Numerous were the apprehensions now in agitation relative to the state
of the formidable river in advance, whose shallow stream so easily
forded during the season of drought, was not unreasonably conjectured to
be swollen by the recent rains. Second of the rivers of Abyssinia, and
rising in the very heart of Ethiopia, at an elevation of eight thousand
feet above the sea, which it never reaches, the Hawash is fed at long
intervals by niggard tributaries from the high bulwarks of Shoa and
Efat, and flows like a great artery through the arid and inhospitable
plains of the Adaiel, green and wooded throughout its long course, until
finally absorbed in the lagoons at Aussa; and the canopy of fleecy
clouds, which, as the day dawned, hung thick and heavy over the lofty
blue peaks beyond, gave sad presage of the deluge that was pouring
between the verdant banks from the higher regions of its source.
Passing along the face of the murderous hill, which is of wacke
formation, the road descended by several sloping terraces, to the level
valley through which the river winds. At first thinly wooded, the soil
was covered with tall rank grass, which, in consequence of the perpetual
incursions of the Galla, grew in all its native luxuriance, uncropped
whether by flock or herd. But as the path wound on, gum-bearing acacias
and other forest trees increased both in size and number--the jungle and
undergrowth, teeming with guinea-fowl, which rose clamorously at every
step, waxed thicker and thicker--groves of waving tamarisk, ringing to
the voice of the bell-bird, flanked every open glade, whereon lay traces
of recent inundation; and the noble trees which towered above them from
the banks of the Hawash, gave evidence in their shattered branches of
the presence of the most ponderous of terrestrial mammalia.
Vegetation having here assumed a luxuriance known to none of the joyless
and unproductive regions hitherto traversed, it is with some difficulty
that the pilgrim, anxious to behold the rare phenomenon of a running
stream, forces his way through the dense thickets, which, until the foot
touches the very brink of the precipitous bank, so completely screen the
silent river from view, that its very existence might almost be
questioned. But after a persevering struggle, further progress was at
length arrested by a deep volume of turbid water, covered with
drift-wood, which rolled at the rate of some three miles an hour,
between steep clayey walls twenty-five feet in height, bounding a mere
break through the mud and sand. The breadth of the channel fell short
of sixty yards, and the flood was not yet at its maximum; but its depth
and violence, added to the broad belt of tamarisk and acacia, interlaced
by large creepers and parasites, which hems in both sides, promised to
offer much difficulty and delay in the coming passage. Pensive willows
that drooped mournfully over the troubled current were festooned with
recent drift, hanging many feet above the level of the abrupt banks; and
this appearance, no less than the rubbish scattered over the borders,
fully proved the assertion of the natives that the water had recently
been out, to the overflowing of the adjacent flat country for many
miles.
The Hawash, here upwards of two thousand two hundred feet above the
ocean, forms in this direction the nominal boundary of the dominions of
the King of Shoa. Izhak was therefore strongly urged to despatch a
courier in advance, who might apprise His Majesty of the near approach
of the British Embassy. But from some latent and sinister motive of his
own, the proposal was again negatived, as it had before frequently been,
upon the grounds of the dangers to be apprehended on the road. These,
according to his showing, rendered it impossible for a single messenger
to venture on so rash an undertaking, notwithstanding that Ahmed
Mohammad, the Dankali who had been the bearer of the letter despatched
to Shoa from Tajura, and who was still with the caravan, had so recently
passed twice in safety over this identical route.
As a measure of precaution against inundation, the camp was formed upon
the summit of a small stony eminence, considerably above high water
mark; and several armed Bedouins were presently lounging and prying
about the tent, to the great annoyance and discomfiture of the Ras el
Kafilah. "Those fellows call themselves Debeni," he remarked, "and will
not commit murder wantonly, but the villains are thieves in grain, and
will steal whatsoever they can lay their hands upon. They have no
business here."
Many energetic remonstrances touching the impropriety of the obtrusion,
produced not the smallest effect upon these obstinate savages; and
finding that they continued to laugh him to scorn, and to set his
boasted authority at defiance, the old man finally requested that a
musket might be fired over their heads--a measure which quickly brought
about the desired decampment. The smell of gunpowder is intolerable to
every Dankali. The bravest of the brave slide off with a growl and a
sulky look, if a gun be but touched in their presence; and an unexpected
discharge, as on this occasion, when a knot has collected, causes every
man to start upon his feet, and, with a muttered curse, to bring his
spear to the rest.
The residue of the day was devoted by the camel-drivers to the
preparation of rafts for the transport of the baggage, and the working
party was still at the river, when the Adaiel conch sounded to arms, and
the shrill war-whoop again summoned all to the rescue. Great was the
confusion that ensued, and light-footed warriors were to be seen
scampering down every avenue, armed with spear and shield; but the cry
proved to have been raised in consequence of a disaster that had
befallen one of the camels. Too lazy to loosen the cord which fettered
the fore legs of the animal, the stupid owner had driven it, thus
crippled, down the steep slippery bank to the water's edge, when, as
might have been anticipated, it was swept away by the strong current,
without being able to make one struggle for extrication.
At sun-down the caravan was closely-packed within a stout thorn fence,
serving as a partial protection against the wild beasts and plunderers
with which the dense thicket is infested--its endless depths being so
entangled and interwoven that no eye could penetrate the gloom. The
moonless night was passed in extreme discomfort, owing to a deluge of
rain which commenced early, and fell incessantly for many hours.
Deafening thunder pealed in startling claps overhead, and broad sheets
of fire lighting up the entire face of the landscape at short intervals,
for a moment only disclosed the savage loneliness of the wild spot,
which was the next instant shrouded in pitchy darkness.
With the dawning day, preparations were commenced for crossing the river
on ten frail rafts which had already been launched--transverse layers of
drift-wood rudely-lashed together, being rendered sufficiently buoyant
by the addition of numerous inflated hides and water-skins, to support
two camel loads. The sharp creeses of the Danakil had removed many of
the overtopping boughs, interlaced with creepers, which impeded transit
towards the point selected for the passage, and in the course of a few
hours every portion of the baggage had been deposited at the water's
edge.
Casting off his garments, Mohammad Ali, always the foremost in cases of
difficulty and danger, now seized the end of a rope betwixt his teeth,
and, plunging into the river, swam with it to the opposite bank, where
it was belayed, upon the principle of the flying bridge, to an
overhanging willow--a guy which connected it with each raft serving to
counteract the violence of the stream, which, in spite of the heavy
rain, had fallen upwards of a foot during the night. Raiment was now
discarded by every Dankali, and the work commenced in right earnest, but
difficult and laborious indeed was the task before them. The water
trickled over their greasy limbs until a late hour of the evening, and
the utmost exertions only succeeded in accomplishing the transfer of the
endless train to the western bank before nightfall, with the loss of
three beasts of burden drowned, and sundry firelocks sunk to the bottom.
This latter disaster arose from the spontaneous going to pieces of one
of the rudely-lashed rafts, when one of the clumsy followers became
entangled in the wreck, and but for the exertions of the son of Ali Abi
would inevitably have been lost. The fair Hasseinee was amongst those
who were thus cast away in the middle of the deep waters; but hers was
not the person to sink, and floating like a Naiad on the surface, with
long raven locks streaming over her fat shoulders, the nymph appeared to
be in her native element, and was soon shaking her wet petticoat on the
opposite shore.
The baggage being of necessity divided, and the whole of the native
escort as well as the camel-drivers employed in loading and navigating
the rafts, it was deemed prudent, in addition to an ostentatious display
of rifles on both sides, to make liberal disbursements of blue calico,
in order to purchase the neutrality of the Bedouins, who infest the
borders of the river. On the division of the party, some of the Adaiel
females being separated from their lords, a characteristic trait of
Ibrahim Shehem Abli was elicited by the proposal for solution of the old
riddle of the three jealous husbands, with their wives, who found on the
banks of a rapid stream which they were desirous of crossing, a boat
that would contain only three persons, whereas each felt unwilling to
abandon his fair partner to the mercy of the other. After puzzling for
some time without being able to arrange the transit in a satisfactory
manner, "_Murhabba_!" he exclaimed; "had I been one of that same party,
I should soon have settled the difficulty by cutting the throats of the
two jealous rascals, and taking all their women to myself."
The stream of the Hawash being exceedingly thick and troubled, from the
distance it had rolled betwixt clayey banks, it was with much
satisfaction that a pond of wholesome water, styled _Dubbelli_, was
discovered, divided from the river by a narrow wooded neck of land, one
hundred and fifty yards across. Steep shelving walls strewed with
shells and the _reliquiae_ of hippopotami, environed this singular
basin, which appeared to be fathomless, and to measure a mile and a half
in circumference. Lofty trees, in a wintry dress, cast their deep
shadow over the brink; and whilst the stems of many were partially
immersed, the leafless branches of some were loaded with storks' nests,
and the shattered limbs of others presented tokens of the giant strength
of the elephant, no less than of the terrible wrath of lightning and
storm.
Corresponding tongues abutting from the opposite banks, divide the
expanse into two equal bays. A group of wild Bedouins watered their
camels on the shore, and in the centre Behemoth rolled his unwieldy
carcase to the surface amid floating crocodiles--protruding his droll
snout, which glistened in slimy ugliness, to blow ever and anon a snort
that might be heard at the distance of a mile. A two-ounce ball, duly
hardened with antimony, took effect in the skull of one of the boldest
with a crash that was not to be mistaken; but although the monster went
down, leaving a gallon of blood to denote the disaster that had befallen
him, he had temporarily disappeared; and by the incredulous Danakil the
assurance was received with a sneering shake of the head that his
carcass must infallibly be found floating in the morning.
Much difficulty had been experienced in bringing the horses and mules
across the river, and one obstinate donkey, but too well aware of its
inability to swim, having pointedly refused to take the water, was towed
over by main strength at the end of a rope. Inflated skins kept the
animal afloat; but the stubborn head sinking below the surface, the poor
beast landed with sides distended almost to bursting by too copious
draughts of muddy water. His master, an aged washerman from Hindostan,
loving Neddy as the apple of his eye, in the simplicity of his old
heart, adopted the prescription of some wag who had facetiously
recommended suspension by the heels, in order to try the ancient
discipline of the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned mortals. A
fit of apoplexy was the result, and the donkey expired under the lancet.
Followed by the lamentations of the disconsolate owner, the carcass was
dragged some twenty yards beyond the limits of the encamping ground; and
no sooner had the dark night thrown a shroud over it, than the foul
scavengers of the forest assembled in numbers round the prey, and
regardless of a blazing watch-fire that had been kindled to avert the
visits of the monarch of the wilderness, commenced their revels with the
demoniacal laugh indicative of a right happy mood. Whilst the rain
descended in pitiless torrents, a continual chuckle of the highest
merriment, which ran through all the various notes of a clear throat,
resounded afar amid the crunching of bones and munching of flesh--a
deeper growl from some larger beast of prey, now and then varying the
infernal harmony, to be followed by another ringing laugh as of a whole
legion of devils. Vivid flashes of lightning played over the scene of
this midnight carnival; the violent snapping of branches in the adjacent
forest proclaimed the nocturnal foray of the elephant and hippopotamus;
the loud roar and the startling snort were neither wanting to complete
the concert of the wild Hawash, and long ere the morning dawned, the
place of the carcass knew it not, every vestige, even to the skull,
having found a sepulchre in the maw of "the laughing hyaena."
Volume One, Chapter XXXV.