CHAPTER XXVII.
Amusements during stay at Murroo.—Bull fight.—Eating raw meat.—Another offer of marriage.—Strange mode of dressing the hair.—Caution to travellers; perhaps unnecessary.
Everymorning I accompanied Himyah with his matchlock, after the numerous herds of antelope that came in sight. On one occasion, I slightly wounded a fine doe, which, getting away, we took care afterwards to make my mule one of the party, and, with her assistance, were enabled to follow, faster and farther our stricken game.
We used to have some excellent sport, and the best fun in the world, for Ebin Izaak joined us also with his mule, and Adam Burrah bought an old ragged-looking horse for a dollar and a-half from some of the Sidee Ahbreu, which we used to swear had been stolen from Shoa. Adam having no horse furniture whatever, was obliged to make a rude halter of palm-leaf rope, and for a saddle used to put his dirty tobe beneath him. It frequently happened in full chase, that his charger stopped suddenly on the edge of a narrow watercourse, and then, for a certainty, the half-naked rider would be precipitated over his head.The usual game of the mounted huntsmen were the young fawns; these they were sometimes able to separate from their dams, and after a sharp ride of about a quarter of an hour, directly upon their trail, the exhausted animal would lie down, and quietly allow its pursuer to dismount, and seize it. On one occasion, the chase was a doe, I had slightly wounded, but as the effect of the ball brought her to the ground, she did not recover herself until Carmel Ibrahim, to whom I had lent my mule, was close upon her haunches. There was no time to run, so she turned boldly on her pursuer, and the sudden surprise of the mule at the unusual act, occasioned the fall of her rider, who came down over her right shoulder, making sundry scrambling snatches at the mane and neck, to preserve him from too hard a contact with the sun-dried earth. After all, considering the vast number of antelopes, of several different kinds, the wydiddoo, the symbilla, and the sahla, which we saw, we made but a poor display of slaughtered game; and if I had not had Himyah, who was perpetually firing at distances too great to do any execution, as a decent excuse for not being able with my short gun to get near enough, I should have lost the valuable opinion of many of my Dankalli friends; whose good behaviour was attributable, in a great measure, to the firm belief they entertained, that as a shot, I was the most sudden-death kind of character,they ever had the good fortune to be friends with.
In addition to the amusement of hunting, we had a bull-fight one evening, on the occasion of killing a large red animal of the kind that had been purchased for the Hy Soumaulee. He was, as his rearers themselves acknowledged, a regular “shaitan,†one of the wildest and most unmanageable beasts that ever objected to be made into beefsteaks for the use of “the lords of the creation.†The society, however, he was amongst was well calculated to vindicate our supremacy in the animal kingdom; and it now became a subject of great public interest to reduce to obedience and cold meat, our angry, untamed defier; who, undecided on which point to make an attack, stood gazing, with restless eyes, and dilated nostrils, upon the noisy circle that was gradually contracting around him. I offered to shoot the animal, as there appeared some little shyness on the part of the boldest braves of our party to commence the fight, but the religious prejudices of the Tajourah people prevented the quick decision of a bullet; for the meat would of course have been unholy, if the bull dropped dead without having its throat duly cut, and the deed sanctified with the usual ul’allah.
The boys and younger men now began to amuse themselves by little ventures, as if going to rush upon the beast, but immediately running back tothe crowd, when he gave a threatening sweep of his huge head and horns in that direction in which they appeared to be coming. He was evidently aware of his desperate situation, for beyond this threatening display, he scorned further notice of such ignoble enemies, but stood firmly, as if resolved to reserve his energies and strength for the life-struggle, that instinct bade him expect, with the yelling crowd that every moment increased. The circle around the victim, gradually contracted by the pressure from without, and the growing emulation of the boldest men, to draw the first blood. A boy on the front, right of the bull, for a moment drew the animal’s attention by the usual little teasing pretence, and immediately Carmel Ibrahim, the opportunity having occurred which favoured his position, rushed forwards, and seizing the tail, gave heavy and quick blows with his knife above the hock of the right hind leg. The bull upon this made a fierce charge in front, but the circle opened in haste, every one falling back upon the flanks; whilst Carmel, dragged along, was still chopping away, sometimes hitting and sometimes missing, until exhausted, he was obliged to let go his hold, and the bull continued his run, bellowing with rage and pain. The pursuit was general; and as the pace was but a sharp trot, many got close enough to launch their spears, several of which fell upon the haunches of the animal, but failed to produce any effect, except to drive himfaster on. The value of the spears, however, prevented much repetition of this useless mode of proceeding. Before he had got half a mile from camp, he again halted, and another large circle formed around him, and after some one had rushed in upon him as Carmel had previously done, the crowd suddenly opened again upon either side, and the bull, with a loud roar, came dashing back, ploughing the earth furiously with his horns, and not halting in his career until brought up by the line of spectators in the camp, who had not joined in the pursuit. Again he stood and gazed around him for some retreat, but his restless, bloodshot eyes, and quick moving face were only turned upon foes. I again offered to be the butcher; and the ill success of those who had so far attempted to kill him, induced Ohmed Mahomed to consent, at the same time waving with his hand to the distant people in rear of the bull to get out of the way. I examined both locks of my carabine, and being assured that all was right, walked straight up to the animal until he made his charge, and fired, as he came down, sweeping the earth with his face. Whatever fury, or whatever madness excited him, he was not blinded by either, for the flash of my carabine evidently turned him in his career; for the ball, instead of passing through the head, as I had intended, much to my surprise, went completely through both shoulder-blades, and he tumbled over and over upon the ground.Plenty of time, however, was afforded for the performance of the requisite ceremonial, to satisfy every Mahomedan in camp; for, although, ostensibly, I only provided entertainment for the Hy Soumaulee, every Tajourah man in the Kafilah, considered himself entitled to some portion, of whatever animal was slaughtered.
I was, as usual, strongly recommended whilst staying at Murroo to take a wife, like Ohmed Mahomed, Ebin Izaak, and in fact, all the rest of my companions; who, as is usual, had taken to themselves, temporary helpmates. One of the girls, who presented herself to me as a candidate, was stated by her friends to be a very strong woman, and had had as many as four or five husbands. I thought this a rather strange recommendation, but it was evidently mentioned that she might find favour in my eyes. I dismissed her very unceremoniously as if I did not altogether understand the proposal, but at the same time, gave her as proofs of my regard for her people, and of my strong platonic attachment to herself, a few red beads, and a little paper, that she had asked for in the first instance as her dower.
It requires some little address to keep clear of these unscrupulous ladies, and I frequently had cause to fear that my constant rejection of their addresses would be construed into an affront to the tribes to which they belonged. An Arab friend of mine I met at Mozambique, named Said Hamza,told me of an adventure of his in the country of the Muzeguahs, some five or six weeks’ journey up the large river that empties itself into the Indian Ocean at Lamoo. He had been fined by the chief for forming some matrimonial connexion without his authority, so he determined to have nothing more to do with their women. A girl coming into his hut, he accordingly walked out, and this caused a much greater quarrel than before, for the whole tribe asserted, he had treated them with contempt by his haughty conduct towards the girl, and demanded to know if she were not good enough for him. Said Hamza in the end was again mulcted of a lot of brass wire and blue sood, before he could allay the national indignation, which his extreme caution had thus excited.
Such delicate dilemmas are best avoided, as I have before remarked, by engaging the first old woman that makes her appearance. To her must be referred all new comers of her sex, and she will generally manage to send them away without compromising the traveller at all.
As a light nutriment during my journey, I had been recommended in Aden to take with me some soojee, the fine oatmeal-like flour of ground rice. This I had reserved for food, on occasions of sickness during the journey, but considering that I had quite recovered, and being tired of boiled wheat, I now resolved to make use of it, as long as it would last. There being abundance of milk in thisplace, I made several messes with it, which were pronounced by all hands to be excellent. All the Hy Soumaulee had tasted it, and knew that the white milky-looking contents of the wooden bowl which was sometimes placed to cool on one side of my hut, was a nice enough pudding. A member of the Sidee Ahbreu tribe, however, not being sufficiently aware of the character of my food, came one afternoon, and seeing, as he supposed, such a capital opportunity of greasing his hair, with what he took to be prepared sheeps’-tails fat, squatted down by the side of the bowl; and before I could prevent him had filled his hair with the greater part of its contents, having taken two large handfuls from the bowl, and well rubbed it into his long dirty matted locks. No one could help laughing at the mistake, and even Zaido, who had to make a second bowl-full, grinned a revengeful smile, as he saw the disappointed Bedouin, anxiously trying to wipe away with his tobe all traces of a composition, which he was led to believe by his joking companions, would have the effect of reddening the colour of the hair, like the quick-lime dressing, which changes to that hue the hair of the Soumaulee exquisite.
The third evening of our stay, Ohmed Medina and his two companions returned. He had succeeded in purchasing the ivory, but had left it at Dowaleeka until his return. Himyah, who was standing by, asked me if I knew what ivory was, or had ever seenan elephant. It so happened that I did not know the meaning of the word “feel,†which is the Arabic term for elephant, and as I hesitated in replying, Ebin Izaak, supposing I had never seen or heard of one, pointing to a large mimosa-tree, informed me, it was acowas high as that; whilst another, with the butt-end of his spear, drew a circle on the ground, having a diameter of about six feet, and swore positively that was the size of the animal’s foot. Such is the information we generally get from natives; and whether in natural history or geography, a traveller must exercise great caution, in noting down accounts or descriptions which he receives. A native said this, and a native said that, is the cause of all the confusion that exists, upon many important questions connected with central Africa. A little penetration will always determine the value of the communication, by the character of the individual who gives it, for mental ability and veracity, and if these can be depended upon, it is worse than useless, to entertain other and conflicting reports, of known fools and liars.
The evening that Ohmed Medina returned, a large calahm was held. After a long discussion, it was determined we should proceed the next day, whether the expected Hy Soumaulee Kafilah came or not; and although an opposition calahm was held at the same time by the escort, who naturally favoured their friends, I could see that it was finallyresolved not to wait for them any longer, but to start in the morning.
The last night was spent in the usual happy manner; a bright moon lent its assistance to illumine the little forest glades, where merry dancers, in numerous small and quick revolving circles, kept up a continued chorus, with the usual accompaniment of sharp clapping hands.