A WART-HOG -- "BRUNDO" BUTCHERING -- AN "ETON BLUE" BIRD --
BABOONS -- DESERTED VILLAGE -- ROUGH WALKING -- THE ABYSSINIAN
ADAM AND EVE -- JEALOUSY -- THE PRIESTS -- SAVAGE CUSTOMS --
TAMARISK COVER -- NATIVE SPORTSMEN -- DANCING AND SINGING -- WANT
OF A DOG -- NEWS OF A LION -- RED POCKET-HANDKERCHIEFS AND THEIR
EFFECT -- "BORROWED PLUMES" -- THE JUNGLE ON FIRE -- WE STEER
WEST -- "BLACKMAIL" -- SUMMARY JUSTICE.
_Jan. 23._--I started very early this morning, before sunrise--or with
the "morning star," as the Abyssinians say--and went down the river to
see what sport I could find. It was so cold that I rode out of camp on
my mule, wrapped up in an Ulster. Directly the sun rose it got warm,
but up to that time the air was very piercing. After going down the
river some little way we came to a large field of Dargousa corn: here
I stopped, and leaving my mule in care of one of the servants,
determined to walk over some of the hills on the right bank of the
river and see what I could find. Goubasee, my gun-bearer, was very
anxious to stop and warm himself at a fire which two of the ballagas
had made in a sort of hut, which was built to live in during the time
that the corn was ripening and that they were thrashing it out. These
natives slept in the hut, and guarded the corn at night from the
inroads of wild beasts. I told Goubasee to come on and not lag
behind--as after it gets hot in this country one never sees any game,
for all retire to the thick jungle. I walked up a steep hill, and soon
came, at the top, on a broad level plateau. Part of this plateau was
cultivated; the rest of it was short, dry grass, which reached up to
the knees. It looked a very likely place for game, especially pigs or
deer. I made Goubasee and another man I had with me spread out and
walk through the grass, in the hopes of "putting up" something; but we
saw nothing there. Where the grass ceased there was a rocky, stony
piece of ground, with short, stunted trees growing on it. All of a
sudden, by the side of one of these little trees, I saw a fine old
boar standing. He looked steadily at me, and I looked at him--we were
both very much taken by surprise, as I almost came on the top of him.
The colour of this animal is so much like the dried-up ground that it
is very hard at first to discern. H. had lent me his Express this
morning, so I fired and hit him behind the shoulder. He galloped off,
and was circling round towards me, when I gave him the left barrel,
which caught him just behind the ear; he rolled over like a rabbit,
and lay with his legs kicking in the air. He turned out to be a
wart-hog. We skinned him and took off his head, which I have kept.
Goubasee, while the operation of skinning was going on, cut off large
lumps of the quivering flesh and stuffed them into his mouth; he
seemed to enjoy it very much. Nearly all Abyssinians eat _brundo_,
which is their name for raw meat, and in consequence of this they are
all affected with _tænia_, or tapeworm, and have periodically (I
believe once a month) to take a very strong purgative medicine, which
they call _coussou_. This destroys the worm for a time, but it always
reappears again. By reason of this, nearly all Abyssinian men are very
hollow-cheeked, and some of them exceedingly thin; but,
notwithstanding this, their powers of marching long distances over
their hills with very little food is something marvellous.
When we had skinned the wart-hog and taken away what we wanted for
food, we hung up the carcase in a tree. Before going any farther I
wish to recommend all sportsmen who go out to wild countries to learn
a little butchering before leaving home; it is most useful not only to
know how to cut up a beast, but also to know the different parts of
the animal, their names, and what to reject and what to keep for
food, and how to remove the parts from the carcase. Almost any
afternoon at the slaughtering-houses of the live meat market near the
Great Northern Railway, London, the butchers may be seen killing,
skinning, and dressing for the dead meat market, both mutton and beef,
and for a small gratuity they are very ready to give any information.
I sent home one of the servants with the skin and the head, and went
on to look for more game with Goubasee. I saw in the distance a rather
curiously-forked stick, as I thought; it was just over the top of the
grass. I never suspected for an instant that this was an animal, so
did not attempt to stalk in any way, but walked straight on. To my
great surprise, however, I saw a beautiful, light red-coloured deer
lying just at the edge of the dry grass near an open space. Of course
when the animal saw me it jumped up and bounded away at full speed; I
took a snap shot--and missed. This is a good instance of how difficult
it is when one first goes into a strange country to distinguish game,
for it is some little time before the eye gets accustomed to the
strange scenery, and the ear to the unfamiliar noises and sounds that
are heard in a wild jungle. The forked stick, as I thought it, was the
two little pointed ears of the deer. I now walked round this small
plateau, and determined to make for my mule and go home to breakfast,
as it was getting hot. H. as well had been out in the morning, and had
seen a large herd of Hagazin or koodoo, but could not get near them.
There was a very beautiful bird to be seen in this jungle near the
Mareb, in shape like an English cuckoo, but of a very lovely light
blue; as most of my readers will know the tint of Eton blue, it was
almost exactly that colour. We shot several specimens, which Fisk
preserved. I had seen, the evening before, a pair of wild geese in a
pool down the river, so I went out to try and get a shot at them. I
told K. that I was going to shoot them both at one shot if I could; he
said, "They are a great deal too shy, you won't get near them." I went
down the river, when, lo, I saw my two friends swimming about in a
small pool. I fired at them with my 16-bore No. 1 shot, killing the
gander outright. The goose flapped on a little way, and I thought I
had not got her, when Goubasee, who was with me, rushed off down the
river, having heard a faint cackle in the distance, and came back with
the goose in his hand. It was very lucky that the bird made any sound
at all, as it was nearly pitch dark. I came back to camp triumphantly
with my two geese, and the next evening we had them roasted and
stuffed with onions--they were excellent, and were among the few
things in Abyssinia that I had tasted really good.
_Jan. 24._--I started very early indeed this morning--in fact, by
moonlight--in order to get on the ground where I thought I should find
game, before the heat arose. The day before, I had seen a
conically-shaped mountain lying north of where I had been shooting.
Instead of leaving my mule in the cultivated ground near the river, I
turned up a path on the right bank of the river, and rode some little
way into the hills. I left my mule on a little eminence just below the
edge of the table-land which I had shot over the day before, and
walked on towards the mountain. I saw nothing but tracks of deer till
I got nearly to the top, and it was a very steep climb indeed. On a
little open space just below the summit of the mountain I saw some
jungle fowl pecking; they were not in the least like the Indian jungle
fowl but brown-looking birds; in fact, they had the same colour
throughout, and exactly the shape of little bantam hens. Unluckily, I
had not my shot gun with me, as I would have given much to have shot
one of these little creatures; but they ran away into the jungle in a
long file, and I did not see them again. I now made for the summit of
the mountain. There was a small, thickly-wooded hollow just below
where I was climbing, and I thought very likely there might be
something lying in it, so I picked up a stone and rolled it down, when
out leaped two of those mouse-brown deer that I had seen at
Sellaadarou; they rushed away through the jungle, and I could only get
a snap shot at them, but managed to hit one of them. I then climbed to
the top of the mountain, on my way towards which, I had heard a great
number of baboons chattering among the rocks, but when they saw me
they all scampered away.
At the top, to my great astonishment, I found a small level plateau
and the ruins of a village; the circular walls of the huts were still
standing, and broken pottery was lying about in all directions. This,
most likely, was one of the villages that the robber of the Mareb
devastated, of whom I have spoken before. What struck me most was how
and where the villagers got their water, as the country round here was
particularly dry; they must have gone to the Mareb for it, which was
at some distance. I searched all about the mountain in hopes of
finding a spring, as I was very thirsty myself, but there was no such
thing to be seen. I was a little tired with the climbing, so, getting
under the shade of one of the ruined walls, I curled myself up and
went to sleep for nearly an hour, Goubasee squatting close by,
watching me like a dog. When I awoke the sun was high, so I thought I
had better go home to breakfast, and went down the opposite side of
the mountain to that I had come up. I saw my mule like a speck in the
distance, and made straight across country for it, much to the chagrin
of my gun-bearer, who wished to go by a path which lay rather out of
the straight line. It was a heavy walk, as the jungle was very thick;
in fact, in one patch of thorns I found myself completely suspended.
My face and hands were torn, but at length I reached my mule, feeling
very fatigued, as the walk had been a long one. When back in camp I
arranged that K., together with Cassa, one of our head servants who
had charge of our transport arrangements, should go on to Adiaboo with
our heavy baggage, and that we should change our camp some little way
down the river in order to shoot over fresh ground. I went out of camp
in the evening, and a little way down the river I heard a great rush
in the jungle on the bank. My gun-bearer said it was a lion, when I
sat down and waited for some little time, but I could hear no sound,
nor could I see anything, so I went home to dinner.
K. and I after dinner, over the camp-fire, were talking of the
Abyssinians and their religion. He said that their version of the
"fall of man" was rather curious. It was this: Adam and Eve, who lived
in a beautiful garden, were happy and contented, till one day the
serpent came and said to Eve, "Where is Adam?" She answered, "He is in
another part of the garden." So the serpent sneeringly said, "Oh,
indeed, do you think so?" Eve rejoined, "For what reason do you
sneer?" The serpent replied, "You think yourself the only woman in the
world?" and she said, "Yes, and a most beautiful woman." The serpent
then said, "Adam often stays away from you, does he not, now? I will
show you another woman;" on which he produced a looking-glass. Eve saw
her image reflected in it and immediately became jealous. The serpent
then said, "If you wish to secure Adam's love for ever and ever, you
must eat of the fruit which I will point out to you." So came about
the fall of man, according to Abyssinians. This is quite consistent
with Abyssinian character and ideas, as probably no people are more
vain or conceited than they; jealousy in all things is one of their
chief failings. Abyssinians, in their religion, are great bigots, and
the whole country is very much at the present time under the influence
of the priests. The king himself is very particular about his
religious observances, and priests and monasteries are very often
richly endowed. The Abyssinians' hatred of the Mussulman is extreme.
They have always looked upon the Egyptians with great abhorrence as
well as terror, for already part of their country called Bogos has
been annexed by them. They think that the Mussulman will try and
overrun the whole of Abyssinia, and, according to events that are now
taking place, this does not seem at all improbable.
An Abyssinian is thought a great deal of if he goes to Jerusalem, and
they always think that the Turk is going to destroy the holy places
and sweep away the relics that are kept there.
It may not be known to some of my readers that the Queen of Sheba is
supposed to have ruled over Abyssinia, and at that time the country
was evidently a great deal more prosperous and civilised than it is
now. Elephants are said to have been used as beasts of burden;
nowadays, the natives have not the smallest idea of taming this most
useful animal. There exist large ruins of palaces both at Goujam and
at Gindar, which testify to the wealth and magnificence the country
originally boasted of. It seems to me a great pity that a country
which is comparatively so near Europe, and with a good seaboard,
should be so completely lost to the world. What few Abyssinian chiefs
I saw always impressed upon me that we, the English, ought to come and
live in the country. They had formed, I am sure, a great opinion of
England's wealth and power from what they saw and also heard of the
Abyssinian expedition. I was told at Massowah that an enormous
quantity of material of different sorts, that had been left behind
after the war, quite made the fortune of a tribe that lived on the
coast; for they sold all these materials at Massowah to the Egyptian
government. It forcibly struck me, while travelling over these fertile
lands, what an extensive field there is for British industry and
enterprise. Abyssinia contains considerable mineral wealth; but
whether it is sufficiently localised to make its working remunerative
remains to be discovered. I tried to get some information on this
point from the French bishop of Keren, who came down to Massowah with
us, and he told me he thought that minerals were not to be profitably
worked with the present means of transport. K. often assured me that
he had seen unmistakable evidences of gold. If once there was a gold
rush to this country, it would certainly open it up in a way; but the
experience of other countries makes one doubt whether such would prove
a desirable commencement to civilisation.
Very often on riding into the village I was greeted by the Mussulman
salutation of "_Salaam_," and they always asked my servants if I was a
Mussulman. It was explained to them I was really a Christian, at which
they were much astonished. All the priests in Abyssinia that I
happened to meet I found to be very sensible fellows; in fact, they
are the only educated members of the community. They dislike European
missionaries for the reason that the missionaries educate the people,
which education the priests endeavour to check as much as possible.
There is a country much nearer home than Abyssinia which was, up to a
short time since, much in the same state; in fact, that expression of
"priest-ridden country" may be applied to Abyssinia with as much force
as it used to be applied to the Sister Isle.
Before I go farther, I must mention that at this camp we killed a cow
for the benefit of our coolies and servants, who ate it raw. K. had
done this while we were out of camp, so I did not see the squabble
which ensued. The bits were shared out equally, but one of the men
complained, said his quantity was short, and he threw it at the man's
head who was dividing the portions. Then a general row ensued, and
they might be seen running about the camp tearing lumps of raw flesh
out of each other's hands and cramming them into their mouths to get
rid of them as quickly as possible, much in the same way as a pack of
hounds would break up a fox. When an Abyssinian sees or scents raw
flesh he becomes a perfectly wild savage; and the women eat _brundo_
as well as the men.
_Jan. 25._--In the afternoon, H. and I started down the Mareb,
intending to go a short way and then pitch our camp. We followed the
bank of the river, but it was very deep walking, as the damp sand
gave way under the mules. I very nearly got bogged, only just
slipping off my mule in time, and directly the weight was off his back
he recovered himself. The banks of the river, on both sides, were
fringed with tamarisk bushes, which form a thick cover, a favourite
one in India for tigers. We fixed our camp at the place where the
Zareena joins the Mareb; at this time of the year--that is to say, the
hot weather--the Zareena is a beautiful running stream, and the water,
the servants told us, was considered excellent. We pitched our tent on
the shingly bed of the Mareb, and I amused myself, with the help of my
gun-bearers, by getting firewood for the night, as Fisk and the
luggage had not come up yet. On the way here we passed some
Abyssinians sitting in a small bower, made of branches, which was
constructed over a water pool. They had come down from the villages to
hunt--that is to say, to squat over the pool watching in turns, night
and day, for any animal that might chance to come and drink. I do not
think they killed much game, and they seemed to spend most of their
time smoking a pipe, a rude sort of hookah, with a cocoanut as the
receptacle for the water that the smoke passed through.
This evening I assembled our servants and coolies and induced them to
give us a dance and song in their own fashion, I accompanying them on
my banjo which I had brought with me. The dancing was rather curious:
all stood round in a circle singing a monotonous chant and clapping
their hands; one stood out in the circle and went through
extraordinary contortions, throwing his body backwards as far as
possible and then twisting quickly round. In one part of the dance
they all squatted down and wriggled their bodies about, making a sort
of hissing noise with their teeth. I requested Brou to translate the
words of the song, which were, "Plough, ploughman, plough, nor turn
your attention to merchandise;" this meant, of course, stay at home,
till your land, and lead a quiet life; do not seek other riches in far
countries. It was repeated over and over again, like most Eastern
songs; and they would have gone on all night, I believe, if we had
allowed them.
_Jan. 26._--I went out in the morning at daybreak and saw literally
nothing but a dik-dik. There are vast quantities of partridges amongst
the tamarisk bushes, which Fisk shoots for the pot with great success.
I always regret not having brought out a dog of some sort or other, as
dogs are always useful for retrieving birds. I frequently came across
the tracks of koodoo, but never saw one. H. told me, when he came back
to camp, that he had "rolled over" a deer, and, on running up to
secure him, the animal staggered away amongst the high grass and
jungle and was lost. This was very bad luck, as it was the first deer
he had hit. I went down the river in the evening, a very beautiful
walk; the Mareb wound in some places among rocks, in others through
thick jungle. I stopped to rest for a short time; a little gazelle ran
out and crossed the river bed a little way off. I shot with my
muzzle-loading rifle, and missed. This was another chance gone for the
Express. I found when I got back to camp that some natives had been
in; in fact, they were the sportsmen whom we saw in their hut beside
the pool. They told us that a lion, a month ago, had killed a man and
eight cows, but this was not of much use to us now. Why is it in all
sport, whether hunting, shooting, or fishing, you hear that you ought
to have been there the other day, or else it is too early--you ought
to have come later; the ground is very hard, or the scent bad; the
birds are still wild; or else, when you go fishing, the water is
thick, or the fish are not on the feed, etc., etc.?
_Jan. 27._--I went out this morning with two of the native hunters who
had come into camp the day before. We wandered over the hills, but I
did not succeed in shooting anything, and only saw two gazelles
scouring away in the distance. On the table-land, where I found these
gazelles, there was a very singular cavity in the rocks, just on the
edge of a cliff; it was almost as if it had been hollowed out by the
hand of man; it was oblong-shaped, and it could easily have held two
or three hundred people. The day was very hot, and the sun beat down
on the dry rocks, so I made the best of my way down the steep side of
the hill into the bed of the Mareb, which ran underneath. On the way
home I fired at a white eagle with my rifle, and picked him off the
top of the tree he was perched on, but the bullet had so injured the
bird that he was not worth preserving. This was really a bad morning's
sport. H. had done no better than myself; and it was a good deal owing
to this that we determined to move off the next day. This afternoon I
presented the hunters, who had been out with me, with three common
cotton pocket-handkerchiefs, of which I had bought a good many at
Bologna, in Italy, on my way out. They seemed to be delighted with
them, and grinned and laughed, and passed them round for each other to
admire.
After luncheon, H. and I determined to ride down the Mareb and explore
that line of country. We had not gone very far before we saw our
friends the hunters sitting round a small pool of water, then tying
the handkerchiefs round their heads and admiring themselves, using the
water as a looking-glass. They looked very ridiculous, and seemed
highly delighted with their personal appearance, which they evidently
felt was greatly improved by the red cotton handkerchiefs. We rode a
good way down the river, and the farther we went the fewer the little
pools of water became: at last there was no water to be seen, the sand
had gradually absorbed it; and we should have to dig four or five feet
in order to get water here, so it would be of very little use to go
down into the jungle by this route. H. and I amused ourselves by setting
fire to the jungle, in hopes of starting some animal, but we saw
nothing and so turned our mules' heads towards home. It is interesting
in this country to see, while jungle is burning; this it is always doing
during the dry weather--the number of birds--insect-catchers--hovering
over the flames and catching any flies, beetles, or butterflies, that
happen to be driven out of the grass and bushes by the smoke and heat.
_Jan. 28._--To-day we started at 8.30 for Adiaboo. We went up the bed
of the Zareena for a short way and then turned off sharp to the right;
this will be better understood by my readers when I say that, after
turning to the right, we began travelling very nearly due west. The
road was merely a jungle path, and the bushes were in some places very
thick, which scratched our knees as we pushed through them. Sometimes
we rode up the dry bed of a watercourse, at other times we struck
right into the thorny forest of mimosa bushes. At last we came to a
more civilised part of the country, and halted in the bed of a small
river called Maitumloo, where at some deep pools the cattle were being
watered by the boys of the village, who were minding them. Here we
stopped for about half an hour, watering our mules and resting
ourselves; we then made for the village of Zadawalka. We did not
actually go straight up to the village, but camped in the usual
camping-place for travellers who go by this route, that is to say,
close to the water, of which there was a large pool here. We pitched
our tent on a little ledge just over the pool, where there was barely
room for the tent and the camp fire. We had got in early this
afternoon, having come along at a pretty good pace; Petros and Hadji
Mahomet had happened to lose their way in the jungle, and did not come
at all that evening.
Our coolies that we had brought from Koudoofellassie, had, as is usual
with most blacks when they travel, brought very little food with them,
for when natives go a journey it is usually a succession of forced
marches, which they manage to do with wonderfully little nourishment.
They were all seated at the pool, having washed off the dust of the
journey, talking and chattering, when there appeared in sight some
villagers, who Brou, the interpreter, told me were returning from a
funeral feast. Of course the coolies understood very well the state
of affairs. The natives at feasts in this country not only eat as much
as they can, but also contrive to take away with them what they cannot
manage to cram down their throats; so here was a prospect of a good
meal for our coolies. A rush was made at a batch of small boys and men
who were returning, their clothes were almost torn off their backs,
and the bread and "tef" which they had concealed about their persons
were seized and devoured by our hungry men. This was the first batch
of visitors, and our men were in anticipation of more coming. At last
some more appeared, this time bearing a large earthenware jar, which
was thought to contain beer, but, alas! it was empty. There were other
natives that our men thought had some bread with them, and they
accordingly hustled them, but found none. During the struggle, a
coolie was pushed backwards into the muddy pool, and was rather
astonished to find himself seated in the water, much to the amusement
of ourselves and all the servants but himself: he sneaked back and sat
down by the fire to dry the few rags he had on him as best he could.
Three or four more villagers came by, among them two young
Abyssinians, who said, "You have been robbing our people--you will see
what we will do to you to-morrow!" I think they were a little the
worse for the "tej" and beer they had been drinking, as they boasted
and were very impudent. At last they got a little too "cheeky,"
saying, "You are a Rass" (which means a lord, in Abyssinia), "and
ought to know better than let your servants do this." This rather
annoyed me, so I jumped across the stream, snatched one of the sticks
out of their hands, and gave them two or three cuts across the back,
as hard as I could, and told the interpreter to tell them that was the
way a Rass was accustomed to treat people who were impudent; so they
went away rather frightened, amid the jeers of the servants and
coolies.
My readers may think this was rather a summary proceeding, especially
as our servants had been robbing the people of their bread; but it is
a thing always taken for granted, as people are supposed to be hungry
when they are travelling, and those that were robbed took it as a very
good joke, and laughed and chaffed, especially when they were searched
and found to have no victuals of any description concealed on their
persons. My grey mule, which K. gave me at Gindar, had a sore back,
and I was afraid he would only just be able to take me into Adiaboo,
where I should have to give him up and get another.