EMIN PASHA
The remarkable man whose name is given to this chapter was a German
Jew,--Eduard Schnitzer,--born in Silesia about 1830. Becoming a
doctor of medicine, he gradually drifted to Austria and thence to
Turkey, where he engaged in much medical service in the suite of high
officials. To some extent he adopted the religion of Islam, and changed
his name to Dr. Emin. Attracted by the mystery of Central Africa, he
found his way to Khartum, and from being a mere medical practitioner,
became a Bey in the service of the Egyptian government under General
Gordon. He did a great deal to add to our knowledge of the eastern
tributaries of the Bahr-al-Ghazal and the western tributaries of the
Mountain Nile. He explored the Nile-Congo water-parting, and made very
interesting notes on Unyoro, Uganda, and the Albert Nyanza. He also
added considerably to our knowledge of the Latuka, Bari, and Acholi
countries. Strange to relate, though he lived so much between 1877
and 1888 on the Albert Nyanza, he never once sighted the remarkable
snow-range of Ruwenzori. This extraordinary omission may have been
due to the fact that he was very short-sighted. He would, therefore,
not himself have noticed any remarkable appearance in the sky, and
probably the Negroes and Turks around him were too dull-witted to draw
his attention to the snow-peaks on the rare occasions on which they
were visible. In travelling along the west coast of Lake Albert Nyanza,
however, he discovered the Semliki River flowing into that lake, and
called it the river Dweru.[97] Emin Pasha’s journals and letters, which
were brought to England by Dr. Junker, were issued as a book in 1888.
Regarding this compilation, it may be classed as one of the few great
books that have ever been written about tropical Africa. It is full
of concise and valuable information on natural history, anthropology,
languages, and geography.[98] He gives a very interesting description
of the mountainous country of Lotuka (Latuka), and of the regions
further east.
He had been received by Latome, “an elderly gentleman of medium height
and rather pleasing features,” who was the ruler of the nude and
handsome Lotuka Negroids:--
“Meantime a motley crowd assembled in the yard,--women and girls,
the former with leather aprons, the latter entirely nude; men
of different districts, all armed with shields and spears,--the
genuine Lotuka people, recognisable by their slight figures and
long faces,--all nude, and adorned with iron ornaments, ivory rings
on the upper arm, broad copper rings as necklaces, and helmets
of shining brass or copper plates, surmounted by waving ostrich
plumes. Some of them wore caps made of basket work. After our
reception was over, we visited the summit of the hill, whence a
splendid view is obtained, extending from Mount Loligono in the
Bēr country, northwards over the whole Lokoya range, to the west,
and to the high peaks of the Obbo Mountains, in the south and
southwest, where the horns of Jebel Asal tower up,--so named on
Baker’s map, but called by the Bari “Ekara,” and by the Lotuka
“Chufal,”--then away to the long lofty ranges of Molong and Killio,
the defile leading to Tarangole, with its hills rising up like
sentinels, and finally the long range of Lafit, which closes the
scene on the northeast,--a typical Alpine landscape.”
The Lotuka people, it might be mentioned, are very similar in
appearance and language to the Elgumi tribe, which is much farther
south, in the vicinity of Mount Elgon. Both these peoples are nearly
related in origin to the Masai. They should properly be styled
Lotuka.[99]
[Illustration: EMIN PASHA.]
Of the Lotuka country Dr. Emin writes:--
“The sky was overclouded when we left Tarangole. Taking a
southeasterly course along Khor Kos,[100] through beautiful park
land, we reached the ford in about half an hour. The _khor_ was
here about twenty-two yards broad, and full of yellowish water,
which reached up to our thighs, and flowed over a sandy, rocky
bottom. We had a pleasant march over a good firm road, across
sandy country covered with open wood, the ground being rather wet
in some places; the predominance of acacias (_Acacia albida_, _A.
mellifera_, and _A. campylacantha_) and _Balanites_ gave a gray
tone to the scenery. Khor Oteng, now very insignificant, is said to
pour such large volumes of water into Khor Kos[101] in the rainy
season that the passage is often rendered impossible for hours.
The ford of Khor Kos is called Chuchur; a splendid forest of doleb
palms (_Borassus_) yielding an abundance of odorous fruits, skirts
the khor, copses of various other trees intervening. Large flat
blocks of friable granite, with white streaks, lie across the
road that leads direct to the foot of the hill of Loguren, which
is about four hundred feet high. Its summit is crowned with the
dome-shaped huts of the village bearing the same name.
“Dum Palms (_Hyphæne thebaica_) grow here, as they do at the ford
of Khor Kos. It appears, therefore, that the southern limit of this
tree runs along the Bahr-al-Jabl between Bor and Lado, and then
advances farther to the south, no doubt owing to the sandy soil
which connects the Lotuka and Somal districts.[102] Picturesque
groups of rocks, inhabited by the restless Hyrax, well-tilled
fields, and here and there small clumps of doleb palms are seen
along the road to Elianga, where, on the edges of the rocks,
numerous clay vessels containing human bones seem to say ‘Memento
mori,’ a rather unnecessary warning in Central Africa.”
Emin describes the Lotuka villages as being dreadfully dirty, in
contrast to the Bari settlements, which are always kept scrupulously
clean within, though their environments are filthy. Hundreds of rats
and mice infest the Lotuka huts. These latter are built upon round
substructures about four and one-half feet high, usually caulked
and overlaid with mud. The huts are surmounted by bell-shaped roofs
(sometimes peaked), which project considerably over the substructures.
A small doorway is left open, about two and a half feet high, which
must, of course, be entered on all fours. The interior is kept fairly
clean, but is quite dark. The thatch is generally made of grass; many
huts are covered with split leaves of the _Borassus_ palm, which are
more durable and compact,--a very desirable quality for withstanding
tropical rain. Sheep and goats are the only domestic animals kept here;
the former are long legged and of a superior breed. The Lotuka do not
seem to keep dogs. Agriculture, as is usual among hunting tribes, is
rather neglected, although the soil is excellent, and the Sudanese
soldiers stationed in Lotuka grew without difficulty durrah, maize,
ground-nuts, and splendid watermelons.
Ostriches are caught when young, and are tamed in the Lotuka
settlements. Sometimes they are hatched from eggs buried in the sand.
Snakes of many kinds, especially viperine, frequent the Lotuka villages
unmolested by the people, and often making their way into the huts
after the rats. A poisonous species of _Echis_ is, however, much
dreaded.
Okkela in the Lotuka country was a paradise for a natural history
collector like Emin. The belt of wood round this settlement was full
of treasures. There were many Colobus monkeys, whose white dorsal mane
and tail-tuft gleamed through the dark foliage, small families of them
being led by white-bearded old males which gazed fearlessly at the
stranger. Close by a brown baboon mother might be giving her offspring
rough lectures on good manners, which, to judge from the howling, were
not much appreciated; “tall, fox-coloured baboons, white on the under
side,[103] were chasing one another along the tree-tops, and barking
and yelping like hoarse dogs. A small mouse-coloured monkey with a
black face, and quite unknown to me, skulked away through the thick
bush; two varieties of _Funambulus_ squirrels ran up and down the long
tendrils of the creeping plants, and the graceful _Xerus leucumbrinus_
squirrel roved about upon the ground. Small cats, ichneumons, rats,
and mice had also found a comfortable shelter in the woods, and other
creatures, quite unknown, to judge from the description, are said to
haunt it, especially at night.”
Birds were even more numerous and striking. “Gorgeous blue kingfishers
(_Halcyon senegalensis_ and _H. semicærulea_) and beautiful bee-eaters
(_Merops bullockii_ and _M. albicollis_) were perched on the dry
boughs waiting for insects; a large gray cuckoo, probably a new
variety,[104] could be heard in the tree-tops, as also the handsome
_Cuculus capensis_, whose loud cry the Nile Negroes interpret by the
word _lashakong_ (my gourd), and a charming little falcon (_Nisus_
sp.) joined them with a sharp chirp, which the natives call _lefit_,
a happy imitation of its cry. Snow-white _Terpsiphone_ and brilliant
golden cuckoos (_Chalcites cupreus_ and _C. clasii_) were swinging in
the green leafy bowers, and cunning barbets (_Pogonorhynchus rolleti_,
_P. diadematus_, and _P. abyssinicus_) came into sight for a moment,
to disappear again directly like woodpeckers. In the thick copsewood
_Bessornis heuglinii_ flew off at my approach with a sudden cry of
fear, and _Cichladusa guttata_ sang as loudly, but was not quite so
shy. An _Aedon_ warbled its beautiful song among the thickest briars,
and was accompanied by the tapping of numerous woodpeckers. I caught
_Picus nubicus_, the rarer _P. minutus_, and another kind which I
think is new; it closely resembles _P. schoensis_, and it is equally
handsome.”
Animal life abounded also in the open country of Lotuka,--a land
covered with shrubs, with broad, grassy clearings and sandy flats. The
ground was strewn with the shells of _Achatina zebra_; small lizards
and snakes of various kinds--among them the rare _Typhlops_--glided
over the sand, and larger snakes hissed frightfully and retreated.
A concert of croaking frogs would arise from the reedy margins of
the half-dry rivers, and on the sandy islands of the Kos enormous
crocodiles were watching the children bathing close by. Herds of _Cobus
leucotis_[105] grazed on the young grass; large wart hogs issued
from holes in the ground. “They were,” writes Emin, “no despicable
antagonists, for they can make very good use of their huge tusks. Going
further into the bush, I saw the elegant form of a wild cat stealing
off with its tail in the air, and heard a loud growl from a leopard
which disapproved of my presence. Lions were most plentiful.”
[Illustration: RAPHIA PALMS BY A CENTRAL AFRICAN STREAM.]
A herd of zebras grazing on the fresh green grass is a pleasant
picture, whether surrounded by their frolicking young or running
away at a thundering gallop. One does not often meet with the
scaly ant-eater, _Manis temmincki_, still less with the earth-pig
(_Orycteropus æthiopicus_), but a fine example of the latter edentate
having fallen into a pitfall, Emin was able to attest its presence in
Nile land.
Emin’s journeys in the region of the Bahr-al-Ghazal and along the
water-parting between the basins of the Nile and the Congo added
greatly to our knowledge of those countries. The forests in these
regions he described as magnificent “gallery” woods, in which all the
marvels of vegetation unfolded themselves before the enchanted gaze of
the botanist. These forests border the streams, and exist only near to
running water. The region, however, of immense unbroken forests, in
which one may wander for hours without seeing a sunbeam, and where one
hears the rain beating upon the summits of the trees without feeling
a drop, commences only a little to the west of the Nyam-nyam (Zande)
country. There is no doubt that much of the Bahr-al-Ghazal region
was originally quite covered with forests, to judge from the remains
of virgin woods which still exist. The gradual disappearance of the
forest is to be attributed to the comparatively thick population, the
constant removal of villages and fields, and to the inroads of both
axe and fire. Emin saw the remains of many a gigantic and magnificent
forest-tree lying rotting on the ground, having been cut down, and
given to decay because it spread too much shade over the crops. After
many years of wandering among these regions, he was inclined to think
that in ancient times the true Central African forest region, that is,
the permanence of evergreen woods containing westerly species, extended
much farther to the north than it does to-day. Towards the east of the
Nyam-nyam country, as far as the district of Janda, he observed such
West African forms as _Artocarpus_ and _Anthocleista_, but he states
that the valley of the Mountain Nile throughout its whole length, as
far south as Lake Albert, is characterised by steppe vegetation, as is
also the entire eastern region of the Nile basin.