CHAPTER VIII.
The Salt Lake.—Journey to Gunguntur, distance from Aleex’ Shaitan, ten miles, general direction, W. S. W.—Scene of the murder of three Soldiers of the British Mission, in 1840.—Halt for the Night.—Journey to Alulee, distance seven miles, general direction, S. S. W.—Stay at Alulee.—Attack of the Muditu tribe.
Bahr Assal, by observations made by Dr. Beke in the first instance, and afterwards confirmed by the observations of Lieut. Barker and Mr. Assistant-Surgeon Kirk, officers connected with the Shoan mission, is from four to five hundred feet below the level of the sea. It is surrounded by very lofty mountains, excepting in the direction corresponding with the termination of the Bay of Tajourah, where the ground is one fissured slope of sheets of lava which have been poured out from the neighbourhood of Goobat ul Khhrab.
Considerable evaporation of the salt water of the original sea, which I conceive must have once extended to the lake, has taken place since its separation; and as this operation is favoured considerably by the great depression of its surface, the fresh water supplied by the numeroussmall streams that flow into it on all sides during the wet season, is not allowed to collect in sufficient quantity to re-dissolve the crystals formed during the hot dry summer before. The northern extremity of the lake is, however, free from salt in mass; but the water is such a concentrated solution of it, that when tasted, it almost blisters the tongue by its intensity. In extent it cannot be more than twenty miles around, being longer in one direction than another, in the proportion, I thought, of about five to three miles. We were about twenty minutes in passing across the salt crust of that extremity over which our march lay, and then crossing an extensive deposit of a large hard crystalline rock (sulphate of soda), we entered a narrow dark ravine along the bed of a small stream of brackish water, which was but a few inches deep, and ran very gently into the lake. As we proceeded the water became sweeter, till at length, when we reached Gunguntur, our halting-place for the day, we found it quite fresh and in little connected pools, that admitted the luxury of a bath, which I very soon took advantage of. The brackish taste of the stream at the gorge of the ravine was owing to its impregnation by the atmosphere, which bears considerable quantities of salt particles for some miles inland, and which had also very unpleasant effects upon the skin of my face and lips whilst I stayed in the neighbourhood.
The camels now coming up, I had my house builtwith greater speed than it used to be, as I assisted at its erection myself, not wishing any more invitations to leave the Kafilah on pretext of superior accommodations. On the occasion of the British Mission going up to Shoa, this was the place where the murder of the two sergeants of the——Regiment of Queen’s infantry and a Portuguese cook was effected by the natives, insufficient watch being kept by the party during the night. I heard twenty different relations of this atrocious act; the perpetrators of it being well-known to the people of Tajourah, and belonged to the Debenee tribe. In the course of the day, I took an opportunity of mentioning to Ohmed Mahomed my rencontre with Garahmee; and he told me, that if I left the Kafilah and accompanied the Bedouins, I should always be exposed to the same attempts; “for I have my enemies,” he added, “and they will (drawing his hand across his throat) kill you, merely because you are my friend.” The Ras felt that his boxeish at the end of the journey was in jeopardy, so instead of going away to his own house of salt-bags, which had been constructed for him, he placed his mat alongside of mine, remained in my hut nearly all day, and slept there during the night. We had a long conversation upon the division of the country we were passing through among the Dankalli tribes, and I found that the Muditu and the Assobah tribes laid claim to equal portions of the salt lake, withliberty to take up salt on their respective shores. He added, they were constantly fighting either between themselves, or with the Issah Soumaulee tribes, who in strong parties sometimes came down and loaded great numbers of camels with the salt. Gunguntur, our present halting-place, belonged to the Muditu; on one side of the valley they had some huts, but the other was not frequented by them, as no food could be found for their flocks. I rather suppose it was the contiguity of the Issah Soumaulee, who on the opposite side held them in check, and would not allow them to cross over the ravine.
In the evening I accompanied Ohmed Mahomed to the scene of the murder of the soldiers. It was a little open space surrounded by high red precipitous hills, where two or three small streams joined the one running into Bahr Assal. A triangular plain of loose angular debris of several feet thick had been channelled by water, and seemed as if traversed by a wide road having flat-topped banks of three or four feet high. The sombre hue of its high embosoming rocks, the bare surface of the stone-covered plain, with the absence of all vegetation, formed a scene well suited for a deed of blood, especially if it can be pictured upon a night when the moon, sometimes obscured by clouds, cast occasional shadows of a pitchy darkness upon the earth.
It appears that the members of the Mission lay in a long line beneath one of the low banks.In the middle of the night, Allee Chous, the Arab sentinel, being probably asleep, two natives cautiously approached along the level plain, descended the bank, and striking together, each having selected his victim, the soft parts of the necks were divided almost to the vertebre, and the two soldiers died without a struggle. The Portuguese cook, who lay next to them, was disturbed, and seeing the assassins, he gave a cry of alarm, and the heavy knife of one of them, whilst retreating, was plunged into his abdomen. He died on the following day. Some attempt was made to pursue the murderers, but the darkness and the number of huge boulders around the base of the hills amongst which they retreated, favoured their escape. As I felt quite sure of the intentions of Garahmee and Moosa to serve me in the same way, if they could get the opportunity, I felt no little anxiety on turning in to-night, when on the level tops of the sides of my box house, I saw these two rascals busily arranging their mats, as if solicitous to convince me they did not wish any recurrence of the tragedy, which had formed the only topic of conversation to-day; Ohmed Mahomed, however, soon dislodged them, on the plea, that they ran the risk of upsetting the boxes upon me, and as these wooden walls were really rather shaky, they could not object to his request, that they would make their place of rest somewhere else. To prevent, still farther, any attempt during the night, that should not awakenme, he placed achevaux de frizeof camel saddles over the whole, so that the removal of them must have made considerable noise.
April 6th.—The camels were loaded, and we were on the road a little before sunrise. Ohmed Mahomed took me to see a cave, made of some large boulders, three of which sustained a fourth on their summit, as a roof. They were of exceedingly large dimensions, the cave being at least twenty feet high, which may give some idea of the size of these rocks which had fallen from the sides of the adjoining cliffs.
We followed the course of the little river towards its source between high steep cliffs of a porphyritic rock, generally of a bright red colour. Here our path was rugged in the extreme, winding around huge detached rocks that lay in the bed of the stream, and the tortuous course and irregular surface of the road now rendered walking very difficult. Sometimes, in more favoured spots, we snatched a passing glimpse of small verdure-covered spots, where a solitary clump of the doom palm-tree, or a sweetly-smelling mimosa, connected the traveller with the earth of beauty he otherwise would have seemed to have been leaving, as he traversed the deep, dark gully or cleft in the volcanic plain of the country above and around him. Underneath the shade of one of the doom palms, a rude cairn of stones marked the grave of the Portuguese belonging to the escort of the Mission,who died near this spot, from the wound he received at Gunguntur.
We were four hours marching before we reached Allulee, where it was designed we should halt; and here I certainly was surprised to find several broad sheets of water, clear and sweet, in which grew a great quantity of bright green excellent grass. Considerable numbers of the doom palm-tree fanned the air with their large leaves, and widely-spreading umbrella-like mimosa-trees afforded a grateful shade. The ravine here widened into a hilly but open country, a mile or so in diameter, and we seemed to have come to a place where there was room enough to breathe, and to feel happy in our escape from the narrow confines of the ravine we had just passed. Several of the rocks were encrusted with a saline deposit from the atmosphere, and a promise of an abundance of game was held out by the quantity of antelopes that resorted here for the sake of water. The salt, also, I expect, was no little inducement, as in common with most herbivorous animals, they are exceedingly fond of it. A little slope of gravelly soil, rising from the edge of one of the ponds, and resting upon a steep lava-bank in the rear, was the spot chosen for our encampment; and my quarters being arranged as usual, I gladly retreated into it, to prepare, by a good night’s rest, for the following day’s hunting which I had promised myself, as Ohmed Mahomed had told me, we should take advantage of this favourablespot to rest and recruit the camels, who were nearly worn out by their tiresome journey so far.
During the day a good deal of washing took place, all the Bedouins and camel-men taking this opportunity of washing their fotahs and body-clothes. For cleansing-troughs they dug small holes in the soil, which they half filled with water, and added thereto straw, or a few handsful of fresh camels’ dung, as a substitute for soap. I found Zaido had carefully collected, during the last few days, a mat-bag full of the same kind of commodity, the produce of my mule, which he had very carefully stowed away for this purpose, as he said it was far superior in its cleansing properties to the camels’ dung. A regular washing day now made the whole place alive; every body seemed anxious to be in white apparel, and in succeeding lots, they took possession of the holes. They commenced by well saturating their clothes in the dirty composition, kneading them with their hands, and when tired of that, stamping them with their feet. The clothes being then taken out, were well rinsed in the neighbouring pond, and being opened out, a critical view was taken of their condition, which, if not satisfactory, a repetition of all these operations followed. After all this, they were dried and bleached in the sun, and were certainly much improved in appearance by the process of ablution they had undergone. The lively character of the scene altogether had abeneficial effect upon me, and I felt again enjoying the life I was leading. I also anticipated some shooting the next day, and cleaned my guns in preparation, in which operation I was assisted by Zaido and Allee, who managed by some nonsense or other to derange the action of the locks of my carbine, for in their anxiety to prove themselves fitting attendants in the chase, they persisted in exhibiting their knowledge of firearms, by attempting to let the hammer of the lock gently down upon the nipple in the process of uncocking. This difficult operation bothered them a great deal, and the result was that, much to their discomfiture, and my displeasure, they materially injured one lock, to repair which cost me a deal of time and trouble. The evening I spent talking with Allee respecting a great fight, which some three or four years before, had taken place between the Assa-hemerah Muditu and the other Dankalli tribes coalesced against them, in which contest several hundreds were slain, and near to the scene of which we should pass during our journey.
As night came on, a large feast of boiled rice and dates was prepared for a considerable number of the Muditu, who had come into camp, and were, as usual, demanding some present on the occasion of our passing through their country. They came in so late, however, that they were not aware of my presence; and consequently, did not come near me that evening. Ohmed Mahomedbeing engaged with them till nearly midnight, I closed the entrance of my hut with mats to prevent the intrusion of any home or foreign Bedouins, and was soon fast asleep.
Thursday, 7th.—This morning I was awakened rather unpleasantly by a heavy shower of rain, which, penetrating my carpet-roof, soon wet me completely through. I got out, and retreated to the thick cover of a low mimosa-tree, over which some of the Bedouins threw my carpet, and as many as could be covered by its shelter came and sat close around me. A stream of thick muddy water suddenly came into existence, hundreds of small rills issuing from every hill top, filling the hollow below our camp almost immediately, and where a few hours before we walked and the camels fed, a river too deep to ford, and above forty feet wide, rushed with great impetuosity into the ravine we travelled along yesterday. A camel having died in the night, a party of the drivers on the occasion of this flood appearing, dragged the body into the influence of its current which soon carried it away. One of its tributaries, a brook of considerable size, very shortly afterwards made its way through the centre of our camp, and actually turned one of the boxes over before some dams of stones, and a small canal, could be made to direct its course in another direction, so that the water should not damage the stores, or the numerous bagsof salt that had been unfairly added to the burdens of our camels at the salt lake.
In this miserable manner I spent nearly the whole day, crouching on my heels beneath the tree, and anxiously endeavouring to prevent my firearms being rendered useless by the wet; and it was with no small degree of pleasure that a little before three o’clock, I saw the rain ceasing as suddenly as it commenced, the sun come out, and the volume and force of the river rapidly diminish. The wet clothes were now stretched upon the ground, or on the tops of the dwarf shrubs, of which, in this favoured spot, great numbers were growing. My bed of mats, my cloak, plaid, and carpet, in a very short time were perfectly dry, and I was once more made comfortable in my retreat, but with the most dismal forebodings of fever, and all the other evils which exposure to damp and moisture in hot countries are apt to engender, and from the bad effects of which I had only so recently recovered. After the very evident depression occasioned amongst the Kafilah men by the rain during the day, the warm and welcome sunshine of the few hours before sunset, brought about a re-action amongst them, and when they had retired to their mats for the night, another of their farcical conversations was carried on by several distant individuals of the camp, who shouted aloud their observations, whilstthe laughing accompaniment of their companions proved the zest with which they enjoyed this evident encounter of some rival wits.
April 8th.—This morning, the loud voice of Garahmee called us to saddle and march two hours before sunrise, and, surprised at his assumption of this part of the duties of the Ras, I began to be afraid that Garahmee’s bold bearing, combined with his talents for finesse, had placed him at the head of the Kafilah, although not possessing himself a camel, or a single bag of salt. On inquiring from the timid whispering Zaido, I found this to be the case, and that Garahmee had taken the command partly from the want of decision and partly from the wish to avoid a contest with him, not only of Ohmed Mahomed, but of all the rest of the Kafilah men. Besides, Garahmee was supported by his four Hy Soumaulee brothers, who were quite sufficient to impose submission upon the peaceably disposed people of Tajourah, who had everything to lose by a collision with them. It was Garahmee’s object now to hurry on our Kafilah to prevent it being joined by another, which had arrived after us, and was then loading with salt at Assal, and messengers from which had arrived in our camp during the night, to request Ohmed Mahomed to remain where we were at Allulee for it to join us, and proceed together.
Many of our camels were already loaded, and all had been collected for the same purpose, but veryreluctantly by their owners, as the designs of Garahmee were fully understood, when all at once a general rush was made for spears and shields, Ohmed Mahomed calling hastily upon me to bring my guns, and take my place with the rest in a line of defence which was formed a few yards from my hut. The women, all collected together, were crying out “koo, koo, koo,” in a long-continued strain, whilst the men brandished their spears with loud cries of defiance. Garahmee, Moosa, and Adam Burrah performed the usual stampingpas de troisin front, and a man with the most ludicrous gravity, armed with spear and shield, dancing round and round, with a very small and slow step, from one extremity of the semicircle to the other, completed the scene on our side of the preparations made on the occasion of this sudden commotion. Before I made these observations, however, Zaido, the black colour of whose cheeks was now changed to a motley grey, pointed out to me about an equal number of Muditu, assembled upon the irregular slope of the opposite side of the valley, who were approaching in a close compact body, and not in the straggling manner as did the Bursane Bedouins on the previous occasion. Every one of our party anticipated a certain attack, and each had provided himself with a large fragment of rock, which was to precede the hurling of the spear. As the enemy approached very rapidly, and was now but a few hundred yards off, every one of my party calledupon me to step out and fire. I stood up immediately for that purpose, and directly they saw me, the whole body of the Muditu came to a sudden halt as if astonished at the unexpected appearance of a white man, with the deadly character of whose weapons they were well acquainted, as in one engagement, when a party of the very same tribe had come down upon a Feringee Kafilah at the same place, two of them were shot dead by the party who accompanied it, and who, from several reasons, I believe to have been Kielmeyer, the well-known German adventurer, who was returning to Abyssinia, where he had long resided, and who was killed, according to some accounts, but by others, reported to have died a natural death of fever, at Killaloo, a few days’ journey farther inland.
On the present occasion, the Muditu did not hesitate long what to do, but immediately squatted down in a manner similar to ourselves, on the spot where they had halted, and there we were sitting two hours, without either party taking farther steps, for Ohmed Mahomed, upon seeing them thus checked, pulled me down again by his side, and I was well content not to be obliged to shed blood, unless absolutely forced by the most extreme necessity. Some few of our Kafilah men now went and loosened the ropes that fastened the legs of the tethered camels, it being far too late in the day, even had not arrangements now to be made with the assembled Muditu, for us to think of starting,and no interruption was offered to the men engaged in driving out the camels to forage for the remainder of the day. Opportunities of peaceful advances being made having thus offered, I soon found Ohmed Mahomed and Ebin Izaak, attended by Garahmee, retire beneath some, mimosa-trees, where they were joined first, by several Muditu women, who had followed their male friends to the rencontre, and who, it seems, came down here to invite our leaders to a conference, but as Ohmed Mahomed himself had a blood feud with some of the tribe unsettled, he was obliged to retire, leaving the management of the business to the politic Garahmee and the young and not very talented Ebin Izaak. The former, however, was quite sufficient for the purposes required; but whilst I was glad of our being obliged to remain now for the other Kafilah from the Salt Lake, I could not help regretting the importance which circumstances seemed to be conferring upon Garahmee, who, I was convinced, was greatly mistrusted by Ohmed Mahomed, and who, if he had obtained the power of controlling our movements, would, in the end, have certainly occasioned the loss of the stores, and put an end to all my expectations of discoveries in Africa in a very summary and disagreeable manner.
Two bags of rice, all my private stock of dates, and three pieces of blue Surat calico, were our compromise for a safe passage through the country of thistribe, with the understanding, that none of the Muditu of that party should come nearer than what they were to our camp, but that the rice and dates should be cooked and eaten on their own halting-spot. Having agreed to all this, peace was proclaimed by Garahmee shouting in the midst of the Kafilah for every one to return to his charge, either of salt or stores, for the day. I crept into my hut covered with glory, for Zaido and Allee, and a number of other idlers of the camp came laughing, though very quietly, as if they were half afraid of the Muditu hearing them, even at the distance they were. Pointing with a slight gesture, the thumb turned back over the shoulder, in the direction of the feasting enemy, they nodded at the gun on the ground, and then laughed again, evidently as well pleased as myself at the bloodless victory we had obtained by moral force alone.
Although, among other stipulations, none of the Muditu were to come within a certain distance of our camp, a great many of their women came begging tobacco and needles from me, tapping their lips, in mute astonishment at my novel appearance, as they stooped down, looking into my den, as if I had been some wild beast, caught and encaged for their amusement.
A chief also was allowed to bring down to my hut, as a token of peace and good will, a very fine sheep, for which I gave him some brass wire and a little powder, which he asked for to dress a severewound upon the neck he had recently received in fight, it being a popular idea among the Dankalli tribes, that nothing will cure a flesh wound so quickly, as gunpowder sprinkled upon the divided parts.
I was very much amused, when the sheep was slaughtered, by the contest which took place for the intestines and fat. It was of the usual Adal kind, covered with short hair, entirely white, except the small black head. The tail was large and heavy, consisting principally of a huge deposit of suet overhanging from the rump. Two or three applicants were almost fighting about the possession of this, which I at length settled by dividing between Garahmee and Moosa, who retired with it, borrowing my copper cooking-pot and a large wooden bowl from Zaido, for some purpose or other I could not make out, but which determined me to watch their proceedings to satisfy my curiosity. Having melted the fat over a low fire they soon prepared with camels’ dung and dry sticks, they poured the oily liquid into the bowl; Moosa then took his seat upon the ground, sitting between Garahmee’s legs, who commenced, with a long skewer-like comb of one prong, to comb out and arrange the rather tangled mass of long stiff curly hair, which was the pride and chiefest care of Moosa. Having tastefully adjusted the ends of the hair, behind and over the ears, in one regular line, and brought it to a level surface all over the head,Garahmee then took a large mouthful of the melted fat from the bowl, and suddenly applying his lips to the surface of the hair, continued to send it in spirts, so as fairly to spread it over every part, and to do it effectually and properly, taking several fresh pulls at the bowl, until he thought a just half was expended, when he got up and exchanged places with Moosa, who did for him the same friendly office. Garahmee, however, was quite bald in front, so all his share of the grease was not only blown over the hair on the back part of his head, but also well rubbed in with the hands. After this operation had been duly performed, the character of their hair was completely changed, and at a distance seemed, Moosa’s more especially, as if each had on a skull-cap of frosted silver.
It is not necessary, whilst staying in this place, to record daily occurrences, which were now beginning to lose all novelty, and circumstances of different kinds detained us here for four days, now being deterred by the condition of the country, which was reported to have been flooded by the late rains, and now staying for the arrival of the tardy Kafilah, which, for many very good reasons that Ohmed Mahomed took care to enumerate to me, was especially wanted to assist in the protection of the whole. The road also from Allulee to the Hawash was in the most disturbed state, from the jealousy with which the Wahama, the tribe of Mahomed Allee, the favourite Ras ulKafilah of the British Mission, viewed the present patronage of the people of Tajourah; and what with the same spirit engendered also in the Debenee tribe, and the avowed hostility of the Muditu, I saw little chance of any but the most disastrous results occurring to the Kafilah and myself.
During my stay at Allulee, an affaletah (kid-skin bag), full of palm wine, was brought me by Zaido every morning, he having suspended it below an orifice made near the top of the tree each preceding evening. Before sunrise he again ascended the tree, and taking the bag down, conveyed it beneath his robe, with a deal of caution, to my hut. His religion (Islamism) rendered this proceeding illegal, and he wished to enhance the favour by the great appearance of difficulty in procuring it; but a circumstance that happened one day proved to me that there were other wine-drinkers besides myself in the camp. I was busy writing, when, all at once, I heard loud sounds of merriment raised at no great distance from my hut, and removed one of the side boxes, so that, without exposing myself to the sun, I could see all that was going on. A poor fellow, evidently too tipsy to walk, was standing stark naked, with his hands tied behind his back by a long cord, the other end of which was fastened to a large stone; whilst two or three men kept discharging skins of water over him, that all the boys of the camp, in great glee, were busy supplying from the neighbouring pools, raising a loud shoutof laughter as each skinful seemed to rouse the drunken man for a moment, who staggered along, pulling after him the large stone, until he had completed the circuit of the camp, when he was allowed to lie down in quiet, and, covered with mats piled high above him, was left to recover from his debauch.
Palm wine is a very thin, light liquor, tasting like excellent ginger-beer, and, like it, effervescing every time the bag which contains it is opened. I always could drink three or four pints a-day, and Ohmed Mahomed would frequently steal into my hut, and help me in finishing my large leathern bottle, which a skin bag may certainly be called.
One afternoon I more attentively observed a very active game, in which the Dankalli appear to take great delight. It is played with a hard, elastic ball, and seemed to require more bodily exertion than our game at cricket. The players divest themselves of their tobes and knives, securing their fotah around the body by simply tucking the ends under a fold of the upper edge. One of them then takes the ball, which he strikes against the ground, and after two or three preliminary bounds with it high into the air, he tries to catch it as it falls on the back of his hand, then rolling it into his palm, he strikes it with force a second time on to the ground, and again tries to catch it while falling from the rebound. At this moment the other players rush towards the ball, and attempt to keep it boundingup and down at a short distance from the ground, by hitting it with their open hands thick and fast. It certainly appears astonishing when some one more dexterous than the others does manage, after many trials, to bring the ball into such a position that admits of his being able to catch it on the back of his hand, to run clear of the players, followed fast by them, strike the ball fairly on the ground, catch it as it rises, and, with a triumphant shout, throw it towards the party most distant from him. The new possessor of the ball now endeavours, before the rest can reach him, to go through the same required moves, and send the ball back in the direction from which he received it. A good deal of laughing, shouting, and wrestling accompanies this boisterous game, and sometimes heavy falls are given, in endeavouring to trip up the controller of the ball’s movements before he can effect his desired object of bearing it away and performing the requisite ceremonial.
There is something in this game that deserves attention, it being of a character so unusual among the people of very hot countries. I believe it to be peculiar to the Dankalli tribes, neither the Arabs, nor the Galla, nor the Abyssinians, their very near neighbours, knowing anything about it, and never, as far as I could observe, indulging in such energetic exercise. The only parallel case of a similar systematic exertion employed for recreation among the inhabitants of a warm country, is the amusementof cricketing among the English residents in India, where that game is kept up with great spirit, and will most likely be a favourite game with their half-caste descendants. Ultimately it may become naturalized, like, I think, this Dankalli game has been in the country of Adal.