FROM PANGA FALLS TO UGARROWWA'S.
Another accident at the Rapids--The village of Utiri--Avisibba
settlement--Inquiry into a murder case at Avisibba--Surprised by
the natives--Lieutenant Stairs wounded--We hunt up the enemy--The
poisoned arrows--Indifference of the Zanzibaris--Jephson's caravan
missing--Our wounded--Perpetual rain--Deaths of Khalfan, Saadi, and
others--Arrival of caravan--The Mabengu Rapids--Mustering the
people--The Nepoko river--Remarks by Binza--Our food
supply--Reckless use of ammunition--Half-way to the Albert Lake--We
fall in with some of Ugarrowwa's men--Absconders--We camp at Hippo
Broads and Avakubi Rapids--The destroyed settlement of
Navabi--Elephants at Memberri--More desertions--The Arab leader,
Ugarrowwa--He gives us information--Visit to the Arab
settlement--First specimen of the tribe of dwarfs--Arrangements
with Ugarrowwa.
In full view of this last camp there was an island in mid-river distant
about two miles, that resembled a water battery, and a village lying low,
apparently level with the face of the river. On exploring it on the
7th--by no means an easy task, so strong was the current sweeping down
the smooth dangerous slope of river towards Panga--it appeared to have
been originally a flat rocky mass of rock a few inches above high river,
with inequalities on its surface which had been filled in with earth
carried from the left bank. It measured 200 feet in length by about
ninety feet in width, to which a piscatorial section of a tribe had
retreated and built 60 cone huts, and boarded it round about with planks
cut out of a light wood out of the forest and wrecked canoes. At this
period the river was but six inches below the lowest surface of the
island.
Another serious accident occurred on this day during the journey from
above Panga Falls to Nejambi Rapids.
A witless, unthinking canoe coxswain took his canoe among the branches in
broken water, got entangled, and capsized. Nine out of eleven rifles were
recovered; two cases of gunpowder were lost. The Zanzibaris were so
heedless and lubberly among rapids that I felt myself growing rapidly
aged with intense anxiety while observing them. How headstrong human
nature is prone to be, I had ample proofs daily. My losses, troubles, and
anxieties rose solely from the reckless indifference to instructions
manifested by my followers. On land they wandered into the forest, and
simply disappeared, or were stabbed or pierced with arrows. So far we had
lost eight men and seventeen rifles.
[Illustration: VIEW OF UTIRI VILLAGE.]
On the 8th the caravan had hauled the canoes past Nejambi Rapids, and was
camped a few miles below Utiri. The next day we reached the villages,
where we found the architecture had changed. The houses were now all
gable-roofed and low, and each one surrounded by strong, tall, split log
palisades, six feet long, nine inches by four inches wide and thick, of
the rubiacæ wood. Constructed in two lines, a street about twenty feet
ran between them. As I observed them I was impressed with the fact that
they were extremely defensible even against rifles. A dozen resolute men
in each court of one of these villages armed with poisoned arrows might
have caused considerable loss and annoyance to an enemy.
On the 10th we halted, and foragers were despatched in three different
directions with poor results, only two days' rations being procurable.
One man, named Khalfan, had been wounded in the wind-pipe by a wooden
arrow. The manner he received the wound indicates the perfect
indifference with which they receive instructions. While Khalfan examined
the plantains above, a native stood not twenty feet away and shot him in
the throat with a poisoned arrow. The arrow wound was a mere needle-point
puncture, and Dr. Parke attended to him with care, but it had a fatal
consequence a few days later.
The 11th was consumed by the river party in struggling against a wild
stretch, five miles long, of rapids, caused by numerous reefs and rocky
islets, while the land column wound along the river bank on a passable
track which led them to Engweddé, where we rejoined them on the 12th. Our
day's rate having been broken by the rapids, foragers were again
despatched to collect food, and succeeded in procuring three days'
rations of plantains. On the 13th we marched to Avisibba, or Aveysheba, a
settlement of five large villages, two of which were situate on the upper
side of Ruku Creek.
The river column was the first to occupy the villages above the Ruku. A
fine open street ran between two rows of low huts, each hut surrounded by
its tall palisades. There was a promising abundance in the plantain
groves about. The untouched forest beyond looked tall, thick, and old.
From the mouth of the creek to the extremity of the villages there was a
hundred yards' thickness of primeval forest, through which a native path
ran. Between the village and the Aruwimi was a belt of timber fifty yards
wide. While the ferriage was progressing across the creek, the boat-crew
was searching eagerly and carefully among the scores of courts for hidden
savages, and with rifles projecting before them were burrowing into the
plantain groves, and outside the villages.
[Illustration: LEAF-BLADED PADDLE OF AVISIBBA.]
When the column was across I had a murder case to inquire into. For on
the 12th, at Engweddé, one of our Zanzibaris had been killed with a rifle
bullet outside of camp, and it was supposed that some vengeful ruffian in
the column had shot him. Meantime, I had suggested to two head men to
take forty scouts and re-cross the creek, to explore if there were any
opportunities for foraging on the next day to the south-west of the
creek. My little court had just sat down for the inquiry, and a witness
was relating his evidence, when the rifles were heard firing with unusual
energy. Lieutenant Stairs mustered some fifty men, and proceeded on the
double-quick to the river. Under the impression that ninety
breech-loaders were quite sufficient we resumed the investigation, but as
volley after volley rang out, with continued cracking of scouts' rifles,
the Doctor, Nelson, and myself hastened to the scene with a few more men.
The first person I saw was Lieutenant Stairs, with his shirt torn open,
and blood streaming from an arrow-wound in the left breast, about the
region of the heart, and I heard a pattering on the leaves around me, and
caught a glimpse of arrows flying past. After consigning our poor friend
to Parke's care I sought for information. There were numbers of men
crouching about, and firing in the most senseless fashion at some
suspicious bushes across the creek. There were certainly obstinate
savages hidden behind them, but I failed to get a glimpse of one. The
creek I soon found lay between us. I was told that as the boat was
crossing the creek a body of natives had suddenly issued on the other
side and shot their arrows into them; that surprised by the discharge
they had crouched in the bottom of the boat to escape the arrows, and had
paddled the boat back to the landing-place with their hands. They had
then picked up their rifles and blazed away at them. Simultaneously
Lieutenant Stairs had rushed in among them and fired at the enemy, who
were of a bolder kind than any they had yet met. In a short time he had
received an arrow in the breast, which he had torn off while retreating,
and five other men had been punctured. Almost as soon as I had finished
receiving these particulars, I saw for the first time a dark shadow creep
along the ground between two bushes, and fired into the centre of it, and
a curiously weird wail responded to it. Two minutes later the arrows had
ceased their patter among the leaves. Having posted a strong guard of the
best shots along the bank to observe any movement on the opposite bank of
the creek, the rest of the people were withdrawn.
In the evening some scouts that had searched in the woods inland returned
with a flock of seven goats. They had discovered the crossing-place, and
had suddenly opened fire on a small column going either to the assistance
of the enemy or coming from their direction.
[Illustration: THE FIGHT WITH THE AVISIBBA CANNIBALS.]
On the 14th, at dawn, pushed over the creek two companies to hunt up the
enemy that had done us such damage; a company was also sent, under
Captain Nelson, to the forest inland. In a few minutes we heard a volley,
and a second, and then incessant rifle fire, showing that the enemy were
of a resolute character. There were some crack shots in No. 1 Company,
but it was scarcely possible to do much damage in a thick bush against a
crafty enemy, who knew that they possessed most dangerous weapons, and
who were ignorant of the deadly force of the pellets that searched the
bushes. About 300 rounds had been fired, and silence followed. Four only
of these had been fatal, and our party received four wounds from arrows
smeared over freshly with a copal-coloured substance. One dead body was
brought to me for examination.
[Illustration: A HEAD-DRESS OF AVISIBBA WARRIORS.]
The head had a crop of long hair banded by a kind of coronet of iron; the
neck had a string of iron drops, with a few monkey teeth among them. The
teeth were filed into points. The distinguishing mark of the body appears
to form double rows of tiny cicatrices across the chest and abdomen. The
body was uncircumcised. Another dead body brought to the landing-place
had a necklace of human teeth, and a coronet of shining plated iron, and
the forehead and several wristlets of the same metal, polished; on the
left arm was the thick pad of silk cotton covered with goat skin, to
protect the arm from the bow string.
After the natives had been chased away on all sides from the vicinity,
the people commenced to forage, and succeeded in bringing to Avisibba
during the day sufficient plantains to give eighty per man--four days'
rations.
Lieutenant Stairs' wound was one-fifth of an inch in diameter, an inch
and a quarter below the heart, and the pointed head of the arrow had
penetrated an inch and a half deep. The other men were wounded in the
wrists, arms, and one in the fleshy part of the back. At this period we
did not know what this strange copal-coloured substance was with which
the points had been smeared, nor did we know what were its peculiar
effects when dry or wet; all that the Doctor could do at this time was to
inject water in the wounds and cleanse them. The "old hands" of the
Zanzibaris affirmed it was poison extracted from the India rubber
(Landolphia) by boiling; that the scum after sufficient boiling formed
the poison.
[Illustration: CORONETED AVISIBBA WARRIOR--HEAD-DRESS.]
A native declared that it was made of a species of arum, which, after
being bruised, was boiled; that the water was then poured out into
another pot, and boiled again until it had left a strong solution, which
was mixed with fat, and this was the substance on the arrows. The odour
was acrid, with a suspicion of asafoetida. The men proved its deadly
properties by remarking that elephants and all big game were killed by
it. All these stories caused us to be very anxious, but our ignorance was
excessive, I admit. We could only look on with wonder at the small
punctures on the arms, and express our opinion that such small wounds
could not be deadly, and hope, for the sake of our friend Stairs and our
nine wounded men, that all this was mere exaggeration.
The arrows were very slender, made of a dark wood, twenty-four inches
long, points hardened by slow baking in the warm atmosphere above the hut
fires; at the butt end was a slit, in which a leaf was introduced to
guide the flight; the sharp points were as sharp as needles, and half an
inch from the point began a curving line of notches for about two inches.
The arrow heads were then placed in the prepared and viscid substance,
with which they were smeared; large leaves were then rolled round a sheaf
before they were placed in the quiver. Another substance was pitch black
in colour, and appeared more like Stockholm tar when fresh, but had a
very disagreeable smell. In a quiver there would be nearly a hundred
arrows. When we observed the care taken of these arrows, rolled up in
green leaves as they were, our anxiety for our people was not lessened.
The bow is of stubborn hard brown wood, about three feet long; the string
is a broad strip of rattan carefully polished. To experiment with their
power I drove one of the wooden arrows, at six feet distance, through two
sides of an empty biscuit tin. At 200 yards' distance was a tall tree. I
drove an arrow, with full force, over the top of the highest branch and
beyond the tree. It dawned on us all then that these wooden arrows were
not the contemptible things we had imagined. At a short distance we
judged, from what we saw, that the stiff spring of this little bow was
sufficient to drive one of these slender arrows clean through a human
body. At 120 paces I have been able to miss a bird within an inch with
one of them.
At noon on the 15th of August the land column filed out of the palisaded
villages of Avisibba led by Mr. Jephson, the officer of the day. As a
captive had informed us that there were three cataracts ahead not far
off, I instructed Mr. Jephson that he must follow the river and halt at
the first convenient spot about 2.30 P.M.; that I would halt the river
column, now consisting of the boat and fourteen canoes, until the rear
guard under Captain Nelson had quite left the settlement; but as the
canoes would proceed faster than the land caravan, I would probably
overtake him, and camp at the first fit place I could find after an
hour's row, in which event he would proceed until he found us. The
instructions were also repeated to the leading men of the pioneers.
[Illustration: WOODEN ARROWS OF THE AVISIBBA.
(_From a photograph._)]
I ought to have stated that our start at noon was occasioned by the delay
caused by the discovery at the morning muster that five men were absent.
They ultimately turned up at 10 o'clock; but this perpetual straying away
without leave was most exasperating, and had drawn a lecture from me,
though this was not uncommon in those stupid early days of training.
The Zanzibaris persisted in exhibiting an indifference to danger
absolutely startling, not from bravery, or from ignorance of fear, but
from an utter incapacity to remember that danger existed, and from a
stupid unconsciousness as to how it affected them. Animals are indebted
to instinct as a constant monitor against danger, but these men appeared
to possess neither instinct nor reason, neither perception nor memory.
Their heads were uncommonly empty. The most urgent entreaties to beware
of hidden foes, and the most dreadful threats of punishment, failed to
impress on their minds the necessity they were under of being prudent,
wary, and alert to avoid the skewers in the path, the lurking cannibal
behind the plantain stalk, the cunning foe lying under a log, or behind a
buttress, and the sunken pit, with its pointed pales at the bottom. When
the danger fronted them it found them all unprepared. A sudden shower of
arrows sent them howling abjectly out of reach or under shelter; and if
the arrows were only followed by a resolute advance, resistance, by
reason of excess of terror, would be impossible. An unexpected show of
dauntlessness in a native compelled from them a ready recognition of his
courage. On the road they sneaked into the woods to avoid the rear guard,
but flew screaming with terror if a prowling savage suddenly rose before
them with uplifted spear. They roved far singly or by twos amongst the
villages, as looting was dear to their hearts; but should they meet the
wild owners of them they were more apt to throw the deadly rifle down on
the ground than to use it. They strayed through the plantain grove with
magnificent unconcern, but if they heard the whiz of an arrow they
collapsed nervelessly and submitted to their fate. With an astounding
confidence they scattered along the road, and stretched the line of the
column to 3 miles in length, but at sight of natives all sense was lost
save that of cowardly fear. Out of 370 men at this time in the camp there
were clearly 250 of this description, to whom rifles were of no use save
as a clumsy, weighty club, which they would part with for a few ears of
corn, or would willingly exchange for a light walking staff if they
dared.
The day previous the Zanzibari head men, urged by their friends, had
appeared before me in a body, and demanded to be despatched to forage
without any officers, as the officers, they said, bored them with their
perpetual orders of "Fall in, fall in." "Why," said they, "who can gather
bananas if they are continually watched and told to 'Fall in, fall in?'"
"Very true," said I, "the thing is impossible. Let me see what you can do
by yourselves. The banana plantations are but a quarter of an hour's
distance. I shall expect you all back within an hour."
After such an exposition of character as the above it will not be
wondered, that, each man having cleared from my presence, forgot all his
promises, and wandered according to his wont. A flock of sheep or a herd
of swine could not have gone further astray. After fourteen hours'
absence the 200 foragers had returned save five. These five had departed
no one knew where until 10 A.M. of this day.
Ah, those early days! Worse were to come, and then, having become
purified by suffering, and taught by awful experience, they became
Romans!
But to return to Jephson. We pulled up stream--after seeing that every
one was clear of the settlement of Avisibba--at the rate of a knot and a
half an hour, and at 2.45, having discovered a convenient camp, halted
for the night. We waited in vain for Mr. Jephson, and the column fired
signal guns, rowed out into the stream, and with a glass searched the
shore up and down, but there was no sign of camp-fire, or smoke above the
woods, which generally covered the forest as with a fog in still weather,
no sound of rifle-shot, blare of trumpet, or human voice. The caravan, we
thought, must have found a fine track, and proceeded to the cataracts
ahead.
On the 16th the river column pulled hard up stream, passed Mabengu
villages, came up to a deep but narrow creek flowing from the south bank
into the Nevva, as the Aruwimi was now called, looked anxiously up
stream, and an hour later we had reached the foot of Mabengu Rapids. On
the right bank, opposite to where we selected a camping-place, was a
large settlement--that of Itiri. Then, having as yet, met no traces of
the absent column, I sent boat's crew up the creek to search for traces
of fording. After ascending several miles up the creek, the boat's crew
returned unsuccessful; then I despatched it back again to within
half-an-hour's distance of Avisibba, and at midnight the boat returned to
announce their failure to find any traces of the missing.
On the 17th the boat's crew, with "Three o'clock," the hunter (Saat
Tato), and six scouts, were sent to our camping-place of the 15th, with
orders for the hunter and his six scouts to follow the path observed
there--inland--until they had struck the trail of the column, then to
follow the trail and overtake them, and return with them to the river. On
the boat's return, the coxswain informed me that they had seen the trail
about 7 miles (3 hours' march). I concluded that Mr. Jephson had led his
column south, instead of E. by N. and E. N. E., according to course of
river, and that Saat Tato would overtake them, and return next day.
Our condition at the river camp was this. We had thirty-nine canoemen and
boatmen, twenty-eight sick people, three Europeans, and three boys, and
one of the Europeans (Lieutenant Stairs) was suffering from a dangerous
wound, and required the constant care of the surgeon. One man had died of
dysentery at Avisibba. We had a dying idiot in camp, who had become
idiotic some days before. We had twenty-nine suffering from pleurisy,
dysentery, incurable debility, and eight suffering from wounds. One
called Khalfan was half strangled with the wound in his windpipe, another
called Saadi, wounded in the arm, appeared dangerously ill, his arm was
swollen, and gave him great pain. Out of the thirty-nine available I had
despatched three separate parties in different directions to scout for
news of the missing column, lest it was striking across some great bend
to reach the river a long distance higher up, while we, unable to stir,
were on the other side of the curve. Across the river the people of
Itiri, perceiving we were so quiet on our side of the river, seemed to be
meditating an attack, and only two miles below on our bank was the large
settlement of Mabengu, from whose inhabitants we might hear at any
moment, while our little force of thirty-nine men, scattered in various
directions, were searching for the missing 300. But the poet said that it
became
"No man to nurse despair;
But in the teeth of clenched antagonisms
To follow the worthiest till he die."
[Illustration: THE RIVER COLUMN ASCENDING THE ARUWIMI RIVER WITH
"ADVANCE"
AND SIXTEEN CANOES.]
I quote from my diary of August 18th.
The idiot fell asleep last night. His troubles are over, and we have
buried him.
I wonder if Tennyson were here, who wrote such noble lines, what he would
think of our state. A few days ago I was chief of 370 men, rich in goods,
munitions of war, medicines, and contented with such poor comforts as we
had, and to-day I have actually only eighteen men left fit for a day's
march, the rest have vanished. I should be glad to know where.
If 389 picked men, such as we were when we left Yambuya, are unable to
reach Lake Albert, how can Major Barttelot with 250 men make his way
through this endless forest. We have travelled, on an average, 8 hours
per day for forty-four days since leaving Yambuya. At two miles per hour
we ought, by this date, to have arrived on the Lake shore, but, instead
of being there, we have accomplished just a third of the distance. The
poet says we must not "nurse despair," for to do that is to lie down and
die, to make no effort, and abandon hope.
Our wounded take considerable time to heal. The swelling is increasing,
the wounds are most painful, not one has yet proved fatal, but they are
all quite incapacitated from duty.
The fifth rain of this month began at 8 A.M. Had we not enough
afflictions without this perpetual rain? One is almost tempted to think
that the end is approaching. The very "flood gates of heaven" seem
opened, and nature is dissolving. Such a body of rain is falling that the
view of all above is obscured by the amazing fall of rain-drops. Think of
the countless numbers of leaves in this forest, and that every leaf drops
ten to twenty times per minute, and that from the soaking ground rises a
grey cloud of minute rain in vapour, and that the air is full of floating
globules of water and flying shreds of leaves! And add to all this the
intense fall of rain as the blast comes bearing down the top, and whips
drowning showers on us, and sways the countless branches, and rushes
wailing through the glades with such force, as though it would wrench the
groaning trees out of the earth. The moaning and groaning of the forest
is far from comforting, and the crashing and fall of mighty trees is far
from assuring, but it is a positive terror when the thunder rumbles
above, and its sounds reverberating through the aisles and crooked
corridors of the forest, and the blazing lightning darts spitefully
hither and thither its forky tongues and sheets of flame, and explodes
over our heads with overwhelming and deafening shocks. It would be a vast
relief for our sick and wounded to be free of such sounds. An European
battle has no such variety. And throughout the day this has continued
unceasingly. It is now about the tenth hour of the day. It is scarcely
possible daylight will ever appear again, at least so I judge from the
human faces steeped in misery. Their owners appear stupefied by terror,
woe, sickness, loss of friends, hunger, rain and thunder, and general
wretchedness. They may be seen crouching under plantain-leaf sheds,
native shields, cotton shelters, straw mats, earthen and copper pots
above their heads, even saddles, tent canvass covers, blankets, each body
wreathed in blue vapour, self-absorbed with speechless anguish. The poor
asses with their ears drawn back, inverted eyes and curving backs,
captive fowls with drooping crests represent abject discomfort. Alas! the
glory of this earth is quite extinguished. When she finally recovered her
beauty, and her children assumed their proud bearing, and the growing
lakes and increasing rivers were dried up, and how out of chaos the sun
rose to comfort the world again I know not. My own feeling of misery had
so exhausted me that a long sleep wrapped me in merciful oblivion.
_August 19th._--Still without news of land caravan. The scouts have
returned without having seen any traces of the missing. Two of the
wounded men are doing very badly. Their sufferings appear to be
terrible.
_August 20th._--Still without news of caravan. Young Saadi wounded by a
poisoned arrow on the morning of the 14th, is attacked with tetanus, and
is in a very dangerous condition. Wherefore I take it to be a vegetable
poison. Khalfan's neck and spine have become rigid. I have given both
morphine by injection, but the doses though double, that is in half
grains, do not appear to ease the sufferers much. Stairs is just the same
as yesterday, neither worse nor better. The wound is painful, still he
has appetite, and enjoys sleep. I fear the effect on him of knowing what
the other patients are undergoing.
It is strange that out of 300 people and 3 officers, not one has sense
enough to know that he has lost the road, and that the best way of
recovering it would be to retrace their steps to Avisibba and try again.
_August 21st._--Poor Khalfan wounded in the windpipe on the 10th instant,
and the young fellow Saadi hurt on the morning of the 14th; both died in
the night, after intolerable agonies--one at 4 A.M., Saadi about
midnight. Khalfan's wound was caused by a poisoned arrow; but the poison
must have been laid on the arrow some days before it was used. He had
been daily getting weaker from abstinence from food, because of pain. The
wound did not seem dangerous; it had closed up, externally, and there
were no signs of inflammation; but the poor fellow complained he could
not swallow. He had subsisted on liquid food made of plantain flour
gruel. On the 8th day his neck became rigid and contracted; he could not
articulate, but murmur; the head was inclined forward, the abdomen was
shrunk, and on his face lines of pain and anxiety became fixed. Yesterday
he had some slight spasms. I gave two injections of half a grain
hypodermically, which relieved him for an hour, but, not much accustomed
to treat patients with morphia, I feared giving larger doses. Saadi was
punctured on the right forearm, midway between wrist and elbow--a mere
wound, such as a coarse stocking needle would have made. The wound was
sucked by a comrade; it was syringed with warm water and dressed, but on
the morning of the fourth day he was attacked with tetanus of so severe a
kind that his case was hopeless from our sheer inability to relieve him
from the frightful spasms. Morphia injections rendered him slightly
somnolent; but the spasms continued, and Saadi died on the 111th hour
after receiving the wound. I am inclined to think that the arrow was
smeared for the fight of the 14th the night previous.
A third man died of dysentery before noon, making the fourth death in
this camp.
At 5 P.M. the caravan arrived. Its sufferings have been great from mental
distress. There have been three deaths also in the land column. Maruf,
punctured in shoulder, died of tetanus on the night of the 19th, 24 hours
earlier than Saadi. This may have been due to the travel accelerating the
action of the poison.
One man named Ali was shot by an iron-barbed arrow, and died of internal
hæmorrhage, the arrow having pierced the liver. Another succumbed to
dysentery immediately after the heavy rain which had afflicted us on the
18th; thus we have had seven fatal cases since the 14th. We have several
others, in whom life is flickering. The column brought in two others
wounded by arrows. The wounds are much inflamed, and exude a gangrenous
matter.
Lieut. Stairs still appears hearty, and appears as though he was
recovering, despite the influence these many deaths might have on his
nerves. The surgeon having appeared, I feel an intense relief. I hate to
see pain, and take no delight in sick men's groans. I feel pleasure in
ministering to their needs only when conscious I can cure.
We have now about 373 in camp, but 60 of them appear fitter for a
hospital than to continue our wandering life; but in this savage region
not even rest and food can be secured for the weary souls.
A few more days of this disheartening work, attending on the sick,
looking at the agonies of men dying from lockjaw, listening to their
muffled screams, observing general distress and despondency, from hunger,
and the sad anxiety caused by the unaccountable absence of their brothers
and comrades, with the loss of 300 men impending over me must have
exercised a malign influence over myself. I am conscious of the insidious
advance of despair towards me. Our food has been bananas or plantains,
boiled or fried, our other provisions being reserved for perhaps an
extreme occasion which may present itself in the near future. The dearest
passion of my life has been, I think, to succeed in my undertakings; but
the last few days have begun to fill me with a doubt of success in the
present one.
What the feelings of the officers have been I have not heard yet; but the
men have frankly confessed that they have been delivered from a hell.
The following note has just been placed in my hands:--
"_August 1887._
"Dear Sir,
"Saat Tato reached us at 3 P.M. yesterday with your order to follow
him. We at once recrossed the river (the creek which the boat's
crew had searched) and hope to reach you to-night. I can understood
how great your anxiety must have been, and deeply regret having
caused it.
"I have the honour to be,
"&c., &c., &c.
"A. M. Jephson."
On the 22nd we moved camp to the foot of the highest Mabengu Rapids, and
on the following day proceeded above the rapids.
I then took the opportunity of mustering the people. The following
returns tell their own tale:--
Healthy. Sick. Dead. Loads.
Company No. 1 80 6 4 43
Captain Stairs, No. 2 69 14 5 50
Captain Nelson, No. 3 67 16 4 72
Captain Jephson, No. 4 63 21 3 72
Europeans 6
Boys 12
Soudanese 10
Somalis 6
Cooks 2
Donkey boy 1
Sick 57
---
373
Dead 16
---
389
---
The experiences of the column during its wanderings appeared to confirm
me in my impressions that the Aruwimi in this region of rapids was not so
much utilized by the natives as it was below. Large settlements had been
discovered inland; the scouts had traversed the forest by several
well-trodden tracks which led from the river to the interior. The river
banks were not so populous, the settlements were now generally a little
way inland, and along the river bank was a perceptible path which
materially assisted us. Ever since leaving Utiri we had noted this fact.
On the 24th we travelled a few miles, and camped below Avugadu Rapids,
near a rich plantain grove, and the next day passed the rapids and
formed a comfortable camp in a somewhat open portion of the forest,
haunted by fishermen. On the 26th the column on land swung along at a
good rate, while we had a long stretch of undisturbed river, and had to
pull hard to keep pace with them until both columns met in one of the
largest villages of the Avejeli tribe established in front of the Nepoko
mouth.
[Illustration: CASCADES OF THE NEPOKO.]
This latter river, of which Dr. Junker was the first to inform us, and
which he had crossed far up, tumbled into the Aruwimi, now called the
Itiri, by a series of cascades, over reefs of shaly rock, from an
altitude of 40 feet. The mouth was about 300 yards wide, narrowing to
about 250 yards above the cascade. The natives had staked a considerable
distance of the reef, to which to attach their large funnel-shaped
baskets for the reception of the fish washed down the rapids. The colour
of the Nepoko was of chocolate, that of the Itiri was of tea and milk.
Had I known that one week later I should have encountered Arabs, and
their desperate bands of Manyuema, there is no doubt that I should have
endeavoured to put a degree of latitude between the centre of their
influence and our route. Even as it was, I mentally debated a change of
route, from some remarks made to me by Binza (Dr. Junker's Monbuttu boy),
who suggested that it were better to travel through lands inhabited by
"decent men," to such a horrid region infested by peoples who did not
deserve the name of men applied to them, and that the Momvu tribes were
sure of according a welcome to those who could show in return that they
appreciated hospitality. Binza was most enticing in his descriptions of
the Momvu nation. But food with the Avejeli was abundant and various, and
we hoped that a change had come over the land. For ever since we had
observed a difference in the architecture of the native dwellings, we had
observed a change for the better in the diet of the people. Below Panga
Falls the aborigines principally subsisted on manioc, and on the
different breads, puddings, cakes, and porridges to which they converted
these tubers. It will not be forgotten, perhaps, that tapioca is made out
of manioc or cassava. But above Panga Falls manioc had been gradually
replaced by plantain groves and the plantain is a much more excellent
edible than manioc for an expedition, and the groves had been clearly
growing into higher importance, therefore we hoped that happier days were
in store for us. There were also fields of Indian corn, manioc, yams, and
colocassia, plots of tobacco for the smokers, and to our great joy we
came across many fowls. A halt was ordered that the sorely-tried people
might recuperate.
In their very excusable eagerness for meat the Zanzibaris and Soudanese
were very reckless. No sooner was a fowl sighted than there was a general
scramble for it; some reckless fellows used their rifles to shoot the
chickens, and many a cartridge was expended uselessly for which due
punishment was frequently awarded. The orders were most positive that no
ammunition was to be wasted, and the efforts made to detect all breaches
of these orders were most energetic, but when did a Zanzibari obey orders
when away from his employer's eye? The indiscriminate shooting of this
day resulted in the shooting of one of the brave band of hard-working
pioneers. A bullet from a Winchester struck him in the foot, the bones of
which were pulverized and its amputation became imperative. Surgeon Parke
performed the operation in a most skilful and expeditious manner, and as
the good surgeon was most resolute when "one of his cases" required
care--this unfortunate[I] young man had to be lifted in and out by
eight men, must needs have the largest share of a canoe that nothing
might offend the tender wound, and of necessity required and received the
most bounteous supply of the best food and to have servants to wait upon
him--in short, such a share of good things and ready services that I
often envied him, and thought that for a sixpence in addition I would not
mind exchanging places with him.
Of course another severe lecture followed, and there were loud
protestations that they would all pay implicit attention in the future,
and of course before the next day every promise was forgotten. There is
much to be said for these successive breaches of promise. They relieve
the mind from vast care and all sense of responsibility. No restraint
burdens it, and an easy gladness brightens the face. Why should a man,
being an animal, continually fetter himself with obligations as though he
were a moral being to be held accountable for every idle word uttered in
a gushing moment?
On the 28th the river column consisting now of the _Advance_ steel boat
and sixteen canoes, pushed up river to a camp five miles above Avejeli.
The land party was left far behind, for they were struggling through a
series of streams and creeks, and buried in depths of suffocatingly close
bush, and did not arrive until the next day at noon, when they were urged
to proceed about two hours higher, whither we followed them.
We arrived at the foot of a big cataract on the 30th, and by observation
ascertained that we had reached half-way to the Albert Lake, Kavalli
being in 30° 30' and Yambuya in 25° 3-1/2'. Our camp on this day was in
about 27° 47'.
We had 163 geographical miles in an air line to make yet, which we could
never accomplish within 64 days as we had performed the western half of
the route. The people were in an impoverished state of body, and mentally
depressed, ulcers were raging like an epidemic, anæmia had sapped their
vitality. They were told the half-way camp was reached, but they replied
with murmurs of unbelief. They asked, "How can the master tell? Will that
instrument show him the road? Will it tell him which is the path? Why
does it not tell us, then, that we may see and believe? Don't the natives
know their own country better? Which of them has seen grass? Do they not
all say that all the world is covered with trees and thick bush? Bah--the
master talks to us as though we were children and had no proper
perception."
The morning of the evil date, August 31st, dawned as on other days. It
struggled through dense clouds of mist, and finally about 9 o'clock the
sun appeared, pale, indistinct, a mere circle of lustreless light. But in
the meantime we were hard at our frequent task of cutting a broad highway
through the bush and forest, through which the boat could be carried
bodily by 60 men, standing underneath; the crew of the flotilla were
wrestling with the mad waters, and shoving their vessels up steep slopes
of a racing river.
The highway was finished in an hour, and a temporary camp was located
above. The canoes began to arrive. I left the Doctor to superintend the
pioneers bearing the boat, but he presently returned to report that the
boat could not be lifted. I retraced my steps to oversee the operation
personally. I had succeeded in conveying it half way when my European
servant came running at a mad pace, crying out as he ran: "Sir, oh, sir,
Emin Pasha has arrived."
"Emin Pasha!"
[Illustration: "THE PASHA IS COMING."]
"Yes, sir. I have seen him in a canoe. His red flag, like ours (the
Egyptian), is hoisted up at the stern. It is quite true, sir!"
Of course we bounded forward; the boat was dropped as though it was red
hot. A race began, master and man striving for the lead. In the camp the
excitement was also general. It was owing, we soon heard, to the arrival
of nine Manyuema, who served one called Uledi Balyuz, known to natives by
the name of Ugarrowwa, and who was reported to be settled about eight
marches up river, and commanding several hundred armed men.
The Arabs were, then, so far inland on the Upper Aruwimi, and I had
flattered myself that I had heard the last of these rovers! We were also
told that there were fifty of them camped six miles above on their way,
by orders of Ugarrowwa, to explore the course of the river, to ascertain
if communication with Stanley Falls could be obtained by the unknown
stream on whose banks they had settled.
We imparted the information they desired, whereupon they said they would
return to their camp and prepare for a hospitable reception on the
morrow. The Zanzibaris were considerably elated at the news, for what
reason may shortly be seen.
The first absconder was one Juma, who deserted with half a hundredweight
of biscuit that night.
On the 1st September, in the early morning, we were clear of the rapids,
and, rowing up in company with the caravan, were soon up at the village
where the Manyuema were said to be camped. At the gate there was a dead
male child, literally hacked to pieces; within the palisades was a dead
woman, who had been speared. The Manyuema had disappeared. It seemed to
us then that some of our men had damped their joy at the encounter with
us, by suggesting that the slaves with them might probably cause in us a
revulsion of feeling. Suspicion of this caused an immediate change in
their feelings. Their fears impelled them to decamp instantly. Their
society was so much regretted, however, that five Zanzibaris, taking
five loads, four of ammunition and one of salt, disappeared.
We resumed our journey, and halted at the base of another series of
rapids.
The next day Saat Tato, having explored the rapids, reported
encouragingly, and expressed his confidence that without much difficulty
these could also be surmounted. This report stimulated the boatmen to
make another trial. While the river column was busy in its own peculiar
and perilous work, a search party was despatched to hunt news of the
missing men, and returned with one man, a box of ammunition, and three
rifles. The search party had discovered the deserters in the forest, with
a case of ammunition open, which they were distributing. In trying to
surround them, the deserters became alarmed and scudded away, leaving
three of their rifles and a case behind them.
On the 3rd of September five more deserted, carrying away one case of
Remington cartridges, one case of Winchester cartridges, one box of
European provisions, and one load of fine Arab clothing, worth £50.
Another was detected with a box of provisions open before him, having
already abstracted a tin of sago, one tin of Liebig, a tin of butter, and
one of milk. Ten men had thus disappeared in a couple of days. At this
rate, in sixty days the Expedition would be ended. I consulted the
chiefs, but I could gain no encouragement to try what extreme measures
would effect. It was patent, however, to the dullest that we should be
driven to resort to extremities soon to stop this wholesale desertion and
theft. Since leaving Yambuya we had lost forty-eight rifles and fifteen
cases of Maxim, Winchester, and Remington ammunition.
The day following four men deserted, and one was caught in the act of
desertion. The people were accordingly mustered, and sixty men, suspected
of being capable of desertion, as no head man would guarantee their
fidelity, were rendered helpless by abstracting the mainsprings of the
rifles, which we took and locked up. Demoralisation had set in rapidly
since we had met the Manyuema. Nothing was safe in their hands. Boxes
had been opened, cloth had been stolen, beads had been pilfered, much
ammunition had been taken out of the cases, and either thrown, or
secreted as a reserve, by the way.
On September 5th we camped near Hippo Broads, so called because the river
was fine and broad, and a large herd of hippopotami were seen. The site
of our resting place was an abandoned clearing, which had become the
haunts of these amphibiæ, and exquisite bits of greensward caused us to
imagine for a moment that possibly the open country was not far. Foragers
returned after a visit into the interior, on both banks, with four goats
and a few bananas, numbers of roast rats, cooked beetles, and slugs. On
the 6th we reached a cataract opposite the Bafaido settlement, where we
obtained a respectable supply of plantains. The day following we dragged
our canoes over a platform of rock, over a projecting ledge of which the
river tumbled 10 feet.
From the Bafaido cataract we journeyed along a curving river to Avakubi
Rapids, and formed a camp at the landing-place. A path led hence into the
interior, which the hungry people soon followed. While scouring the
country for food, a woman and child were found, who were brought to me to
be examined. But the cleverest interpreter was at fault. No one
understood a syllable of the meaningless babble.
Some more rapids were reached the next day. We observed that the oil-palm
flourished throughout this section.
Palm nuts were seen in heaps near each village. We even discovered some
palms lately planted, which showed some regard for posterity. Achmet, the
Somali, who had insisted on leaving Yambuya, in accompanying us had been
a passenger ever since we had struck the river above Yankondé, was
reported to be dying. He was said to suffer from melanosis. Whatever the
disease might be, he had become singularly emaciated, being a literal
skeleton covered lightly with skin.
From this camp we rounded a point, passed over a short winding course of
river, and in an hour approached in view of an awful raging stream choked
by narrow banks of shale. The outlook beyond the immediate foreview was
first of a series of rolling waves whirling and tossed into spray,
descending in succeeding lines, and a great fall of about 30 feet, and
above that a steep slope of wild rapids, and the whole capped with mist,
and tearing down tumultuously towards us. This was appalling considering
the state of the column. There were about 120 loads in the canoes, and
between fifty and sixty sick and feeble people. To leave these in the
woods to their fate was impossible, to carry the loads and advance
appeared equally so; yet to drag the canoes and bear the boat past such a
long stretch of wild water appeared to be a task beyond our utmost
powers.
[Illustration: VIEW OF BAFAIDO CATARACT.]
Leaving the vessels below the falls and rapids, I led the Expedition by
land to the destroyed settlement of Navabi, situated near a bend of the
Itiri (Aruwimi) above the disturbed stream, where we established a camp.
The sick dragged themselves after the caravan, those too feeble and
helpless to travel the distance were lifted up and borne to the camp.
Officers then mustered the companies for the work of cutting a broad
highway through the bush and hauling the canoes. This task occupied two
whole days, while No. 1 Company foraged far and near to obtain food, but
with only partial success.
[Illustration: ATTACKING AN ELEPHANT IN THE ITURI RIVER.]
Navabi must have been a remarkable instance of aboriginal prosperity
once. It possessed groves of the elais and plantain, large plots of
tobacco and Indian corn; the huts under the palms looked almost idyllic;
at least so we judged from two which were left standing, and gave us a
bit of an aspect at once tropical, pretty, and apparently happy.
Elsewhere the whole was desolate. Some parties, which we conjectured
belonged to Ugarrowwa, had burnt the settlement, chopped many of the
palms down, levelled the banana plantations, and strewed the ground with
the bones of the defenders. Five skulls of infants were found within our
new camp at Navabi.
On the 12th, as we resumed our journey, we were compelled to leave five
men who were in an unconscious state and dying. Achmet, the Somali, whom
we had borne all the way from Yambuya, was one of them.
From Navabi we proceeded to the landing place of Memberri, which
evidently was a frequent haunt of elephants. One of these not far off was
observed bathing luxuriously in the river near the right bank. Hungry for
meat, I was urged to try my chance. On this Expedition I had armed myself
with the Express rifles of 577-bore, which Indian sportsmen so much
applaud. The heavy 8-bores were with Major Barttelot and Mr. Jameson. I
succeeded in planting six shots in the animal at a few yards distance,
but to no purpose except to unnecessarily wound him.
At Memberri we made a muster, and according to returns our numbers
stood:--
August 23rd 373 men.
September 12th 343 men.
14 deserted and 16 deaths; carriers 235; loads 227; sick 58
Added to these eloquent records every member of the Expedition suffered
from hunger, and the higher we ascended the means for satisfying the
ever-crying want of food appeared to diminish, for the Bakusu and
Basongora slaves, under the Manyuema head men of Ugarrowwa, had destroyed
the plantations, and either driven the populations to unknown recesses in
the forest or had extirpated them.
On the following day we reached Amiri Falls. The previous day the head
man, Saadi, had been reproached for leaving one named Makupeté to return
along the track to search for a box of ammunition that was reported to be
missing, whereupon Saadi took the unwise resolution of proceeding to hunt
up Makupeté. Then one, Uledi Manga, disgusted with the severe work and
melancholy prospect before us, absconded with another box of ammunition.
We had only three Zanzibar donkeys left. Out of the six with which we had
started from Yambuya, one of the three, probably possessed with a
presentiment that the caravan was doomed, took it into his head that it
was better to return before it was too late, and deserted also. Whither
he went no one knew. It is useless to search in the forest for a lost
man, donkey, or article. Like the waves divided by a ship's prow uniting
at the stern, so the forest enfolds past finding within its deep shades
whatsoever enters, and reveals nothing.
Near a single old fishing hut our camp was pitched on the 15th. The river
after its immense curve northward and eastward now trended
south-easterly, and we had already reached S. Lat. 1° 24' from 1° 58'.
Having been in the habit of losing a box of ammunition per diem for the
last few days, having tried almost every art of suppressing this robbery,
we now had recourse to lashing the boxes in series of eights, and
consigning each to the care of a head man, and holding him responsible
for them. This we hoped would check the excuse that the men disappeared
into the forest under all kinds of wants.
On the 16th of September, while halting for the midday rest and lunch,
several loud reports of musketry were heard up-river. I sent Saat Tato to
explore, and in half-an-hour we heard three rifle-shots announcing
success; and shortly after three canoes besides our own appeared loaded
with men in white dresses, and gay with crimson flags. These came, so
they reported, to welcome us in the name of Ugarrowwa, their chief, who
would visit my evening camp. After exchanging compliments, they returned
up-river, firing their muskets and singing gaily.
At the usual hour we commenced the afternoon march, and at 4 P.M. were in
camp just below Ugarrowwa's station. At the same time a roll of drums,
the booming of many muskets, and a flotilla of canoes, announced the
approach of the Arab leader. About 50 strong, robust fellows accompanied
him, besides singers and women, every one of whom was in prime condition
of body.
The leader gave his name as Ugarrowwa, the Zanzibar term for "Lualaba,"
or native name of "Ruarawwa," known formerly as Uledi Balyuz (or the
Consuls Uledi). He had accompanied Captains Speke and Grant, 1860-3, as a
tent-boy, and had been left or had deserted in Unyoro. He offered as a
gift to us two fat goats and about 40 lbs. of picked rice, a few ripe
plantains, and fowls.
Upon asking him if there was any prospect of food being obtained for the
people in the vicinity of his station, he admitted, to our sorrow, that
his followers in their heedless way had destroyed everything, that it was
impossible to check them because they were furious against the "pagans"
for the bloody retaliation and excesses the aborigines had committed
against many and many of their countrymen during their search for ivory.
Asked what country we were in, he replied that we were in Bunda, the
natives of which were Babunda; that the people on the north bank in the
neighbourhood of his station were called Bapai or Bavaiya.
He also said that his raiders had gone eastward a month's journey, and
had seen from a high hill (Kassololo?), a grassy country extending to the
eastward.
Further information was to the effect that his caravan, 600 strong, had
left the Lualaba at Kibongés (above Leopold R.), and that in nine moons
he had travelled the distance of 370 geographical miles, about a N.E.
course, throughout continuous forest without having seen as much grass as
would cover the palm of his hand; that he had only crossed one river, the
Lindi, before he sighted the Ituri, as the Aruwimi was now called; that
he had heard from Arab traders that the Lulu (Lowwa) rose from a small
lake called the Ozo, where there was a vast quantity of ivory.
Four days higher Ugarrowwa possessed another station manned with 100
guns, near the Lenda river, a tributary of the Aruwimi, which entered it
from the south bank. His people had sown rice, of which he had brought
us some, and onions; but near each settlement was a waste, as it was not
policy to permit such "murderous pagans" to exist near them, otherwise he
and his people's lives were not safe. He had lost about 200 men of the
Bakusu and Basangora tribes, and many a fine Manyuema headman. One time
he had lost 40, of whom not one had returned. He had an Arab guest at his
station who had lost every soul out of his caravan.
I observed a disposition on his part to send some men with me to the
Lake, and there appeared to be no difficulty in housing with him my sick
men for a consideration to be hereafter agreed upon.
On the 17th we proceeded a short distance to encamp opposite Ugarrowwa's
station.
In the afternoon I was rowed across in my boat to the Arab settlement,
and was hospitably received. I found the station to be a large
settlement, jealously fenced round with tall palisades and short planks
lashed across as screens against chance arrows. In the centre, facing the
river, was the house of the chief, commodious, lofty, and comfortable,
the walls of which were pierced for musketry. It resembled a fort with
its lofty and frowning walls of baked clay. On passing through a passage
which separated Ugarrowwa's private apartments from the public rooms, I
had a view of a great court 60 feet square, surrounded by buildings and
filled with servants. It suggested something baronial in its busy aspect,
the abundant service, the great difference of the domestics, amplitude of
space, and plenty. The place was certainly impregnable against attack,
and, if at all spiritedly defended, a full battalion would have been
necessary to have captured this outpost of a slave trader.
I was informed that the river for many days' march appeared to flow from
the eastward; that the Ihuru, a considerable distance up, flowed from the
northward and joined the Ituri, and that, besides the Lenda, there was
another affluent called the Ibina, which entered from the south.
Somewhere higher up also,--vaguely given as ten days' by others twenty
days' march,--another Arab was settled who was called Kilonga-Longa,
though his real name was also Uledi.
At this settlement I saw the first specimen of the tribe of dwarfs who
were said to be thickly scattered north of the Ituri, from the Ngaiyu
eastward. She measured thirty-three inches in height, and was a perfectly
formed young woman of about seventeen, of a glistening and smooth
sleekness of body. Her figure was that of a miniature coloured lady, not
wanting in a certain grace, and her face was very prepossessing. Her
complexion was that of a quadroon, or of the colour of yellow ivory. Her
eyes were magnificent, but absurdly large for such a small
creature--almost as large as that of a young gazelle; full, protruding,
and extremely lustrous. Absolutely nude, the little demoiselle was quite
possessed, as though she were accustomed to be admired, and really
enjoyed inspection. She had been discovered near the sources of the
Ngaiyu.
Ugarrowwa, having shown me all his treasures, including the splendid
store of ivory he had succeeded in collecting, accompanied me to the
boat, and sent away with me large trays of exquisitely cooked rice, and
an immense bowl full of curried fowl, a dish that I am not fond of, but
which inspired gratitude in my camp.
Our landing-place presented a lively scene. The sellers of bananas,
potatoes, sugar-cane, rice, flour of manioc, and fowls clamoured for
customers, and cloths and beads exchanged hands rapidly. This is the kind
of life which the Zanzibaris delight in, like almost all other natives,
and their happy spirits were expressed in sounds to which we had long
been strangers.
Early this morning I had sent a canoe to pick up any stragglers that
might have been unable to reach camp, and before 3 P.M. five sick men,
who had surrendered themselves to their fate, were brought in, and
shortly after a muster was held. The following were the returns of men
able to march:--
Men. Chiefs.
No. 1 Company 69 4
No. 2 " 57 4
No. 3 " 60 4
No. 4 " 61 4
Cooks 3
Boys 9
Europeans 6
Soudanese 6
--- ---
271 16
Sick 56
---
327
Departed from Yambuya 389
---
Loss by desertion and death 62
---
The boat and canoes were manned, and the sick transported to the Arab
settlement, arrangements having been made for boarding them at the rate
of five dollars each per month until Major Barttelot should appear, or
some person bearing an order from me.
It will be remembered that we met Ugarrowwa's men on the 31st of August,
one day's march from Avejeli, opposite the Nepoko mouth. These men,
instead of pursuing their way down river, had returned to Ugarrowwa to
inform him of the news they had received from us, believing that their
mission was accomplished. It was Ugarrowwa's wish to obtain gunpowder, as
his supply was nearly exhausted. Major Barttelot possessed two and a
quarter tons of this explosive, and, as reported by us, was advancing up
river, but as he had so much baggage it would take several months before
he could arrive so far. I wished to communicate with Major Barttelot, and
accordingly I stipulated with Ugarrowwa that if his men continued their
way down river along the south or left bank until they delivered a letter
into his hands, I would give him an order for three hundredweight of
powder. He promised to send forty scouts within a month, and expressed
great gratitude. (He actually did send them, as he promised, between the
20th and 25th of October. They succeeded in reaching Wasp Rapids, 165
miles from Yambuya, whence they were obliged to return, owing to losses
and the determined hostility of the natives.)
Our Zanzibari deserters had been deluded like ourselves. Imagining that
Ugarrowwa's people had continued their journey along some inland route
westward, they had hastened westward in pursuit to join them, whereas we
discovered they had returned eastward to their master. The arrangements
made with Ugarrowwa, and the public proclamation of the man himself
before all, would, I was assured, suffice to prevent further desertion.
We were pretty tired of the river work with its numerous rapids, and I
suggested to Ugarrowwa that I should proceed by land; the Arab, however,
was earnest in dissuading me from that course, as the people would be
spared the necessity of carrying many loads, the sick having been left
behind, and informed me that his information led him to believe that the
river was much more navigable above for many days than below.
-----
[I] Was he very unfortunate? I paid Ugarrowwa for thirteen
months' board, sent him to Stanley Falls, thence down
the Congo and by sea to Madeira, _viâ_ the Cape to
Zanzibar, where he arrived in a state well described by
"as fat as butter."