Almost before break of day we were in the saddle; and having passed the
lava-blocks which bounded the camp, we came upon a level tract entirely
composed of hard clay. Wide-spreading camel-thorn acacias in full
blossom, with their rich perfume, loaded the morning air even to
satiety, and in long lines and clumps separated the outskirts into a
succession of delightful glades of the most inviting aspect, which
promised to teem with wild beasts of every variety. Five of the
principal Adaiel attended us on horseback, together with a chosen band
of mounted Moslems, from the retinue of Habti Mariam, decked out in the
flaunting spoils of lions and leopards which had fallen to their
prowess. This motley group of wild riders set off at a furious pace
across the flat, some scouring after every insignificant animal that was
descried, whilst others, truer wood-craftsmen, diligently scanned the
ground over which they galloped.
Last night's traces of the wanton strength of the elephant were visible
among the noble trees. Huge branches, twisted from the stem, lay
scattered in various quarters, and, together with the fresh footmarks of
the devastators, those of a herd of buffaloes were presently discovered.
I made many ineffectual attempts to decrease the number of the rabble
train, the disturbance they created having the effect, like the tail of
the rattle-snake, of warning all of the approach of enemies. Several
troops of agazin, throwing back their long spiral horns, fled at our
approach. Myriads of clamourous guinea fowl, whirring above the grove
in every direction, spread the alarm far and wide; and the quarry we
sought, driven deeper and deeper into the dark recesses, finally took
shelter in a sea of tangled bulrushes, which skirted the borders of
numerous rivulets of running water that pour their muddy tribute into
the Casam.
During several hours thus fruitlessly passed, the exertions of the
retinue were most unremitting to prevent success; but they grew weary at
last, and I then succeeded in inducing a small party on foot, with three
of the governor's braves, to precede me into the covert. Here the cast
of a few hundred yards revealed the tracks of a buffalo, and we carried
the trail through thick groves of wild tamarisk, whose shady boughs,
meeting over-head, formed natural bowers and arcades. The tumult had
now ceased, and we stole in Indian file through fields of tall flags,
preserving the strictest silence, and carefully avoiding contact with
every projecting twig. At intervals, the fresher traces of the quarry
demonstrated that he was close at hand, and we had not advanced more
than half a mile before a measured splashing of water in the broad
channel below gave notice of his actual presence.
The leading Adel cast a keen glance through the intervening screen of
blue tamarisk, and looking me significantly in the face, pointed to both
his eyes. Creeping cautiously to the brink of the river bank, where it
rose perpendicularly to the height of twenty feet, I perceived a noble
buffalo rolling from side to side, as he waded indolently across the
stream, which reached above his girth, ever and anon whisking his
tasselled tail to dislodge a host of persecuting flies. His intention
evidently was to land immediately below the ambush that I had taken; and
as less than fifty yards intervened, each step that he advanced rendered
the target more unfavourable. Not a second therefore was to be lost. A
two-ounce ball through the point of the shoulder, though it tumbled the
unwieldy animal on his haunches, did not sufficiently paralyse his giant
strength to bring him fairly down, and before I could obtain my
double-barrelled rifle, he had burst from the eddying water, and plunged
into the adjacent thicket.
No trace of blood rewarded the closest scrutiny; and, after a few
minutes' deliberation, my attendants pronounced the animal unscathed;
but finding me positive as to the spot in which the bullet had taken
effect, and firmly resolved not to abandon the quest, they made several
able casts among the tall flags that waved over the rivulet. Fifteen
minutes passed on without a whisper--then a low whistle from the thicket
proclaimed the success of Koorbo the Adel, who had recovered the wounded
beast, recumbent in the darkest recesses of the tamarisk grove.
Advancing, with my rifle cocked, towards the spot where the red eyes
gleamed through the gloom, I could perceive the white saliva streaming
in bellropes from his mouth, whilst his breathing was hard and husky.
Rising as I approached, he made a faint charge, but his strength was on
the wane, and as he stumbled across a prostrate bough, a bullet through
the heart brought him headlong to the earth.
The conquest of this noble beast, standing upwards of nineteen hands at
the wither, would have afforded me pleasure under any circumstances,
since I had never previously killed one of the same species; but there
were other considerations which rendered its demolition subject for
especial exultation. In spite of every existing disadvantage, the
avowed object of our toilsome journey to the hot plains of the Adaiel
had now been fully accomplished, to the delight and the amazement of my
savage allies, whereas to have returned to the king without a trophy,
after His Majesty's sage remarks upon the subject of buffalo-hunting,
would, in the eyes of every one, have proved a blot on the escutcheon of
the hitherto triumphant Gyptzis.
No sooner had the unwieldy monster fallen in its last struggles, than
Adam, the chief of the braves, having severed the windpipe with true
Mohammadan skill, advanced at the head of his band, and falling
prostrate on the ground, kissed my feet. To allay my thirst, a shield
full of water was brought from the river. Every creese was then drawn,
and the solid hide, after being removed with all expedition, was, for
the convenience of carriage, divided into six portions suited for
bucklers. Repeated blows from a heavy stone detached the great crescent
horns from the beetling brow; and these, with the ears, hoofs, and
tufted tail, we bore off as trophies to be laid at the royal footstool.
Elated at the conquest of a formidable and much-dreaded beast, whose
destruction by this rude people--a feat sometimes occupying many days--
is esteemed equivalent to the slaughter of eight Pagans in battle, the
excited savages were presently retracing their steps through the
intricacies of the wilderness.
Flourishing the spoils aloft in earnest of victory, they alternately
whistled and chanted their wildest war-dirge, and the deep chorus raised
at intervals made the recesses of the grove to ring again.
Awaiting my return with some anxiety, Ayto Habti Mariam, surrounded by
his array of warriors, was seated beneath the spreading arms of a
venerable acacia, which leaned in hoary pride over the bank of the
bubbling Casam. Godana, the Adel brave, galloping wildly into the ring,
vaulted from his rude saddle, and casting a sixth of the hide
contemptuously upon the ground, declared the feat to be achieved!
During the performance of the war-dance, by which his gaunt and sinewy
frame was long violently convulsed, he sprang from side to side,
quivering his spear with the most ferocious gestures, and chuckling in
imitation of vultures revelling over their prey. His exhibition
concluded, the other doughty heroes who had been present at the death,
each in his turn, flung his trophy upon the earth; and the whole, with
shouts, and yells, and war-whoops, accompanied by all manner of savage
antics, triumphed over the spoils of the slain.
Greatly to our disappointment and surprise, the governor now intimated
the necessity of our returning forthwith to the high country. The
prolific covert teeming with game of every description, a respite of
only one day was earnestly and repeatedly solicited, but in vain. The
Amhara, who had embarked in the rash enterprise with the utmost
reluctance, oppressed by the direct influence of the solar rays, and
most anxious to terminate their sojourn on a perilous border, heretofore
untrodden by Christian foot, with unanimous voice declared their
provisions to be at an end; whilst the Adaiel, who still mistrusted the
motive of the visit, and, now that the avowed object had been
accomplished, would hear of no further tarry on their frontier, urged as
an argument for instant departure, that the Ittoo, "having heard the
reports of the rifles, would not fail to be down in strength during the
night."
Desultory hostilities are continually waged between these wild
borderers, whose broils and feuds are endless; and not six months had
passed away since five hundred Pagans, bursting over the frontier, had
plundered the Moslem valleys. But the tocsin, resounding from village
to village, was promptly responded to by the gathered population, who
pursued the marauders--recovered all the booty wherewith they were
laden--and left the bodies of one hundred and twenty a prey to the
vultures of the air. Although a brave soldier, Habti Mariam was
evidently apprehensive of a brawl in some quarter, and very unwilling to
incur the responsibility. "You came," he repeated, "to hunt buffaloes;
and by God's aid you have succeeded. My control extends not to these
disturbed districts; and if blows should be struck, what account shall I
render unto the king my lord?"
Further remonstrance being obviously useless, the Adaiel were assembled,
and complimentary speeches having been delivered laudatory of their
assistance, an Abyssinian, cloth and a handful of German crowns were
placed among them for division. Godana, on the part of his avaricious
tribe, made an oration in reply; and waxing more and more animated as he
drew towards the conclusion of the harangue, ended by praying in a loud
voice, "that Allah might conduct the princely visitors in safety to
their homes, and cause their spear-blades to prevail over every foe!--
that the eyes of their adversaries might be blinded in battle--that
plenty might crown their harvests, and blood, as now, ever bedew their
hunting trail!" And during the pause that followed the interpretation
of each of these benedictions, the governor, with his assembled host,
ejaculated "Amen!"
We had recrossed the Casam, and commenced the ascent of the hills, when
the sudden appearance of a colony of pig-faced baboons, crowning the
bank of the volcanic cleft, gave birth for some minutes to an
apprehension amongst the Amhara, that the much-dreaded Ittoo were
already hovering on the flank. But certain playful bounds on the part
of the suspected objects soon dispelled the illusion; and the setting
sun saw us safely encamped on a height overlooking a bend of the river,
where a group of thermal springs issue from the sod-grown channel at a
temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and flow steaming on beneath a
grove of odoriferous fan-palms. Celebrated for their sanative
properties, these baths were speedily thronged by all who laboured under
any real or imaginary ailment; and notwithstanding that they shrunk from
the extreme heat, which threatened to scald a European finger, the
immersion was perseveringly continued by a succession of patients so
long as the daylight lasted.
Volume 3, Chapter XXVIII.