TRAVELS OF DR ROHLFS.--THE TSETSE-FLY.--THROUGH UNYORO.
"There's another brave explorer of the valley of the Niger," said Doctor
Bronson as he resumed his seat after the conference with Abdul, "whom we
should not omit from the roll of honor."
"I know to whom you refer," said Frank.
"Who is it?" Fred asked.
"Dr. Gerhard Rohlfs," was the reply. "He is a German traveller, born
near Bremen, in 1834, who graduated in medicine, and afterward entered
the French army, and obtained the highest distinction open to a
foreigner. His service was mostly in Algeria, where he learned the
Arabic language, and in 1861 went to Morocco, where he assumed the
character of a Moslem, and travelled a long distance in the Sahara
desert."
[Illustration: A VILLAGE ON THE GUINEA COAST.]
"Quite right," said the Doctor, as Frank paused. "It was in that first
exploration he was treacherously attacked and robbed by his guides in
the desert, who left him for dead on the sands, with a broken arm. In
1864 he again travelled in Morocco, and a year later he started from
Tripoli, in the disguise of an Arab, and went to Lagos, on the Gulf of
Guinea, by way of Moorzook and other cities in that part of Africa. He
passed Lake Tchad, and continued to the Niger, which he partially
explored, together with the river Benoowe, which has already been
mentioned. His name is familiar to many people in America, as he visited
the United States in 1875, and lectured there on his travels.
"He tells some interesting stories of his adventures," the Doctor
continued, "while travelling in disguise. He had managed to make the
Grand Shereef of Morocco his friend, and he secured letters that caused
him to be received with distinguished honors in most of the towns and
cities that he visited. As he spoke Arabic fluently, and knew all the
Moslem prayers by heart, his religious faith was not often called in
question. Occasionally, however, he was open to suspicion, and as he was
among the most fanatical Moslems his life was in great danger.
"At Tidikelt he was received very kindly by the prince to whom he had
several letters of introduction. One day a Touareg sheik came to him and
said,
"'I am a prince of the Touaregs; I have been in Paris, and know the
whole country of France, and I know the Sultan of the Christians. I know
you, and have seen you; you are a Christian, and a Frenchman or an
Englishman.'
"Rohlfs assured the man that he was neither French nor English; but the
latter was so certain about it that he went to the Prince of Tidikelt
and stated his suspicions that Rohlfs was a French spy, who had come to
see what the land contained. Fortunately, the prince did not believe
him; and when Rohlfs spoke about the matter the prince replied that he
was certain he would not have been able to get a letter of
recommendation unless he had been a Moslem. He added, 'If a Christian
should come into our land provided with letters from the Sultans of
Stamboul and Morocco, I should at once hand him over to the people, for
we don't want any Christians here.'
"The answer was not at all encouraging, as it showed the great danger he
was in. He would gladly have left at once, but could not do so, as the
mere fact of his trying to escape would only strengthen the suspicion
against him. So he put on a brave front, and by the practice of his
medical skill and careful attendance to the religious ceremonies he
managed, in the course of a month or so, to get on friendly terms with
everybody once more. Then he continued his journey, and in due time
reached the regions where Christians were safe.
[Illustration: SCENE NEAR LAKE TCHAD.]
"In his journey from the Mediterranean to the Gulf of Guinea Dr. Rohlfs
had many narrow escapes, not only from the hostility of the natives, but
from fevers and other diseases which have caused the death of so many
explorers. In the neighborhood of Lake Tchad, during the period of the
inundation of the flat country surrounding it, he was obliged to travel
for several days where the water was five or six inches deep, and
frequently he was forced to wade where it rose to his waist. He suffered
much from fever caught in this region; and so unhealthy was the locality
that several of his Arab companions died from the diseases contracted
there. He was the first European to make the complete journey over the
route he followed, and it was nearly two years from the time he started
from Tunis till he arrived at the Gulf of Guinea.
"After leaving the Niger he traversed a part of the kingdom of Dahomey,
but did not visit its capital. Do you know for what Dahomey is famous?"
"Yes," replied Fred; "at least, I know one thing which travellers have
mentioned--it has an army of women instead of men."
[Illustration: AN AMAZON OF DAHOMEY.]
"Not exactly an army of women instead of men," said Doctor Bronson, "but
an army of both. The Amazons, as the feminine warriors are generally
termed, are in a separate division; and, according to Captain Burton,
who has visited the country, they take precedence and insist that they
shall be called men. They have officers of the same rank as the other
portion of the army, and these officers are always of their own sex.
There are about three thousand of these Amazons, and they are armed, as
far as possible, with the same weapons as the men. They are said to be
the bravest portion of the army, and are the great reliance of the king
whenever a fortified place is to be attacked."
One of the boys asked how they were recruited.
"As to that," was the reply, "the whole population is liable to military
duty, and the king can call to arms every person in his dominions who is
able to enter the military ranks. Before a girl can be married she is
taken before the king, and if he likes her looks she is at once enlisted
for a soldier, and that is the end of the proposed match. The Amazons
are not allowed to marry, and any man who asks one of them to do so is
in danger of losing his head. Most of them are so old and ugly that
they are not in danger of any one falling in love with them. Captain
Burton says they are generally larger than the men, more capable of
enduring fatigue, and, as far as his observation went, they make better
soldiers.
"There is a good deal of romance about the kingdom of Dahomey," the
Doctor continued. "It is a country with less than half a million
inhabitants, few manufactures, little commerce, and under the rule of a
treacherous and tyrannical king. Human sacrifices were formerly very
frequent, but within the last twenty years they have been mostly
suppressed, through the influence of the British, who invaded the
country in consequence of an insult to their consul at Lagos. The
country abounds in wild beasts of nearly all the kinds known in Africa,
and it is said that the boa-constrictor in Dahomey grows to an enormous
size. We are not likely to visit the country, and so it will not make
much difference to us whether they are large or not."
The conversation was again interrupted by Abdul, who came to say that he
thought one of the horses was suffering from the bite of the tsetse-fly,
and was afraid they might lose it.
"I have been fearing for some time," said the Doctor, "that as soon as
we entered the region of the tsetse-fly we should lose the horses. We
are not fairly in its range at present, and I hope the report that the
horse has been bitten by one of these pests is incorrect."
The incident naturally changed the topic of discussion. Doctor Bronson
gave a brief account of one of the dreads of all African travellers. It
will be found more fully described in the first volume of Dr.
Livingstone's travels.
[Illustration: 1, THE TSETSE. 2, THE SAME, MAGNIFIED. 3, ITS PROBOSCIS.]
"The tsetse-fly," said the Doctor, "is scientifically known as _Glossina
morsitans_; it is about the size of the common house-fly, and is of a
brownish color. It is very quick in its movements, and will evade the
most dexterous attempts to capture it with the hand except in cool
mornings or evenings, when it is less agile than at other times. Its
bite causes the death of the ox, the horse, and the dog. A remarkable
feature about it is that, while it is fatal to oxen and cows, it is
perfectly harmless to calves until after they are weaned."
"How is it that men can travel where this fly abounds, if its bite is so
deadly?" one of the boys asked.
"Because," was the reply, "its bite is no more injurious to man than is
that of a mosquito. It causes a slight itching, just as does the sting
of a mosquito, and that is all.
"The horse is the most ready victim of the tsetse-fly. It comes in
swarms sometimes, and lights on the back of a horse by hundreds. There
is no known remedy for its bite, and in less than a week the animal will
die.
"The sting is not a sensible one to the horse or ox, and very often an
animal may be bitten without being aware of it. In a few days there are
symptoms of a cold; the eyes and nose throw off quantities of mucus,
swellings appear under the jaws and elsewhere, the poor beast begins to
grow thin, as if starving, and finally dies of exhaustion.
"The period for the disease to perform its work varies from one week to
eight or ten weeks, and sometimes longer. It is a singular circumstance
that, while oxen, dogs, and horses are killed by it, the donkey and mule
escape altogether. Sheep perish from the bite of the tsetse, while the
goat is unharmed; and it does not seem at all injurious to any of the
wild animals of Africa. In the valley of the Zambesi there are whole
districts where the natives can keep no domestic animals except goats;
and it sometimes happens that, while one bank of a river is infested by
the deadly fly, the other will be wholly free from it, and cattle may
graze there in safety.
"When the natives are about to pass with their cattle through a tsetse
region they endeavor to do so on a cold night, when the fly is quiet;
and they take the precaution of smearing their animals with a paste made
from ashes and other substances, so that the tsetse cannot bite through
it. Inoculation does no good; and, until some remedy is discovered, many
portions of Africa will be uninhabitable to those who desire to keep
oxen and horses."
It turned out that the bite on the horse was not that of the dreaded
tsetse, and so the animals were safe for the present at least.
It was getting late, and the conference came to an end with the
dissertation on the deadly flies of Africa. The Doctor closed by saying
that there was an insect in the western part of Africa whose bite has
somewhat the same effect on man as the tsetse on the ox, though not
likely to be as fatal.
"It is called the tampan," said he, "and bites between the fingers or
toes in preference to other places. It varies from the size of a pin's
head to that of a small pea, and abounds in the native huts. Natives do
not suffer much inconvenience from its bite, but with Europeans there
follows a swelling and itching of the wound; then come fever and some of
the symptoms of cholera, and the fever occasionally results in the death
of the victim. Happily, this insect does not abound in many parts of the
country."
It rained most of the time during the night, and the next morning the
ground was so wet that the caravan did not get under way till a late
hour.
In the afternoon they passed close to M'rooli, a large village of
Unyoro, situated where the river widens into the appearance of a small
lake. A few hours later they crossed the Kafou River, where the water
was up to the saddle-girths of the horses, and required the porters to
use a good deal of caution in wading over it. Doctor Bronson said it was
from this point of the main route that Baker turned aside along the
banks of the Kafou when he went to discover the Albert N'yanza.
"Colonel Long describes a battle which he had in front of M'rooli," the
Doctor remarked while they were resting by the side of the path; "and it
must have been where we see the river widening out that the fight took
place.
"He was the first white man to descend the river from the Victoria
N'yanza, and he did so in spite of the opposition of the natives. He
discovered a lake, since called Lake Ibrahim, between here and the
Victoria N'yanza, and as he approached M'rooli he saw a great number of
canoes, full of natives armed with spears. They were stretched in a
double line across the stream in such a way as to prevent its passage
except by fighting, and their number was so large as to make the chance
of victory very small for him and his few men.
[Illustration: COLONEL LONG'S BATTLE AT M'ROOLI.]
"There were five hundred natives against Long and his two soldiers; the
natives were armed with spears and bows and arrows, while the others had
breech-loading rifles of the best systems. They laid their cartridges
ready, so as to fire as fast as possible, and Long ordered his two boats
to be lashed together, and the Egyptian flag hoisted at the stern of the
one occupied by himself; then he advanced. The negroes called out for
him to stop, and when he refused to do so the battle began.
"The power of the white man's weapons over those of the savage was never
more clearly shown than in this light. Long used a rifle carrying
explosive shells, which shattered the sides of the boats, throwing the
men into the water, and completely putting an end to their thoughts of
fighting in the effort to save their lives.
[Illustration: COLONEL LONG'S COMPANIONS AT M'ROOLI.]
"In little more than an hour the battle was over. Four hundred and fifty
cartridges had been expended by Long and his two soldiers, and the river
was practically clear of their enemies, as most of the boats had been
sunk, and the remainder returned to the shore. A large crowd gathered on
the land and pursued along the banks; but they could do no harm, as the
river was wide enough to enable the strangers to keep out of reach of
the weapons of their enemies.
"The report of this battle was received at Cairo before Colonel Long
arrived there. The Khedive sent him a letter of congratulation for his
skill and bravery, and promoted him to a high office in the Egyptian
service. The two soldiers received the decoration of the Order of the
Medjidieh and the rank of sergeant-major in the army."
[Illustration: A GROUP OF KIDI MEN.]
Soon after moving on from the point where Long's adventures at M'rooli
were narrated the party met a group of men in a style of dress which was
new to the boys. The principal garments, and by far the most valuable
part of the wardrobe, consisted of rings made of brass wire. These rings
were around the arms of the wearers in three places--at the wrist,
elbow, and shoulder--and also around the neck, which was enclosed so
stiffly as to remind the Doctor of the stocks formerly worn as a
fashionable adornment in England and America, and not yet altogether out
of use. The men carried spears and shields, and some of them had their
ears decorated with enormous rings of brass.
Frank recognized them as Kidi men, from the description in Speke's book,
and the illustration accompanying it. Kidi is on the other side of the
Nile, and these men come over the river to pay tribute to the King of
Unyoro, who has a sort of nominal control over them.
Kidi is said to be an excellent hunting-ground, especially for large
game, and the boys regretted that there was no time to visit it. Abdul
said the natives hunted elephants in a way not common in other parts of
Africa. At Fred's request he described the process.
They have a spear with a long blade, sharp on both sides, and fastened
to a short handle of iron, in the shape of a pear, so as to make it very
heavy. Armed with these spears, men climb into trees where the herd can
be made to pass, and when all is ready other men go out to drive the
animals in the desired direction. As the elephants pass beneath the
trees the heavy spears are dropped upon them. The hippopotamus is
sometimes killed in the same way, but more frequently by the trap
already described.
[Illustration: A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE HORSE.]
The road lay through a swampy region, and the rains caused many of the
holes to be filled with water, so that the travelling was none of the
best. In many places it was not safe to remain on the horses, and a good
part of the way was made on foot by the Doctor and his young companions.
Doctor Bronson said that if this kind of road continued it would be
necessary to walk altogether, or be carried on litters, after the custom
of Africa.
The horses began to show signs of fatigue, and indicated very plainly
that the climate of Central Africa was not suited to their constitution.
Their temper was not at all improved, though perhaps this was due quite
as much to their treatment by their grooms as to the climate of the
country. Frank said his horse never omitted an opportunity to kick at
him, and it was preferable to approach the animal at the head rather
than at the heels. The Doctor said it would be something never before
accomplished to take a horse all the way across Africa, and if they
succeeded in getting their steeds beyond the southern end of the
Victoria N'yanza they would have done something to be proud of.
They had many speculations as to the possibility of escaping the tsetse,
which had already given them an alarm, though happily a false one. Fred
proposed to envelop his horse in a garment of antelope-skin, or
something equally impervious to the sting of the fly. The Doctor
suggested that he would have a hard time to make the horse understand
the use of this new covering, and if he was compelled to wear it
constantly the health of the beast would be endangered almost as much as
by the fly.
On the whole, they concluded not to borrow too much trouble about the
future, but to take as good care as possible of the animals that carried
them and hope for the best. Both boys gave strict orders to their grooms
and other servants to keep a sharp watch for the tsetse, and report the
first indication of its presence. It was agreed that when there was
reason to believe it was among them the native precautions should be
adopted, and if any new measures could be devised they would be tried on
the first occasion.
[Illustration: APPROACHING CAMP.]