HIS EXPLORATION OF THE LAKE REGIONS, TAKING CAPTAIN SPEKE AS SECOND IN
COMMAND.
MY FOREWORD.
It was the Royal Geographical Society which induced Lord Clarendon,
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to supply Richard with funds
for an exploration of the then utterly unknown Lake Regions of Central
Africa. In October, 1856, he set out for Bombay, applied for Captain
Speke, and landed at Zanzibar on December 19th, 1856. Lieut.-Colonel
Hamerton, her Majesty's Consul at Zanzibar, was very good to them;
they made a tentative expedition from January 5th to March 6th, 1857,
about the Mombas regions. They got a bad coast fever, and returned
to Zanzibar. They then set out again into the far interior, into
which only one European, Monsieur Maizan, a French naval officer, had
attempted to penetrate; he was cruelly murdered at the outset of his
journey.
It was the first successful attempt to penetrate that country, and laid
the foundation for others. It was the base on which all subsequent
journeys were founded; Livingstone, Cameron, Speke and Grant, Sir S.
Baker, and Stanley carried it out. Where Richard found the rudest
barbarians, Church missions have been established, and commerce, and
now a railway is proposed to connect the coast with the Lake Regions.
This expedition brought neither honour nor profit to Richard; but the
world is not likely to forget it; the future will be more generous and
juster than the past or present. During these African explorations,
Richard was attacked by fever twenty-one times, by temporary paralysis
and partial blindness. On his return he brought out "The Lake Regions
of Equatorial Africa," 2 vols., 1860, and the Royal Geographical
Society devoted the whole of their thirty-third volume to its recital
(Clowes and Son). Richard's book was translated into French by Madame
H. Loreau, and republished in New York by Fakir, 1861. It will
shortly be added to the Uniform Library in preparation. In May, 1859,
the moment he returned to England, he immediately proposed another
Expedition, which, however, the Royal Geographical Society gave to
his disloyal companion, who completely and wilfully spoiled the first
Expedition as far as lay in his power.
ZANZIBAR; AND TWO MONTHS IN EAST AFRICA.
(From his own notes.)
_Preliminary Canter._
"Of the gladdest moments, methinks, in human life, is the departing
upon a distant journey into _unknown_ lands. Shaking off with one
effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak
of carking care, and the slavery of Civilization, Man feels once more
happy. The blood flows with the fast circulation of youth, excitement
gives a new vigour to the muscles, and a sense of sudden freedom adds
an inch to the stature. Afresh dawns the morn of life, again the
bright world is beautiful to the eye, and the glorious face of Nature
gladdens the soul. A journey, in fact, appeals to Imagination, to
Memory, to Hope--the sister Graces of our moral being.
"The shrill screaming of the boatswain's whistle, and sundry shouts
of, 'Stand by yer booms!' 'All ready, for'ard?' 'Now make sail!'
sounded in mine ears with a sweet significance.
ZANZIBAR.
"Our captain decided, from the absence of Friday flags on the
Consular Staffs, that some great man had gone to his long home. The
_Elphinstone_, however, would not have the trouble of casting loose
her guns for nothing with H.H. the Sayyid of Zanzibar's ensign--a
plain red--at the fore, and the Union at the main, she cast anchor
in Front Bay, about half a mile from shore, and fired a salute of
twenty-one. A gay bunting thereupon flew up to every truck, and the
brass cannon of the _Victoria_ roared a response of twenty-two. We had
arrived on the fortieth, or the last day of mourning.
"When 'chivalry' was explained to the late ruler, Said of Zanzibar
(1856), as enlightened a prince as Arabia ever produced, and
surrounded by intrigue, he was shrewd enough to remark 'that only the
_siflah_ (low fellows) interfere between husband and wife.'
"Peace to his soul! he was a model of Arab princes, a firm friend to
the English nation, and a great admirer of the 'Malikat el Aazameh,'
our most gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.
"The unworthy merchants of Zanzibar, American and European, did their
best to secure for us the fate of M. Maizan, both on this and on a
subsequent occasion, by spreading all manner of reports amongst the
Banyans, Arabs, and Sawahilis.
"Considering the unfitness of the season, we were strongly advised to
defer exploration of the interior until we had learned something of
the coast, and for that purpose we set out at once, for a two or three
months' cruise.
"If we, travellers in transit, had reason to be proud of our
countryman's influence at Zanzibar, the European and American
merchants should be truly thankful for it. Appointed in 1840 H.B.M.'s
Consul and H.E.I. Co.'s agent at the court of H.H. Sayyid Said, and
directed to make this island his Head-quarters, Colonel Hamerton
found that for nine years not a British cruiser had visited it, and
that report declared us to be no longer Masters of the Indian seas.
Slavery was rampant. Wretches were thrown overboard, when sick, to
prevent paying duty; and the sea-beach before the town, as well as
the plantations, presented horrible spectacles of dogs devouring
human flesh. The Consul's representations were accepted by Sayyid
Said; sundry floggings and confiscation of property instilled into
slave-owners the semblance of humanity. The insolence of the negro
was as summarily dealt with. The Arabs had persuaded the Sawahilis
and blacks that a white man is a being below contempt, and the 'poor
African' carries out the theory. Only seventeen years have elapsed
since an American Trader-Consul, in consular cocked hat and sword, was
horsed upon a slave's back, and solemnly 'bakered' in his own consular
house, under his own consular flag. A Sawahili would at any time enter
the merchant's bureau, dispose his sandalled feet upon the table, call
for a cognac, and if refused, draw his dagger. Negro fishermen would
anchor their craft close to a window, and, clinging to the mast, enjoy
the novel spectacle of Kafirs feeding.
"_Now_ an Englishman here is even more civilly treated than at one of
our Presidencies. This change is the work of Colonel Hamerton, who,
in the strenuous and unremitting discharge of his duties, has lost
youth, strength, and health. The iron constitution of this valuable
public servant--I have quoted merely a specimen of his worth--has been
undermined by the terrible fever, and at fifty his head bears the
'blossoms of the grave,' as though it had seen its seventieth summer.
"The reader asks, What induced us to take a guide apparently so
little fit for rough-and-ready work? In the first place, the presence
of Said bin Salim el Lamki was a pledge of respectability. And
lastly, a bright exception to the rule of his unconscientious race,
he _appears_ truthful, honest, and honourable. I have never yet had
reason to suspect him of a low action. 'Verily,' was the reply, 'whoso
benefiteth the beneficent becometh his Lord; but the vile well-treated
turneth and rendeth thee.' I almost hope that he may not deceive us in
the end.
"The traveller in Eastern Africa must ever be prepared for three
distinct departures--the little start, the great start, and the start.
"On the 10th of January we ran through the paradise of verdant banks
and plateaus, forming the approach to Pemba,[1] and halted a day
to admire the Emerald Isle of these Eastern seas. In A.D. 1698 the
bold buccaneer, Captain Kidd, buried there his blood-stained hoards
of precious stones and metal, the plunder of India and the further
Orient. The people of Pemba have found pots full of gold lumps,
probably moulded from buttons that the pirate might wear his wealth.
"On the heights of Chhaga, an image or statue of a long-haired
woman, seated in a chair and holding a child, is reported to remain.
Iconolatry being here unknown, the savages must have derived them from
some more civilized race--Catholic missionaries.
"The Mazrui, a noble Arab tribe, placed themselves under British
protection in their rebellion against the late Sayyid. They
were permitted to fly our flag--a favour for which, when danger
disappeared, they proved themselves ungrateful; and a Mr. Reece was
placed at Mombas to watch its interests. The travellers lamented that
we abandoned Mombas: had England retained it, the whole interior would
now be open to us. But such is the history of Britain the Great: hard
won by blood and gold, her conquests are parted with for a song.
"The very Hindús required a lesson in civility. With the _Wali_, or
Governor, Khalfan bin Ali, an Omani Arab of noble family, we were on
the best of terms. But the manifest animus of the public made us feel
light-hearted, when, our inquiries concluded, we bade adieu to Mombas.
"The people of Eastern Intertropical Africa are divided by their
occupations into three orders. First is the fierce pastoral nomad,
the Galla and Masai, the Somal and the Kafir, who lives upon the
produce of his cattle, the chase, and foray. Secondly rank the
semi-pastoral, as the Wakamba, who, though without fixed abodes, make
their women cultivate the ground. And the last degree of civilization,
agriculture, is peculiar to the Waníka, the Wasumbára, and the various
tribes living between the coast and the interior lakes.
"The Waníka, or Desert race, is composed of a Negritic base, now
intimately mixed with Semitic blood.
"When that enlightened Arab statesman, H.E. Ali bin Nasir, H.H. the
Imaum of Muscat's Envoy Extraordinary to H.B. Majesty, was Governor of
Mombas, he took advantage of a scarcity to feed the starving Waníka
from the public granaries. He was careful, however, to secure as
pledges of repayment, the wives and children of his debtors, and he
lost no time in selling off the whole number. Such a feat was probably
little suspected by our countrymen, when, to honour enlightened
beneficence, they welcomed the Statesman with all the triumphs of
Exeter Hall, presented him with costly specimens of Government,
and sent him from Aden to Zanzibar in the H.E.I. Co.'s brig of war
_Tigris_. This Oriental votary of free trade came to a merited end.
Recognized by the enraged savages, he saw his sons expire in torments;
he was terribly mutilated during life, and was put to death with all
the refinements of cruelty.
"A report, prevalent in Mombas--even a Sawahili sometimes speaks the
truth--and the march of an armed party from the town which denoted
belief in their own words, induced my companions and myself to hasten
up once more to the Rabai Hills, expecting to find the mission-house
invested by savages. The danger had been exaggerated, but the inmates
were strongly advised to take temporary shelter in the town. Left
Kisulodiny on the 22nd of January, 1857. Some nights afterwards,
fires were observed upon the neighbouring hills, and Waníka scouts
returned with a report that the Masai were in rapid advance. The wise
few fled at once to the _kaza_, or hidden and barricaded stronghold,
which these people prepare for extreme danger. The foolish many said,
'To-morrow morning we will drive our flocks and herds to safety.' But
ere that morning dawned upon the world, a dense mass of wild spearmen,
sweeping with shout and yell, and clashing arms, by the mission-house,
which they either saw not or they feared to enter, dashed upon the
scattered villages in the vale below, and left the ground strewed
with the corpses of hapless fugitives. When driving off their cattle,
the Masai, rallying, fell upon them, drove them away in ignominious
flight, and slew twenty-five of their number.
"Jack[2] and I landed at Wasin, and found the shore crowded with
a mob of unarmed gazers, who did not even return our salaams: we
resolved in future to keep such greetings for those who deserved
them. Abd-el-Karím led us to his house, seated us in chairs upon a
terrace, and mixed a cooling drink in a vase not usually devoted to
such purpose. There is no game on the island, or on the main. In the
evening we quitted the squalid settlement without a single regret.
"Our _nakhoda_ again showed symptoms of trickery; he had been allowed
to ship cargo from Mombas to Wasin, and, Irish-like, he thereupon
founded a right to ship cargo from Wasin to Tanga. Unable to disabuse
his mind by mild proceedings, I threatened to cut the cable.
"At last, having threaded the _báb_, or narrow rock-bound passage
which separates the bluff headland of Tanga Island from Ras Rashíd on
the main, we glided into the bay, and anchored in three fathoms of
water, opposite, and about half a mile from, the town.
"Tanga Bay extends six miles deep by five in breadth. The entrance is
partially barred by a coralline bank, the ancient site of the Arab
settlement.
"We landed on the morning of the 27th of January, and were met upon
the sea-shore, in absence of the Arab Governor, by the _Diwans_ or
Sawahili Headmen, the _Jemadar_ and his Belochies, the Collector of
customs, Mizan Sahib, a daft old Indian, and other dignitaries. They
conducted us to the hut formerly tenanted by M. Erhardt; brought
coffee, fruit, and milk; and, in fine, treated us with peculiar
civility. Here Sheddad built his City of brass, and encrusted the
hill-top with a silver dome that shines with various and surpassing
colours.
"The mountain recedes as the traveller advances, and the higher he
ascends the higher rises the summit. At last blood bursts from the
nostrils, the fingers bend backwards, and the most adventurous is
fain to stop. Amongst this Herodotian tissue of fact and fable, ran
one fine thread of truth: all testified to the intense cold.
"They promised readily, however, to escort me to one of the ancient
Cities of the coast.
"Setting out at eight a.m. with a small party of spearmen, I walked
four or five miles south of Tanga, on the Tangata road, over a country
strewed with the bodies of huge millepedes, and dry as Arabian sand.
"I assumed an Arab dress--a turban of portentous circumference, and a
long henna-dyed shirt--and, accompanied by Said bin Salim, I went to
inspect the scene.
"The wild people, Washenzy, Wasembára, Wadígo, and Waségeju, armed as
usual, stalking about, whilst their women, each with baby on back,
carried heavy loads of saleable stuff, or sat opposite their property,
or chaffered and gesticulated upon knotty questions of bargain.
"The heat of the ground made my barefooted companions run forward
to the shade, from time to time, like the dogs in Tibet. Sundry
excursions delayed us six days at Tanga.
"Five hours of lazy sailing ran us into Tangata, an open road between
Tanga and Pangany. Here we delayed a day to inspect some ruins, where
we had been promised Persian inscriptions and other wonders.
"We spent the remainder of the day and night at Tangata, fanned by the
north-east breeze, and cradled by the rocking send of the Indian Ocean.
"At five a.m. on the 3rd of February we hoisted sail, and slipped down
with the tepid morning breeze to Pangany, sighting Maziny Island, its
outpost, after three hours' run. Soon after arrival I sent Said bin
Salim, in all his bravery, on shore with the Sayyid of Zanzibar's
circular letter to the _Wali_ or Governor, to the _Jemadar_, to
the Collector of customs, and the different _Diwans_. All this
preparation for a mere trifle! We were received with high honour. The
_Diwans_ danced an ancient military dance before us with the pomp and
circumstance of drawn swords, whilst bare-headed slave-girls, with
hair _à la Brutus_, sang and flapped their skirts over the ground,
with an affectedly modest and downcast demeanour. After half an hour's
endurance, we were led into the upper-storied house of the Wali
Meriko, a freedman of the late Sayyid Said, and spent the evening in a
committee of ways and means.
"African villages are full of bleared misery by day, and animated
filth by night, and of hunting adventures and hair-breadth escapes,
lacking the interest of catastrophe.
"We arose early in the morning after arrival at Pangany, and repaired
to the terrace for the better enjoyment of the view.
"If it had half-a-dozen white kiosks, minarets, and latticed
summer-houses, it would almost rival that gem of creation, the
Bosphorus.
"The settlement is surrounded by a thorny jungle, which at times
harbours a host of leopards. One of these beasts lately scaled the
high terrace of our house, and seized upon a slave-girl. Her master,
the burly black _Wali_, who was sleeping by her side, gallantly caught
up his sword, ran into the house, and bolted the door, heedless of the
miserable cry, 'B'ana, help me!' The wretch was carried to the jungle
and devoured. The river is equally full of alligators, and whilst we
were at Pangany a boy disappeared.
"Of course the two tribes, Wasumbara and Wazegura, are deadly foes.
Moreover, about a year ago, a violent intestine feud broke out
amongst the Wazegura, who, at the time of our visit, were burning and
murdering, kidnapping, and slave-selling in all directions.
"The timid townsmen had also circulated a report that we were bound
for Chhaga and Kilimanjaro: the Masai were 'out,' the rains were
setting in, and they saw with us no armed escort. They resolved
therefore not to accompany us.
"With abundance of money--say not less than £5000 per annum--an
exploring party can trace its own line, pay the exactions of all
Chiefs; it can study whatever is requisite; handle sextants in
presence of negroes, who would cut every throat for one inch of
brass; and, by travelling in comfort, can secure a very fair chance
of return. Even from Mombas or from Pangany, with an escort of one
hundred matchlock-men, we might have marched through the Masai
plunderers to Chhaga and Kilimanjaro. But pay, porterage, and
provisions for such a party would have amounted to at least £100 per
week; a month and a half would have absorbed our means. Thus it was,
gentle reader, that we were compelled to rest contented with a visit
on foot to Fuga, for we had only one thousand pounds.
"Presently the plot thickened. Muigni Khatib, son of Sultan Kimwere, a
black of most unprepossessing physiognomy, with a 'villanous trick of
the eye, and a foolish hanging of the nether lip,' a prognathous jaw,
garnished with cat-like moustaches and cobweb beard, a sour frown, and
abundant surliness by way of dignity, dressed like an Arab, and raised
by El Islam above his fellows, sent a message directing us to place in
his hands what we intended for his father. This Chief was travelling
to Zanzibar in fear and trembling. He had tried to establish at his
village, Kirore, a Romulian asylum for runaway slaves, and, having
partially succeeded, he dreaded the consequences. The Beloch _Jemadar_
strongly urged us privily to cause his detention at the islands, a
precaution somewhat too Oriental for our tastes. We refused, however,
the _muigni's_ demand in his own tone. Following their Prince, the
dancing _Diwans_ claimed a fee for permission to reside; as they
worded it, '_el adah_'--the habit; based upon an ancient present from
Colonel Hamerton; and were in manifest process of establishing a local
custom which, in Africa, becomes law to remotest posterity. We flatly
objected, showed our letters, and in the angriest of moods threatened
reference to Zanzibar. Briefly, all began to beg bakhshish; but I
cannot remember any one obtaining it.
"Weary of these importunities, we resolved to visit Chogway, a Beloch
outpost, and thence, aided by the _Jemadar_ who had preceded us
from Pangany, to push for the capital village of Usumbara. We made
preparations secretly, dismissed the 'Riami,' rejected the _Diwans_
who wished to accompany us as spies, left Said bin Salim and one
Portuguese to watch our property in the house of Meriko, the Governor,
who had accompanied his _muigni_ to Zanzibar, and, under pretext of a
short shooting excursion, hired a long canoe with four men, loaded it
with the luggage required for a fortnight, and started with the tide
at eleven a.m. on the 6th of January, 1857.
"First we grounded; then we were taken aback; then a puff of wind
drove us forward with railway speed; then we grounded again.
"And now, while writing amid the soughing blasts, the rain, and the
darkened air of a south-western monsoon, I remember with yearning
the bright and beautiful spectacle of those African rivers, whose
loveliness, like that of the dead, seems enhanced by proximity to
decay. We had changed the agreeable and graceful sandstone scenery,
on the sea-board, for a view novel and most characteristic. The
hippopotamus now raised his head from the waters, snorted, gazed
upon us, and sank into his native depths. Alligators, terrified by
the splash of oars, waddled down with their horrid claws, dinting
the slimy bank, and lay like yellow logs, measuring us with small,
malignant, green eyes, deep set under warty brows. Monkeys rustled the
tali trees. Below, jungle--men and woman--
'So withered, so wild in their attire,
That look not like th' inhabitants o' th' earth,
And yet are on't.'
And all around reigned the eternal African silence, deep and
saddening, broken only by the curlew's scream, or by the breeze
rustling the tree-tops, whispering among the matted foliage, and
swooning upon the tepid bosom of the wave.
"We sat under a tree till midnight, unsatiated with the charm of the
hour. The moon rained molten silver over the dark foliage of the wild
palms, the stars were as golden lamps suspended in the limpid air,
and Venus glittered diamond-like upon the front of the firmament. The
fireflies now sparkled simultaneously over the earth; then, as if by
concerted impulse, their glow vanished in the glooms of the ground. At
our feet lay the black creek; in the jungle beasts roared fitfully;
and the night wind mingled melancholy sounds with the swelling
murmuring of the stream.
"The tide flowing about midnight, we resumed our way. The river then
became a sable streak between lofty rows of trees. The hippopotamus
snorted close to our stern, and the crew begged me to fire, for the
purpose of frightening 'Sultan Momba'--a pernicious rogue. At times we
heard the splashing of the beasts as they scrambled over the shoals;
at others, they struggled with loud grunts up the miry banks. Then
again all was quiet. After a protracted interval of silence, the
near voice of a man startled us in the deep drear stillness of the
night, as though it had been some ghostly sound. At two a.m., reaching
a clear tract on the river side--the Ghaut or landing-place of
Chogway--we made fast the canoe, looked to our weapons, and, covering
our faces against the heavy, clammy dew, lay down to snatch an hour's
sleep. The total distance rowed was about 13.5 miles.
"Fifty stout fellows, with an ambitious leader and a little money,
might soon conquer the whole country, and establish there an absolute
monarchy.
"These Beloch mercenaries merit some notice. They were preferred, as
being somewhat disciplinable, by the late Sayyid Said, to his futile
blacks and his unruly and self-willed Oman Arabs. He entertained from
one thousand to fifteen hundred men, and scattered them over the
country in charge of the forts. The others hate them--divisions even
amongst his own children was the ruler's policy--and nickname them
'Kurara Kurara.' The _Jemadar_ and the Governor are rarely on speaking
terms. Calling themselves Belochies, they are mostly from the regions
about Kech and Bampur. They are mixed up with a rabble rout of Afghans
and Arabs, Indians and Sudies, and they speak half a dozen different
languages. Many of these gentry have left their country for their
country's good. A body of convicts, however, fights well. The Mekrani
are first-rate behind walls; and if paid, drilled, and officered, they
would make as 'varmint' light-bobs as Arnauts. They have a knightly
fondness for arms. A 'young barrel and an old blade' are their
delight. All use the matchlock, and many are skilful with sword and
shield.
"Having communicated our project to the _Jemadar_ of Chogway, he
promised, for a consideration, all aid; told us that we should start
the next day; and, curious to relate, kept his word.
"A start was effected at five p.m., every slave complaining of his
load, snatching up the lightest, and hurrying on regardless of what
was left behind. This nuisance endured till summarily stopped by an
outward application easily divined. The evening belling of deer and
the clock-clock of partridge struck our ears. In the open places were
the lesses of elephants, and footprints retained by the last year's
mud. These animals descend to the plains during the monsoon, and in
summer retire to the cool hills. The Belochies shoot, the wild people
kill them with poisoned arrows. More than once during our wanderings
we found the grave-like trap-pits, called in India, _ogi_.
"Tusks weighing 100 lbs. each are common, those of 175 lbs. are not
rare, and I have heard of a pair whose joint weight was 560 lbs.
"At Makam Sayyid Sulayman--a half-cleared ring in the thorny
jungle--we passed the night in a small babel of Belochies. One recited
his Korán; another prayed; a third told funny stories; whilst a fourth
trolled lays of love and war, long ago made familiar to my ear upon
the rugged Asian hills. This was varied by slapping lank mosquitoes
that flocked to the camp-fires; by rising to get rid of huge black
pismires, whose bite burned like a red-hot needle; and by challenging
two parties of savages, who, armed with bows and arrows, passed
amongst us.
"Tongway is the first offset of the mountain-terrace composing the
land of Usumbara. It rises abruptly from the plain, lies north-west
of, and nine miles, as the crow flies, distant from, Chogway. The
summit, about two thousand feet above the sea-level, is clothed with
jungle, through which, seeking compass-sights, we cut a way with our
swords.
"The climate appeared delicious--even in the full blaze of an African
and tropical summer; and whilst the hill was green, the land around
was baked like bread-crust.
"The escort felt happy at Tongway, twice a day devouring our rice--an
unknown luxury; and they were at infinite pains to defer the evil hour.
"Petty pilferers to the backbone, they steal, like magpies, by
instinct. On the march they lag behind, and, not being professional
porters, they are restive as camels when receiving their load. One of
these youths, happening to be brother-in-law--after a fashion--to the
_Jemadar_, requires incessant supervision to prevent him burdening
the others with his own share. The guide, Muigni Wazira, is a huge,
broad-shouldered Sawahili, with a coal-black skin; his high, massive,
and regular features look as if carved in ebony, and he frowns like a
demon in the 'Arabian Nights.'
"A prayerless Sheríf, he thoroughly despises the Makapry or Infidels;
he has a hot temper, and, when provoked, roars like a wild beast. He
began by refusing his load, but yielded, when it was gently placed
upon his heavy shoulder, with a significant gesture in case of
recusance.
"Rahewat, the Mekrani, calls himself a Beloch, and wears the title
of Shah-Sawar, or the Rider-king. He is the _chelebi_, the dandy and
tiger of our party. A 'good-looking brown man,' about twenty-five
years old, with a certain girlishness and affectation of _tournure_
and manner, which bode no good, the Rider-king deals in the externals
of respectability; he washes and prays with pompous regularity, combs
his long hair and beard, trains his bushy moustache to touch his eyes,
and binds a huge turban. Having somewhat high ideas of discipline, he
began with stabbing a slave-boy by way of a lesson.
"The Rider-king, pleading soldier, positively refuses to carry,
anything but his matchlock, and a private stock of dates, which he
keeps ungenerously to himself. He boasts of prowess in vert and
venison: we never saw him hit the mark, but we missed some powder and
ball.
"The gem of the party is Sudy Mubárak, who has taken to himself the
cognomen of 'Bombay.' His sooty skin, and teeth pointed like those
of the reptilia, denote his Mhiav origin. He is one of those rare
'Sudies' that delight the passengers in an Indian steamer. Bombay,
sold in early youth, carried to Cutch by some Banyan, and there
emancipated, looks fondly back upon the home of his adoption, and
sighs for the day when a few dollars will enable, him to return. He
has ineffable contempt for all 'jungly niggers.' His head is a triumph
of phrenology. He works on principle, and works like a horse, openly
declaring that not love of us, but attachment to his stomach, make
him industrious. He had enlisted under the _Jemadar_ of Chogway. We
thought, however, so highly of his qualifications, that persuasion
and paying his debts induced him, after a little coquetting, to take
leave of soldiering and follow our fortunes. Sudy Bombay will be our
head gun-carrier, if he survives his present fever, and, I doubt not,
will prove himself a rascal in the end.
"During the first night all Bombay's efforts were required to prevent
a _sauve qui peut_.
"On the 10th of February, after a night of desert silence, we arose
betimes, and applied ourselves to the work of porterage. Our luggage
again suffered reduction. It was, however, past six a.m. when, forming
Indian file, we began to descend the thorn-clad goat-track which spans
the north-east spur of Mount Tongway. Overhead floated a filmy canopy
of sea-green verdure, pierced by myriads of sunbeams, whilst the azure
effulgence above, purified as with fire, from mist and vapour set the
picture in a frame of gold and ultramarine. Painful splendours! The
men began to drop off. None but Hamdan had brought a calabash. Shaaban
clamoured for water. Wazira and the four slave-boys retired to some
puddle, a discovery which they wisely kept to themselves, leaving the
rest of the party to throw themselves under a tree and bush upon the
hot ground.
"As the sun sank westward, Wazira joined us with a mouthful of lies,
and the straggling line advanced. Our purblind guide once more lagged
in the rear, yielding the lead to old Shaaban. This worthy, whose
five wits were absorbed in visions of drink, strode blunderingly
ahead, over the Wazira Hills and far away. Jack, keeping him in
sight, and I in rear of both, missed the road. Shortly after sunset
we three reached a narrow _fiumara_, where stood, delightful sight!
some puddles bright with chickweed, and black with the mire below.
We quenched our thirst, and bathed our swollen feet, and patted, and
felt, and handled the water as though we loved it. But even this
charming occupation had an end. Evidently we had lost our way. Our
shots and shouts remained unanswered. It would have been folly to
thread the thorny jungle by the dubious light of a young moon. We
therefore kindled a fire, looked at our arms, lay down upon a soft
sandy place, and certain that Shaaban would be watchful as a vestal
virgin, were soon lulled to sleep by the music of the night breeze,
and by the frogs chanting their ancient querele upon the miry margins
of the pools. That day's work had been little more than five leagues.
But--
'These high wild hills and rough uneven ways
Draw out the miles.'
"Our guide secured, as extra porters, five wild men, habited in
primitive attire. Their only garment was a kilt of dried and split
rushes or grass. All had bows and poisoned arrows, except one, who
boasted a miserable musket and literally a powder-horn, the vast
spoils of a cow. The wretches were lean as wintry wolves, and not
less ravenous. We fed them with rice and ghee. Of course they asked
for more, till their stomachs, before like shrunken bladders, stood
out in the shape of little round bumps from the hoop-work of ribs.
We had neglected to take their arms. After feeding, they arose, and
with small beady eyes, twinkling with glee, bade us farewell. Though
starving they would not work. A few hours afterwards, however, they
found a hippopotamus in the open, killed it with their arrows, and
soon left nothing but a heap of bones and a broad stain of blood upon
the ground.
* * * * *
"Arrived at Kohoday, the elders, as we landed, wrung our hands with
rollicking greetings, and those immoderate explosive laughings which
render the African family to all appearance so 'jolly' a race.
"We were shown, on the mountain-pass of Usumbara, the watch-fire which
is never extinguished; and the Mzegura chief, when supplying us with a
bullock, poked his thumb back towards the hills and said, with a roar
of laughter, that already we had become the King's guests. Our Beloch
guard applauded this kindred soul, patted him upon the shoulder, and
declared that, with a score of men of war like themselves, he might
soon become lord of all the mountains.
"Our parting was pathetic. He swore he loved us, and promised, on our
return, the boat to conduct us down the river; but when we appeared
with empty hands, he told the truth, namely, that it is a succession
of falls and rapids.
"At five p.m., passing two bridges, we entered Msiky Mguru, a Wazegura
village distant twelve miles from Kohoday. It is a cluster of hay-cock
huts, touching one another, built upon an island formed by divers
rapid and roaring branches of the river. The headman was sick, but
we found a hospitable reception. We spent our nights with ants and
other little murderers of sleep which shall be nameless. Our hosts
expressed great alarm about the Masai. It was justified by the sequel.
Scarcely had we left the country when a plundering party of wild
spearmen attacked two neighbouring villages, slaughtering the hapless
cultivators, and, with pillage and pollage, drove off the cows in
triumph.
"After an hour's march we skirted a village, where the people
peremptorily ordered us to halt. We attributed this annoyance to
Wazira, who was forthwith visited with a general wigging. But the
impending rain sharpened our tempers; we laughed in the faces of our
angry expostulators, and, bidding them stop us if they could, pursued
our road.
"Presently ascending a hill, and turning abruptly to the north-east,
we found ourselves opposite, and about ten miles distant from, a tall
azure curtain, the mountains of Fuga. Water stood in black pools, and
around it waved luxuriant sugar-canes. In a few minutes every mouth
in the party was tearing and chewing at a long pole. This cane is of
the edible kind. The officinal varieties are too luscious, cloying,
and bilious to be sucked with impunity by civilized men. After walking
that day sixteen miles, at about four p.m. a violent storm of thunder,
lightning, and raw south-west wind, which caused the thermometer to
fall many degrees, and the slaves to shudder and whimper, drove us
back into the _bandany_, or palaver-house of a large village. The
place swarmed with flies and mosquitoes. We lighted fires to keep off
fevers.
"Sunday, the 15th of February, dawned with one of those steady little
cataclysms, which, to be seen advantageously, must be seen near the
Line. At eleven a.m., weary of the steaming _bandany_, our men loaded,
and in a lucid interval set out towards the Fuga Hills,[3] to which we
walked for economy sake. As we approached them, the rain shrank to a
spitting, gradually ceased, and was replaced by that reeking, fetid,
sepulchral heat which travellers in the tropics know and fear. The
slippery way had wearied our slaves, though aided by three porters
hired that morning; and the sun, struggling through vapour, was still
hot enough to overpower the whole party.
"Issuing from the dripping canopy, we followed a steep goat-track,
fording a crystal burn, and having reached the midway, sat down to
enjoy the rarefied air, and to use the compass and spyglass. The
view before us was extensive, if not beautiful. Under our feet the
mountains fell in rugged folds, clothed with plantain fields, wild
mulberries, custard-apples, and stately trees, whose lustrous green
glittered against the ochreous ground. The sarsaparilla vine hung
in clusters from the supporting limbs of the tamarind, the toddy
palm raised its fantastic arms over the dwarf coco, and bitter
oranges mingled pleasant scent with herbs not unlike mint and sage.
Below, half veiled by rank streams, lay the yellow Nika or Wazegura
wilderness, traversed by a serpentine of trees denoting the course of
the Mkomafi affluent. Far beyond we could see the well-wooded line of
the Lufu river, and from it to the walls of the southern and western
horizon stretched a uniform purple plain.
"The three fresh porters positively refused to rise unless a certain
number of cloths were sent forward to propitiate the magnates of
Fuga. This was easily traced to Wazira, who received a hint that
such trifling might be dangerous. He had been lecturing us all that
morning upon the serious nature of our undertaking. Sultan Kimwere was
a potent monarch, not a Momba. His Ministers and councillors would,
unless well paid, avert from us their countenances. We must enter with
a discharge of musketry to awe the people, and by all means do as we
are bid. The Belochies smiled contempt, and, pulling up the porters,
loaded them, deaf to remonstrance.
"Resuming our march after a short halt, we climbed rather than walked,
with hearts beating from such unusual exercise, up the deep zigzag of
a torrent. Villages then began to appear perched like eyries upon the
hilltops, and the people gathered to watch our approach. At four p.m.
we found ourselves upon the summit of a ridge. The Belochies begged
us to taste the water of a spring hard by. It was icy cold, with a
perceptible chalybeate flavour, sparkled in the cup, and had dyed its
head with rust.
"The giant flanks of Mukumbara bound the view. We stood about four
thousand feet above the sea-level, distant thirty-seven miles from
the coast, and seventy-four or seventy-five along the winding river.
There is a short cut from Kohoday across the mountains; but the route
was then waterless, and the heat would have disabled our Belochies.
"After another three-mile walk along the hill flanks, we turned a
corner and suddenly sighted, upon the opposite summit of a grassy
cone, an unfenced heap of hay-cock huts--Fuga. This being one of the
Cities where ingress is now forbidden to strangers, we were led by
Wazira through timid crowds that shrank back as we approached, round
and below the cone, to four tattered huts, which superstition assigns
as the 'travellers' bungalow.' Even the son and heir of great Kimwere
must abide here till the lucky hour admits him to the presence and
the Imperial City. The cold rain and sharp rarefied air rendering any
shelter acceptable, we cleared the huts of sheep and goats, housed our
valuables, and sent Sudy Bombay to the Sultan, requesting the honour
of an interview.
"Before dark appeared three bareheaded _mdue_, or 'Ministers,' who
in long palaver declared that council must squat upon two knotty
points--_Primo_, Why and wherefore we had entered the country _viâ_
the hostile Wazegura? _Secundo_, What time might be appointed by his
Majesty's _mganga_, or medicine-man, for the ceremony? Sharp-witted
Hamdan at once declared us to be European wizards, and _waganga_ of
peculiar power over the moon and stars, the wind and rain. Away ran
the Ministers to report the wonder.
"The _mganga_, who is called by the Arabs _tabib_, or doctor, and by
us priest, physician, divine, magician, and medicine-man, combines, as
these translations show, priestly with medical functions.
"At six p.m. the Ministers ran back and summoned us to the 'Palace.'
They led the way through rain and mist to a clump of the usual huts,
half hidden by trees, and overspreading a little eminence opposite to
and below Fuga.
"Sultan Kimwere half rose from his cot as we entered, and motioned
us to sit upon dwarf stools before him. He was an old, old man,
emaciated by sickness. His head was shaved, his face beardless, and
wrinkled like a grandam's; his eyes were red, his jaws disfurnished,
and his hands and feet were stained with leprous spots. Our errand
was inquired and we were welcomed to Fuga. As none could read the
Sayyid of Zanzibar's letter, I was obliged to act secretary. The
centagenarian had heard of our scrutinizing stars, stones, and trees.
He directed us at once to compound a draught which would restore him
to health, strength, and youth. I replied that our drugs had been left
at Pangany. He signified that we might wander about the hills and seek
the plants required. After half an hour's conversation, Hamdan being
interpreter, we were dismissed with a renewal of welcome.
"On our return to the hovels, the present was forwarded to the Sultan
with the usual ceremony. We found awaiting us a fine bullock, a
basketful of _sima_--young Indian corn pounded and boiled to a thick
hard paste--and balls of unripe bananas, peeled and mashed up with
sour milk. Our Belochies instantly addressed themselves to the making
of beef, which they ate with such a will that unpleasant symptoms
presently declared themselves in camp. We had covered that day ten
miles--equal, perhaps, to thirty in a temperate climate and a decent
road. The angry blast, the groaning trees, and the lashing rain, heard
from within a warm hut, affected us pleasurably, and I would not have
exchanged it for the music of Verdi. We slept the sweet sleep of
travellers.
"The African Traveller, in this section of the nineteenth century, is
an animal overworked. Formerly, the reading public was satisfied with
dry details of mere discovery; was delighted with a few latitudes and
longitudes. Of late, in this, as in other pursuits, the standard has
been raised. Whilst marching so many miles _per diem_, and watching
a certain number of hours _per noctem_, the traveller, who is in
fact his own general, adjutant, quarter-master, and executive, is
expected to survey and observe--to record meteorology, hygrometry, and
hypsometry--to shoot and stuff birds and beasts, to collect geological
specimens, to gather political and commercial information, to advance
the infant study ethnology, to keep accounts, to sketch, to indite
a copious legible journal, to collect grammar and vocabularies, and
frequently to forward long reports which shall prevent the Royal
Geographical Society napping through evening meetings. It is right,
I own, to establish a high standard which insures some work being
done; but explorations should be distinguished from railway journeys,
and a broad line drawn between the feasible and the impossible. The
unconscionable physicist now deems it his right to complain, because
the explorer has not used his theodolite in the temple of Mecca, and
introduced his sympiesometer within the walls of Harar. An ardent
gentlemen once requested me to collect beetles, and another sent me
excellent recipes for preserving ticks.
"These African explorations are small campaigns, in which the
traveller, unaided by discipline, is beset by all the troubles,
hardships, and perils of savage war. He must devote himself to
feeding, drilling, and directing his men to the use of arms and
the conduct of a Caravan, rather than the study of infusoria and
barometers. The sight of an instrument convinces barbarians that the
stranger is bringing down the sun, stopping rain, causing death, and
bewitching the land for ages. Amidst utter savagery such operations
are sometimes possible; amongst the semi-civilized they end badly.
The climate also robs man of energy as well as health. He cannot, if
he would, collect ticks and beetles. The simplest geodesical labours,
as these pages will prove, are unadvisable. Jack has twice suffered
from taking an altitude. Why is not a party of physicists sent out to
swallow the dose prescribed by them to their army of martyrs?
"The rainy monsoon had set in at Fuga. Heavy clouds rolled up from
the south-west, and during our two days and nights upon the hills
the weather was a succession of drip, drizzle, and drench. In vain
we looked for a star; even the sun could not disperse the thick raw
vapours that rose from the steamy earth. We did not dare to linger
upon the mountains. Our Belochies were not clad to resist the
temperature--here 12° lower than on the coast; the rain would make the
lowlands a hotbed of sickness, and we daily expected the inevitable
'seasoning-fever.' In the dry monsoon this route might be made
practicable to Chhaga and Kilimanjaro. With an escort of a hundred
musketeers, and at an expense of £600, the invalid who desires to
avail himself of this 'sanitarium,' as it is now called by the Indian
papers, may, if perfectly sound in wind, limb, and digestion, reach
the snowy region, if it exist, after ten mountain-marches, which will
not occupy more than a month.
"The head-quarter village of Usumbara is Fuga, a heap of some five
hundred huts, containing, I was told, three thousand souls. It is
defenceless, and composed of the circular abodes common from Harar to
Timbuctoo.
"On Monday, the 16th of February, we took leave of, and were duly
dismissed by, Sultan Kimwere. The old man, however, was mortified
that our rambles had not produced a plant of sovereign virtue against
the last evil of life. He had long expected a white _mganga_, and now
two had visited him, to depart without even a trial! I felt sad to
see the wistful lingering look with which he accompanied 'Kuahery!'
(farewell!) But his case was far beyond my skill.
"None of Sultan Kimwere's men dared to face the terrible Wazegura.
"We descended the hills in a Scotch mist and drizzle, veiling every
object from view. It deepened into a large-dropped shower upon the
fœtid lowlands. That night we slept at Pasunga; the next at Msiky
Mguru; and the third, after marching seventeen miles--our greatest
distance--at Kohoday.
"Our Belochies declared the rate of marching excessive; and Hamdan,
who personified 'Master Shoetie, the great traveller,' averred that he
had twice visited the Lakes, but had never seen such hardships in his
dreams.
"With some toil, however, we coaxed him into courage, and joined on
the way a small party bound for Pangany. At one p.m. we halted to
bathe and drink, as it would be some time before we should again sight
the winding stream. During the storm of thunder and lightning which
ensued, I observed that our savage companions, like the Thracians of
old Herodotus, and the Bheels and coolies of modern India, shot their
iron-tipped arrows in the air.
"About four p.m. we found ourselves opposite Kizanga, a large Wazegura
village on the right bank of the river. From Kizanga we followed the
river by a vile footpath. The air was dank and oppressive; the clouds
seemed to settle upon the earth, and the decayed vegetation exhaled a
feverish fœtor. As we advanced, the roar of the swollen stream told
of rapids, whilst an occasional glimpse through its green veil showed
a reefous surface, flecked with white froth. Heavy nimbi purpled the
western skies, and we began to inquire of Wazira whether a village was
at hand.
"About sunset, after marching fifteen miles, we suddenly saw tall
cocos--in these lands the 'traveller's joy'--waving their feathery
heads against the blue eastern firmament. Presently, crossing a
branch of the river by a long bridge, we entered an island settlement
of Wazegura. This village, being upon the confines of civilization,
and excited by wars and rumours of wars, suggested treachery to
experienced travellers. Jack and I fired our revolvers into trees, and
carefully reloaded them for the public benefit. The sensation was such
that we seized the opportunity of offering money for rice and ghee. No
provision, however, was procurable. Our escort went to bed supperless;
Hamdan cursing this _Safar kháis--Anglicè_, rotten journey. Murad Ali
had remained at Msiky Mguru to purchase a slave without our knowledge.
A novice in such matters, he neglected to tie the man's thumb, and
had the exquisite misery to see, in the evening after the sale, his
dollars bolting at a pace that baffled pursuit. We then placed our
weapons handy, and were soon lulled to sleep, despite smoke, wet beds,
and other plagues, by the blustering wind and the continuous pattering
of rain.
"At sunrise on Friday, the 20th of February, we were aroused by the
guide; and, after various delays, found ourselves on the road about
seven a.m. This day was the reflection of the last march. At nine a.m.
we stood upon a distant eminence to admire the falls of the Pangany
river. Here the stream, emerging from a dense dark growth of tropical
forest, hurls itself in three huge sheets, fringed with flashing
foam, down a rugged wall of brown rock. Halfway the fall is broken
by a ledge, whence a second leap precipitates the waters into the
mist-veiled basin of stone below. These cascades must be grand during
the monsoon, when the river, forming a single horseshoe, acquires a
volume and a momentum sufficient to clear the step which divides the
shrunken stream. Of all natural objects, the cataract most requires
that first element of sublimity--size. Yet, as it was, this fall,
with the white spray and bright mist, set off by black jungle, and a
framework of slaty rain-cloud, formed a picture sufficiently effective
to surprise us.
"As we journeyed onwards the heat became intense. The nimbi hugged
the mountain tops. There it was winter; but the sun, whose beams shot
stingingly through translucent air, parched the summer plains. At
ten a.m. our Belochies, clean worn out by famine and fatigue, threw
themselves upon the bank of a broad and deep ravine, in whose sedgy
bed a little water still lingered. Half an hour's rest, a cocoa-nut
each, a pipe, and, above all things, the _spes finis_, restored their
vigour. We resumed our march over a rolling waste of green, enlivened
by occasional glimpses of the river, whose very aspect cooled the
gazer. Villages became frequent as we advanced, far distancing our
Belochies. At three p.m., after marching fourteen miles, we sighted
the snake-fence and the pent-houses of friendly Chogway.
"The _Jemadar_ and his garrison received us with all the honours
of travel, and admired our speedy return from Fuga. As at Harar, a
visitor can never calculate upon a prompt dismissal. We were too
strong for force, but Sultan Kimwere has detained Arab and other
strangers for a fortnight before his _mganga_ fixed a fit time for
audience. Moreover, these walking journeys are dangerous in one point:
the least accident disables a party, and accidents will happen to the
best-regulated expedition.
"Our feet were cut by boots and shoes, and we had lost 'leather' by
chafing and sunburns. A few days' rest removed these inconveniences.
Our first visit was paid to Pangany, where Said bin Salim, who had
watched his charge with the fidelity of a shepherd's dog, received us
with joyous demonstrations. After spending a day upon the coast, we
returned, provided with _munitions de bouche_ and other necessaries,
to Chogway, and settled old scores with our escort. Then, as the
vessel in which we were to cruise southward was not expected from
Zanzibar till the 1st of March, and we had a week to spare, it was
resolved to try a fall with Behemoth.[4]
[Sidenote: _Hippopotamus Shooting._]
"Captain Owen's officers, when ascending streams, saw their boats torn
by Behemoth's hard tusks; and in the Pangany, one 'Sultan Momba,' a
tyrant thus dubbed by the Belochies in honour of their friend the
Kohoday chief, delighted to upset canoes, and was once guilty of
breaking a man's leg.
"Behold us now, O brother in St. Hubert, dropping down the stream in a
_monoxyle_, some forty feet long, at early dawn, when wild beasts are
tamest.
"As we approach the herds, whose crests, flanked with small
pointed ears, dot the mirrory surface, our boatmen indulge in such
vituperations as 'Mana marira!' (O big belly!) and 'Hanamkia!' (O
tasteless one!) In angry curiosity the brutes raise their heads, and
expose their arched necks, shiny with trickling rills. Jack, a man
of speculative turn, experiments upon the nearest optics with two
barrels of grape and B shot. The eyes, however, are oblique; the
charge scatters, and the brute, unhurt, slips down like a seal. This
will make the herd wary. Vexed by the poor result of our trial, we
pole up the rippling and swirling surface, that proves the enemy to
be swimming under water towards the further end of the pool. After a
weary time he must rise and breathe. As the smooth water undulates,
swells, and breaches a way for the large black head, eight ounces of
lead fly in the right direction. There is a splash, a struggle; the
surface foams, and Behemoth, with mouth bleeding like a gutter-spout,
rears, and plunges above the stream. Wounded near the cerebellum, he
cannot swim straight. At last a _coup de grâce_ speeds through the
air; the brute sinks, gore dyes the surface purple, and bright bubbles
seethe up from the bottom. Hippo is dead. We wait patiently for his
reappearance, but he appears not. At length, by peculiar good luck,
Bombay's sharp eye detects an object some hundred yards down stream.
We make for it, and find our "bag" brought up in a shallow by a spit
of sand, and already in process of being ogled by a large fish-hawk.
The hawk suffers the penalty of impudence. We tow our defunct to the
bank, and deliver it to certain savages, whose mouths water with the
prospect of hippopotamus beef. At sundown they will bring to us the
tusks and head picked clean, as a whistle is said to be.
"The herd will no longer rise; they fear this hulking craft; we must
try some 'artful dodge.' Jack, accompanied by Bombay, who strips to
paddle in token of hot work expected, enters into a small canoe, ties
fast his shooting-tackle in case of an upset, and, whilst I occupy one
end of the house, makes for the other. Whenever a head appears an inch
above water, a heavy bullet 'puds' into or near it; crimson patches
adorn the stream; some die and disappear, others plunge in crippled
state, and others, disabled from diving by holes drilled through
their noses, splash and scurry about with curious snorts, caused
by breath passing through their wounds. At last Jack ventures upon
another experiment. An infant hippo, with an imprudence pardonable at
his years, uprears his crest; off flies the crown of the kid's head.
The bereaved mother rises for a moment, viciously regards Jack, who
is meekly loading, snorts a parent's curse, and dives as the cap is
being adjusted. Presently a bump, a shock, and a heave send the little
canoe's bows high in the air. Bombay, describing a small parabola
in frog-shape, lands beyond the enraged brute's back. Jack steadies
himself in the stern, and as the assailant, with broad dorsum hunched
up and hogged like an angry cat, advances for another bout, he rises,
and sends a bullet through her side. Bombay scrambles in, and, nothing
daunted, paddles towards the quarry, of which nothing is visible but
a long waving line of gore. With a harpoon we might have secured her;
now she will feed the alligators or the savages.
"The Belochies still take great interest in the sport, as Easterns
will when they see work being done. They force the boatmen to obey us.
Jack lands with the black woodmen, carrying both 'smashers.' He gropes
painfully through mangrove thicket, where parasitical oysters wound
the legs with their sharp edges, and the shaking bog admits a man to
his knees. After a time, reaching a clear spot, he takes up position
behind a bush impending the deepest water, and signals me to drive
up the herd. In pursuit of them I see a hole bursting in the stream,
and a huge black head rises with a snort and a spirt. 'Momba! Momba!'
shout the Belochies, yet the old rogue disdains flight. A cone from
the Colt strikes him full in front of the ear; his brain is pierced;
he rises high, falls with a crash upon the wave, and all that flesh
'cannot keep in a little life.' Momba has for ever disappeared from
the home of hippopotamus; never shall he break nigger's leg again.
Meanwhile the herd, who, rubbing their backs against the great canoe,
had retired to the other end of the pool, hearing an unusual noise,
rise, as is their wont, to gratify a silly curiosity. Jack has two
splendid standing shots, and the splashing and circling in the stream
below tell the accuracy of the aim.
"We soon learned the lesson that these cold-blooded animals may be
killed with a pistol-ball if hit in brain or heart; otherwise they
carry away as much lead as elephants. At about ten a.m. we had slain
six, besides wounding I know not how many of the animals. They might
be netted, but the operation would not pay in a pecuniary sense; the
ivory of small teeth, under four pounds each, is worth little. Being
perpetually pop-gunned by the Belochies, they are exceedingly shy, and
after an excess of bullying they shift quarters. We returned but once
to this sport, finding the massacre monotonous, and such cynegetics
about as exciting as partridge-shooting.
"On Thursday, the 26th of February, we left 'the bazar.' Jack walked
to Pangany, making a route survey, whilst I accompanied the _Jemadar_
and his tail in our large canoe.
[Sidenote: _Our First Fever._]
"For two days after returning to the coast we abstained from exercise.
On the third we walked out several miles, in the hottest of suns, to
explore a cavern, of which the natives, who came upon it when clearing
out a well, had circulated the most exaggerated accounts. Jack already
complained of his last night's labour--an hour with the sextant upon
damp sand in the chilly dew. This walk finished the work. On entering
the house we found the Portuguese lad, who had accompanied us to Fuga,
in a high fever. Jack was prostrated a few hours afterwards, and next
day I followed their example.
"As a rule, the traveller in these lands should avoid exposure and
fatigue beyond a certain point, to the very best of his ability. You
might as well practise sitting upon a coal-fire as inuring yourself
(which green men have attempted) to the climate. Dr. B----, a Polish
divine, who had taken to travelling at the end of a sedentary life,
would learn to walk bareheaded in the Zanzibar sun; the result was a
sunstroke. Others have paced barefooted upon an exposed terrace, with
little consequence but ulceration and temporary lameness. The most
successful in resisting the climate are they who tempt it least, and
the best training for a long hungry march is repose, with good living.
Man has then stamina to work upon; he may exist, like the camel, upon
his own fat. Those who fine themselves down by exercise and abstinence
before the march, commit the error of beginning where they ought to
end.
"Our attacks commenced with general languor and heaviness, a lassitude
in the limbs, a weight in the head, nausea, a frigid sensation
creeping up the extremities, and dull pains in the shoulders. Then
came a mild, cold fit, succeeded by a splitting headache, flushed
face, full veins, vomiting, and an inability to stand upright.
Like 'General Tazo' of Madagascar, this fever is a malignant
bilious-remittent. The eyes become hot, heavy, and painful when turned
upwards; the skin is dry and burning, the pulse full and frequent,
and the tongue furred; appetite is wholly wanting (for a whole week
I ate nothing), but a perpetual craving thirst afflicts the patient,
and nothing that he drinks will remain upon his stomach. During the
day extreme weakness causes anxiety and depression; the nights are
worse, for by want of sleep the restlessness is aggravated. Delirium
is common in the nervous and bilious temperament, and if the lancet
be used, certain death ensues; the action of the heart cannot be
restored. The exacerbations are slightly but distinctly marked (in my
own case they recurred regularly between two and three a.m. and p.m.),
and the intervals are closely watched for administering quinine, after
due preparation. This drug, however, has killed many, especially
Frenchmen, who, by overdosing at a wrong time, died of apoplexy.
"Whilst the Persians were at Zanzibar they besieged Colonel Hamerton's
door, begging him to administer Warburg's drops, which are said to
have a wonderful effect in malignant chronic cases. When the disease
intends to end fatally, the symptoms are aggravated; the mind wanders,
the body loses all power, and after perhaps an apparent improvement,
stupor, insensibility, and death ensue. On the other hand, if yielding
to treatment, the fever, about the seventh day, presents marked signs
of abatement; the tongue is clearer, pain leaves the head and eyes,
the face is no longer flushed, nausea ceases, and a faint appetite
returns. The recovery, however, is always slow and dubious. Relapses
are feared, especially at the full and change of the moon; they
frequently assume the milder intermittent type, and in some Indians
have recurred regularly through the year. In no case, however, does
the apparent severity of the fever justify the dejection and debility
of the convalescence. For six weeks recovery is imperfect; the liver
acts with unusual energy, the stomach is liable to severe indigestion,
the body is lean, and the strength wellnigh prostrated. At such
times change of air is the best of restoratives; removal, even to a
ship in the harbour, or to the neighbouring house, has been found
more beneficial than all the tonics and the preventatives in the
Pharmacopœia.
"In men of strong nervous diathesis the fever leaves slight
consequences, in the shape of white hair, boils, or bad toothaches.
Others suffer severely from its secondaries, which are either visceral
or cerebral. Some lose memory, others virility, others the use of
a limb; many become deaf or dim-sighted; and not a few, tormented
by hepatitis, dysentery, constipation, and similar disease, never
completely recover health.
"Captain Owen's survey of the Mombas Mission, and of our numerous
cruisers, proves that no European can undergo exposure and fatigue,
which promote the overflow of bile, without undergoing the
'seasoning.' It has, however, one advantage--those who pass the ordeal
are acclimatized; even with a year's absence in Europe, they return
to the tropics with little danger. The traveller is always advised
to undergo his seasoning upon the coast before marching into the
interior; but after recovery he must await a second attack, otherwise
he will expend in preparation the strength and bottom required for the
execution of his journey. Of our party the Portuguese boy came in for
his turn at Zanzibar. The other has ever since had light relapses; and
as a proof that the negro enjoys no immunity, Seedy[5] Bombay is at
this moment (June 8th) suffering severely.
"The Banyans intended great civility; they would sit with us for
hours, asking, like Orientals, the silliest of questions, and thinking
withal that they were 'doing the agreeable:' repose was out of the
question. During the day, flies and gnats added another sting to
the mortifications of fever. At night, rats nibbled at our feet,
mosquitoes sang their song of triumph, and a torturing thirst made
the terrible sleeplessness yet more terrible. Our minds were morbidly
fixed upon one point, the arrival of our vessel; we had no other
occupation but to rise and gaze, and exchange regrets as a sail hove
in sight, drew near, and passed by. We knew that there would be no
failure on the part of our thoughtful friend, who had written to
promise us a _battela_ on the 1st of March, which did not make Pangany
till the evening of the 5th of March.
"After sundry bitter disappointments, we had actually hired a Banyan's
boat that had newly arrived, when the expected craft ran into the
river. Not a moment was to be lost. Said bin Salim, who had been a
kind nurse, superintended the embarkation of our property. Jack, less
severely treated, was able to walk to the shore; but I--alas for
manliness!--was obliged to be supported like a bedridden old woman.
The worst part of the process was the presence of a crowd. The Arabs
were civil, and bade a kindly farewell. The Sawahili, however, audibly
contrasted the present with the past, and drew dedecorous conclusions
from the change which a few days had worked in the man who bore a
twenty-four pound gun, my pet four-ounce.[6]
"All thoughts of cruising along the southern coast were at an end.
Colonel Hamerton had warned us not to despise bilious-remittents; and
evidently we should not have been justified in neglecting his caution
to return, whenever seized by sickness. With the dawn of Friday,
the 6th of March, we ordered the men to up sail; we stood over for
Zanzibar with a fine fresh breeze, and early in the afternoon we found
ourselves once more within the pale of Eastern civilization. _Deo
gratias!_ our excellent friend at once sent us to bed, whence, gentle
reader, we have the honour to make the reverential salaam."
[1] The distance between Bombay and Zanzibar is two thousand five
hundred miles.
[2] Jack was Speke's christian name.
[3] One of the places forbidden to strangers.
[4] Hippopotamus.
[5] He was originally Sudy, but afterwards they dubbed him Seedy.--I. B.
[6] These two guns I still treasure.--I. B.