penetrate the mesh of my net, sleep was out of the question, while my
wretched natives spent the night in reminiscences of the happy lands
flowing with milk and honey now left far behind. On the following day
the river widened considerably, in some places resembling a lake rather
than a river. In the vicinity of Bora, the old Egyptian station, it
must be at least four miles broad, and the current is almost
imperceptible, except where the sudd is so extensive as to leave only
one or two small channels. There are enormous numbers of hippopotami in
these reaches, and they constitute a very real danger to navigation. One
of the Uganda canoes, in emerging from the Unyama, a river opposite
Dufile, was attacked, and only escaped by running into the sudd.
Captain Delme Radcliffe, the officer commanding this district, was
attacked in the steel boat; and an infuriated old bull chased me for
fully half a mile, at one time being within five yards of the stern, but
a well-placed shot from my revolver eventually induced him to desist
from the pursuit. The Madi attack them with a harpoon-head, fastened to
the end of a shaft by a twist of the rope to which it is attached, and
so arranged as to detach itself after the delivery of the stroke from
the shaft, which remains in the hand of the hunter, while the rope is
free to run out until the float, which is tied to the other end, can be
thrown overboard. The ridge of hills that commences at Wadelai
gradually increases in height, till at Bora the hills become quite
imposing; then they rapidly diminish, and a few miles south of Dufile
vanish completely, giving place after a few miles of level ground to
some isolated kopjes. On the left bank a range of hills runs parallel
to the Nile, opposite Wadelai, but at a distance of about twenty miles
from the river; then they bend to the east and merge into the formidable
peaks that dominate Dufile and the Karas rapids. On the bank of the
river, and even in mid-stream, there are some picturesque kopjes black
with cormorants. In the vast wastes of weed and water through which one
passes it is easy to trace the formation of the formidable barriers
which further north render navigation almost impossible. There is a
small plant, similar in form to our well-known London Pride, which grows
in the water, and is entirely independent of the soil, deriving its
sustenance from the water by means of a tangle of roots resembling
seaweed, and which descend to a depth of 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. This
plant grows in enormous quantities at the mouth of the Semliki, and in
the placid reaches of the Victoria Nile, and single plants and even
large masses are carried by the wind and current, and eventually are
caught by a snag, a bed of water-lilies, or a bank of sand; they are
soon followed by others, and by degrees the mass becomes enormous. Then
grass-seeds are dropped by birds or driven by the wind, and the mass is
quickly matted by the grass; driftwood, plants, and refuse of all sorts
soon accumulate, and the rotting remains and mud that settles from the
stream form a solid bottom. Then come the papyrus and the dense reeds,
and what was originally a stick or a water-lily has in a few months
become a solid island. There are numbers of Uganda kob and hartebeeste
on the banks, but remarkably few ducks or geese. The neighbourhood of
old Dufile appears to be very densely populated, and at my camp, near
the old site, I was visited by numbers of natives, who told me that the
Belgian post was further down, below the commencement of the rapids, and
that the Belgians had been recently fighting a tribe living in the
hills.
The following morning, after narrowly escaping shooting the rapids,
owing to a mistake in Bt.-Major Vandeleur's map, which transposes the
river Unyama and the stream which flows in farther north, I reached
Afuddu, a post built in the bottom of a crater several miles from
anywhere, and surrounded by dense bush. A more concise summing up of
Uganda methods than that afforded by the placing of Afuddu would be
difficult to conceive. Subsequent inquiries elicited the monstrous fact
that the site had been chosen because of a magnificent shady tree which
serves as an open-air dining-room: in fine, two white men and a hundred
odd Soudanese are condemned to live in a mosquito-bush situated in a
hollow surrounded by hills, two hours from the river and off the main
road to Fort Berkeley, for the shade afforded by a tree during
meal-times. Naturally the site is now to be changed, which means the
loss of a year's work. I was much distressed to find Lieut. Langton of
the 21st Lancers, the O.C., in bed with black-water fever. Fortunately
two days later Dr. Walker arrived from Lamogi, and when I left all
danger was past. The Commandant of new Dufile sent over wine and other
luxuries for the invalid, and sent me a most pressing invitation to go
and shoot with him, which, owing to my anxiety to arrive at Fort
Berkeley, and obtain the latest news, I was unable to accept.
After three days' wallowing in the unheard-of luxury of glass, china,
silver, milk and butter galore, for which Afuddu is justly famous, I set
off with thirty Madi porters provided by a neighbouring chief, and
crossing the line of hills north of the Unyama, camped on the Asua,
which in the rains is a very formidable river. On the road I saw my
first herd of giraffe, but owing to the necessity of avoiding delay, the
country being uninhabited, and consequently foodless, I had to rest
content with a long look through my binoculars. I was much impressed
with their immense height and extraordinary action. The road to Fort
Berkeley crosses the plateau several miles east of the Nile, and passes
through a stony, inhospitable country, the haunt of numerous rhinoceros,
antelope, and elephant. Scores of rocky streams flow west to the Nile.
In the neighbourhood of the large hills, four days from Afuddu, their
banks are clothed with dense masses of bamboo. The third day out we
passed through the deserted fields and villages of a chief, Krefi, who,
owing to some difference as to the porterage of food with the
authorities at Fort Berkeley, has moved with all his people from the
road towards the interior. This has been a sad blow to the transport of
the region, as formerly a relay of porters and food were to be obtained,
whereas now the porters from Afuddu have to do the whole five days to
Alimadi's villages, and that without being able to obtain food on the
road, an innovation which they naturally resent. At Alimadi's I found a
detachment of Soudanese from Fort Berkeley buying food. Alimadi himself
is a decent old chief, and still owns a few head of cattle; I believe
the only herd in the vicinity that has survived the depredations of the
Dervishes. Between here and Fort Berkeley the road traverses the sites
of numerous villages, the inhabitants of which have either fled or been
slain. Fort Berkeley is quite in keeping with the other stations on the
Nile, having been carefully placed under a brow which commands the
interior of the zariba. A swamp to the west between the fort and the
river, and an extensive swamp to the south, add to the general salubrity
of the situation. The nearest food-centres are two days' march, with
the consequent result that half the garrison is constantly away buying
food. The Maxim has been mounted behind a large acacia tree, which
effectively screens it from an imaginary enemy, but at the same time
confines its firing area to the inside of the fort, and gives a general
finish-off to the situation. The station has been provided with an
Egyptian clerk, who can only write Arabic, which is not required, and
whose duties are consequently limited to holding a tape-yard at the
Stores issue, for which herculean task he receives the very respectable
sum of a hundred rupees a month.
Captain Dugmore, D.S.O., the officer in command, received me with every
kindness, and nearly broke my heart by assuring me that I should spend
Christmas with him. I had counted on being home by Christmas; a vain
hope, as it afterwards transpired, and his prediction came near being
fulfilled. He was engaged in completing a magnificent water-wheel _a la
Chinoise_, compounded of broken-up chop-boxes and empty tins. The
extraordinary relics employed in its construction and the ingenuity
displayed filled me with amazement. But, alas! its life was short, for
after three days of service it collapsed in a high wind, which,
considering that the only elements available for the construction of its
axle were some green wood and a sardine-tin, was not remarkable. Here,
as elsewhere, all the crops had failed, owing to the drought, and
Captain Dugmore's wheat, though cherished with loving care, was
gradually disappearing before the ubiquitous termite. As the launch was
away, we were in the ignominious position of being dependent on the
Belgians for a ferry across the river. Shabby! shabby! is the only word
for our methods in Africa. At present on the Nile we have one steel
boat refloated off Mahagi, and below the cataracts one steam-tub. Add
to this a few useless Waganda canoes, one of which, after an initial
cost of, say, L100, carries one load, and all of which are warranted to
spoil half their contents owing to the enormous leakage inevitable in
canoes consisting of planks sewn together by fibre, and you have our
Upper Nile fleet; while the Belgians, whose transport difficulties are
at least equal to ours, have a large steamer and a dozen fine steel
whale-boats, with several more in construction and on the road. The
majority of the Belgians (there are about twenty on the Nile) are well
lodged in burnt-brick houses, while, with the exception of a weird
construction in sun-dried brick at Fort Berkeley, all our officers are
housed, like the natives, in grass and mud huts. The sum of the
situation is this. The Belgians under Chaltin reached the Nile, drove
out the Dervishes from Redjaf after some stiff fighting, followed them
up, and eventually, by repeated activity and the effective occupation
and fortification of Kero on the 5-1/2 deg. parallel, compelled them in
self-defence to evacuate Bohr. They then put their steamer on the
river, and by a reconnaissance towards the Bahr-el-Ghazal, ascertained
that the Dervishes had left the country, presumably to join the Khalifa
in Kordofan. In the meanwhile Colonel Martyr's expedition arrives on the
scene, and after establishing four posts--Wadelai, Lamoji, Afuddu, and
Fort Berkeley--in the most unsuitable positions, succeeds in launching a
small steam-tub capable of holding about ten men, and in which it is
impossible to put both wood and supplies at the same time. Everybody,
the officers of the expedition included, imagined that an effort was to
be made to effect a junction with the Egyptian forces--an excellent
opportunity of acquiring a maximum of "kudos" at a minimum of cost, a
chance that does not come to all men--and the chance slid by.
From Bohr to Gaba Shambeh there is an excellent waterway, and at the
same time that we were bolting from the mosquitoes and imaginary
difficulties, some Senegalese with a French officer were flying the
tri-colour at Gaba Shambeh, and were advancing their interests _via_
Abu-kuka towards Bohr. After such dismal failures, and in view of the
prevailing chaos, it is hardly to be wondered at that the Commissioner
found it advisable to issue general orders to the effect that any
officials writing home to their friends, and mentioning abuses in
letters which should appear in the Press, would be held responsible. At
Fort Berkeley I seemed to have come to a full stop. The steam-tub, with
Dr. Milne and Capt. Gage, who had suddenly started with Commandant Henry
and the Belgian steamer on a reconnaissance towards Khartoum, was still
away, and though they had been absent more than two months there was no
reliable news. But the arrival of Inspector Chaltin, the victor of the
Dervishes at Redjaf, opened up new possibilities. In response to his
cordial invitation Captain Dugmore and I repaired to Redjaf in a Belgian
whale-boat, and in the intervals of an amazing sequence of various wines
and spirituous liquors, Inspector Chaltin kindly invited me to join him
at Kero, adding that he would make inquiries about the possibility of
going from Bohr overland, and offering me every assistance in his power.
Accordingly, a few days later I found myself again at Redjaf, the guest
of the charming commanding officer of the station, Commandant Colin.
Here I learnt that I was to proceed slowly down river in the company of
M. Beaupain, the judge, a most ardent sportsman, and to whom I am
indebted for many kindnesses. The mushroom-stone mentioned by Baker in
_Ismailia_ is still extant, though hardly of the dimensions depicted.
The Dervishes had thrown up enormous earthworks, and the outline of the
old station and the foundations of the houses are still visible; while,
as at Bedden, lime-trees and oil-seed acacia imported by Emin are
flourishing. A few hours' paddling brought us to Lado, which is a
howling waste in a wilderness of swamps. Here the river is already of
considerable breadth and a network of enormous islands, many of which
were covered with crops of red millet, which looked very promising
despite the drought. The agricultural possibilities of these thousands
of isles and islets immediately after flood as a rule are very great; at
highest river most are inundated, but sowings after the first fall give
enormous crops, the soil, which is composed of alluvium and decaying
vegetation, being of extraordinary richness. The formation of many is
very curious, resembling nothing so much as a coral island, a solid bank
of varying thickness enclosing a lagoon, with the stream flowing all
round. Lieut. Engh received me with the greatest hospitality, and we
spent several delightful days in this historic waste. There is here a
fine herd of cattle looted from the Dervishes. The earthworks of the
old station are enormous, and need a garrison of fully one thousand men.
At present there is a small palisaded enclosure in one corner which
contains the station, and the approaches are commanded by two Krupp guns
and a Maxim posted on a brick tower. But Inspector Chaltin talks of
removing the main station from Kero to Lado, owing to its greater
agricultural possibilities, in which case the whole extent of the
earthworks will be utilized. Between here and Redjaf are enormous
swamps, which further north on the Kero road become still more
extensive, in places opening out into vast lagoons. The lagoon
immediately to the south of Kero is about fifteen miles in
circumference, though not more than half a mile wide at the river neck.
To the east lie the hills of Gondokoro, and beyond them other ranges of
hills with a large population and many cattle. These are the last
eminences till we reach the hills of Kordofan, and the country settles
down into one vast dismal flat, a wilderness of water, weed, and scrub;
the haunt of thousands of hippo, elephant, and dismal marabout storks;
the paradise of malaria, misery, and mosquitoes.
Six hours' paddling brought us to Kero, the frontier station of the
Congo Free State, on the 5-1/2 deg. parallel, which is their temporary
limit as arranged by treaty with the French. The station is a
marvellous example of energy, although only in existence for one year.
A large and well-built brick house for the inspector has been completed,
and the majority of the whites, to the number of about ten, are housed
in baked-brick cottages. There are several large whale-boats, and more
in course of erection. At one time there were a thousand Askaris, a
number which has been reduced since the reconnaissance of Commandant
Henry towards the north, which ascertained that the Dervishes had
retreated _via_ Rumbek and Mashra er Rek towards Kordofan. The high
bank on which the station stands being the promontory at a sharp bend of
the river, is being rapidly eaten away by the stream, and the water-edge
is now thirty yards further back than a year ago. This shows to what an
extent and with what marvellous rapidity the Nile changes its course.
The quantity of fish is prodigious, and an Anzande fisherman keeps the
station daily supplied with fish of the best quality. Some attain to a
weight of 200 lbs., and several enormous specimens have been obtained by
dynamite explosions which are the evening amusement. The Anzande method
is very ingenious. The fisherman selects a shallow spot, and with a
clever knack throws a funnel-shaped net weighted round the rim, and
attached by the apex to a cord, by means of which he feels if any fish
have been covered; he then slowly draws in, and the weights, thus
closing together, form a bag with the fish struggling in the meshes.
Several times I saw him take a dozen large fish at a time, and half an
hour's work in almost the same spot sufficed to provide fish for all the
white men, and many to spare. The food question is one of considerable
difficulty, grain being only obtainable at a distance of several days,
which necessitates the continued absence of half the garrison. However,
the natives managed to eke out their daily ration of one small cup of
red millet with fish, an occasional hippo or antelope, and a kind of
plum which grows in profusion in the district; it has a hard outer
shell, then one-tenth of an inch of sweet fibre which leaves an
after-taste of quinine, and finally a hard stone containing a kernel
that cooked tastes like a mixture of prussic acid and quintessence of
quinine; however, the natives devour them with avidity, and also extract
an oil which I am told is quite tasteless--a fact that, after tasting
one of the kernels, I am prepared to take on trust. There is also a
small berry tasting like an old apple, from which they make a form of
bread, which at first sight I pardonably mistook for clay. There was
plenty of snap about the Congo State soldiers, who paraded daily with
drums and bugles, and it was easy to see by the general efficiency and
the progress made in a short time that the country was under a strong
man, the whole Nile district forming a very agreeable contrast to the
Tanganyika chaos.
[Illustration: BALEGGA WAITING FOR ELEPHANT.]
*CHAPTER XIX.*
*KERO TO ABU-KUKA AND BACK TO BOHR.*
As considerable anxiety was felt as to the fate of the steamer, which
had been now three months absent without sending news, Inspector Chaltin
decided to send Commandant Renier with a whale-boat to Shambeh to
endeavour to obtain information, and very kindly offered me the
opportunity of accompanying him, with orders to assist me forward in
every possible way. As I was suffering from congestion of the liver,
which prevented me from standing up straight, and from a remittent fever
which showed no inclination to disappear, I gladly availed myself of the
chance, knowing that activity alone would keep the fever in check, and
that it was advisable to reach the sea as soon as possible. The camp was
beaten up for volunteers to go with me overland either from Bohr or
Shambeh, as circumstances might dictate, with the result that one small
boy, a Dinka, and a mad criminal in chains, were forthcoming, with which
formidable recruits on December 20th, I, an old Egyptian Dervish
prisoner with a broken leg, a dozen soldiers, and sundry nondescripts,
departed in one of the large whale-boats. I carried away with me many
pleasing souvenirs of Inspector Chaltin's hospitality, and everybody's
kindness and welcome, and also the sincere hope that never should I set
eyes on Kero or any other spot on the Upper Nile again.
For several miles the stream follows the bank, then branches off to the
east, and for miles and miles loses itself in a labyrinth of isles of
weed. In vain we searched for a landing-place, and it was not till 5
p.m. that we found a small plantation of millet with a few wretched
Baris stifling in a fog of mosquitoes on a mud-bank. The following day
we paddled for hours, seeing nothing but tall reeds, hippo, and
sand-spits, and eventually reached the left bank again at a spot called
Semsem, owing to the immense plantations of that grain which existed
here in the time of the Dervishes. Here there is a bank nearly 6 ft.
high, with a large tree tenanted by hundreds of marabouts; to the
south-west and north are swamps, and to the east, beyond the river,
stretches one vast howling melancholy--reach upon reach of reed and
rush, strips of lagoon, and again rush and reed, till on the far horizon
a thin purple haze shows the line of the right bank.
The few Baris that we met on the islands informed us that they had come
thither because they had been worsted in an encounter with the Dinkas to
the north-west. Their villages were very scattered, the huts being
dotted in ones and twos throughout their fields of millet. They beat
the ground immediately surrounding their huts into a hard concrete,
which they kept well swept, and upon which they dry the seeds of the
nenuphar preparatory to pounding it into flour. As most of their huts
were covered with strings of drying meat and strips of hippo hide, they
would appear to be expert hippopotamus hunters. All their canoes are
very tiny, and they work them with consummate skill. The amount of fish
that they spear is wonderful. It is very sad to think how the Baris
have been wiped out by the Dervishes. It will be remembered what a
formidable people they were in Sir Samuel Baker's time; putting
thousands of warriors into the field, and owning vast herds of cattle.
Now, with the exception of those who took refuge in the Gondokoro hills,
they are to all intents and purposes extinct. A few scattered
settlements of miserable fisher-folk alone show the extent of the former
Bari kingdom. The whole road from Krefi's kraal to Fort Berkeley is
lined with the stone foundations of former Bari villages, and the
country is strewn with discarded stones, used for grinding the corn.
There is still, according to report, plenty of cattle in the Gondokoro
hills, but with that exception and the exception of the few beasts owned
by Ali-madi, all those vast herds spoken of by Baker have been looted
and destroyed. Fortunately the Dervish wave did not reach further than
Dufile, so that the southern Nile above the rapids was left untouched.
The country east of the Nile, except on the actual river-banks, was also
practically untouched, hence the Eastern Dinkas escaped their
depredations, and still own enormous heads of cattle. The Western
Dinkas were less fortunate, as the Dervishes from the Bahr-el-Djebel and
the Bahr-el-Ghazal penetrated far into the Niam-Niam country, and were
at one time a serious menace to the Congo Free State. This is the only
valid excuse for the Belgian occupation of the Nile; but I think the
result could have been equally well accomplished by protecting the Congo
Nile watershed. Still, the Belgians carried out their expedition with
consummate ability, and all honour is due to Inspector Chaltin for his
able leadership. It was a gross error of statesmanship that ever
permitted them to obtain a footing on the Nile. For, however good their
intentions, their methods are not ours; and their presence cannot but
tend to unsettle the natives.