the Shillooks, the largest and most powerful black tribe on the banks of
the White Nile. They are very wealthy, and possess immense herds of
cattle; are also agriculturists, fishermen, and warriors. Their huts
are regularly built, looking at a distance like rows of button
mushrooms. They embark boldly on the river in their raft-like canoes,
formed of the excessively light ambatch-wood. The tree is of no great
thickness, and tapers gradually to a point. It is thus easily cut down,
and, several trunks being lashed together, a canoe is quickly formed. A
war party on several occasions, embarking in a fleet of these rafts,
have descended the river, and made raids on other tribes, carrying off
women and children as captives, and large herds of cattle.
Nothing can be more melancholy and uninteresting than the general
appearance of the banks of the river. At times vast marshes alone could
be seen, at others an immense expanse of sandy desert, with huge
ant-hills ten feet high rising above them. The inhabitants were naked
savages. While stopping at a village on the right bank, they received a
visit from the chief of the Nuehr tribe and a number of his followers.
They were most unearthly-looking fellows; even the young women were
destitute of clothing, though the married had a fringe made of grass
round their loins. The men wore heavy coils of beads about their necks,
two heavy bracelets of ivory on the upper portions of their arms, copper
rings upon the wrist, and a horrible kind of bracelet of massive iron,
armed with spikes about an inch in length, like leopards' claws. The
women had their upper lips perforated and wore ornaments on their heads,
about four inches long, of beads, upon iron wires projecting like the
horn of a rhinoceros.
The chief exhibited his wife's arms and back, covered with jagged scars,
to show the use of the spiked iron bracelet.
These were among the first blacks met with. They are almost too low in
the scale of humanity to be fit for slaves. Mr Baker gained much
information about the slave trade of this part of the world. Most of
those engaged in this nefarious traffic are Syrians, Copts, Turks,
Circassians, and some few Europeans. When a speculator has determined
to enter into the trade, he engages a hundred and fifty to two hundred
ruffians, and purchases guns and ammunition, and a few pounds of glass
beads. With these he sails up to Gondokoro and, disembarking, marches
into the interior till he arrives at the village of some negro chief,
with whom he establishes an intimacy. The chief has probably an enemy
to attack, and his new allies gladly assist him. Led by him, they
approach some unsuspecting village about half an hour before daybreak.
Surrounding it while the occupants are still sleeping, they fire the
grass-huts in all directions, and pour volleys of musketry through the
flaming thatch. Panic-struck, the unfortunate victims rush from their
burning dwellings. The men are shot down, the women and children
kidnapped and secured, while the herds of cattle are driven off. The
women and children are then fastened together, the former secured by an
instrument, called a _sheba_, made of a forked pole. The neck of the
prisoner fits into the fork, secured by a cross-piece also behind, while
the wrists, brought together in advance of the body, are tied to the
pole. The children are then fastened by their necks with the rope
attached to the women, and thus form a living chain, in which order they
are marched to the head-quarters with the captured herds. Of course,
all the ivory found in the place is carried off. The cattle are then
exchanged with the negro chief for any tusks he may possess.
In many instances a quarrel is soon afterwards picked with him, and his
village is treated in the same way as that of his foes. Should any
slave attempt to escape, she is punished either by brutal flogging, or
hanged as a warning to others. The slaves are then carried down the
river, and landed a few days' journey south of Khartoum, whence they are
marched across the country, some to ports on the Red Sea, there to be
shipped for Arabia and Persia, while others are sent to Cairo. In fact,
they are disseminated throughout the slave dealing East.
Sailing on day after day, with marshes and dead flats alone in sight,
mosquitos preventing rest even in the day, they at length arrived at the
station of a White Nile trader, where large herds of cattle were seen on
the banks.
They were here visited by the chief of the Kytch tribe and his daughter,
a girl of about sixteen, better looking than most of her race. The
father wore a leopard-skin across his shoulder, and a skull-cap of white
beads, with a crest of white ostrich feathers. But this mantle was the
only garment he had on. His daughter's clothing consisted only of a
piece of dressed hide hanging over one shoulder, more for ornament than
use, as the rest of her body was entirely destitute of covering. The
men, though tall, were wretchedly thin, and the children mere skeletons.
While the travellers remained here, they were beset by starving crowds,
bringing small gourd shells to receive the expected corn. The natives,
indeed, seem to trust entirely to the productions of nature for their
subsistence, and are the most pitiable set of savages that can be
imagined, their long thin legs and arms giving them a peculiar gnat-like
appearance. They devour both the skin and bones of dead animals. The
bones are pounded between stones, and, when reduced to powder, boiled to
form a kind of porridge.
It is remarkable that in every herd they have a sacred bull, who is
supposed to have an influence over the prosperity of the rest. His
horns are ornamented with tufts of feathers, and frequently with small
bells, and he invariably leads the great herd to pasture.
A short visit was paid to the Austrian mission stationed at Saint Croix,
which has proved a perfect failure--indeed, that very morning it was
sold to an Egyptian for 30 pounds.
It was here the unfortunate Baron Harnier, a Prussian nobleman, was
killed by a buffalo which he had attacked in the hopes of saving the
life of a native whom the buffalo had struck down.
The voyage terminated at Gondokoro on the 2nd of February.
The country is a great improvement to the interminable marshes at the
lower part of the river, being raised about twenty feet above the water,
while distant mountains relieve the eye, and evergreen trees, scattered
in all directions, shading the native villages, form an inviting
landscape. A few miserable grass-huts alone, however, form the town, if
it deserves that name.
A large number of men belonging to the various traders were assembled
here, who looked upon the travellers with anything but friendly eyes.
As Mr Baker heard that a party were expected at Gondokoro from the
interior with ivory in a few days, he determined to await their arrival,
in hopes that their porters would be ready to carry his baggage.
In the mean time he rode about the neighbourhood, studying the place and
people.
"The native dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness. The domicile
of each family is surrounded by a hedge of euphorbia, and the interior
of the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered with a
cement of ashes, cow-dung, and sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface
are one or more huts, surrounded by granaries of neat wicker-work,
thatched, and resting upon raised platforms. The huts have projecting
roofs, in order to afford a shade, and the entrance is usually about two
feet high.
"The natives are of the Bari tribe. The men are well grown, and their
features are good, the woolly hair alone denoting their negro blood.
"They use poisoned arrows, but, as their bows are inferior and they are
bad marksmen, they do not commit much mischief with them."
Gondokoro was a perfect hell--a mere colony of cut-throats. The
Egyptians might easily have sent a few officers and two or three hundred
men from Khartoum to form a military government, and thus impede the
slave trade; but a bribe from the traders to the authorities was
sufficient to ensure an uninterrupted asylum for any amount of villainy.
The camps were full of slaves, and the Bari natives assured Mr Baker
that there was a large depot of slaves in the interior, belonging to the
traders, that would be marched to Gondokoro for shipment a few hours
after his departure. He was looked upon as a stumbling-block to the
trade. Several attempts were made to shoot him, and a boy was killed by
a shot from the shore, on board his vessel. His men were immediately
tampered with by the traders, and signs of discontent soon appeared
among them. They declared that they had not sufficient meat, and that
they must be allowed to make a razzia upon the cattle of the natives to
procure oxen. This demand being refused, they became more insolent, and
accordingly Mr Baker ordered the ringleader, an Arab, to be seized and
to receive twenty-five lashes. Upon his _vakeel_ approaching to capture
the fellow, most of the men laid down their guns and, seizing sticks,
rushed to his rescue. Mr Baker, on this, sprang forward, sent their
leader by a blow of his fist into their midst, and then, seizing him by
the throat, called to Saati for a rope to bind him. The men, still
intent on their object, surrounded Mr Baker, when Mrs Baker, landing
from the vessel, made her way to the spot. Her sudden appearance caused
the mutineers to hesitate, when Mr Baker shouted to the drummer boy to
beat the drum, and then ordered the men to fall in. Two-thirds obeyed
him, and formed in line, while the remainder retreated with their
ringleader. At this critical moment Mrs Baker implored her husband to
forgive the mutineer, if he would kiss his hand and beg his pardon.
This compromise completely won the men, who now called upon their
ringleader to apologise, and all would be right. This he did, and Mr
Baker made them rather a bitter speech and dismissed them.
This, unhappily, was only the first exhibition of their mutinous
disposition, which nearly ruined the expedition, and might have led to
the destruction of the travellers.
A few days afterwards guns were heard in the distance, and news arrived
that two white men had arrived from "the sea"! They proved to be Grant
and Speke, who had just come from the Victoria Nyanza. Both looked
travel-worn. Speke, who had walked the whole distance from Zanzibar,
was excessively lean, but in reality in good tough condition. Grant's
garments were well-nigh worn-out, but both of them had that fire in the
eye which showed the spirit that had led them through many dangers.
They had heard of another lake to the westward of the the Nyanza, known
as the Luta Nzige, which Speke felt convinced was a second source of the
Nile.
Accordingly, he and Grant having generously furnished him with as
perfect a map as they could produce, Baker determined to explore the
lake, while his friends, embarking in his boats, sailed down the Nile on
their voyage homeward. His men, notwithstanding the lesson they had
received, still exhibited a determined mutinous disposition, and in
every way neglected their duties. Happily for him, he had among his
attendants a little black boy, Saati, who, having been brought as a
slave from the interior, had been for a time in the Austrian mission,
from which, with many other slaves, he was turned out. Wandering about
the streets of Khartoum, he heard of Mr and Mrs Baker, and, making his
way to their house, threw himself at the lady's feet, and implored to be
allowed to follow them. Hearing at the mission that he was superior to
his juvenile companions, they accepted his services, and, being
thoroughly washed, and attired in trousers, blouse, and belt, he
appeared a different creature. From that time he considered himself as
belonging entirely to Mrs Baker, and to serve her was his greatest
pride. She in return endeavoured to instruct him, and gave him
anecdotes from the Bible, combined with the first principles of
Christianity.
Through the means of young Saati, Mr Baker heard of a plot among the
Khartoum escort, to desert him with their arms and ammunition, and to
fire at him should he attempt to disarm them. The locks of their guns
had, by his orders, been covered with pieces of mackintosh. Directing
Mrs Baker to stand behind him, he placed outside his tent, on his
travelling bedstead, five double-barrelled guns loaded with buck-shot, a
revolver, and a naked sabre. A sixth rifle he kept in his own hands,
while Richarn and Saati stood behind him with double-barrelled guns. He
then ordered the drum to beat, and all the men to form in line of
marching order, while he requested Mrs Baker to point out any man who
should attempt to uncover his lock when he gave the order to lay down
their arms. In the event of the attempt being made, he intended to
shoot the man immediately. At the sound of the drum only fifteen
assembled. He then ordered them to lay down their arms. This, with
insolent looks of defiance, they refused to do.
"Down with your guns this moment!" he shouted.
At the sharp click of the locks, as he quickly capped the rifle in his
hand, the cowardly mutineers widened their line and wavered; some
retreated a few paces, others sat down and laid their guns on the
ground, while the remainder slowly dispersed, and sat in twos or singly
under the various trees about eighty paces distant. On the _vakeel_ and
Richarn advancing, they capitulated, agreeing to give up their arms and
ammunition on receiving a written discharge. They were immediately
disarmed. The discharge was made out, when upon each paper Mr Baker
wrote the word "mutineer" above his signature. Finally, nearly the
whole of the escort deserted, taking service with the traders.
Not to be defeated, Baker obtained a Bari boy as interpreter, determined
at all hazards to start from Gondokoro.
A party of traders under Koorshid, who had lately arrived from Latooka
and were about to return, not only refused to allow the travellers to
accompany them, but declared their intention of forcibly driving them
back, should they attempt to advance by their route.
This served as an excuse to the remainder of his escort for not
proceeding.
Saati discovered another plot, his men having been won over by Mahomet
Her, the _vakeel_ of Chenooda, another trader.
Notwithstanding the danger he was running, Mr Baker compelled his men
to march, and by a clever manoeuvre got ahead of the party led by
Ibrahim, Koorshid's _vakeel_.
Finally, by wonderful tact, assisted by Mrs Baker, he won over Ibrahim,
and induced him to render him all the assistance in his power.
Aided by his new friend, he arrived at Tarrangolle, one of the principal
places in the Latooka country, a hundred miles from Gondokoro, which,
though out of his direct route, would, he hoped, enable him with greater
ease finally to reach Unyoro, the territory of Kamrasi.
In the mean time, however, several of his men had deserted and joined
Mahomet Her. He had warned them that they would repent of their folly.
His warnings were curiously fulfilled.
News soon arrived that Mahomet Her, with a party of a hundred and ten
armed men, in addition to three hundred natives, had made a razzia upon
a certain village among the mountains for slaves and cattle. Having
succeeded in the village and capturing a number of slaves, as they were
re-ascending the mountain to obtain a herd of cattle they had heard of,
they were attacked by a large body of Latookas, lying in ambush among
the rocks on the mountain side.
In vain the Turks fought; every bullet aimed at a Latooka struck a rock,
while rocks, stones, and lances were hurled at them from all sides and
from above. Compelled to retreat, they were seized with a panic, and
took to flight.
Hemmed in by their foes, who showered lances and stones on their heads,
they fled down the rocky and perpendicular ravines. Mistaking their
road, they came to a precipice from which there was no retreat.
The screaming and yelling savages closed round them. All was useless;
not an enemy could they shoot, while the savages thrust them forward
with wild yells to the very verge of a precipice five hundred feet high.
Over it they were driven, hurled to destruction by the mass of Latookas
pressing onward. A few fought to the last; but all were at length
forced over the edge of the cliff, and met the just reward of their
atrocities. No quarter had been given, and upwards of two hundred of
the natives who had joined the slave-hunters in the attack, had fallen
with them.
Mahomet Her had not accompanied his party, and escaped, though utterly
ruined.
The result of this catastrophe was highly beneficial to Mr Baker.
"Where are the men who deserted me?" he asked of those who still
remained with him.
Without speaking, they brought two of his guns covered with clotted
blood mixed with sand. Their owners' names were known to him by the
marks on the stocks. He mentioned them.
"Are they all dead?" he asked.
"All dead," the men replied.
"Food for the vultures," he observed. "Better for them had they
remained with me and done their duty."
He had before told his men that the vultures would pick the bones of the
deserters.
From that moment an extraordinary change took place in the manner both
of his _own_ people and those of Ibrahim towards him. Unhappily,
however, the Latookas exhibited a change for the worse. The Turks, as
usual, insulted their women, and treated the natives with the greatest
brutality; and had he not exercised much caution and vigilance, both his
own party and Ibrahim's would in all probability have been cut off.
Ibrahim had been compelled to go back to Gondokoro for ammunition, and
Mr Baker waited at Tarrangolle for his return.
On one occasion, in consequence of the misbehaviour of the Turks, the
whole of the natives deserted the town, and vast numbers collected
outside, threatening to attack it and destroy their guests. Mr Baker,
gaining information of their intention, took command of the Turks, and
with his own men showed so bold a front that the natives saw clearly
that they would be the sufferers should they attempt to carry their
purpose into execution.
Their chief, Comonoro, came into the town, and seeing the preparations
made for its defence, agreed to persuade his people to act in a
peaceable manner. The next morning they dispersed, and the inhabitants
returned to the town.
The Turks, after their alarm, behaved better, though they threatened,
when Ibrahim arrived with reinforcements and ammunition, that they would
have their revenge.
Mr Baker after this moved his camp to a secure position some distance
from the town, near a stream of water. Here he formed a garden, and
lived in a far more independent way than before.
The debased state of morality prevailing among the natives was exhibited
in a variety of ways. One of their chiefs, Adda by name, came to him
one day and requested him to assist in attacking a village, for the
purpose of procuring some iron hoes which he wanted. Mr Baker asked
whether it was in an enemy's country. "Oh, no!" was the reply; "it is
close here, but the people are rather rebellious, and it will do them
good to kill a few. If you are afraid, I will ask the Turks to do it."
A funeral dance a short time after this took place in honour of those
who had been killed in the late fight. The dancers were grotesquely got
up, and are amusingly described by Mr Baker. "Each man had about a
dozen huge ostrich feathers in his helmet, a leopard or monkey-skin hung
from his shoulders, while a large iron bell was strapped to his loins
like a woman's bustle. This he rang during the dance, by jerking the
hinder part of his body in the most absurd manner. All the time a
hubbub was kept up by the shouting of the crowd, the blowing of horns,
and the beating of seven _nogaras_, or drums, all of different notes,
while each dancer also blew an antelope's horn suspended round his neck,
the sound partaking of the braying of a donkey and the screeching of an
owl. Meantime crowds of men rushed round and round, brandishing their
lances and iron-headed maces, following a leader, who headed them,
dancing backwards. The women outside danced at a slower pace, screaming
a wild and inharmonious chant, while beyond them a string of young girls
and small children beat time with their feet, and jingled numerous iron
rings which adorned their ankles. One woman attended upon the men,
running through the crowd with a gourd full of wood-ashes, handfuls of
which she showered over their heads, powdering them like millers. The
leader among the women was immensely fat; notwithstanding this she kept
up the pace to the last, quite unconscious of her general appearance."
Notwithstanding the dangers of his position, Mr Baker frequently went
out shooting, and, among other animals, he killed an enormous elephant,
but the natives carried off the tusks and flesh. He was able, however,
with his gun, to supply his camp with food, which was fortunate, as the
natives would not sell him any of their cattle.
Soon after Ibrahim's return, the Turks, at the request of Comonoro,
attacked the town of Kayala, but were driven back by the natives, whose
cattle, however, they carried off.
It became dangerous to remain longer in the country, in consequence of
the abominable conduct of the Turks, which so irritated the natives that
an attack from them was daily expected.
They were therefore compelled to return to Obbo, the chief of which, old
Katchiba, had before received them in a friendly manner.
Here, in consequence of their exposure to wet, Mr and Mrs Baker were
attacked with fever. By this time all their baggage animals as well as
their horses had died. Mr Baker purchased from the Turks some good
riding oxen for himself and his wife, and, having placed his goods under
the charge of old Katchiba and two of his own men, he set out on the 8th
of January, 1864, with a small number of attendants, to proceed to
Karuma, the northern end of Kamrasi's territory, which Speke and Grant
had visited.
The Shooa country, through which he passed, is very beautiful,
consisting of mountains covered with fine forest trees, and
picturesquely dotted over with villages. Several portions presented the
appearance of a park watered by numerous rivulets and ornamented with
fine timber, while it was interspersed with high rocks of granite, which
at a distance looked like ruined castles.
Here they found an abundance of food: fowls, butter, and goats were
brought for sale.
They had obtained the services of a slave woman called Bacheeta,
belonging to Unyoro, and who, having learned Arabic, was likely to prove
useful as an interpreter and guide. She, however, had no desire to
return to her own country, and endeavoured to mislead them, by taking
them to the country of Rionga, an enemy of Kamrasi. Fortunately Mr
Baker detected her treachery, and he and his Turkish allies reached the
Karuma Falls, close to the village of Atada. A number of Kamrasi's
people soon crossed the river to within parleying distance, when
Bacheeta, as directed, explained that Speke's brother had arrived to pay
Kamrasi a visit, and had brought him valuable presents. Kamrasi's
people, however, showed considerable suspicion on seeing so many people,
till Baker appeared dressed in a suit similar to that worn by Speke,
when they at once exhibited their welcome, by dancing and gesticulating
with their lances and shields in the most extravagant manner. The
party, however, were not allowed to cross till permission was obtained
from Kamrasi. That very cautious and cowardly monarch sent his brother,
who pretended to be Kamrasi himself, and for some time Baker was
deceived, fully believing that he was negotiating with the king.
Notwithstanding his regal pretensions, he very nearly got knocked down,
on proposing that he and his guest should exchange wives, and even
Bacheeta, understanding the insult which had been offered, fiercely
abused the supposed king.
His Obbo porters had before this deserted him, and he was now dependent
on Kamrasi for others to supply their places.
The king, however, ultimately became more friendly, and gave orders to
his people to assist the stranger, granting him also permission to
proceed westward to the lake he was so anxious to visit.
A few women having been supplied to carry his luggage, he and his wife,
with their small party of attendants, at length set out.
On approaching a considerable village, about six hundred
strangely-dressed men rushed out with lances and shields, screaming and
yelling as if about to attack them. His men cried out: "Fire. There is
a fight! there is a fight!"