX/LTE Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access/Long-Term Evolution
WIPO World Intellectual Property Organization
WSIS World Summit on the Information Society
XML eXtensible markup language
 p.1

Introduction
Information and communication
technology for development (ICT4D)

Take a step back and think about our world. What might you list as
some of its biggest challenges? Perhaps poverty, inequality, hunger,
ignorance, tyranny, climate change and more. There are many tools
we use to try to address these challenges. One tool of increasing
importance is information and communication technology: ICT. The
aim of this book is to help you understand how and to what extent,
ICTs can help fix some of these problems.

ICTs’ potential to do this has expanded rapidly during the initial

years of the twenty-first century. Internet connectivity is now
widespread in developing countries, and mobile telephony close to
ubiquitous: far more people now have access to a mobile than have
access to sewerage, piped water or electricity (Mitullah et al. 2016).

This connection between ICTs and the goals of international

development goes by many names, but the one chosen here is
“information and communication technology for development” or
“ICT4D” for short. The term has been in circulation since at least
1996 when the UN’s Commission on Science and Technology for
Development set up a working group under that name (UNCSTD
1997). In 2000, the term became associated with a planned
Programme Area of work within Canada’s International Development
Research Centre, which began in January 2001. Incoming
Programme Area Director Rich Fuchs claims development of the
“ICT4D” abbreviation, leading to its first externally published use
(Gomez et al. 2001). Though slowly at first, it was from 2001 that
both term and abbreviation started to take off. In 2016, for example
– based on Google Scholar data – nearly 1,000 academic papers
were published that made use of the term.

An abbreviation can seem trivial at one level, but the existence of

ICT4D has been quite powerful in terms of individual and collective
identities (people will state “I work in ICT4D”), and as a centripetal
force drawing people and knowledge together, and assisting
aggregation. As a search term, as a hashtag, as a label for groups
and workspaces and conferences, ICT4D has been of great benefit
to those involved in this domain.

p.2

Of course, the real potential benefit of ICT4D is noted above: its

contribution to international development, and it is this – rather than
terminology – that forms the focus for this book. The book is divided
into three parts:

• Three foundational chapters come at the start. Chapter 1

explains what ICT4D is by breaking it down into its constituent
parts and discussing and explaining each one; then showing how
this determines the relation between ICTs and development.
Chapter 2 explores the underlying layers and components that
need to be put in place for ICT4D to work: technology, people,
institutions and money. Chapter 3 reviews how best to implement
ICT4D from strategy through design and roll-out and adoption
and use to monitoring and evaluation.

• Then five chapters analyse the role ICTs play in the delivery of
specific international development goals. Chapter 4 discusses
economic growth at micro, meso and macro levels. Chapter 5
 looks at poverty eradication and the livelihoods of those on the
lowest incomes. Chapter 6 considers social development;
specifically health and education including a discussion of
capabilities development. Chapter 7 deals with good governance;
in particular better public services, improved accountability of the
state, and increased democracy. And Chapter 8 analyses ICTs
and environmental sustainability including resilience-building.

• Finally, Chapter 9 looks ahead to future directions in ICT4D: not

just emerging technologies but emerging models of development
like “Development 2.0”, data-intensive development, and open
development.

This content helps explain why it is important to study – and practise

– ICT4D. ICT plays an increasingly significant role in international
development. Those interested in development need to understand
that role. Those interested in ICTs will find a particular value in
ICT4D:

Before proceeding, though, we should ask “why ICT4D”? Why should we give any
priority to ICT application for the poor in developing countries? There is a moral
argument. Most informatics professionals spend their lives serving the needs of the
world’s wealthier corporations and individuals – to borrow bank robber Willie Sutton’s
phrase – “because that’s where the money is”. Yet seeking to squeeze a few extra
ounces of productivity from firms that already perform relatively well, or save a few
minutes in the life of a busy citizen pales in ethical importance compared to applying
new technology to the mega-problems of the planet.

p.3

It is the poor of the world who are on the front-line of those problems. From climate
change to conflict and terror; from disease to resource depletion – it is the poor in
developing countries who suffer most. And, of course, they suffer from that other blot
on the world’s conscience – poverty – with more than half the global population living
on less than two US dollars per day.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 CHAPTER XIX
IN THE HANDS OF THE TRIBE

The effect created by the sudden appearance of Bomba was

startling.
For a moment the savages gaped at him in stupefaction, eyes
bulging, jaws dropped. Then some of them raised their spears and
others hastily fitted arrows to their bows.
Bomba had been almost as disconcerted by his sudden betrayal as
the natives themselves. But now, as steadily as the tremulous motion
of the earth would permit, he stepped boldly out of his former hiding
place with hands up and palms extended, as a token that he came in
amity and goodwill.
The sign was one that was understood by all tribes that dwelt in the
jungle, and the threatening motions ceased. Spears and bows were
lowered and the natives stood looking at him in wonder. His bronzed
skin was almost as dark as theirs, but they knew by his features that
he belonged to a different race.
Not a word was uttered until Abino, who seemed to be the
spokesman of the group, took a step forward.
“Who is the stranger?” he asked. “Why has he come to the island of
Japazy?”
“It is Bomba who speaks,” replied the lad. “He comes from a far part
of the jungle and he would speak to Japazy, your chief. He comes in
peace. His heart is clean and he does not speak in forked words.”
“It is well that the stranger comes in peace,” returned Abino, “for the
spears of Japazy’s fighting men are sharp and their arrows sing with
joy when they sink into the heart of an enemy.”
“Huh!” grunted Boshot. “The men of Japazy would not waste an
arrow on a boy.”
The slur stung Bomba, but he knew the importance of keeping his
temper, and no change of expression was visible in his face. Still, he
thought it might be just as well to let them know at the outset that
though he was a boy he was no weakling.
“Bomba is but a boy,” he admitted, with an ingratiating smile. “But
Bomba has the muscles of a man. He will show you.”
He walked up to the dead jaguar, put his arm under it, and with one
mighty heave threw it over his shoulder.
There were excited exclamations among the Indians, and they
shrank back, looking at Bomba in awe. Not one of them, despite their
size, could have performed the feat so easily, if at all.
“The stranger is strong,” admitted Abino, and Boshot looked rather
sheepish because of his slighting remark.
Bomba noted the impression that had been produced and thought it
an opportune time to deepen it still further.
“Bomba is no weakling,” he said; “but the weapons he carries with
him are stronger than Bomba. His arrows go far and they go straight.
They find the eye of the cayman and the heart of the jaguar.”
“The stranger speaks big words,” retorted Sunka skeptically.
Bomba looked about him. At a distance of two hundred feet was a
high tree, on the topmost branch of which a buzzard was preening
itself.
“The buzzard is far away,” he said, as he fitted an arrow to his string,
“but he will fall when Bomba lets go the string.”
There were grunts of incredulity mingled with curiosity. This stranger
was giving them thrills to which they were unaccustomed.
“Shall Bomba’s arrow strike the body or the neck?” asked Bomba
with a show of indifference.
“Now we know that the stranger boasts,” broke in Tama. “If he hit the
body, he will do well.”
“It will be the neck,” declared Bomba.
The arrow sang through the air and the buzzard fell, transfixed by
the arrow lodged in its neck.
Again there was an outburst of excited exclamations. The natives
had never seen such shooting.
“That is but little,” said Bomba, satisfied with the impression he had
produced. “Bomba has a fire stick in his pouch that speaks with the
voice of thunder, and when it speaks something dies. But he will not
show it now.”
The Indians looked at him with awe. Gone was the half contempt
with which they had at first regarded him. No such boy had ever
been seen in those parts before. In their superstitious minds was the
vague, confused impression that perhaps he was one of the gods.
“Bomba would see Japazy,” went on the lad. “He has come from a
far country to speak with him. Perhaps the warriors of his tribe will
show Bomba where the chief dwells?”
They looked at each other questioningly.
“He is a bold man who would speak with Japazy,” said Abino.
“Japazy does not like strangers. Some have been cast on the island
from the river, and they have never gone back to speak of the island
of the big cats. They have gone to the place of the dead.”
This had not an auspicious sound, and Bomba for a moment felt an
uncomfortable chill creeping up his spine.
“Bomba has no evil thought in his mind,” the lad rejoined. “He does
not seek any of Japazy’s goods, and he will not say anything that will
bring harm to Japazy or his people. He would only ask a question of
Japazy.”
His hearers still looked extremely dubious, and Bomba thought that
he could detect pity in some of the glances directed toward him.
“It is not for Japazy’s people to know what is in the mind of their
chief,” said Abino. “Japazy does as he wills and his words mean life
or death.”
“He will speak life for Bomba,” replied the lad, with an assumption of
confidence that he was a long way from feeling. “Will Japazy’s
fighting men take Bomba to their chief?”
They drew apart and conferred together. It was evident that even this
simple request required thought before it could be granted. Bomba
could see that, if Japazy resented his coming, his wrath might fall
upon those who had brought the unwelcome stranger to his
presence instead of killing him on the spot.
There was an animated discussion that at times almost reached the
dimensions of a quarrel. But at last they came to a conclusion and
Abino turned toward Bomba.
“The stranger shall go to Japazy,” he announced. “But he must have
his hands bound so that he may do no harm to Japazy or his
people.”
Bomba took a step backward.
“Bomba is free,” he said proudly. “It is not meet that he have his
hands bound as though he were a slave. His hands will do no hurt to
Japazy or the people of his tribe. Bomba’s heart is good. Has he not
said that he came in peace? May the curse of the gods rest on
Bomba, if he means harm.”
His earnestness seemed to make an impression, but still the
tribesmen hesitated.
“The stranger then must give up his bow and his knife and the fire
stick that speaks with the voice of thunder,” suggested Abino, as a
compromise.
But Bomba shook his head.
“The bow, the knife and the fire stick are Bomba’s friends,” he
declared. “Without them he would be like a man without arms and
legs. They will do harm to no one but the wicked. Bomba will keep
his friends.”
They could have fallen upon him and overpowered him by sheer
weight of numbers. But they had seen a demonstration of his skill
and knew that he would take toll of some of them before he
succumbed. Any one who could shoot a buzzard through the neck at
two hundred feet and sling a jaguar over his shoulders, was to be
treated with respect. And doubtless the mention of the fire stick that
spoke with the voice of thunder had been extremely potent.
Again there was a discussion and again the Indians yielded the point
in question.
“It shall be as the stranger wills,” announced Abino. “The warriors of
Japazy will skin the jaguar and take its meat and then they will lead
the stranger to the place where Japazy dwells.”
“It is well,” said Bomba, with more relief than he allowed to appear.
“The men of Japazy have good hearts.”
The men set to work on the jaguar, and Bomba helped them. The
dexterity and sureness with which he wielded his knife contributed
still further to the respect the Indians had conceived for him.
When the work was finished the men lifted up their respective
burdens and led the way, with Bomba bringing up the rear. He did
not think that any treachery was intended, for Abino, somehow, had
given him an impression of sincerity. But he was on the alert and
ready for instant action at any suspicious movement, for his life in
the jungle had taught him to take no chances.
Nothing untoward developed, however, and before long they came to
the straggling outskirts of a village that seemed to have a
considerable population. From every hut, as the little procession
moved along, people poured out with exclamations of curiosity as
they stared at the stranger who should have been a captive and yet
walked behind the rest more with the air of a conqueror.
Most of the houses were of the usual native cabin type, but in the
center of the town was a building of so much greater pretensions
that Bomba concluded it must be the dwelling of Japazy.
Abino led Bomba to a little cabin not far from the palace, if it could be
dignified by that name, and left him there with the promise that he
would see Japazy and return.
He did return in less than five minutes.
“Japazy is gone!” he declared abruptly.
 CHAPTER XX
DAZZLING TREASURE

Something like a stab pierced Bomba’s heart when he heard Abino

make the announcement that Japazy was gone.
“Gone?” he cried, springing to his feet. “Japazy gone? Has Bomba
come so far through the jungle only to find that Japazy is not on the
island of the big cats? Where has he gone? When will he be back?”
“Abino does not know,” was the answer. “Japazy goes when and
where he will. He does not ask counsel of the elders of the tribe. It is
enough that he wants to go. But he does not stay away long. The
stranger will have to wait.”
“Has he gone away from Jaguar Island, or is he going about among
his people in the other villages?” asked Bomba.
“There is no village but this,” replied Abino. “Once there were many
on the island, but the big cats have come and killed so many of the
people that they have all come together in this place so that they will
be safe. The big cats do not come where they are so many fighting
men. No, Japazy is not on the island. He has gone away over the
water.”
The sunken city of which Hondura had spoken came into Bomba’s
mind.
“Is it that he has gone to the place where stood the city that had
towers of gold?” he asked.
A startling change came into Abino’s tone and manner. His glance
seemed to bore Bomba through and through.
“What foolish words are these that the stranger speaks?” he
demanded sharply. “There is no city that has towers of gold. It is not
well to ask too many questions. Men have asked questions of
Japazy, and he has cut out their tongues. If the stranger is wise, he
will let others speak while he listens. Abino has spoken.”
Bomba realized that he had touched upon a forbidden subject. For
some reason, the sunken city was a secret that was jealously
guarded. He resolved to be discreet.
“Abino speaks wise words,” he said placatingly. “Bomba will keep
them in his heart. He will wait in patience till Japazy returns.”
“That is well,” returned Abino, mollified. “Bomba shall have food and
drink and none shall harm him. And he shall have a place to sleep in
the house of Japazy until the chief comes back from his journey.
Bomba can come now and Abino will take him to the place where he
shall stay.”
Bomba rose and followed his guide. His appearance outside was
again the signal for an outpouring of the curious. There had been
time now for the warriors who had first met this stranger to spread
abroad the story of his strength and skill, and there was manifest
respect in the fact that, while they followed him, they were careful not
to come too close. Who of them knew but that this youth who
boasted of a fire stick that spoke like thunder might be a god?
Under other circumstances Bomba’s pride would have been gratified
by this tribute. But his whole thought was centered now on the
disappearance of Japazy. This had not entered into his calculations.
He bitterly regretted that he had not come sooner. Suppose Japazy
never came back? Life was a precarious thing in this part of the
world. Usually it hung by a thread. The bite of a snake, the spring of
a jaguar, and Japazy’s lips might be sealed forever. Then Bomba’s
last hope of learning the secret of his parentage would have
vanished.
The crowd halted at the entrance to Japazy’s great dwelling.
Evidently it was forbidden ground except to the chosen few, such as
Abino, who, as Bomba learned later, was Japazy’s chief counselor
and who had charge of all matters pertaining to the tribe during his
master’s absence.
Followed by Bomba alone, Abino led the way through a massive
door, well furnished with bars and bolts to protect its owner in case of
invasion or revolt. And once inside, Bomba saw a sight that fairly
dazzled him.
He had never been in any house but a native hut, with its rude and
scanty furniture. He had expected to see something more elaborate
in the dwelling of Japazy. But he was by no means prepared for the
splendor that burst upon him.
There were objects here that might have graced any palace in
Europe. Beautiful paintings hung on the walls. Sumptuous rugs
covered the floors. Splendid chairs and divans were scattered here
and there. Silken tapestries hung as portières at the entrances of
various rooms that opened from the main hall. There were statues of
marble, tables cunningly carved and inlaid with gold and precious
stones, curious medallions and intaglios, suits of armor and swords
of the finest steel, a vast number of objects of art of all kinds
scattered about in profusion.
Bomba had never seen anything of the kind, never dreamed of them,
never known that they existed. It was as though he had been
translated to another world.
Where had these things come from? How had they been secured?
Then light flashed upon Bomba. They must have come from that city
of which Hondura had spoken, the city whose very towers had been
of gold! Somehow, Japazy had found access to that city—or what
was left of it. No wonder that he guarded his secret so jealously!
Bomba had no knowledge of values. He had never seen money. But
he knew vaguely that here was something infinitely precious,
infinitely desirable. And the white blood in him, with its inheritance of
taste and culture and love of the beautiful, as well as the little
knowledge of wider things that Casson, before that devastating gun
explosion, had given him, told him that he was in a treasure house.
Were things like these, he asked himself, the things that white
people had in the homes and cities that Frank Parkhurst had told him
about? Were they things that he, Bomba, might have, if he were
living with the race to which he belonged?
He stole a glance at Abino. The savage was standing there stolidly,
indifferently, in a bored attitude. Bomba sensed that the man had not
the slightest appreciation of the beauty by which he was surrounded.
He had the soul of a native of the jungle, incapable of being touched
by anything but the most primitive needs of life.
But why should Japazy then appreciate and collect them? The
explanation dawned on Bomba. Japazy was a half-breed. Some of
his blood was white. And Sobrinini had known Japazy when they
were both parts of that faraway country where the white people
dwelt. So Japazy had learned what beauty was, and the part of him
that was white had yearned for these things! He had gathered them
from the sunken city, where once a great civilization had flourished,
and had furnished his dwelling with the splendor of the distant white
civilization.
Bomba felt an increased respect for the chief he had come to see.
Part of the blood, anyway, of this man was white. And were not all
white men brothers? Would not Japazy feel a touch of kinship and
give him freely the information that he sought?
It never occurred to Bomba that in giving Japazy credit for taste and
a love of beauty for its own sake he might be paying too high a
tribute to the half-breed. That the latter should be collecting these
things for mercenary purposes with the design, when he should have
enough, of shipping them overseas and selling them at fabulous
prices, and then following them to live for the rest of his life in wealth
and luxury amid the civilization whose value he knew, did not enter
Bomba’s mind.
In the center of the largest room stood a platform covered with a
cloth of scarlet and gold, and on this was a great carved chair that
doubtless served Japazy as a throne. Bomba could figure the half-
breed sitting there, stern and commanding, clothed in gorgeous
raiment the better to emphasize the distance between him and his
dependents who bowed cringingly before him.
Abino seemed to realize what Bomba was thinking, and he
answered the unspoken question.
“It is from here that Japazy rules his people,” said Abino in tones of
reverence. “Here he speaks the words that mean life or death. It is
here that the stranger will stand when he is brought in to where
Japazy waits to hear him.”
Words that mean life or death! Which of the two would they mean to
him, Bomba wondered.
“Come,” said Abino, “and Abino will show you the place where you
are to stay.”
He led him to a room at some distance from that large central hall
and motioned him to enter.
In contrast to the other room, it was very simply and plainly
furnished. Still, it was in the style of the white people, with chairs and
table, a rug on the floor and a bed with a mattress, sheets and
coverings.
Bomba felt strange and abashed. He had never sat on a chair, never
slept in a bed. But he restrained his feelings in the presence of
Abino. After all, he was white, and his heart swelled at the thought.
This would be his chance to do as white folks did, sit on a chair,
sleep in a bed, try to imagine by so doing that he was getting a little
closer to his own people for whom his heart yearned. When he did
find them he did not want to have them ashamed of him.
“It is in this room that people stay who come from afar to have talk
with Japazy,” Abino remarked. “Some of them, after he has heard
their words, go away again. But some do not go away.”
The last words had an ominous ring and were not calculated to add
to Bomba’s peace of mind. But he gave no sign, and a look of
admiration that the native could not repress came into Abino’s eyes.
“The stranger is brave,” he said. “His arms are strong and his eye is
straight. Abino does not forget how the stranger slung the jaguar
over his shoulder and how he shot his arrow through the neck of the
buzzard on the top of the tall tree. But it is not enough for one who
stands before Japazy to have strong arms and a straight eye. He
must have a heart that does not tremble.”
“Is Japazy then so terrible?” asked Bomba.
“The stranger shall see for himself,” answered Abino. “Japazy’s eyes
shoot lightnings. His voice is like the thunder. No arrow can pierce
him, no knife can bite him. For he has ghosts and demons that obey
his words. They turn aside the arrows. They dull the edge of the
knife. But it is not well to talk of Japazy. The stranger will rest here
and Abino will send him food. Then, after he has eaten, the elders of
the tribe will come and talk with him.”
“They are good words that Abino speaks,” answered the lad. “Bomba
will be glad to talk to the elders of the tribe and tell them why he has
come to Jaguar Island.”
Abino withdrew, and Bomba welcomed the chance to be alone. He
had been under a terrific strain, mentally and physically. Now he
could relax for a while before he had to brace himself again for the
interview that was coming.
His eyes, glancing around the room, caught sight of a picture on the
wall. At the sight his heart almost leaped from his body.
The pictured face of the portrait was that of the same lovely woman
who had looked down at him from the portrait in the dwelling of
Sobrinini!
 CHAPTER XXI
THE DEEPENING MYSTERY

With one bound Bomba was across the room and looking at the
picture with all his soul in his eyes.
Yes, it was the same beautiful face, girlish and appealing, the soft
hair waving back from the broad forehead, the half-smiling lips, the
eyes that were dark and melting. And the eyes looked down at him
now as they had looked at him in the hut of Sobrinini, full of love and
tenderness, while the lips seemed ready to murmur words of
endearment.
What chords of memory did that face stir in Bomba’s heart? What
recollections, faint and dim as some far off strains of music, were
tugging at his consciousness? What vague memory told that
desolate lad that he was looking at the pictured face of his mother?
His mother! The mother who perhaps had sung to him the lullaby
that Sobrinini had crooned, who once perhaps had caressed him,
kissed him, called him Bonny, her Bonny!
A passion of tears welled to the boy’s eyes. His heart was stirred to
its depths.
But he dashed the tears away. A native might enter at any minute
and might attribute them to weakness, to fear at the situation in
which he found himself. Above everything, he must remain master of
himself.
How came that picture in the dwelling of Japazy, the half-breed?
Why had a similar picture been in the hut of Sobrinini? What
mysterious link was there between the lovely original of that picture
and Sobrinini, the witch woman, Japazy, the master of Jaguar Island,
Jojasta, the medicine man of the Moving Mountain, and Casson, his
friend and former protector? Somewhere, some time, those residents
of the Amazonian jungle had known the mysterious Bartow, his wife,
Laura, and perhaps the little child named Bonny. How had fate
brought them together? And how had fate torn them apart?
The door of his room opened, and a boy appeared, bringing a tray of
food. It was savory and abundant, and Bomba ate it with a relish.
The boy, who seemed to be about twelve years old, stood by,
watching him with black, beadlike eyes. Curiosity was in the eyes
and awe, awe of this bold stranger, only a little older than himself in
years, but vastly older in strength and experience, who had dared to
take his life in his hands and come to ask questions of the dreaded
Japazy, the lord of life and death on Jaguar Island.
“What is your name?” asked Bomba, who took a liking to the
youngster.
“Thy servant’s name is Solani,” answered the boy. “He is the son of
Abino.”
“Solani has a good father,” said Bomba diplomatically.
“Yes,” answered the boy proudly. “There is no one so wise on the
island of the big cats as Abino, except Japazy himself.”
“Has Solani ever seen ghosts or demons?” asked Bomba. “It is said
that there are many on the island.”
The boy looked about fearfully.
“There are many here,” he answered. “They keep Japazy from harm.
But no one can see them except Japazy. His eyes see everything.”
“Bomba saw some lights on the river,” said the jungle boy,
determined to draw Solani out, for he saw that he was in a
responsive mood. “Bomba did not know but what the lights were the
campfires of the ghosts.”
“The lights are burning brushwood,” explained Solani. “They are
thrown out from the earth when Tamura, the mountain, is angry and
his anger breaks great holes in the ground.”
“Is Tamura often angry?” asked Bomba.
“Many times he speaks in thunder and throws out rocks and rivers of
fire that eat up whatever they touch,” replied Solani. “Tamura has
killed many of our people. The old men say that he will not be silent
until some stranger is offered up to him. Then he will be satisfied and
make no more thunder.”
As Bomba, as far as he knew, was the only stranger at that time on
the island, there was something decidedly uncomfortable in this
information.
At this moment Abino entered, followed by several old men whom
Bomba took to be the chief advisers of the tribe.
Abino motioned to his son to take away the empty dishes and what
food remained, and then he and his companions squatted on their
haunches in a semicircle and gazed fixedly at Bomba.
They said nothing, and their stare persisted so long that Bomba
became restless and himself broke the silence.
“It was good of Abino to send Bomba food,” he said. “There was
much food and it was good.”
“The stranger must not starve until Japazy hears what words the
stranger has to say to him,” replied Abino.
“They will not be many words,” replied Bomba. “They will not make
Japazy shoot lightnings from his eyes. Bomba comes in peace and
his words are good words.”
“What are the words that the stranger would speak with Japazy?”
asked one of the most aged and wizened of his visitors.
Bomba hesitated. Would Japazy resent his confiding his mission to
any one but himself?
On the other hand, he had already gotten some useful information
from Solani. The mention of human sacrifices, for instance, had put
him on his guard, if, in the future, any such thing should be
attempted. Perhaps in conversation with these elders of the tribe he
might learn something else that might be of value to him.
Moreover they had asked him the question, and any lack of
frankness on his part might deepen the suspicion they already
entertained as to his motives.
He decided to answer.
“Bomba would ask Japazy who are the father and mother of Bomba
and how he can find them if they are still alive,” the lad stated.
Bomba caught the quick glances that passed between the Indians at
this announcement, and he was not unaware of the look that Abino
flashed at the picture of the lovely woman on the wall.
“Why does the stranger think that Japazy can tell him who his father
and mother are?” asked Abino, after a pause.
“Sobrinini told Bomba that Japazy knew,” returned Bomba.
“Sobrinini!” exclaimed one of his auditors. “She is the witch woman
who dwells on the island of snakes. To go to that island is death.
How, then, does the stranger say that he has had speech with
Sobrinini?”
“Bomba’s tongue is not forked,” replied the lad. “Bomba went to the
island of snakes and had speech with the witch woman. Then he
took her away from the island and gave her shelter in the hut of
Bomba and the good white man, Casson.”
“Why did not Sobrinini tell the stranger of his father and mother?”
asked his questioner incredulously.
“Sobrinini tried to tell, but the gods had put clouds on her mind and
she could not see through them,” answered Bomba. “But she could
see Japazy through the clouds and she said he would know. So
Bomba is here.”
The promptness and sincerity of his answers evidently had some
effect on his visitors. They looked at each other uncertainly. Then the
eldest of them spoke.
“There is much gold on the island of the big cats,” he said slowly.
“Strangers have come here before, and their words were as smooth
as the skin of the baby and as sweet as honey in the comb. But they
said one thing with their tongue and another in their heart. The
demons that guard Japazy told him what word was in the stranger’s
heart; and that word was gold. The strangers did not go away again
from the island of the big cats.”
“Bomba has not two ways of speaking,” answered the lad. “The
words from his lips are the same as the words in his heart. Bomba
does not care for the gold of Japazy. He would not know what to do
with it if Japazy gave it to him. May the gods lay their curse on
Bomba if he is not speaking from a clean heart!”
Another long pause ensued.
“Is it true that the stranger does not even know the name of his
father or that of his mother?” asked one of the group.
“Bomba does not surely know,” returned the lad. “But when Sobrinini
saw Bomba she called him Bartow. And Jojasta of the Moving
Mountain called him Bartow. They thought Bomba was Bartow or
Bartow’s ghost. So if Bomba looked so much like Bartow, it may be
that Bartow was Bomba’s father. And Sobrinini spoke of Laura. And
Casson spoke of Laura. It is in Bomba’s heart that that may have
been the name of his mother.”
Was it fancy, or did Abino again steal a glance at that picture on the
wall?
“It is well,” said the oldest of the group as he rose to his feet, an
example followed by the others. “We will think over what the stranger
has said.”
The old men went out of the room silently, in single file. But the
silence persisted only until they had gone some distance down the
corridor that led to the large hall. Then they broke out into excited
speech.
Bomba would have given a great deal to know what they were
saying, but they were too far away for him to hear them distinctly.
After they had gone out of the door of the building, however, their
way led them under his window. They were still talking excitedly,
and, as he strained his ears, these words floated up to him:
“Bartow! Was not that the name of the man Japazy killed?”
 CHAPTER XXII
THE CREEPING DEATH

Bomba, his head in a whirl, staggered back from the window when
he heard the sinister words:
“Was not that the name of the man Japazy killed?”
Was it possible that the father whom he had sought so long was
really dead? Had all his search been futile?
But the despair that this thought brought him was quickly swallowed
up by another emotion. Rage, blinding rage, at the man who had
killed his father, at Japazy, the half-breed, the arrogant, heartless
monster who lorded it over this ignorant people.
If this should prove true—that Japazy was really his father’s
murderer—Bomba then and there vowed vengeance. Let Japazy
look to himself! Let him gather all his ghosts and demons to protect
him! They would be of no avail. Bomba’s arrow or Bomba’s knife
would find the black heart of the half-breed! His father’s murder
should be avenged!
Bomba knew nothing of the Christian law of forgiveness. He had
been brought up in the jungle, whose first law was self-preservation,
whose second law was vengeance for evil received. If Japazy had
taken Bartow’s life, Japazy’s life must pay the forfeit.
Oh, if Japazy were only here! Oh, if Bomba could meet him face to
face and wrest the truth from him! The lad paced the room, gnashing
his teeth with impatience.
His restless pacings brought him beneath the lovely pictured face on
the wall. He gazed at it yearningly. If she were his mother, perhaps
she still lived, even if his father was dead.
Then another thought came to him and his rage flamed up anew.
Perhaps she, too, had fallen a victim to Japazy. The hand that slew
the one might also have slain the other. In that case, Bomba would
owe a double debt of vengeance. And he would pay that debt!
Oh, if he only knew!
But there was nothing he could do until Japazy returned.
Suppose, however, that Japazy did not return? What if any one of
the thousand perils of the jungle should cut short his life? Then
perhaps Bomba could never get the knowledge for which his soul
panted. He would be cheated, too, of his vengeance—supposing it
were true that Japazy had indeed slain his father.
Even while immersed in these gloomy reflections, a gleam of hope
came to Bomba.
Abino!
Perhaps Abino knew. He was the chosen counselor of Japazy as far
as that haughty despot permitted any one to advise him. Perhaps he
was also the repository of Japazy’s secrets. Those quick and furtive
glances that Abino had cast at the picture on the wall! What did they
mean? What did Abino know?
Tired out finally by these ponderings and questionings, Bomba at
last threw himself on the floor and slept. And for this he chose a
place directly beneath the picture, where those lovely, tender eyes
could look down upon him.
It was dark when he woke, and the immediate occasion of his
waking was the entrance of Solani, bringing his supper.
The boy lighted a torch and thrust it into a holder against the wall. By
its light, Bomba noted that the boy looked disturbed and frightened.
“Solani is sad to-night,” observed Bomba, as he prepared to eat the
meal that the lad had set on the table. “What is it that makes the
heart of Solani heavy?”
The boy looked about him carefully, and when he answered, it was
almost in a whisper.