THE MINNESINGER.Our old friend the “minnesinger” paid us another visit in our camp, and entertained us once again with the droll elaboration of his poetic faculty; as the theme on this occasion upon which to exercise his epic muse, he chose the heroic deeds of Mohammed, which he chanted out with characteristic energy.As I was quite aware that in a few days more I should have taken my leave, perhaps for ever, of the Niam-niam lands, I was particularly anxious to secure a dog of the unique race belonging to the country, that I might exhibit it as a novelty on my return to Europe. For a couple of copper rings I made purchase of a specimen of the breed, which was quite satisfactory, as the creature was not only very intelligent, but attached itself to me in a very few days. My hope, however, of introducing the breed into Europe was doomed to be frustrated; by dint of watchfulness, and at the cost of no little inconvenience, I succeeded in conveyingthe animal safely as far as Alexandria; but while I was staying there, it leapt from the hotel window, two storeys high, down into the street, and was killed on the spot. Whoever has experienced the bother of dragging a dog across the desert on the back of a camel, or of rescuing it times out of number from being drowned during the passage of a Nile-boat, will readily sympathise with the annoyance I felt at the waste of all my pains.As our train proceeded along the hilly region between Gumba and Nganye, it was easy to make the observation that there was no appreciable difference in its magnitude compared with what it had been when we traversed the same district more than four months previously. A considerable number of the wounded were still carried on litters, and formed a new feature in the procession. One poor fellow had had the entire sole of his foot literally peeled off by a lance. Ali, the leader of Ghattas’s company, had also two severe wounds, one on the neck, the other on the thigh; but although both of them were still open, the sturdy negro made light of his trouble, marched on merrily enough, chattering to his companions every now and then according to the current phraseology of the Nubians, enforcing his assertions by the ejaculation, “Wollahi! wollahi!” (“by Allah! by Allah!”) These people are far greater heroes in enduring pain than would be expected from their pusillanimity in battle.With Nganye the Nubians spent a day of riot and revelry in honour of the African Gambrinus. The chieftain had already prepared for their entertainment, and had sent to Mohammed’s hut an enormous vase of beer, the vessel being a fine specimen of native pottery, a masterpiece in its way, and so heavy when it was full that it required two men to lift it. I spent the day in a hunting excursion. I started towards the west, and succeeded in killing two small antelopes and in bagging a large number of guinea-fowl that,in a liberal mood, I distributed amongst my companions; the chieftain himself, when he visited me on the following day, enjoyed a meal off the tender flesh of the birds, which during the rainy season is particularly rich and savoury.During my stay with Nganye, I had incidentally a further demonstration of what is the limited measure of authority really possessed by the Niam-niam princes. I had discarded, as I have said, the use of my tent: in return for its torn covering, which, with the lining, would have furnished material for more than a hundred aprons, Nganye had covenanted to supply me with twenty baskets of eleusine corn, which would be required by my people during their coming march across the desert; but in spite of the number of his wives and slaves, who I should have imagined would very soon have got together without difficulty whatever he directed, he was only able to furnish me with half the stipulated quantity. This meagre species of grain was all the corn-provision that could be obtained, and very thankful we were that we could get even that.A SUSPENSION BRIDGE.Before leaving his Seriba, Mohammed had sent a message to Nganye to warn him of the advance of the caravan, so that he might have sufficient time for the preparation of the bridge by which it could cross the Tondy. This work was executed without delay. A suspension bridge of a very curious and original construction had been thrown across the rushing waters. Some of the strongest trees on each bank had been chosen for supports, and the bridge consisted simply of strong ropes attached to them with some planks or poles laid upon as cross-bars. This aërial pathway, as might be expected, oscillated like a swing; but dangerous as it was, it permitted a passage by carefully crawling from one cross-piece to the next.The march from Nganye’s residence to the river led through the marvellous grass-thickets which I have already described. The grass was now shooting up afresh in all itswild luxuriance. The season for the great elephant-hunts was at an end, and Mohammed was well satisfied with the quantity of ivory his friend had secured. He told me that Nganye, although he ruled over a district that was smaller in extent (though it contained nearly as many hunting-grounds as that of Munza), had furnished him with a much larger supply of ivory than the powerful Monbuttoo king.It was near the river, in some huts newly-built in Peneeo’s district, that we passed our last night in the Niam-niam country. A wide tract of wilderness had been lately rooted up in order to acquire fresh arable land against the time when the soil already in cultivation should be exhausted. In these places it is wonderful to see how the masses of shrubs that have been oppressed by the exuberant growth of the trees, sprout out with renewed vigour: free, as it were, from a long restraint, and reanimated by an open sky, these step-children of the sylvan flora seem to overwhelm the wanderer with their beauteous bounty.On the 24th of June we reached the Tondy and its hanging bridge. To convey the baggage across this tottering erection was the work of nearly an entire day. The place of our present transit was four miles to the east of the spot at which we had crossed on our outward journey; it had been chosen higher up the river for several reasons, not only because the stream was narrower and the banks were higher, but principally because the trees were of a larger, more substantial growth, better adapted for the purpose of being converted into piers for the suspended ropes which formed the bridge. The river was here sixty feet wide, but near the banks it was so full of fallen trees and bushes, of which the boughs projected as though growing in the water, that the width of the stream was practically diminished one-half. The velocity of the current was about 115 feet a minute, the depth nowhere being less than 10 feet.SUSPENSION-BRIDGESUSPENSION-BRIDGE OVER THE TONDY.HIGH IN MID-AIR.The materials of the suspension-bridge consisted exclusivelyof branches of the wild vine intertwined with thick elastic ropes of unusual strength. The French traveller d’Abbadie noticed a similar stratagem for crossing rivers on his tour to Enarea, and bridges improvised very much in the same manner are constructed from creeping plants in South America. In order to get the ropes raised to a sufficient height, a regular scaffolding of fallen stems has to be erected on either side of the river, by means of which the festoons of cords are raised to a proper altitude. The clambering from cross-piece to cross-piece upon this unstable structure, poised in mid-air, seemed to require little less than the agility of an orang-outang; while the very consciousness of the insecurity of the support was enough to make the passenger lose his composure, even though he were free from giddiness and already an adept in the gymnastic art.FOOTNOTES:[53]‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’vol. xxxv.[54]“Bee,” like “ba,” in many of the dialects of Central Africa, means “river.” It was an appellation that I was surprised to find in use here, and was a confirmation of the supposed connection of these lands with Baghirmy.
THE MINNESINGER.
Our old friend the “minnesinger” paid us another visit in our camp, and entertained us once again with the droll elaboration of his poetic faculty; as the theme on this occasion upon which to exercise his epic muse, he chose the heroic deeds of Mohammed, which he chanted out with characteristic energy.
As I was quite aware that in a few days more I should have taken my leave, perhaps for ever, of the Niam-niam lands, I was particularly anxious to secure a dog of the unique race belonging to the country, that I might exhibit it as a novelty on my return to Europe. For a couple of copper rings I made purchase of a specimen of the breed, which was quite satisfactory, as the creature was not only very intelligent, but attached itself to me in a very few days. My hope, however, of introducing the breed into Europe was doomed to be frustrated; by dint of watchfulness, and at the cost of no little inconvenience, I succeeded in conveyingthe animal safely as far as Alexandria; but while I was staying there, it leapt from the hotel window, two storeys high, down into the street, and was killed on the spot. Whoever has experienced the bother of dragging a dog across the desert on the back of a camel, or of rescuing it times out of number from being drowned during the passage of a Nile-boat, will readily sympathise with the annoyance I felt at the waste of all my pains.
As our train proceeded along the hilly region between Gumba and Nganye, it was easy to make the observation that there was no appreciable difference in its magnitude compared with what it had been when we traversed the same district more than four months previously. A considerable number of the wounded were still carried on litters, and formed a new feature in the procession. One poor fellow had had the entire sole of his foot literally peeled off by a lance. Ali, the leader of Ghattas’s company, had also two severe wounds, one on the neck, the other on the thigh; but although both of them were still open, the sturdy negro made light of his trouble, marched on merrily enough, chattering to his companions every now and then according to the current phraseology of the Nubians, enforcing his assertions by the ejaculation, “Wollahi! wollahi!” (“by Allah! by Allah!”) These people are far greater heroes in enduring pain than would be expected from their pusillanimity in battle.
With Nganye the Nubians spent a day of riot and revelry in honour of the African Gambrinus. The chieftain had already prepared for their entertainment, and had sent to Mohammed’s hut an enormous vase of beer, the vessel being a fine specimen of native pottery, a masterpiece in its way, and so heavy when it was full that it required two men to lift it. I spent the day in a hunting excursion. I started towards the west, and succeeded in killing two small antelopes and in bagging a large number of guinea-fowl that,in a liberal mood, I distributed amongst my companions; the chieftain himself, when he visited me on the following day, enjoyed a meal off the tender flesh of the birds, which during the rainy season is particularly rich and savoury.
During my stay with Nganye, I had incidentally a further demonstration of what is the limited measure of authority really possessed by the Niam-niam princes. I had discarded, as I have said, the use of my tent: in return for its torn covering, which, with the lining, would have furnished material for more than a hundred aprons, Nganye had covenanted to supply me with twenty baskets of eleusine corn, which would be required by my people during their coming march across the desert; but in spite of the number of his wives and slaves, who I should have imagined would very soon have got together without difficulty whatever he directed, he was only able to furnish me with half the stipulated quantity. This meagre species of grain was all the corn-provision that could be obtained, and very thankful we were that we could get even that.
A SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Before leaving his Seriba, Mohammed had sent a message to Nganye to warn him of the advance of the caravan, so that he might have sufficient time for the preparation of the bridge by which it could cross the Tondy. This work was executed without delay. A suspension bridge of a very curious and original construction had been thrown across the rushing waters. Some of the strongest trees on each bank had been chosen for supports, and the bridge consisted simply of strong ropes attached to them with some planks or poles laid upon as cross-bars. This aërial pathway, as might be expected, oscillated like a swing; but dangerous as it was, it permitted a passage by carefully crawling from one cross-piece to the next.
The march from Nganye’s residence to the river led through the marvellous grass-thickets which I have already described. The grass was now shooting up afresh in all itswild luxuriance. The season for the great elephant-hunts was at an end, and Mohammed was well satisfied with the quantity of ivory his friend had secured. He told me that Nganye, although he ruled over a district that was smaller in extent (though it contained nearly as many hunting-grounds as that of Munza), had furnished him with a much larger supply of ivory than the powerful Monbuttoo king.
It was near the river, in some huts newly-built in Peneeo’s district, that we passed our last night in the Niam-niam country. A wide tract of wilderness had been lately rooted up in order to acquire fresh arable land against the time when the soil already in cultivation should be exhausted. In these places it is wonderful to see how the masses of shrubs that have been oppressed by the exuberant growth of the trees, sprout out with renewed vigour: free, as it were, from a long restraint, and reanimated by an open sky, these step-children of the sylvan flora seem to overwhelm the wanderer with their beauteous bounty.
On the 24th of June we reached the Tondy and its hanging bridge. To convey the baggage across this tottering erection was the work of nearly an entire day. The place of our present transit was four miles to the east of the spot at which we had crossed on our outward journey; it had been chosen higher up the river for several reasons, not only because the stream was narrower and the banks were higher, but principally because the trees were of a larger, more substantial growth, better adapted for the purpose of being converted into piers for the suspended ropes which formed the bridge. The river was here sixty feet wide, but near the banks it was so full of fallen trees and bushes, of which the boughs projected as though growing in the water, that the width of the stream was practically diminished one-half. The velocity of the current was about 115 feet a minute, the depth nowhere being less than 10 feet.
SUSPENSION-BRIDGESUSPENSION-BRIDGE OVER THE TONDY.
SUSPENSION-BRIDGE OVER THE TONDY.
HIGH IN MID-AIR.
The materials of the suspension-bridge consisted exclusivelyof branches of the wild vine intertwined with thick elastic ropes of unusual strength. The French traveller d’Abbadie noticed a similar stratagem for crossing rivers on his tour to Enarea, and bridges improvised very much in the same manner are constructed from creeping plants in South America. In order to get the ropes raised to a sufficient height, a regular scaffolding of fallen stems has to be erected on either side of the river, by means of which the festoons of cords are raised to a proper altitude. The clambering from cross-piece to cross-piece upon this unstable structure, poised in mid-air, seemed to require little less than the agility of an orang-outang; while the very consciousness of the insecurity of the support was enough to make the passenger lose his composure, even though he were free from giddiness and already an adept in the gymnastic art.
FOOTNOTES:[53]‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’vol. xxxv.[54]“Bee,” like “ba,” in many of the dialects of Central Africa, means “river.” It was an appellation that I was surprised to find in use here, and was a confirmation of the supposed connection of these lands with Baghirmy.
[53]‘Journal of the Royal Geographical Society,’vol. xxxv.
[54]“Bee,” like “ba,” in many of the dialects of Central Africa, means “river.” It was an appellation that I was surprised to find in use here, and was a confirmation of the supposed connection of these lands with Baghirmy.