ALTITUDE OF MOUNT BAGINZE.The measurement that I took upon the spot gave Baginze a relative height of 1350 feet; but the barometrical observations made at the base, which would have determined its exact altitude above the level of the sea, have unfortunately been lost; I believe, however, that I am not far wrong in estimating the entire height to be about 3900 feet.The bulk of the rock of which the mountain was composed consisted of a gneiss that was so abundant in mica that in many places it had the appearance of being actual mica schist; a speciality in its formation being the immense number of cyanite crystals that pervaded it in all directions: a similar conglomeration of “cyanite gneiss” is very rare, but amongst other places it may be observed on Mount St. Gotthard in Switzerland. Wherever the springs issued at the foot of the mountain there were wide boulder-flats of broken stones, and here the sheets of mica and the prisms of cyanite, an inch or two in length, lay cleanly washed and strewn one upon another in such thick confusion that Ihad to wade through them as through a pile of rubbish. I collected several specimens of the rock, which I brought to Europe.Massive in its grandeur, isolated, and worn by time, Mount Baginze thus stood before me as a witness of a former era in the world’s history and as a remnant of the lofty mountain-chain which must have once formed the southern boundary of the Nile district.There was an entire absence of large trees everywhere, and the higher regions of the mountain bore but a very scanty vegetation. Contented, however, with the few botanical discoveries that the toilsome trip had yielded, I began to think of returning. It had taken me four hours to make the ascent of the mountain, but being now aware of the correct path, a single hour was all I spent in getting back to our encampment. In spite of the unpropitious weather I felt that I could have enjoyed myself for some days in exploring this enticing neighbourhood: the mountain air was even fresher and more invigorating than what I had been breathing in the Niam-niam country—and this is saying not a little; for, in spite of their meagre diet, the Nubian soldiers who came thither sickly and weakened by their idle Seriba-life always returned from their Niam-niam campaigns fat and healthy, and with renewed strength and vigour. My attendants unfortunately did not sympathise with my ideal enjoyments, but made such loud and bitter complaints at the increasing inclemency of the weather that I should not have dared to prolong my stay, even if I could.On the third morning, then, after our arrival we began to return. Although continually in doubt as to our path, we were fortunate in hitting upon the route that was shortest, and, crossing the Shöby at a spot where it was contracted by gneiss walls and made a bend to the north, we reached the rocks in the forest of butter-trees at which so recently we had passed such a wretched night. Before it was dark weonce more entered Merdyan’s Seriba. The long march of nine hours, made doubly arduous by the many watercourses that had intercepted it, had been one of the most fatiguing that I had experienced. I took a day’s rest, and amused myself by shooting guinea-fowl, the sport being so successful that I supplied my people with as many of the birds as they could eat in two days. We performed the rest of our journey through incessant rain, and on the evening of the 1st of June found ourselves reinstated in the old Seriba on the Nabambisso.TIDINGS FROM MOHAMMED.Here I received satisfactory intelligence from Mohammed. The condition of things had decidedly improved. Still the store of corn was small; but the gourds had ripened during our absence, fresh maize had been brought to the Seriba, and, best of all, the guinea-fowl had effected a lodgment in the neighbourhood, so that we had a constant supply of animal food ready at hand. As a consequence of the continual rains edible funguses had sprung up in such abundance that for days together I dined off guinea-fowl’s liver and mushrooms. In every respect the mushrooms resembled those which we use in Europe.I may mention that a large buffalo-hunt, to which all the Bongo were invited, came in as a timely diversion, and that day after day, with my gun in my hand, I was up and doing.Before many days had elapsed the main body of Mohammed’s corps returned from their campaign. Only a portion of the missing ivory had been recovered, for Wando, under a superstitious dread of the intimations of his augury, had persistently remained concealed in the most inaccessible places, and consequently the hostilities had been mainly directed against his brother Mbeeoh. Contrary to the general practice of the Niam-niam princes, Mbeeoh had been personally engaged in the conflict and had exhibited remarkable bravery. On one occasion it had been with the greatest difficulty that Mohammed had held his own againstthe hordes of his opponent, and in a raging storm had been obliged to erect a kind of rampart, made of straw, to afford a shelter from which anything like a steady fire might be opened upon the assailants. The chances were dead against Mohammed’s side, but it is notorious that the natives hardly ever follow up any advantages offered to them either by a downpour of rain or by the obscurity of night; and very frequently they lost the most promising of opportunities for crushing their Nubian oppressors.MISSING MEN.Just before Mohammed himself returned there was a considerable commotion amongst our Bongo bearers. A circumstance occurred that naturally excited some consternation. The bearers who had been left with me in the old Seriba were in the habit of scouring the neighbouring fields and forests every day in search of victuals for themselves. One evening three of the party who had gone out did not return, and their companions had no hesitation in avowing their belief that they had been captured, and that they would most certainly be killed and eaten by the inhabitants of the adjacent district. Early on the following morning all the Bongo and most of the Nubians who were with me started off in a body to explore the neighbourhood and to follow up as best they might the traces of the missing men. According to the statements of the Bongo, the crime had been committed in the district under the control of Maddah, to the north of the Seriba. In that direction the party bent their steps. Their supposition was apparently correct, for after following the tracks into a wood they found that they terminated in a ghastly pool of blood. Maddah was forthwith seized and hurried to the Seriba, where he was charged with being answerable for the disappearance of the men. In evident confusion and with much excitement he began a long and incoherent preamble; he declared that the blood was that of an animal which had been slaughtered on the previous day; he owned, indeed, about the three Bongothat he had seen them running across his territory and had had no doubt that they were making an escape to their own homes. This explanation was objected to on the ground that the obstacles on the way were far too great for them ever to have entertained such a design. Maddah then went on to say that some of his Niam-niam people had noticed the fugitives, and had shouted after them to know where they were rushing to, and why they were scampering along at such a pace, but they had received no answer; and deeming it wrong to stand idly by and let the fellows decamp from their owners they had not only pursued them, but had effected their capture and put them into safe custody. To complete his tale he affirmed that, somehow or other, during the night they had contrived to escape; and this was all he knew about them.The settlement of the business had ultimately to be left to the surviving Bongo. They were not easily satisfied; they insisted most strenuously that, even allowing that there might be some truth in the statement that the Niam-niam had pursued the fugitives, they had only done so with the object of sacrificing them in order to indulge their appetites, and to convert their flesh into food. The representation which Maddah gave of the pool of blood was held to be especially unsatisfactory; the bones of the slaughtered animal were demanded as a proof of the fact, but nothing was forthcoming at the hands of the Niam-niam but a few fragments that could be recognised at a glance as belonging to some game that must have been killed months before. Everything, in fact, seemed to confirm the accusation. All agreed that there was nothing to exonerate either Maddah or his people from suspicion. It was consequently decided that as Surroor, the lieutenant in command, was absent, as well as Mohammed, on the campaign, Maddah should be reserved for judgment, and meanwhile must be kept in confinement and placed under the yoke of the sheyba to await his sentence.But when Mohammed returned he professed to be occupied by more pressing and important business. It did not require much penetration to perceive that there were certain motives of policy which were prompting him to procrastinate the investigation of the affair. The truth was he was anxious, if he could, to keep on good terms with the Niam-niam, knowing that their services were indispensable to him for the usual raid against the Babuckur that had to be undertaken for the purpose of getting a supply of corn to avert the prospect of his caravan being starved. Without their co-operation it would be impossible for his soldiers to cross the marshy swamps. Had the disaster befallen any of the Nubians or Mussulmen at all, there can be no doubt that Mohammed would have acted very differently, and would not have suffered considerations of policy to deter him from making an example of the delinquents.The raid upon the Babuckur was an expedition that Mohammed did not accompany in person. He entrusted it entirely to Surroor, who took the charge of as many of the subordinate Niam-niam as could be gathered. Just as might be expected, the most savage brutalities were practised on either side. Besides securing the store of corn, which was the main object of the incursion, the Nubians were on the look-out for a capture of female slaves, which they claimed as their special perquisite. The Niam-niam on their part followed the example and did some private kidnapping on their own account; the females that they entrapped they disposed of in the following way: the youngest were destined for their houses, the middle-aged for their agriculture, and the eldest for their caldrons!The skulls in the Anatomical Museum of Berlin that are numbered 36, 37, and 38 might be supposed capable of unfolding a deplorable tale of these depredations. Some natives brought them to me fresh boiled, only a few days after the raid had been perpetrated; they had heard fromthe Monbuttoo that I was accustomed to give rings of copper in exchange for skulls, and as I was not able to bring the poor fellows to life again I saw no reason why I should not purchase their remains in the interests of science. Often I reproached the Nubians of my retinue with allowing such abuses to go on before their eyes, and under the sanction of the flag bearing the insignia of the Holy Prophet; but just as often I received the answer that the Faithful were incompetent to change anything, but must submit to the will of God; it was impressed upon me that the Niam-niam were heathen, and that if the heathen liked to eat each other up, it was no concern of theirs; they had no right to be lawgivers or teachers to cannibals.MOHAMMEDAN CONVERSION.I had repeated opportunities of observing that the ivory-expeditions of the Khartoomers, although actuated by a certain spirit of enterprise, did not at all contribute to any propagation of Islamism. Negro nations once converted to Mohammedanism are no longer considered as slaves, but are esteemed as brothers. For this reason it was inexplicable to me how Islamism had spread so far in other parts of Central Africa; for although, on the one hand, Islamism is a faith that puts a pressure upon its converts by compelling them to submit to its external prescriptions, such as circumcision; yet, on the other hand, the very conforming to the prescriptions exempts them for ever from all oppression: thus I could not understand why in other parts of the continent the more powerful party had not maintained its material interests by displaying the same indifference as was shown by the Mohammedans in the countries through which I travelled.Some days after the raid on the Babuckur I was witness of a scene that can never be erased from my memory. During one of my rambles I found myself in one of the native farmsteads; before the door of the first hut I came to, an old woman was sitting surrounded by a group of boys andgirls, all busily employed in cutting up gourds and preparing them for eating; at the door of the opposite hut a man was sitting composedly playing upon his mandolin. Midway between the two huts a mat was outspread; upon this mat, exposed to the full glare of the noon-day sun, feebly gasping, lay a new-born infant: I doubt whether it was more than a day old. In answer to my inquiries I learnt that the child was the offspring of one of the slaves who had been captured in the late raid, and who had now been driven off to a distant quarter, compelled to leave her infant behind, because its nurture would interfere with her properly fulfilling her domestic duties. The ill-fated little creature, doomed to so transient an existence, was destined to form a dainty dish; and the savage group was calmly engaged in their ordinary occupations until the poor little thing should have breathed its last and be ready to be consigned to the seething caldron! I profess that for a moment I was furious. I felt ready to shoot the old hag who sat by without displaying a particle of pity or concern. I was prompted to do something rash to give vent to my sensation of abhorrence; but I was swayed by the protestations of the Nubians ringing in my ears that they were powerless in the matter, and that they had not come to be lawgivers to the Niam-niam. I felt that I was as helpless as they were, and that it would be folly for me to forget how dependent I was upon them. What influence, I was constrained to ask, could my interference have exercised, what could any exhibition of my disgust and indignation avail to check the bias of an entire nation? Missionaries, in their enthusiasm, might find a fruitful field for their labours, but they must be very self-denying and very courageous.The departure of the caravan for the north was delayed for several days in expectation of the return of the corps that had been sent to the west with Ghattas’s company, but as no tidings of it were forthcoming we determined, without further procrastination, to proceed upon our way.Shut out from all prospect of this year making any farther progress to the south, and debarred from the hope of accomplishing any fresh explorations, I own that I began to long for the flesh-pots of Egypt; I confess that the stores that were on their way from Khartoom to await me in my old quarters at the Seriba in Bongoland had a wondrous fascination to my eager imagination. I was also now looking forward that I might make several excursions during the return journey, from which I was sanguine that I might not only make fresh botanical discoveries, but might enlarge my general knowledge of the country.THE RIVER HOO.Our first night-camp was made on the northern frontier of Aboo Sammat’s territory, on the banks of a brook near the hamlets of Kulenjo. Until we reached the Hoo we observed no alteration in the condition of the brooks; but the galleries which I was now traversing for the last time seemed in bidding me farewell to have donned their most festal covering, being resplendent with the luxuriant blooms of the Spathadeæ, one of the most imposing representatives of the African flora. The waters of the Hoo had risen to no inconsiderable degree, and they had so much increased in breadth that they filled the whole of the level bed, which was 35 feet in width. The current flowed at the rate of 150 feet a minute, the water being nowhere more than 3½ feet deep. Our second night-camp was pitched half-way between the Hoo and the Sway, at a spot where the bush-forest was densest and most luxuriant.The advancing season brought several changes in our mode of living. I had become so far initiated into African habits, that I now very much preferred a grass hut to a tent. I was moreover getting somewhat out of patience with the ever-recurring necessity of holding up the tent-pole with all my strength during the storms of night, whilst I roused half the camp with my shouts for assistance. At the height of the rainy season the weather, by a beneficent arrangement ofNature, fortunately follows certain rules from which it deviates very exceptionally; the first few hours of the morning always decided the programme for the day; when once the sky had cleared, we knew that we might resume our march in perfect confidence, and I had the satisfaction of feeling that my papers and herbarium were in no danger of being spoilt by damp, and my companions had the same security for the preservation of their powder and provisions. Towards five in the afternoon, when the sun began to sink, and the distant thunder gave warning of the renewing of the storm, we made a halt, and directed our best attention to prepare our nightly lodging in the wilderness. The baggage was first piled together and protected by the waterproofs, and as soon as this was effected, a number of knives and hatchets were produced and distributed among the “builders.” Off they were sent with all despatch. “Now, you fellows, quick to your work. Four of you,” I should order my servants, “must be brisk, and get together the grass.Youtwo must hack me down the branches, long and strong, and be sharp about it. No shirking now. Andyouhave to get the bast. Quick, away! and quick back!” And with this hurrying and driving the work was soon done. Ten minutes, or a little more, brought the men back with the requisite materials. The framework was first erected, the forked boughs being driven into the ground and firmly fastened at the top with ligatures of bast; meanwhile the grass was being bandaged into a huge hollow sheaf, and this, when all was ready, was raised above the structure and fitted like a cap. Thus, in about half an hour, with alacrity, one of these grass huts could be reared, small indeed, and snug as a nest, but nevertheless perfectly waterproof; and thus a sufficient shelter against the nightly rains. The storm might rage and the thunder roll without, but here the weary traveller, in safe and reliable retreat, might enjoy his well-earned repose without misgiving.By the glimmer of a little oil-lamp of my own contrivance, in which I burnt some questionable-looking grease, of which the smell could not fail to rouse up one’s worst suspicions against the natives, I would sit and beguile the hours of the evening as best I could by writing down the experiences of the day. The negroes had no such protection: they would crouch round the camp-fire, which would make their faces glow again with its fitful light, while the rain would pelt pitilessly down upon their backs.Such was the arrangement of our camp night after night throughout our return journey. But my recollections of the nights spent on the way between the Hoo and the Sway are altogether very unpleasant.AN INVASION OF ANTS.The rain on the following morning did not cease so soon as usual, and our departure was somewhat delayed. We were all of us intensely interested in keeping our own little dry spot free from the drenching force of the rain, when all at once I found my cosy quarters invaded by a whole army of ants. They had succeeded in discovering the driest and warmest place within a circuit of many miles, and now, in countless legions, they took up their quarters in my palliass, which was placed upon a lofty pile of leaves and grass. Their encroachments seemed to come from every side. For a long time I was in perplexity what to do; to leave my hut was impossible, the rain was falling almost in sheets. I endeavoured to protect myself with my clothes, but all in vain. Presently a stratagem suggested itself to my mind; by a happy thought I managed to divert the ants from myself. Dragging some bundles of grass from my bed, I threw them down in detached patches all over the floor, and by way of bait I sprinkled them over with the fragments of food that remained from the supper of the previous night. The scheme answered admirably, and I had the satisfaction of finding the unwelcome guests draw themselves away and give me no more personal annoyance.Meanwhile a large portion of our caravan had gone on in advance to make the necessary preparations for crossing the Sway. I did not reach the banks myself until nearly noon, and by that time the people were busily employed in conveying the baggage across. The aspect of the Sway was entirely different to what it had been on the 13th of February. The water had risen to the very top of the banks, and was twenty feet deep, with a velocity of two hundred feet a minute. Although the stream was only thirty-five feet wide, the passage over it, in consequence of the entire absence of tree-stems and the small number of bushes on the banks, offered unusual difficulties. The men who had had experience in these Niam-niam expeditions had a method of effecting a transit over the river that I think was peculiar to themselves: they set all the bearers to work to gather as many different kinds of bark as they could, and to extract all the bast out of it, and then to twist it into long stout ropes, a handicraft in which the negroes are very skilful, as in Bongoland there is an unfailing demand for cordage for hunting-snares and fishing-nets. Having fabricated their ropes, the next thing was to get them stretched across the river. This was effected by practised swimmers, who attached one end firmly into the ground by means of pegs, and swam over with the other. The arrangement of the ropes was such that they were suspended in double rows, one precisely underneath the other, the upper rope being above the stream, the lower being some feet below its surface. Ten expert swimmers then took their stand upon the lower rope, and allowed the stream to force their weight against the upper rope, which supported their chests, but permitted them to have their arms perfectly free for action. Thus supported, in a half-standing, half-floating position, they contrived to keep their hands at liberty, and to pass the packages from one to another.I confess that it was with a beating heart that I stoodand watched my precious baggage thus handed along over the perilous flood; but the lank, lean arms of the Nubians were competent to their work, and everything was conveyed across in safety. This business of crossing occupied several hours of real exertion. The difficulties of the transit may be conceived, when it is remembered that three-fourths of the negroes are entirely ignorant of the art of swimming, and that there were elephant’s tusks being transported which weighed not less than 180 lbs., and consequently required two men to lift them.We passed the night near Marra’s villages, and though it was only a league from the river, it was quite dark before we entered our quarters. The residents had all vacated the district, leaving their fields of half-ripe maize to the mercy of the new comers; although plunder was ostensibly forbidden, it was surreptitiously carried on by our bearers to a very gross extent under cover of the darkness.The whole of the next day we halted to recruit our strength. I found my amusement in scouring the neighbourhood in search of game. Huts were dotted about here and there, but the country generally was covered with such a wonderful grass vegetation, that any deviation from the beaten paths would have involved the wanderer in great perplexity, and only too probably he would have rambled about for hours before he could recover his way.As the caravan was on the point of starting on the succeeding morning, and I had just set out at the head of the procession, we were brought to a standstill by the arrival of some messengers bearing a letter to Mohammed from the commander of his corps, that had been sent towards the west. To judge from the date of the letter, the Niam-niam who brought it must have travelled at least forty miles, and perhaps considerably more, in a day.EVIL TIDINGS.The letter contained evil tidings. Ghattas’s agent and Badry, Aboo Sammat’s captain, wrote in the utmost despair.Three chieftains had combined to attack them as they were crossing a gallery on Malingde’s territory; three of their number had been slain, and out of their ninety-five soldiers, thirty-two had been so severely wounded as to behors de combat. They had now been closely besieged for six days, and were with extreme difficulty defending themselves behind their abattis; provisions were fast failing; and even water could only be obtained at the risk of losing their lives. Ahmed, the other captain, had fallen at the first outset of the engagement, and his body had not been recovered for interment, but had fallen into the hands of the cannibals. The only means of rescuing the wounded soldiers would be to carry them away in litters, and this could only be effected at the cost of abandoning seventy loads of ivory that had been buried in a swamp. The letter concluded with an urgent appeal for speedy succour, and Mohammed determined to send it without delay; two-thirds of his armed men should be despatched to the relief of the sufferers.The selection of this relieving-force had to be made at once, and it may be imagined that it was no easy matter for Mohammed to overcome the repugnance of those who had no relative or personal friend in jeopardy. It was naturally a bitter disappointment to those men who were thus marked off for this unexpected service to have to renounce the pleasant prospect of the toils of their expedition being so near its termination, and to be compelled to expose themselves anew to the dubious fortune of war. However, in spite of remonstrances and murmurings, the conscription was completed in a very summary fashion, and it was still early when the remnant of our party, with its undue proportion of bearers, continued our northward march.It was a bright and lovely forenoon; the steppe was adorned with its summer verdure; what had before been bare red rock, was now covered with tender grass, which reminded one of our own fields of sprouting corn. Africaseemed like a universal playground, exciting our people to sport and merriment.CHASE OF HARTEBEESTS.We persevered in following our previous well-beaten track. The six meadow-waters that lay between Marra and the hill of Gumango had increased but little since we had last seen them. The lovely park-like country, with its numerous scattered bushes, offered unusual facilities for the chase, and small herds of antelopes, a long unwonted sight, appeared and as rapidly disappeared in the surrounding landscape. Once, however, five hartebeests, at a little distance from our road, made a stand, and eyed the caravan as intently as if they were rooted to the spot. I took deliberate aim at the breast of one of them, and although the whole five wheeled round and galloped off into the thickets, I felt sure that my shot had taken effect; on running up to the spot where the antelopes had been standing, we found enough blood to show us that one of them had certainly been wounded, how severely of course we could not tell. The dogs that I had were of no service for hunting, and had to be kept along with the caravan in the care of servants; but notwithstanding this want of sporting dogs, and in spite of the confusion caused by the multiplicity of tracks, we managed, by following the spots of blood, to make out the proper traces of the wounded hartebeest. As I was approaching one of the smaller thickets, I observed a couple of kites making their circling flight just above the trees; this was a manifest token that the wounded animal was not far off; in another few minutes, as I entered the grove, I caught sight of the yellow body of the beast skulking painfully away from me as best it might, a patch of blood-stained, trampled grass betraying the place where it had thrown itself down.The arrival of the birds was to me very inexplicable: ten minutes had hardly elapsed since the shot had been fired, and yet here they were, awaiting their prey. The sportsman in Africa (and this is especially the case on bright, sunnydays) has constant experiences of this kind. A few minutes after he has succeeded in bringing down his game he may see some black dots in the sky, which gradually, as they come nearer and nearer, will assume a definite shape and ultimately develop themselves into groups of kites, vultures, or other carrion birds, ever ready to arrest their flight and to appropriate to themselves whatever relics of his booty the hunter may leave behind. It might almost seem, according to the fiction of the ancients, that the sky above was divided into several storeys, and that the birds were ever ready, at the sight of a tempting meal below, to hurry downwards from their topmost region in the sevenfold heaven.This, however, is mere digression. I return to my hartebeest. After a considerable search we came upon the creature lying lifeless in the grass. It proved to be an animal in suck, and my Niam-niam people, after the wild hunting-custom of the country, filled a small gourd-shell with milk expressed from the udder, and mutually drank to each other’s courage and good luck. I had not happened to see the fawn; probably it had not been with the hartebeests when we first caught sight of them.It may be readily understood from these details, that without dogs, and over so bewildering a country, the capture of game, even after it has been shot, is very often a matter of no trifling difficulty. Moreover, time and distance have to be taken into consideration. Our caravan was often half a league in length, and it was important not to leave any gaps in the procession, as nothing would be easier than for the rear division to mistake the narrow path they had to follow. However fleet the huntsman may be, the antelope is fleeter still, and the impatience and excitement exhibited by the sportsman, hurried because he is travelling, have a tendency to increase the alarm of the animal of which he is in chase, and which is already terrified by the unwonted sight of man. On the level steppe, where the grass grows to a height offive or six feet; the pursuer can only get momentary glances of the creatures’ horns, and all along in his chase he is hardly conscious of making any more advance than if he were buffeting with the waves of the sea.A LUCKY SHOT.The animal I had killed was soon cut up, and I made a meal off its roasted liver. Leaving some of my people in charge of the carcase, I set out, designing to return at once to the caravan to despatch some bearers to bring in the spoil to the encampment; but I missed my road, and, notwithstanding the help of my compass, I lost an hour or more in wandering over the rugged paths of an extended elephant haunt. Coming to a depression that was partially under water I saw several leucotis antelopes turn off in front of me, and as the water obstructed my farther progress I made a venture and fired my last shot at a solitary buck that was standing at a distance of not much less than five hundred paces. The animal instantaneously disappeared, and the noise of the report caused several others, in a state of affright, to scamper across the swamp. My Niam-niam were soon at the place where the antelope seemed to have fallen into the earth; to my surprise they soon began to make signs of triumph, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw them dragging the victim along the ground. It was quite dead and the bullet was in its neck.Wonderful good fortune had thus, at very slight cost to myself, thrown into my hands an ample supply of meat, which after their recent deprivations gave unbounded satisfaction to my people. But I will not weary the reader with further details of my hunting adventures. Lovers of the chase and admirers of good marksmanship will find a richer field for their entertainment in the record of Sir Samuel Baker’s exploits about the Albert Nyanza, which rivals Herodian’s description of the sports and prowess of the Emperor Commodus. My own hunting experience, however interesting to myself, was comparatively on a very limited scale.Carrying with us the piece of meat that was designed for our supper, we entered the camp just as darkness was coming on. I found the people quartered on the slope of a ridge of hills near the frontier of Bendo’s district, a league and a half to the south of the residence of the behnky himself. For half the night I sat up making extract of meat from the best parts of the leucotis; a large copper vessel, originally a spirit-still, but now used for preparing the pap for Mohammed’s slaves, was a most serviceable utensil for the purpose. From about 70 lbs. of the meat, which was very tender, I obtained the unusually large proportion of 2½ lbs. of extract of excellent quality and of the consistency of firm honey, the whole produce being perfectly free from any glutinous matter. The product was altogether superior to what I had obtained from the Monbuttoo goats, not only being larger in quantity, but infinitely more palatable, thus demonstrating that the flesh of the leucotis justified the reputation for flavour with which it was generally credited. I had an opportunity subsequently of comparing it with what I received amongst my fresh stores from Khartoom, and am satisfied that it was in no way inferior to that from Fray Bentos. Only those who like myself have existed for months together upon an inadequate and monotonous diet, or those who on long desert journeys have been limited to farinaceous food, can estimate the strengthening effect produced by ever so small an addition of this preparation to other food which is not of itself sustaining. Extract of meat thus is not the mere seasoning which many consider it; not simply does it give a relish, and draw out nutritious properties from indifferent food, but it is in itself a nutritious substance of the highest rank.The process of boiling the meat is very long; while it was being completed next morning I had time to explore the magnificent vegetation of the adjacent hill. The wild vine (Vitis Schimperi) was loaded with its ripe clusters andafforded me a refreshment to which I had been long unaccustomed. These grapes were less juicy than those that grow upon the vine-clad hills of Europe, and they left a somewhat harsh sensation upon the palate; but altogether, and especially in colour, they reminded me of our own growth. Towards the south-east I had a view of the hills of Babunga, about ten miles off on the frontier of the Babuckur territory.BENDO.All the huts in Bendo’s mbanga had been lately rebuilt in a style that displayed considerable taste, the tops of the straw-roofs being so much decorated that they looked like various specimens of ornamental basket-work. We were able to procure a good stock of maize, which made a welcome change from the uniformly bad bread which we had been eating previously for so long. Bendo himself was quite a character; his singularities amused me; he was a kind of fine gentleman, extremely particular about histoilette, and would never allow himself to be seen unless he had been carefully painted and adorned with his high-plumed hat.I did some botanising on the hill of Gumango and found it full of interest. We next crossed the Rye, and proceeded to the adjacent villages of Gumba. Our camp was scarcely pitched there when a message was received from Mohammed instructing us to wait for him. On returning to his Seriba he had found that all the soldiers for whose fate he had been concerned, and whom he was hurrying off to rescue, had already arrived there safe and sound, having succeeded in breaking through the enemy and in carrying off their wounded. He was now returning to us with his full force. Pending his arrival we remained in Gumba’s villages for the two succeeding days.He came back at the appointed time, and the recovery of the parted friends caused great joy and excitement in the caravan; innumerable were the questions asked, and no accumulation of answers seemed to allay the curiosity.My own attention was very much engaged by the accounts given by Badry, the captain who had been appointed to the command of the corps in the place of Ahmed; I knew that his word was to be relied on, and his information was of great value to me as throwing light upon the geography of the country about the lower portions of rivers, some of which I had crossed only in their upper course and sometimes quite close to their fountain-heads.I heard many details of the conflict between Mohammed’s party and the Niam-niam, the leading incidents of which I will now proceed briefly to relate.It was while they were crossing one of the brooks overhung with the dense forests which now for so long I have designated as galleries that the fatal attack took place; the consternation of the defenceless bearers, and consequently the confusion of the whole party, would seem to have been very terrible. The first discharge of Niam-niam lances had strewn the ground with dead and wounded, the column of the unfortunate bearers furnishing the larger proportion of the victims. Previous to the attack not a native had been seen. Nothing could be more crafty than their ambush. Some of them had taken up their position behind the larger trees; some had concealed themselves in the middle of the bushes; whilst others, in order to get an aim from above, had ensconced themselves high up, contriving to lie full length upon the overhanging boughs where the network of creepers concealed them from the keenest vision. Badry’s recital brought vividly to my mind the battles with the Indians in the primeval forests of America, where similar stratagems have been continually resorted to.The soldiers kept up their fire with energetic vigour; they are accustomed to carry a number of cartridges arranged like a girdle right round their waist, and having their ammunition thus conveniently at hand they kept up their discharges unintermittingly until they had collected theirwounded; but the bodies of those who had been actually killed all fell into the hands of the assailants and were carried off without delay, all attempts at recovering them being utterly unavailing, because the irregularity of the ground prevented any organised plan of attack.STANDING AN ASSAULT.The bearers, meanwhile, had flung away their heavy loads, and in wild flight had retreated to an adjacent hill that rose above the steppe; here they were in a short time joined by the Nubians, who sought the eminence as commanding a view whence they might survey their position and concert measures for their future protection. Most of the deserted ivory, of course, had become the prey of the foe, but some of the Nubians had taken the precaution of burying the burdens in a swamp within the gallery, under the hope that they might recover it in the following year. Thus deprived of their proper occupation, the bearers were at liberty to carry the wounded, and a treaty was concluded with the enemy so that the party ventured to quit their quarters. The natives, however, were utterly treacherous; they were bent upon the annihilation of the intruders, and so, reinforced from the neighbouring district, they made a fresh and savage attack. In consequence of this the Nubians were compelled to come to a stand in the open plain, and lost no time in collecting whatever faggots they could get to make an abattis.Behind this abattis they had to hold out for three entire days. The excited Niam-niam persevered in harassing them with unwearied assaults; and as three independent chieftains had summoned their entire forces for the attack, the combined action was unusually formidable; not until the store of lances and arrows was all used up were the furious sallies brought to an end and the Nubians permitted to go upon their way. The enemy, it was said, displayed such unabated energy that when all their ordinary lances had been spent they procured a supply of pointed sticks, whichthey proceeded to hurl with all their might against the Nubian band; it was, moreover, asserted that the quantity of shields and lances was so large that the besieged used no other fuel for their camp-fires during the entire period of their detention. Besides the weapons that were burnt, the negroes attached to the caravan brought away a considerable number of lance-heads, which they had tied up in bundles of nearly a hundred and designed for trophies to decorate their own huts.Having thus spoken of the disasters of war that befell Aboo Sammat’s company, I will proceed to give a short outline of the route which they took, and which lay to the west and south-west of the districts through which I had myself travelled. It may be remembered that the corps had been detached from our caravan at Rikkete’s village on the Atazilly. It started off in a W.S.W. direction, which it followed during the greater part of the journey. A march of six leagues brought the men, in the first place, to the village of Garia, one of Wando’s brothers, who, like most of the sons of the wealthy Bazimbey, had after his father’s death, without recognising the hereditary claims of his elder brother, set himself up as an independent prince in his own district. From this locality it was described as “a good day’s march” of six leagues to the residence of Malingde or Malindo. This prince was the aforesaid eldest son of Bazimbey, and had consequently a more extensive territory than any of his brothers, with whom he was at that time on quite friendly terms.A morning’s march of about four leagues brought the party onwards to one of the other brothers, named Moffi, who held office as a behnky in a district under the jurisdiction of Malingde; and between two and three leagues to the west again they found another behnky, also Malingde’s brother, called Bazia. Beyond this place was a wide tract of wilderness separating Malingde’s territory from that ofIndimma. Shortly after reaching Bazia’s residence they had to cross a river, which they said was as large as the Rohl at Awoory, and joined the Mbrwole on its right-hand side: three other smaller streams flowed through this wilderness, all of them affluents of the Mbrwole. As it took them four days and a half to travel from Bazia to the residence of Indimma, the distance may probably be estimated at between twenty and thirty leagues.INDIMMA.Indimma was a son of Keefa, and one of the most influential Niam-niam princes of his time. He had taken up his abode on the summit of a lofty and isolated mass of granite or gneiss, which, according to some accounts, was as high as the hills near Awoory (relatively 300 feet); or, according to others, it stood even higher than the Wohba mountain near Deraggo (relatively 500 feet).At the top of this eminence was an extensive plateau, laid out in cultivated tracts; in the centre, like a small town, stood the residence of the king, embracing, as my informants unanimously declared, more than a thousand houses.The mountain must extend several miles, both in length and breadth, for the tedious ascent took many windings, and compelled the caravan to make repeated halts. At no great distance to the south was another smaller hill, and looking towards the west they had a view of numerous lofty ranges, amongst which was that of the Gangara mountains.The population of Indimma’s territory is a mixed race, consisting partly of true Zandey-Niam-niam and partly of A-Madi, a tribe nearly related to the A-Banga, and corresponding in general features with the Monbuttoo.After leaving Indimma, the caravan commenced the four days’ march which would carry them on to Kanna, who bore the surname of Bendy, the most powerful of all the reigning sons of Keefa. In the middle of the first day they had to cross a large river, which the travellers identified withWando’s river, the Mbrwole, and compared for magnitude with the Blue Nile at Khartoom; they all persisted in saying that it was not the river that they had to cross in canoes on their way to Munza, and therefore not the Welle. They had still to march on for three days before reaching Kanna, so that there was no doubt that the entire distance between him and Indimma could not be much under thirty leagues. I asked one of Kanna’s Niam-niam, who had attached himself to the party on their wanderings, how far it was from Kanna’s to Munza’s residence, and he replied that, marching at the Niam-niam rate of eight or ten hours a day, the journey would occupy about five days; the direction, he added, was E.S.E. and S.E.; and his entire statement coincided very much with what Abderahman Aboo Guroon had told me when he affirmed that the journey with his heavily-laden caravan had required fifteen days to accomplish; this was the same length of time that it had taken us to travel a distance which I imagine is nearly the same, viz., that from the Nabambisso to Munza’s dwelling.From all I could gather, I should conclude that the arrangements and habits of Kanna’s court were very similar to those of the Monbuttoo sovereigns: like them he had his great palatial halls, where he celebrated the national festivals with dancing and music, and where the nobles were assembled for councils of state.About four leagues, or half a day’s march, from Kanna the detachment had come to the residence of Bakinge, the king’s brother, who had a limited district specially assigned to him. Just before reaching this spot, the caravan had been conveyed across “the great river” that flows from the land of the Monbuttoo. The river so distinguished was undoubtedly the Welle. The Khartoomers described it as being as wide as the White Nile at its mouth; and the Niam-niam interpreter, who accompanied them, in reply to my direct inquiry as to the proper name of the great river of Kanna,informed me that it was called the Welle or Bee-Welle,[54]thus establishing, by a fresh confirmation, its identity with the river of Munza. I was told that in this district it makes a semicircular bend. Close to the spot where the caravan crossed it, was the residence of the king’s brother and sub-chieftain named Mbittima, and at a short distance beyond stood the abode of Zibba, Kanna’s son, who was governor of an independent district. Before they passed to the other side of the river, Aboo Sammat’s company had also visited the settlement of another brother of Kanna, named Gendwa, which was about two days’ journey to the north-west of the king’s dominions.Having thus related the main particulars of the route of the detached party during their absence, I will return to the narrative of our own proceedings.
ALTITUDE OF MOUNT BAGINZE.
The measurement that I took upon the spot gave Baginze a relative height of 1350 feet; but the barometrical observations made at the base, which would have determined its exact altitude above the level of the sea, have unfortunately been lost; I believe, however, that I am not far wrong in estimating the entire height to be about 3900 feet.
The bulk of the rock of which the mountain was composed consisted of a gneiss that was so abundant in mica that in many places it had the appearance of being actual mica schist; a speciality in its formation being the immense number of cyanite crystals that pervaded it in all directions: a similar conglomeration of “cyanite gneiss” is very rare, but amongst other places it may be observed on Mount St. Gotthard in Switzerland. Wherever the springs issued at the foot of the mountain there were wide boulder-flats of broken stones, and here the sheets of mica and the prisms of cyanite, an inch or two in length, lay cleanly washed and strewn one upon another in such thick confusion that Ihad to wade through them as through a pile of rubbish. I collected several specimens of the rock, which I brought to Europe.
Massive in its grandeur, isolated, and worn by time, Mount Baginze thus stood before me as a witness of a former era in the world’s history and as a remnant of the lofty mountain-chain which must have once formed the southern boundary of the Nile district.
There was an entire absence of large trees everywhere, and the higher regions of the mountain bore but a very scanty vegetation. Contented, however, with the few botanical discoveries that the toilsome trip had yielded, I began to think of returning. It had taken me four hours to make the ascent of the mountain, but being now aware of the correct path, a single hour was all I spent in getting back to our encampment. In spite of the unpropitious weather I felt that I could have enjoyed myself for some days in exploring this enticing neighbourhood: the mountain air was even fresher and more invigorating than what I had been breathing in the Niam-niam country—and this is saying not a little; for, in spite of their meagre diet, the Nubian soldiers who came thither sickly and weakened by their idle Seriba-life always returned from their Niam-niam campaigns fat and healthy, and with renewed strength and vigour. My attendants unfortunately did not sympathise with my ideal enjoyments, but made such loud and bitter complaints at the increasing inclemency of the weather that I should not have dared to prolong my stay, even if I could.
On the third morning, then, after our arrival we began to return. Although continually in doubt as to our path, we were fortunate in hitting upon the route that was shortest, and, crossing the Shöby at a spot where it was contracted by gneiss walls and made a bend to the north, we reached the rocks in the forest of butter-trees at which so recently we had passed such a wretched night. Before it was dark weonce more entered Merdyan’s Seriba. The long march of nine hours, made doubly arduous by the many watercourses that had intercepted it, had been one of the most fatiguing that I had experienced. I took a day’s rest, and amused myself by shooting guinea-fowl, the sport being so successful that I supplied my people with as many of the birds as they could eat in two days. We performed the rest of our journey through incessant rain, and on the evening of the 1st of June found ourselves reinstated in the old Seriba on the Nabambisso.
TIDINGS FROM MOHAMMED.
Here I received satisfactory intelligence from Mohammed. The condition of things had decidedly improved. Still the store of corn was small; but the gourds had ripened during our absence, fresh maize had been brought to the Seriba, and, best of all, the guinea-fowl had effected a lodgment in the neighbourhood, so that we had a constant supply of animal food ready at hand. As a consequence of the continual rains edible funguses had sprung up in such abundance that for days together I dined off guinea-fowl’s liver and mushrooms. In every respect the mushrooms resembled those which we use in Europe.
I may mention that a large buffalo-hunt, to which all the Bongo were invited, came in as a timely diversion, and that day after day, with my gun in my hand, I was up and doing.
Before many days had elapsed the main body of Mohammed’s corps returned from their campaign. Only a portion of the missing ivory had been recovered, for Wando, under a superstitious dread of the intimations of his augury, had persistently remained concealed in the most inaccessible places, and consequently the hostilities had been mainly directed against his brother Mbeeoh. Contrary to the general practice of the Niam-niam princes, Mbeeoh had been personally engaged in the conflict and had exhibited remarkable bravery. On one occasion it had been with the greatest difficulty that Mohammed had held his own againstthe hordes of his opponent, and in a raging storm had been obliged to erect a kind of rampart, made of straw, to afford a shelter from which anything like a steady fire might be opened upon the assailants. The chances were dead against Mohammed’s side, but it is notorious that the natives hardly ever follow up any advantages offered to them either by a downpour of rain or by the obscurity of night; and very frequently they lost the most promising of opportunities for crushing their Nubian oppressors.
MISSING MEN.
Just before Mohammed himself returned there was a considerable commotion amongst our Bongo bearers. A circumstance occurred that naturally excited some consternation. The bearers who had been left with me in the old Seriba were in the habit of scouring the neighbouring fields and forests every day in search of victuals for themselves. One evening three of the party who had gone out did not return, and their companions had no hesitation in avowing their belief that they had been captured, and that they would most certainly be killed and eaten by the inhabitants of the adjacent district. Early on the following morning all the Bongo and most of the Nubians who were with me started off in a body to explore the neighbourhood and to follow up as best they might the traces of the missing men. According to the statements of the Bongo, the crime had been committed in the district under the control of Maddah, to the north of the Seriba. In that direction the party bent their steps. Their supposition was apparently correct, for after following the tracks into a wood they found that they terminated in a ghastly pool of blood. Maddah was forthwith seized and hurried to the Seriba, where he was charged with being answerable for the disappearance of the men. In evident confusion and with much excitement he began a long and incoherent preamble; he declared that the blood was that of an animal which had been slaughtered on the previous day; he owned, indeed, about the three Bongothat he had seen them running across his territory and had had no doubt that they were making an escape to their own homes. This explanation was objected to on the ground that the obstacles on the way were far too great for them ever to have entertained such a design. Maddah then went on to say that some of his Niam-niam people had noticed the fugitives, and had shouted after them to know where they were rushing to, and why they were scampering along at such a pace, but they had received no answer; and deeming it wrong to stand idly by and let the fellows decamp from their owners they had not only pursued them, but had effected their capture and put them into safe custody. To complete his tale he affirmed that, somehow or other, during the night they had contrived to escape; and this was all he knew about them.
The settlement of the business had ultimately to be left to the surviving Bongo. They were not easily satisfied; they insisted most strenuously that, even allowing that there might be some truth in the statement that the Niam-niam had pursued the fugitives, they had only done so with the object of sacrificing them in order to indulge their appetites, and to convert their flesh into food. The representation which Maddah gave of the pool of blood was held to be especially unsatisfactory; the bones of the slaughtered animal were demanded as a proof of the fact, but nothing was forthcoming at the hands of the Niam-niam but a few fragments that could be recognised at a glance as belonging to some game that must have been killed months before. Everything, in fact, seemed to confirm the accusation. All agreed that there was nothing to exonerate either Maddah or his people from suspicion. It was consequently decided that as Surroor, the lieutenant in command, was absent, as well as Mohammed, on the campaign, Maddah should be reserved for judgment, and meanwhile must be kept in confinement and placed under the yoke of the sheyba to await his sentence.
But when Mohammed returned he professed to be occupied by more pressing and important business. It did not require much penetration to perceive that there were certain motives of policy which were prompting him to procrastinate the investigation of the affair. The truth was he was anxious, if he could, to keep on good terms with the Niam-niam, knowing that their services were indispensable to him for the usual raid against the Babuckur that had to be undertaken for the purpose of getting a supply of corn to avert the prospect of his caravan being starved. Without their co-operation it would be impossible for his soldiers to cross the marshy swamps. Had the disaster befallen any of the Nubians or Mussulmen at all, there can be no doubt that Mohammed would have acted very differently, and would not have suffered considerations of policy to deter him from making an example of the delinquents.
The raid upon the Babuckur was an expedition that Mohammed did not accompany in person. He entrusted it entirely to Surroor, who took the charge of as many of the subordinate Niam-niam as could be gathered. Just as might be expected, the most savage brutalities were practised on either side. Besides securing the store of corn, which was the main object of the incursion, the Nubians were on the look-out for a capture of female slaves, which they claimed as their special perquisite. The Niam-niam on their part followed the example and did some private kidnapping on their own account; the females that they entrapped they disposed of in the following way: the youngest were destined for their houses, the middle-aged for their agriculture, and the eldest for their caldrons!
The skulls in the Anatomical Museum of Berlin that are numbered 36, 37, and 38 might be supposed capable of unfolding a deplorable tale of these depredations. Some natives brought them to me fresh boiled, only a few days after the raid had been perpetrated; they had heard fromthe Monbuttoo that I was accustomed to give rings of copper in exchange for skulls, and as I was not able to bring the poor fellows to life again I saw no reason why I should not purchase their remains in the interests of science. Often I reproached the Nubians of my retinue with allowing such abuses to go on before their eyes, and under the sanction of the flag bearing the insignia of the Holy Prophet; but just as often I received the answer that the Faithful were incompetent to change anything, but must submit to the will of God; it was impressed upon me that the Niam-niam were heathen, and that if the heathen liked to eat each other up, it was no concern of theirs; they had no right to be lawgivers or teachers to cannibals.
MOHAMMEDAN CONVERSION.
I had repeated opportunities of observing that the ivory-expeditions of the Khartoomers, although actuated by a certain spirit of enterprise, did not at all contribute to any propagation of Islamism. Negro nations once converted to Mohammedanism are no longer considered as slaves, but are esteemed as brothers. For this reason it was inexplicable to me how Islamism had spread so far in other parts of Central Africa; for although, on the one hand, Islamism is a faith that puts a pressure upon its converts by compelling them to submit to its external prescriptions, such as circumcision; yet, on the other hand, the very conforming to the prescriptions exempts them for ever from all oppression: thus I could not understand why in other parts of the continent the more powerful party had not maintained its material interests by displaying the same indifference as was shown by the Mohammedans in the countries through which I travelled.
Some days after the raid on the Babuckur I was witness of a scene that can never be erased from my memory. During one of my rambles I found myself in one of the native farmsteads; before the door of the first hut I came to, an old woman was sitting surrounded by a group of boys andgirls, all busily employed in cutting up gourds and preparing them for eating; at the door of the opposite hut a man was sitting composedly playing upon his mandolin. Midway between the two huts a mat was outspread; upon this mat, exposed to the full glare of the noon-day sun, feebly gasping, lay a new-born infant: I doubt whether it was more than a day old. In answer to my inquiries I learnt that the child was the offspring of one of the slaves who had been captured in the late raid, and who had now been driven off to a distant quarter, compelled to leave her infant behind, because its nurture would interfere with her properly fulfilling her domestic duties. The ill-fated little creature, doomed to so transient an existence, was destined to form a dainty dish; and the savage group was calmly engaged in their ordinary occupations until the poor little thing should have breathed its last and be ready to be consigned to the seething caldron! I profess that for a moment I was furious. I felt ready to shoot the old hag who sat by without displaying a particle of pity or concern. I was prompted to do something rash to give vent to my sensation of abhorrence; but I was swayed by the protestations of the Nubians ringing in my ears that they were powerless in the matter, and that they had not come to be lawgivers to the Niam-niam. I felt that I was as helpless as they were, and that it would be folly for me to forget how dependent I was upon them. What influence, I was constrained to ask, could my interference have exercised, what could any exhibition of my disgust and indignation avail to check the bias of an entire nation? Missionaries, in their enthusiasm, might find a fruitful field for their labours, but they must be very self-denying and very courageous.
The departure of the caravan for the north was delayed for several days in expectation of the return of the corps that had been sent to the west with Ghattas’s company, but as no tidings of it were forthcoming we determined, without further procrastination, to proceed upon our way.
Shut out from all prospect of this year making any farther progress to the south, and debarred from the hope of accomplishing any fresh explorations, I own that I began to long for the flesh-pots of Egypt; I confess that the stores that were on their way from Khartoom to await me in my old quarters at the Seriba in Bongoland had a wondrous fascination to my eager imagination. I was also now looking forward that I might make several excursions during the return journey, from which I was sanguine that I might not only make fresh botanical discoveries, but might enlarge my general knowledge of the country.
THE RIVER HOO.
Our first night-camp was made on the northern frontier of Aboo Sammat’s territory, on the banks of a brook near the hamlets of Kulenjo. Until we reached the Hoo we observed no alteration in the condition of the brooks; but the galleries which I was now traversing for the last time seemed in bidding me farewell to have donned their most festal covering, being resplendent with the luxuriant blooms of the Spathadeæ, one of the most imposing representatives of the African flora. The waters of the Hoo had risen to no inconsiderable degree, and they had so much increased in breadth that they filled the whole of the level bed, which was 35 feet in width. The current flowed at the rate of 150 feet a minute, the water being nowhere more than 3½ feet deep. Our second night-camp was pitched half-way between the Hoo and the Sway, at a spot where the bush-forest was densest and most luxuriant.
The advancing season brought several changes in our mode of living. I had become so far initiated into African habits, that I now very much preferred a grass hut to a tent. I was moreover getting somewhat out of patience with the ever-recurring necessity of holding up the tent-pole with all my strength during the storms of night, whilst I roused half the camp with my shouts for assistance. At the height of the rainy season the weather, by a beneficent arrangement ofNature, fortunately follows certain rules from which it deviates very exceptionally; the first few hours of the morning always decided the programme for the day; when once the sky had cleared, we knew that we might resume our march in perfect confidence, and I had the satisfaction of feeling that my papers and herbarium were in no danger of being spoilt by damp, and my companions had the same security for the preservation of their powder and provisions. Towards five in the afternoon, when the sun began to sink, and the distant thunder gave warning of the renewing of the storm, we made a halt, and directed our best attention to prepare our nightly lodging in the wilderness. The baggage was first piled together and protected by the waterproofs, and as soon as this was effected, a number of knives and hatchets were produced and distributed among the “builders.” Off they were sent with all despatch. “Now, you fellows, quick to your work. Four of you,” I should order my servants, “must be brisk, and get together the grass.Youtwo must hack me down the branches, long and strong, and be sharp about it. No shirking now. Andyouhave to get the bast. Quick, away! and quick back!” And with this hurrying and driving the work was soon done. Ten minutes, or a little more, brought the men back with the requisite materials. The framework was first erected, the forked boughs being driven into the ground and firmly fastened at the top with ligatures of bast; meanwhile the grass was being bandaged into a huge hollow sheaf, and this, when all was ready, was raised above the structure and fitted like a cap. Thus, in about half an hour, with alacrity, one of these grass huts could be reared, small indeed, and snug as a nest, but nevertheless perfectly waterproof; and thus a sufficient shelter against the nightly rains. The storm might rage and the thunder roll without, but here the weary traveller, in safe and reliable retreat, might enjoy his well-earned repose without misgiving.By the glimmer of a little oil-lamp of my own contrivance, in which I burnt some questionable-looking grease, of which the smell could not fail to rouse up one’s worst suspicions against the natives, I would sit and beguile the hours of the evening as best I could by writing down the experiences of the day. The negroes had no such protection: they would crouch round the camp-fire, which would make their faces glow again with its fitful light, while the rain would pelt pitilessly down upon their backs.
Such was the arrangement of our camp night after night throughout our return journey. But my recollections of the nights spent on the way between the Hoo and the Sway are altogether very unpleasant.
AN INVASION OF ANTS.
The rain on the following morning did not cease so soon as usual, and our departure was somewhat delayed. We were all of us intensely interested in keeping our own little dry spot free from the drenching force of the rain, when all at once I found my cosy quarters invaded by a whole army of ants. They had succeeded in discovering the driest and warmest place within a circuit of many miles, and now, in countless legions, they took up their quarters in my palliass, which was placed upon a lofty pile of leaves and grass. Their encroachments seemed to come from every side. For a long time I was in perplexity what to do; to leave my hut was impossible, the rain was falling almost in sheets. I endeavoured to protect myself with my clothes, but all in vain. Presently a stratagem suggested itself to my mind; by a happy thought I managed to divert the ants from myself. Dragging some bundles of grass from my bed, I threw them down in detached patches all over the floor, and by way of bait I sprinkled them over with the fragments of food that remained from the supper of the previous night. The scheme answered admirably, and I had the satisfaction of finding the unwelcome guests draw themselves away and give me no more personal annoyance.
Meanwhile a large portion of our caravan had gone on in advance to make the necessary preparations for crossing the Sway. I did not reach the banks myself until nearly noon, and by that time the people were busily employed in conveying the baggage across. The aspect of the Sway was entirely different to what it had been on the 13th of February. The water had risen to the very top of the banks, and was twenty feet deep, with a velocity of two hundred feet a minute. Although the stream was only thirty-five feet wide, the passage over it, in consequence of the entire absence of tree-stems and the small number of bushes on the banks, offered unusual difficulties. The men who had had experience in these Niam-niam expeditions had a method of effecting a transit over the river that I think was peculiar to themselves: they set all the bearers to work to gather as many different kinds of bark as they could, and to extract all the bast out of it, and then to twist it into long stout ropes, a handicraft in which the negroes are very skilful, as in Bongoland there is an unfailing demand for cordage for hunting-snares and fishing-nets. Having fabricated their ropes, the next thing was to get them stretched across the river. This was effected by practised swimmers, who attached one end firmly into the ground by means of pegs, and swam over with the other. The arrangement of the ropes was such that they were suspended in double rows, one precisely underneath the other, the upper rope being above the stream, the lower being some feet below its surface. Ten expert swimmers then took their stand upon the lower rope, and allowed the stream to force their weight against the upper rope, which supported their chests, but permitted them to have their arms perfectly free for action. Thus supported, in a half-standing, half-floating position, they contrived to keep their hands at liberty, and to pass the packages from one to another.
I confess that it was with a beating heart that I stoodand watched my precious baggage thus handed along over the perilous flood; but the lank, lean arms of the Nubians were competent to their work, and everything was conveyed across in safety. This business of crossing occupied several hours of real exertion. The difficulties of the transit may be conceived, when it is remembered that three-fourths of the negroes are entirely ignorant of the art of swimming, and that there were elephant’s tusks being transported which weighed not less than 180 lbs., and consequently required two men to lift them.
We passed the night near Marra’s villages, and though it was only a league from the river, it was quite dark before we entered our quarters. The residents had all vacated the district, leaving their fields of half-ripe maize to the mercy of the new comers; although plunder was ostensibly forbidden, it was surreptitiously carried on by our bearers to a very gross extent under cover of the darkness.
The whole of the next day we halted to recruit our strength. I found my amusement in scouring the neighbourhood in search of game. Huts were dotted about here and there, but the country generally was covered with such a wonderful grass vegetation, that any deviation from the beaten paths would have involved the wanderer in great perplexity, and only too probably he would have rambled about for hours before he could recover his way.
As the caravan was on the point of starting on the succeeding morning, and I had just set out at the head of the procession, we were brought to a standstill by the arrival of some messengers bearing a letter to Mohammed from the commander of his corps, that had been sent towards the west. To judge from the date of the letter, the Niam-niam who brought it must have travelled at least forty miles, and perhaps considerably more, in a day.
EVIL TIDINGS.
The letter contained evil tidings. Ghattas’s agent and Badry, Aboo Sammat’s captain, wrote in the utmost despair.Three chieftains had combined to attack them as they were crossing a gallery on Malingde’s territory; three of their number had been slain, and out of their ninety-five soldiers, thirty-two had been so severely wounded as to behors de combat. They had now been closely besieged for six days, and were with extreme difficulty defending themselves behind their abattis; provisions were fast failing; and even water could only be obtained at the risk of losing their lives. Ahmed, the other captain, had fallen at the first outset of the engagement, and his body had not been recovered for interment, but had fallen into the hands of the cannibals. The only means of rescuing the wounded soldiers would be to carry them away in litters, and this could only be effected at the cost of abandoning seventy loads of ivory that had been buried in a swamp. The letter concluded with an urgent appeal for speedy succour, and Mohammed determined to send it without delay; two-thirds of his armed men should be despatched to the relief of the sufferers.
The selection of this relieving-force had to be made at once, and it may be imagined that it was no easy matter for Mohammed to overcome the repugnance of those who had no relative or personal friend in jeopardy. It was naturally a bitter disappointment to those men who were thus marked off for this unexpected service to have to renounce the pleasant prospect of the toils of their expedition being so near its termination, and to be compelled to expose themselves anew to the dubious fortune of war. However, in spite of remonstrances and murmurings, the conscription was completed in a very summary fashion, and it was still early when the remnant of our party, with its undue proportion of bearers, continued our northward march.
It was a bright and lovely forenoon; the steppe was adorned with its summer verdure; what had before been bare red rock, was now covered with tender grass, which reminded one of our own fields of sprouting corn. Africaseemed like a universal playground, exciting our people to sport and merriment.
CHASE OF HARTEBEESTS.
We persevered in following our previous well-beaten track. The six meadow-waters that lay between Marra and the hill of Gumango had increased but little since we had last seen them. The lovely park-like country, with its numerous scattered bushes, offered unusual facilities for the chase, and small herds of antelopes, a long unwonted sight, appeared and as rapidly disappeared in the surrounding landscape. Once, however, five hartebeests, at a little distance from our road, made a stand, and eyed the caravan as intently as if they were rooted to the spot. I took deliberate aim at the breast of one of them, and although the whole five wheeled round and galloped off into the thickets, I felt sure that my shot had taken effect; on running up to the spot where the antelopes had been standing, we found enough blood to show us that one of them had certainly been wounded, how severely of course we could not tell. The dogs that I had were of no service for hunting, and had to be kept along with the caravan in the care of servants; but notwithstanding this want of sporting dogs, and in spite of the confusion caused by the multiplicity of tracks, we managed, by following the spots of blood, to make out the proper traces of the wounded hartebeest. As I was approaching one of the smaller thickets, I observed a couple of kites making their circling flight just above the trees; this was a manifest token that the wounded animal was not far off; in another few minutes, as I entered the grove, I caught sight of the yellow body of the beast skulking painfully away from me as best it might, a patch of blood-stained, trampled grass betraying the place where it had thrown itself down.
The arrival of the birds was to me very inexplicable: ten minutes had hardly elapsed since the shot had been fired, and yet here they were, awaiting their prey. The sportsman in Africa (and this is especially the case on bright, sunnydays) has constant experiences of this kind. A few minutes after he has succeeded in bringing down his game he may see some black dots in the sky, which gradually, as they come nearer and nearer, will assume a definite shape and ultimately develop themselves into groups of kites, vultures, or other carrion birds, ever ready to arrest their flight and to appropriate to themselves whatever relics of his booty the hunter may leave behind. It might almost seem, according to the fiction of the ancients, that the sky above was divided into several storeys, and that the birds were ever ready, at the sight of a tempting meal below, to hurry downwards from their topmost region in the sevenfold heaven.
This, however, is mere digression. I return to my hartebeest. After a considerable search we came upon the creature lying lifeless in the grass. It proved to be an animal in suck, and my Niam-niam people, after the wild hunting-custom of the country, filled a small gourd-shell with milk expressed from the udder, and mutually drank to each other’s courage and good luck. I had not happened to see the fawn; probably it had not been with the hartebeests when we first caught sight of them.
It may be readily understood from these details, that without dogs, and over so bewildering a country, the capture of game, even after it has been shot, is very often a matter of no trifling difficulty. Moreover, time and distance have to be taken into consideration. Our caravan was often half a league in length, and it was important not to leave any gaps in the procession, as nothing would be easier than for the rear division to mistake the narrow path they had to follow. However fleet the huntsman may be, the antelope is fleeter still, and the impatience and excitement exhibited by the sportsman, hurried because he is travelling, have a tendency to increase the alarm of the animal of which he is in chase, and which is already terrified by the unwonted sight of man. On the level steppe, where the grass grows to a height offive or six feet; the pursuer can only get momentary glances of the creatures’ horns, and all along in his chase he is hardly conscious of making any more advance than if he were buffeting with the waves of the sea.
A LUCKY SHOT.
The animal I had killed was soon cut up, and I made a meal off its roasted liver. Leaving some of my people in charge of the carcase, I set out, designing to return at once to the caravan to despatch some bearers to bring in the spoil to the encampment; but I missed my road, and, notwithstanding the help of my compass, I lost an hour or more in wandering over the rugged paths of an extended elephant haunt. Coming to a depression that was partially under water I saw several leucotis antelopes turn off in front of me, and as the water obstructed my farther progress I made a venture and fired my last shot at a solitary buck that was standing at a distance of not much less than five hundred paces. The animal instantaneously disappeared, and the noise of the report caused several others, in a state of affright, to scamper across the swamp. My Niam-niam were soon at the place where the antelope seemed to have fallen into the earth; to my surprise they soon began to make signs of triumph, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw them dragging the victim along the ground. It was quite dead and the bullet was in its neck.
Wonderful good fortune had thus, at very slight cost to myself, thrown into my hands an ample supply of meat, which after their recent deprivations gave unbounded satisfaction to my people. But I will not weary the reader with further details of my hunting adventures. Lovers of the chase and admirers of good marksmanship will find a richer field for their entertainment in the record of Sir Samuel Baker’s exploits about the Albert Nyanza, which rivals Herodian’s description of the sports and prowess of the Emperor Commodus. My own hunting experience, however interesting to myself, was comparatively on a very limited scale.
Carrying with us the piece of meat that was designed for our supper, we entered the camp just as darkness was coming on. I found the people quartered on the slope of a ridge of hills near the frontier of Bendo’s district, a league and a half to the south of the residence of the behnky himself. For half the night I sat up making extract of meat from the best parts of the leucotis; a large copper vessel, originally a spirit-still, but now used for preparing the pap for Mohammed’s slaves, was a most serviceable utensil for the purpose. From about 70 lbs. of the meat, which was very tender, I obtained the unusually large proportion of 2½ lbs. of extract of excellent quality and of the consistency of firm honey, the whole produce being perfectly free from any glutinous matter. The product was altogether superior to what I had obtained from the Monbuttoo goats, not only being larger in quantity, but infinitely more palatable, thus demonstrating that the flesh of the leucotis justified the reputation for flavour with which it was generally credited. I had an opportunity subsequently of comparing it with what I received amongst my fresh stores from Khartoom, and am satisfied that it was in no way inferior to that from Fray Bentos. Only those who like myself have existed for months together upon an inadequate and monotonous diet, or those who on long desert journeys have been limited to farinaceous food, can estimate the strengthening effect produced by ever so small an addition of this preparation to other food which is not of itself sustaining. Extract of meat thus is not the mere seasoning which many consider it; not simply does it give a relish, and draw out nutritious properties from indifferent food, but it is in itself a nutritious substance of the highest rank.
The process of boiling the meat is very long; while it was being completed next morning I had time to explore the magnificent vegetation of the adjacent hill. The wild vine (Vitis Schimperi) was loaded with its ripe clusters andafforded me a refreshment to which I had been long unaccustomed. These grapes were less juicy than those that grow upon the vine-clad hills of Europe, and they left a somewhat harsh sensation upon the palate; but altogether, and especially in colour, they reminded me of our own growth. Towards the south-east I had a view of the hills of Babunga, about ten miles off on the frontier of the Babuckur territory.
BENDO.
All the huts in Bendo’s mbanga had been lately rebuilt in a style that displayed considerable taste, the tops of the straw-roofs being so much decorated that they looked like various specimens of ornamental basket-work. We were able to procure a good stock of maize, which made a welcome change from the uniformly bad bread which we had been eating previously for so long. Bendo himself was quite a character; his singularities amused me; he was a kind of fine gentleman, extremely particular about histoilette, and would never allow himself to be seen unless he had been carefully painted and adorned with his high-plumed hat.
I did some botanising on the hill of Gumango and found it full of interest. We next crossed the Rye, and proceeded to the adjacent villages of Gumba. Our camp was scarcely pitched there when a message was received from Mohammed instructing us to wait for him. On returning to his Seriba he had found that all the soldiers for whose fate he had been concerned, and whom he was hurrying off to rescue, had already arrived there safe and sound, having succeeded in breaking through the enemy and in carrying off their wounded. He was now returning to us with his full force. Pending his arrival we remained in Gumba’s villages for the two succeeding days.
He came back at the appointed time, and the recovery of the parted friends caused great joy and excitement in the caravan; innumerable were the questions asked, and no accumulation of answers seemed to allay the curiosity.
My own attention was very much engaged by the accounts given by Badry, the captain who had been appointed to the command of the corps in the place of Ahmed; I knew that his word was to be relied on, and his information was of great value to me as throwing light upon the geography of the country about the lower portions of rivers, some of which I had crossed only in their upper course and sometimes quite close to their fountain-heads.
I heard many details of the conflict between Mohammed’s party and the Niam-niam, the leading incidents of which I will now proceed briefly to relate.
It was while they were crossing one of the brooks overhung with the dense forests which now for so long I have designated as galleries that the fatal attack took place; the consternation of the defenceless bearers, and consequently the confusion of the whole party, would seem to have been very terrible. The first discharge of Niam-niam lances had strewn the ground with dead and wounded, the column of the unfortunate bearers furnishing the larger proportion of the victims. Previous to the attack not a native had been seen. Nothing could be more crafty than their ambush. Some of them had taken up their position behind the larger trees; some had concealed themselves in the middle of the bushes; whilst others, in order to get an aim from above, had ensconced themselves high up, contriving to lie full length upon the overhanging boughs where the network of creepers concealed them from the keenest vision. Badry’s recital brought vividly to my mind the battles with the Indians in the primeval forests of America, where similar stratagems have been continually resorted to.
The soldiers kept up their fire with energetic vigour; they are accustomed to carry a number of cartridges arranged like a girdle right round their waist, and having their ammunition thus conveniently at hand they kept up their discharges unintermittingly until they had collected theirwounded; but the bodies of those who had been actually killed all fell into the hands of the assailants and were carried off without delay, all attempts at recovering them being utterly unavailing, because the irregularity of the ground prevented any organised plan of attack.
STANDING AN ASSAULT.
The bearers, meanwhile, had flung away their heavy loads, and in wild flight had retreated to an adjacent hill that rose above the steppe; here they were in a short time joined by the Nubians, who sought the eminence as commanding a view whence they might survey their position and concert measures for their future protection. Most of the deserted ivory, of course, had become the prey of the foe, but some of the Nubians had taken the precaution of burying the burdens in a swamp within the gallery, under the hope that they might recover it in the following year. Thus deprived of their proper occupation, the bearers were at liberty to carry the wounded, and a treaty was concluded with the enemy so that the party ventured to quit their quarters. The natives, however, were utterly treacherous; they were bent upon the annihilation of the intruders, and so, reinforced from the neighbouring district, they made a fresh and savage attack. In consequence of this the Nubians were compelled to come to a stand in the open plain, and lost no time in collecting whatever faggots they could get to make an abattis.
Behind this abattis they had to hold out for three entire days. The excited Niam-niam persevered in harassing them with unwearied assaults; and as three independent chieftains had summoned their entire forces for the attack, the combined action was unusually formidable; not until the store of lances and arrows was all used up were the furious sallies brought to an end and the Nubians permitted to go upon their way. The enemy, it was said, displayed such unabated energy that when all their ordinary lances had been spent they procured a supply of pointed sticks, whichthey proceeded to hurl with all their might against the Nubian band; it was, moreover, asserted that the quantity of shields and lances was so large that the besieged used no other fuel for their camp-fires during the entire period of their detention. Besides the weapons that were burnt, the negroes attached to the caravan brought away a considerable number of lance-heads, which they had tied up in bundles of nearly a hundred and designed for trophies to decorate their own huts.
Having thus spoken of the disasters of war that befell Aboo Sammat’s company, I will proceed to give a short outline of the route which they took, and which lay to the west and south-west of the districts through which I had myself travelled. It may be remembered that the corps had been detached from our caravan at Rikkete’s village on the Atazilly. It started off in a W.S.W. direction, which it followed during the greater part of the journey. A march of six leagues brought the men, in the first place, to the village of Garia, one of Wando’s brothers, who, like most of the sons of the wealthy Bazimbey, had after his father’s death, without recognising the hereditary claims of his elder brother, set himself up as an independent prince in his own district. From this locality it was described as “a good day’s march” of six leagues to the residence of Malingde or Malindo. This prince was the aforesaid eldest son of Bazimbey, and had consequently a more extensive territory than any of his brothers, with whom he was at that time on quite friendly terms.
A morning’s march of about four leagues brought the party onwards to one of the other brothers, named Moffi, who held office as a behnky in a district under the jurisdiction of Malingde; and between two and three leagues to the west again they found another behnky, also Malingde’s brother, called Bazia. Beyond this place was a wide tract of wilderness separating Malingde’s territory from that ofIndimma. Shortly after reaching Bazia’s residence they had to cross a river, which they said was as large as the Rohl at Awoory, and joined the Mbrwole on its right-hand side: three other smaller streams flowed through this wilderness, all of them affluents of the Mbrwole. As it took them four days and a half to travel from Bazia to the residence of Indimma, the distance may probably be estimated at between twenty and thirty leagues.
INDIMMA.
Indimma was a son of Keefa, and one of the most influential Niam-niam princes of his time. He had taken up his abode on the summit of a lofty and isolated mass of granite or gneiss, which, according to some accounts, was as high as the hills near Awoory (relatively 300 feet); or, according to others, it stood even higher than the Wohba mountain near Deraggo (relatively 500 feet).
At the top of this eminence was an extensive plateau, laid out in cultivated tracts; in the centre, like a small town, stood the residence of the king, embracing, as my informants unanimously declared, more than a thousand houses.
The mountain must extend several miles, both in length and breadth, for the tedious ascent took many windings, and compelled the caravan to make repeated halts. At no great distance to the south was another smaller hill, and looking towards the west they had a view of numerous lofty ranges, amongst which was that of the Gangara mountains.
The population of Indimma’s territory is a mixed race, consisting partly of true Zandey-Niam-niam and partly of A-Madi, a tribe nearly related to the A-Banga, and corresponding in general features with the Monbuttoo.
After leaving Indimma, the caravan commenced the four days’ march which would carry them on to Kanna, who bore the surname of Bendy, the most powerful of all the reigning sons of Keefa. In the middle of the first day they had to cross a large river, which the travellers identified withWando’s river, the Mbrwole, and compared for magnitude with the Blue Nile at Khartoom; they all persisted in saying that it was not the river that they had to cross in canoes on their way to Munza, and therefore not the Welle. They had still to march on for three days before reaching Kanna, so that there was no doubt that the entire distance between him and Indimma could not be much under thirty leagues. I asked one of Kanna’s Niam-niam, who had attached himself to the party on their wanderings, how far it was from Kanna’s to Munza’s residence, and he replied that, marching at the Niam-niam rate of eight or ten hours a day, the journey would occupy about five days; the direction, he added, was E.S.E. and S.E.; and his entire statement coincided very much with what Abderahman Aboo Guroon had told me when he affirmed that the journey with his heavily-laden caravan had required fifteen days to accomplish; this was the same length of time that it had taken us to travel a distance which I imagine is nearly the same, viz., that from the Nabambisso to Munza’s dwelling.
From all I could gather, I should conclude that the arrangements and habits of Kanna’s court were very similar to those of the Monbuttoo sovereigns: like them he had his great palatial halls, where he celebrated the national festivals with dancing and music, and where the nobles were assembled for councils of state.
About four leagues, or half a day’s march, from Kanna the detachment had come to the residence of Bakinge, the king’s brother, who had a limited district specially assigned to him. Just before reaching this spot, the caravan had been conveyed across “the great river” that flows from the land of the Monbuttoo. The river so distinguished was undoubtedly the Welle. The Khartoomers described it as being as wide as the White Nile at its mouth; and the Niam-niam interpreter, who accompanied them, in reply to my direct inquiry as to the proper name of the great river of Kanna,informed me that it was called the Welle or Bee-Welle,[54]thus establishing, by a fresh confirmation, its identity with the river of Munza. I was told that in this district it makes a semicircular bend. Close to the spot where the caravan crossed it, was the residence of the king’s brother and sub-chieftain named Mbittima, and at a short distance beyond stood the abode of Zibba, Kanna’s son, who was governor of an independent district. Before they passed to the other side of the river, Aboo Sammat’s company had also visited the settlement of another brother of Kanna, named Gendwa, which was about two days’ journey to the north-west of the king’s dominions.
Having thus related the main particulars of the route of the detached party during their absence, I will return to the narrative of our own proceedings.