FROM KOROSKO TO ABOO HAMED.--THE NILE AGAIN.--ADVENTURE WITH A
CROCODILE.
[Illustration: THE GUIDE IN THE DESERT.]
The Desert journey from Korosko is not an affair to be undertaken
carelessly and without thoughtful preparation. The distance is about two
hundred and fifty miles, and is traversed in eight days. It is necessary
to carry water in goat-skins all the way, as there is only one well or
spring on the route, and the water from it is undrinkable by man, and
only endurable by the powerful stomach of the camel. Of course, the
supply was used very sparingly; washing, except in sand, was quite out
of the question, and as none of the party had a fondness for the
sand-bath, they made no ablutions till reaching the Nile once more,
except to moisten their eyes in the morning. The skins of water were
distributed upon the camels, and each of the travellers had a small skin
hanging at his saddle-bow for a daily supply. By the advice and example
of the Doctor each of the boys had an extra skin of water hidden in his
baggage, and its existence was carefully concealed from the Arab
drivers. These fellows are inclined to improvidence, and had they known
of this private provision they would have been certain to count it as
part of the regular supply, and expect to draw upon it.
The heat of the Desert and the glare of the sun incline the traveller to
thirst, and perhaps the knowledge of the necessity for economy is an
additional incentive to it. Human nature has curious ways, and the
desire for a thing generally increases in proportion to the difficulty
of procuring it. Frank and Fred found that the fact of the scarcity of
water, and the necessity of limiting their use of the precious fluid,
increased their longing for it. At first they yielded by taking
occasional draughts, but very soon they decided upon the old expedient
of chewing a bit of leather or some other hard substance, to create a
flow of saliva to moisten their lips. With a little self-denial, aided
by the above practice, they soon conquered their thirst, and were able
to get along nearly as well as the Arabs who accompanied them. Frank
intimated that the warmth of the water, and the flavor of goat-skin
which it soon acquired, had a material influence in lessening his desire
for it.
The dreary waste of sand was partially relieved here and there by ranges
of hills or low mountains, but they were barren as the rest of the
Desert, and therefore made comparatively little variation in the
landscape. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun poured its
blistering rays upon the travellers during all the time it was above the
horizon. In the morning and evening the heat was not intense, but in the
middle of the day it was like the blast of a furnace.
At first the jolting of the camels was disagreeable, but in a little
while the boys became accustomed to it, and tried to believe they were
enjoying themselves. The camels of easiest motion are selected for
riding purposes, and the youths were fortunate in their animals, which
had been chosen by Abdul. Frank had a very tall and powerful camel,
while Fred was on one little more than two-thirds the size of Frank's.
The two animals were friendly to each other, but not to their riders,
and the boys soon abandoned the attempt to establish social relations
with their beasts of burden. "You may possibly be on good terms with
them after a while," said Abdul, "but you must be patient. You could
hardly expect it under a fortnight, and we ought to be in Aboo Hamed
before that time. Most camels hate Europeans instinctively, but are
docile with Arabs, just as mules are said to dislike white men and
prefer the society of negroes."
[Illustration: A MIRAGE IN THE DESERT.]
On the second day of their journey Frank happened to look ahead, and to
his great surprise saw a beautiful lake, surrounded by groves of trees.
He shouted to Frank, and then to the Doctor and Abdul, who were riding
just behind them.
Abdul quickened the pace of his camel, and was soon at Frank's side.
"You told us there was no water on the road," said Frank, "and there is
a lake right before us. I suppose it is filled with salt-water, and
therefore doesn't count."
"Worse than salt-water," responded Doctor Bronson, who joined them. "It
isn't water at all, but a mirage."
"Of course it is," Frank exclaimed, with a laugh; "I ought to have known
better than be deceived by it."
"You are not the first to be deceived by it," said Abdul, "and it has
been the cause of many deaths on this very route. Men have wandered from
the road, confident that they were on the borders of a lake or river,
and have fallen exhausted to die on the ground. Colonel Long, in his
account of his travels in Central Africa, tells of a regiment on its
march from Korosko across this desert. The men saw these lakes of water
formed by the mirage; deceived by the illusion and maddened by thirst,
they broke from the ranks, in spite of the protests of their guide, and
went in search of water. They found their error too late, as most of
them perished of exhaustion and thirst."
"Look at the graves along the road, and the bleaching bones of the
camels," said the Doctor, "and you will understand the perils of the
journey over the desert."
It was as Doctor Bronson suggested; the way was marked by thousands of
skeletons of the faithful beasts of burden that had fallen in the
service of their masters; and here and there, at painfully frequent
intervals, were the graves of men who had perished of thirst or of the
excessive heat. Even if no other landmarks existed, these would be
sufficient to indicate the road.
The evening journey was continued till a late hour, and the boys were
surprised to find that the desert air, so scorching during the day, was
of a chilliness suggesting frost at night. Doctor Bronson recalled to
them their experience in India, where there was often a sensible change
of temperature in going from sunshine into shadow, and said it was a
noticeable feature of the desert that it did not retain at night any
appreciable portion of the heat poured upon it during the day. "It is
fortunate for man that such is the case," he added, "as the coolness of
the night enables us to recuperate from the exhaustion of the sweltering
temperature of daytime."
[Illustration: SUNRISE ON THE SEA OF SAND.]
The wells or springs to which allusion has been made are about half way
from Korosko to Aboo Hamed. They are shallow pools of exceedingly bitter
water, quite unfit for men to drink, but not injurious to camels. Doctor
Bronson tasted the water, and said the bitterness was caused by sulphate
of magnesia, commonly known as Epsom salts. Frank and Fred were curious
to try it, but their curiosity was easily satisfied. A few drops on the
tongue made a burning sensation, which did not show a disposition to go
away immediately.
The tents were pitched a short distance from the wells and close to an
encampment of Arabs, who were spending two or three days there to
refresh their camels. Around some of the pools there was a little
vegetation, but not enough to furnish a good meal for a hungry animal;
there were a few stunted palms in the valley, and the lines on the sand
showed that at some former time a river flowed there. The camels drank
freely of the water, and evidently understood that they must lay in a
supply for the rest of the journey to the Nile.
[Illustration: SCENE AT THE WELLS.]
They left the wells early in the morning, and after a few hours found
themselves on a broad, sandy plain, where the thermometer at two o'clock
in the afternoon stood at 100°. It was the greatest heat they had found
since leaving the Nile. Frank kept the record of the temperature, and
reported to the Doctor each evening the result of his observations. In
the morning it was chilly; the Arabs shivered in all their wrappings,
and our friends sought shelter in their overcoats for the early part of
the ride, but invariably laid them aside when the sun was a couple of
hours above the horizon. By noon they were in their lightest garments,
and so continued till evening, when the air grew cool again.
There was a daily variation of not far from forty degrees between the
highest and lowest readings of the thermometer. The lowest record was
50°, and the highest 100°; but these did not occur on the same day. The
boys were not slow to understand why the Doctor had made such a liberal
provision of blankets, and were greatly obliged to him for his
forethought.
As they approached the Nile, Frank and Fred vied with each other to get
the first glimpse of the great river. The mirage was all around them,
and the boys were several times deceived by it, until Abdul came to
their assistance.
"I will give you a rule," said he, "by which you can always tell a real
lake or river from an imaginary one. In a mirage the imaginary lake is
of the same color as the sky above it, while the Nile is of a deeper
blue. You will rarely, if ever, find the sky and water of the same hue
when the sun is shining, and this is the only time when the mirage
appears. With this simple rule in mind, you are not likely to be
deceived."
[Illustration: MOUNTAIN PASS IN THE DESERT.]
While they were talking Fred made good use of his eyes, and suddenly
pointed ahead to a little cleft in the line of rocky hills. There was a
strip of blue which did not resemble the sky in color, and he felt
certain it was the Nile.
"You are right," said Abdul, "and that is the Nile. We will make our
camp to-night on its banks."
Soon a fringe of palm-trees came into sight; the blue streak increased
to a broad expanse of water, and the line of palms into a grove. Then
they came among fields of beans and other green things, and before
sunset they stood on the bank of the river, and drank freely of the
water, which Ali brought them in a large bowl. It was a great
improvement upon the warm and strongly flavored water which had been
their only resource for eight long days, and they both declared it the
sweetest draught they had ever taken.
"You can understand now, better than ever before," said the Doctor, "why
the Arabs seem to worship the Nile, and why the ancient Egyptians
regarded it as a divinity. Without it all this part of Africa would be
like the desert we have just passed, and existence here would be
impossible."
"And I understand, too," responded Fred, "why the Arab conception of
Paradise abounds in rivers of never-failing water. Mohammed wrote from
his own experience, as he lived among the deserts of Arabia."
An Arab merchant, with whom Abdul was acquainted, came to offer the
shelter of his house to the strangers; but they preferred their tents,
and told the dragoman to thank him for his offer and decline it. Frank
proposed a swim in the river, which was seconded by Fred. Abdul
suggested the possibility of an interview with a crocodile, and the swim
was indefinitely postponed. Crocodiles are numerous in this part of the
river, and in fact all the way from the second Cataract to the
equatorial lakes. They are by no means timid, and the stranger should
think twice before venturing into the river.
Abdul told the boys that it was not unusual for crocodiles to be counted
by dozens on the sand-banks in the upper Nile; on one occasion he saw
more than fifty together, and they did not show a disposition to slide
into the water till he was within twenty yards of them. Sometimes, when
boats were overturned in the river, the unfortunate victims of the upset
were eaten by the hideous reptiles; and they occasionally came close to
the bank and seized women or girls who were filling water-jars from the
stream.
Of course the youths were seized with a desire to shoot a crocodile, and
eagerly asked the Doctor if there would be an opportunity for a hunting
expedition. Doctor Bronson said they would remain a day at Aboo Hamed,
and he had no objection to their trying their skill if the game could be
found.
Abdul went in search of his merchant friend, and the business was soon
arranged. There was a sand-bank a little way up the river, where the
crocodiles came out to sun themselves, and he thought they could get a
shot or two by going there on the following morning.
Their sleep that night was disturbed by dreams of monster saurians.
Frank waked with a start, under the impression that he was being
swallowed feet foremost by a crocodile; he found, on coming to his
senses, that the blankets had rolled away from his feet and allowed the
cold air to fall on them, and it was the change of temperature that had
given him the impression of being devoured. Fred dreamed of falling into
the water from a boat, and finding himself where the river was full of
hungry crocodiles; the reality was that he had rolled from his couch,
and upset a water-jar which Ali had placed ready for his use in the
morning.
After breakfast they left for the crocodile hunt, the party consisting
of Frank and Fred, with Ali, the latter going as interpreter. One of the
camel-drivers went along, and there were at least a dozen Arabs who
followed, in the hope of earning or begging something from the young
hunters.
When they reached the sand-bank a single crocodile was seen by one of
the Arabs, who pointed it out to the youths. A friendly dispute
followed, to determine who should have the first shot, which would
probably be the only one. The choice fell upon Frank, and, as soon as it
was determined, he motioned the others to remain quiet while he crept
slowly in the direction of the prize.
Armed with his rifle, he went slowly along the sand till within about
sixty yards of the crocodile; at this moment the creature raised his
head and looked around, but as Frank lay perfectly still the proximity
of danger was not discovered. The reptile settled to sleep again, and
when he had been lying quiet a couple of minutes Frank advanced as
before.
The eye and the shoulder are the only vulnerable points of the
crocodile. As the eye was closed its position was not easy to make out,
and so Frank determined on shooting at the shoulder. He took deliberate
aim and fired.
The crocodile gave one convulsive motion and stretched himself on the
sand. Evidently Frank's shot had been well aimed.
The youth was about to run forward to examine his game, but was
restrained by a shout from Ali, telling him to wait for the Arabs. They
came up at the top of their speed.
"They say you must be careful," said Ali, "as the crocodile may not be
dead. He will lie quite still awhile, and when you don't expect it he
thrashes his tail round and opens his jaws."
Thus cautioned, Frank went more slowly, accompanied by the rest of the
party. To make the thing certain, Fred put a bullet through the
crocodile's eye, and Frank added another from the opposite side. At each
of these shots there was a slight movement of the creature's muscles,
but nothing that appeared dangerous.
The boys told the Arabs they might do what they pleased with the
carcass. It was of very little consequence, as the flesh is not fit to
eat, but the skin and teeth can occasionally be sold to a traveller who
desires to take home a trophy, and has not been fortunate in bagging any
game of his own. While one of them went for a rope the rest sat down and
waited; the boys followed their example, hoping another crocodile would
show himself, and give Fred a chance to try his skill; but nothing
appeared.
[Illustration: DRAGGING A CROCODILE TO LAND.]
When the man returned with the rope the party set at work to drag their
prize to the solid ground. They were very cautious in approaching him,
but finally managed to get the rope around his neck. As soon as they
commenced pulling, the legs and tail began to move, the tail swinging
from side to side in a way that would have been dangerous to any one
within its reach.
The men hauled away vigorously, and, despite the opposition of the
crocodile, they soon removed him from the narrow strip of sand and had
him safe on the main bank. A blow from a hatchet finished the work of
the boys, and the crocodile lay dead on the ground. By means of the rope
his length was ascertained, and then the youths returned to the village.
They told the story of their adventure to the Doctor, who measured the
rope, and found that the crocodile was only a few inches short of
fifteen feet long.
"It's a very good one," said Abdul, "but I've seen 'em eighteen or
twenty feet long. The great fellows are no more dangerous than the
smaller ones, as a crocodile ten feet long can drag a man under water
and hold him there till he is drowned."
[Illustration: SECURING A SUPPER.]
Abdul said that one day, while the men of Baker Pacha's party were
working among some masses of reeds that the river had piled up, they
felt something moving under their feet. They got away from the spot as
soon as possible, and a moment afterward the head of a crocodile was
thrust up from below. His body was tangled in the reeds, and before he
could get free the men attacked him. He was unable to use his tail, and
so was at their mercy; "and you may be sure," he continued, "nobody has
any mercy for a crocodile. Besides, the men were negroes from the Soudan
country, and, unlike the Arabs, they had no scruple in eating the flesh.
They made short work of him, and had a good supper that night, in
addition to the sport of killing their natural enemy."
Abdul said that the number of natives killed by crocodiles every year
along the upper part of the Nile must be quite large. Every few days a
death from this cause occurs in nearly every town or village. The
careless habits of the people are greatly in the crocodile's favor, and
he has no scruples about taking them as near his heart as the position
of his stomach will permit. When a large crocodile is killed and
dissected the proof of his misdeeds is generally discovered, in the
shape of anklets and other silver ornaments worn by his unfortunate
victims, and which remain of course undigested.
The crocodile does not eat his game on the spot where he captures it;
his habit is to drag it to a secluded place and take his time in
devouring it. In this respect he differs from his marine cousin, the
shark, who bolts his prey at once, and then, like Oliver Twist, looks
around for more.