Kind reception in Khartoom. Dyafer Pasha, the Governor-General.
Contract with Ghattas. Herr W. Duisberg. Ivory trade at
Khartoom. Khartoom possessions in the negro countries. Departure
from Khartoom. Manning of the boat. Construction of the
Khartoom boats. First night on the White Nile. Character of
the landscape. Washing away of the east bank. Fertility of the
country on the west. Acacia forests. Herds of the Hassanieh.
Numerous hippopotamuses. Geese and ducks. Beginning of the
wilderness. The Ambatch-wood. First day of ill-luck. Running
over a wild buffalo. Baggara Arabs. Brethren in the faith. The
mountain Nyemati. Evening gossip about pygmies. Native Egyptian
cultivated plants. Buffalos alarming the Baggara. Mohammed Kher,
the robber chief. Impressions on the first sight of savages.
Boat attacked by bees. Frightful agony. Gadflies. Giant snails.
A man carries three canoes. Repair of the sail-yard. Fashoda the
most southern military station. Fifteen Shillooks at a shot. Gay
temperament of the people. Gun accidents. African giant snakes.
In Egypt, in well-informed circles, it was a current opinion that the
Government was trying, on principle, to throw impediments in the way
of any explorers who might purpose penetrating the district of the
Upper Nile. It was supposed that they were desirous of preventing the
circulation, by eye-witnesses, of adverse reports, and of keeping back
from the eyes of the world any undesirable details as to the position
of matters with reference to the slave trade. They were unwilling to
let it be seen that their influence over the people of Khartoom was
insufficient for the suppression of the slave traffic amongst them.
Under this impression I entered upon my journey with some misgiving,
entertaining no very sanguine hopes as to the real utility of the
order delivered to me for the Governor-General of Khartoom, who at
that time was administering affairs with considerable vigour in all
the provinces of the Soudan under the Egyptian dominion above the
first cataract.
So much the more grateful, therefore, was my surprise when,
immediately after my arrival in Khartoom, I was honoured by a visit
from the powerful Dyafer Pasha, and, after the first few words,
satisfied myself that there was a reasonable expectation that, on this
occasion, the local government would do all within their power to
secure the most complete protection to a scientific expedition.
My letter of recommendation from the Academy was afterwards read in
the Government divan. It was fluently translated, sentence by
sentence, into Arabic by the physician in ordinary, and the Pasha at
once declared that he would be the Vokil, that is to say, the manager
of affairs, for the Academy of Berlin, and promised that he would not
fail to afford me the necessary assistance for my journey. How
faithfully he kept his word is well known, and on that account the
thanks of the Academy of Science were formally presented to him.
Dyafer had been an old captain of a frigate in the stirring times of
Mohammed Ali; he was a man of considerable attainments, and had
already become known to me on the occasion of my first journey, when
he acted as Governor of Upper Egypt. In his house were seen piles of
atlases and anatomical plates; he was not wanting in a clear
comprehension of, nor indeed in an actual interest in, my undertaking.
He expressed his hope that my journey might accomplish its aim, and if
anything of material benefit should be discovered that it might not be
reserved, but freely communicated to the State. I assured him that the
Royal Academy had no narrow views, and that he might be certain that
although I trusted by prosecuting science to gain credit for myself, I
should not overlook anything that might be honourable to him, or for
the advantage of his Government. The Pasha seemed gratified by my
reply, and referred me to the writers, who were to settle the various
covenants of my agreement with an ivory trader, Ghattas, a Coptic
Christian. The Governor-General himself had arranged the terms, and I
could find little in their tenor that would be adverse to my
interests.
[Sidenote: PRELIMINARY COVENANTS.]
Besides Ghattas, there were several other merchants in Khartoom, who
possessed large settlements in the district of the Upper Nile, but he
alone amongst them was not a Mahommedan; the others were, for the most
part, true Osmanlis, whose reputation, with respect to slave dealing,
did not stand too high. Thus the choice of the administrator fell upon
the unlucky Ghattas, who, being also the richest of all, was required
to become surety against any misadventure that might occur to the
traveller in the interior. If he were betrayed to the cannibals, or if
he were left in the lurch among savages and cut-throats, so much the
better for the treasury of the Government, who would have the most
legitimate reasons for proceeding to the confiscation of his estates.
I should fail to discharge a duty of gratitude if I were to omit to
acknowledge the interest displayed in behalf of my enterprise by Herr
Duisberg, who was at that time Vice-consul of the North German
Confederation in Khartoom. Not only did he entertain me most
hospitably for several weeks in his house, but likewise exerted all
his influence on his friends the ivory-traders, so as to dispose them
favourably to my undertaking, and to relieve them from any fear of
interference on my part with their affairs.
Notwithstanding any prejudice which might attach to him as the leader
of the Protestant mission, the Vice-consul had gained the esteem of
all parties in Khartoom, and was especially in favour with the
Governor-General, who very thoroughly appreciated his integrity. His
conciliating manners availed to satisfy the Khartoom merchants that my
plan was not adverse to their interests. Hitherto they had looked upon
every scientific traveller as a dangerous spy, whose visit only aimed
at denouncing their transactions on the Upper Nile, and reporting them
to the Consul-General in Egypt. On this occasion they consented to
meet me at a sumptuous entertainment given by Herr Duisberg before my
departure. All the gentry of the town, Pashas and Beys, glittering
with their stars and orders, and merchants, in their gorgeous satin
robes, gathered together at that feast of reconciliation between the
representatives of African commerce and of European science.
The entire ivory trade of Khartoom is in the hands of six larger
merchants, with whom are associated a dozen more whose business is on
a smaller scale. For years the annual export of ivory has not exceeded
the value of 500,000 Maria Theresa dollars. There has been a continual
decrease in the yield of ivory from the territory adjacent to the
river, so that last year, even that sum would not have been
maintained, unless the expeditions had, season after season, been
penetrating deeper into the more remote districts of the interior. It
is a fallacy to suppose that the pursuit of elephants is merely a
secondary consideration in these enterprises of the Khartoom
merchants, or that it only serves as a cloke to disguise the far more
lucrative slave trade. These two occupations have far less to do with
one another than is frequently supposed. If it had not been for the
high value of ivory, the countries about the sources of the Nile would
even now be as little unfolded to us as the equatorial centre of the
great continent: they are regions which of themselves could produce
absolutely nothing to remunerate transport. The settlements owe their
original existence to the ivory trade; but it must, on the other hand,
be admitted that these settlements in various ways have facilitated
the operations of the regular slave-traders. Without these depôts the
professional slave-traders could never have penetrated so far, whilst
now they are enabled to pour themselves into the negro countries
annually by thousands, on the roads over Kordofan and Darfur.
[Sidenote: MERCHANT SERIBAS.]
The merchants of Khartoom, to whom I have alluded, maintain a great
number of settlements in districts as near as possible to the present
ivory countries, and among peaceful races devoted to agriculture. They
have apportioned the territory amongst themselves, and have brought
the natives to a condition of vassalage. Under the protection of an
armed guard procured from Khartoom, they have established various
depôts, undertaken expeditions into the interior, and secured an
unmolested transit to and fro. These depôts for ivory, ammunition,
barter-goods, and means of subsistence, are villages surrounded by
palisades, and are called Seribas.[7] Every Khartoom merchant, in the
different districts where he maintains his settlements, is represented
by a superintendent and a number of subordinate agents. These agents
command the armed men of the country, determine what products the
subjected natives must pay by way of impost to support the guards, as
well as the number of bearers they must furnish for the distant
exploring expeditions; they appoint and displace the local managers;
carry on war or strike alliances with the chiefs of the ivory
countries, and once a year remit the collected stores to Khartoom.
Both the principal districts of the Khartoom ivory trade are
accessible by the navigation of the two source-affluents together
forming the White Nile, viz. the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the Bahr-el-Gebel.
The name Bahr-el-Abiad is understood in Khartoom to include the entire
domain of the Nile and its affluents above this town, but in its true
and more limited sense it signifies only the united mainstream as far
as the mouth of the Sobat, “White Nile.” Two less important centres
are approached by the channels of the Sobat and the Giraffe. The
landing-places, called Meshera, are in all cases at a distance of some
days’ journey from the depôts. The trade winds and the rainy seasons
both have their effect in determining the time of year in which
progress can be made. They render the passage up stream practicable
only from December to January, and limit the valley journey to June,
July, and August. On the Bahr-el-Gebel the extreme point of navigation
is the well-known Gondokoro in lat 5° N., the termination of a series
of voyages of discovery. On the Bahr-el-Ghazal a kind of _cul-de-sac_
leads to the only existing Meshera. Beyond this, the Khartoom people
have already advanced 5° in a southerly, as well as in a westerly
direction. In the district of the Gazelle River, the Niam-niam
countries form a great source of the ivory-produce; of the ways which
were available, this was the direction which appeared to promise the
best opening for the prosecution of my object. Accordingly, I
determined to proceed by the Gazelle, and concluded my contract with
the Coptic Ghattas. He engaged to supply the means of subsistence, and
to furnish me with bearers and an adequate number of armed men. He
also placed at my disposal a boat for the journey, and it was
expressly stipulated that I should be at liberty to join all the
enterprises and excursions of his own people.
The Governor-General laid similar obligations for my protection on all
the other chief merchants who had possessions in the territory of the
Gazelle. Duplicates of all the agreements were prepared; one copy
being retained by me, the counterparts were deposited with the local
government at Khartoom. After these necessary provisions for my
security had been adjusted, there was nothing now to hinder me from
commencing my real journey. Never before had the Egyptian Government
done so much indirectly to co-operate with a scientific traveller; and
it was with no little satisfaction that I regarded my budget of
documents, which would unlock for me so considerable a section of
Central Africa.
[Sidenote: EMBARKATION ON THE WHITE NILE.]
In order to have continually about me a number of people upon whose
fidelity and attachment I might fairly rely under all circumstances, I
took into my service six Nubians, who had settled in Khartoom with
their wives and children, and who resided there, and had already
travelled in different parts of the Upper Nile. All had previously
served under other Europeans. Riharn, the cook, had accompanied the
Consul Petherick on his ill-fated journey of 1863. Their conduct in no
way disappointed me, and I had never any serious cause of complaint
against any of them.
At last, all preparations had so far prospered that the journey to the
Gazelle River might be commenced on the 5th of January 1869. A little
concession had, however, to be made to the superstitious
representations of the Khartoom people. Wednesday and Saturday, as
days of ill-omen, were excluded from the times of departure. Somehow
or other this introduced a parley which entailed a little delay.
Protestations, I knew, availed but little, and my common sense
suggested unconditional submission to the custom of the country. Not
simply was it impossible to convince the people of the absurdity of
any superstition of theirs, but what was of more moment, they would be
sure, on the very first occasion of any mischance, to attribute it to
the perverseness of the Frank. They would have looked idly and
helplessly on if I had persisted in carrying out my will in opposition
to the decrees of fate.
On board our little vessel we altogether counted thirty-two, a number
small in comparison with that in the other boats. The total number,
however, did not admit of much reduction. No boat’s crew alone could
suffice to overcome the obstacles which were to be expected in the
waters further up the country.
The merchant Ghattas, to whom the boat belonged, had manned it with
eight boatmen, and had also put on board fifteen hired men to serve,
partly as a protection against any attacks, and partly to assist in
towing the boats. The soldiers, as they were called, were for the most
part young, and were originally inhabitants of the valley of the Upper
Nile, between Berber and Khartoom, but from whence they had been
driven to escape on account of the heavy taxation. Since agriculture
hardly kept them from misery and starvation, they preferred to hire
themselves out as robbers, slave-hunters, cattle-stealers, or whatever
could enable them to gratify the innate propensity for adventure which
belongs to every Nubian. Besides the six Nubians engaged in Khartoom,
my own retinue included two women slaves, whose hand labour supplied
the want of mills; their office, performed by means of stones, was to
convert our corn into the flour requisite for the maintenance of the
crew. We were packed closely enough; cramped up, we appeared like
cattle in a pew, yet our accommodation was comparatively spacious.
Other boats I saw of which the dimensions were hardly larger than our
own, and which were made to carry sometimes sixty, sometimes eighty
human beings. But even this was a trifling repletion as compared with
the boats we met, and which, in a hold of not more than fifty tons,
often stowed away 200 slaves. The crew squat like hens on shelves
outstretched upon deck between mast and mast; and in order to afford
the soldiers rest by night, the vessels lie-to whenever the shore is
safe.
A rough wooden partition erected at the stern of the bulky vessel was
assigned to me as my special berth. I had arranged it as well as I
could, and sat there surrounded, in charming confusion, by baggage and
trunks, and the thousand articles which made up my equipment. The
boats which are used upon the upper waters of the Nile are called
“negger;” their construction, I believe, is unlike what can be seen in
any other country of the world. They are as strong as they are
massive, being built so as to withstand the violent pushings of the
hippopotamuses, as well as the collisions with the mussel banks, which
are scattered in various directions. I am certain that one of these
boats at any maritime exhibition would attract the attention of all
who take any interest in such things. I am not aware that there is
anything accurate to be found in any history of travel on this
subject, and it may be permitted me therefore to insert a few
particulars of the Khartoom ship-building.
[Sidenote: SHIP-BUILDING AT KHARTOOM.]
There can be no question that the ship-building on the Red Sea, just
like the architecture of the towns along its coast, is of Indian
origin, all the timber required in Arabia being procured from India.
At Khartoom, on the contrary, this art, although in many respects it
has peculiarities of its own, has been derived from an Egyptian
source. Taking their own special requirements into account, the
boat-builders of Egypt have completely altered the structure and shape
of their river boats. It must be borne in mind that the recurring
cataracts, which interrupt the navigation of the Nubian Nile valley,
rendered any ascent of the river a matter of difficulty, demanding
indeed the most strenuous exertions. The cataracts are ten in number,
and only recently have they been overcome by some small steam vessels
of about 60-horse power. The only wood which is used in Khartoom for
ship-building is that of the Sunt acacia (_A. nilotica_), which,
though far heavier and harder than our oak, is the only wood which the
soil of the Soudan supplies, which appears capable of being sawn into
planks. But on account of the irregular texture and numerous branches
of the trunk of this acacia, it is impossible to cut it into boards
more than ten feet in length, and even these are rare. Masts and
sail-yards, since those of deal seldom reach Khartoom, and then are of
an exorbitant price, must be made by splicing together a number of
small pieces. Externally these are bound with ox hide; but in violent
gales they are extremely liable to start. Not only does the wood fail
to be either straight or long, it is also so hard, that it requires to
be sawn while it is green. The saw is an instrument so rarely employed
throughout Nubia, that it is handled most unskilfully by the
carpenters; as matter of course, there are neither steam-mills nor
water-mills in Khartoom, and consequently the planks are cut without
the faintest pretence to regularity.
All these defects are, however, cancelled by the unexampled toughness
and indestructible nature of the wood; it might fairly be asked from
what other material could boats 60 feet long and 20 feet broad be
constructed without ribs or braces. The sides of the boat are a foot
thick, and are formed of layers of different lengths, which acquire
stability and firmness from their own support. An empty boat, seen
from inside, has somewhat the appearance of an elongated shell of half
a hazel-nut. The planks, where they overlap or are dove-tailed
together, are fastened by iron nails driven in perpendicularly, the
necessary holes being bored from the outer to the inner surfaces in
such a way that the same nail holds together two, or occasionally
more, thicknesses of wood. In this manner, with much trouble and more
measuring, is obtained the proper curvature of the hull, which, as a
whole, is marked by a complete symmetry. The cost of the stout iron
nails, and the rapid wear of axe and saw, make the expenses of
building these boats so considerable that they amount to five times as
much as oak vessels of the same size in Europe. A mast about 20 feet
high bears the giant-yard of the single lateen sail, which is
generally half as long again as the boat.
[Sidenote: NIGHT ON THE RIVER.]
Amid the farewell salutations of a large concourse, among which my
people counted numerous friends and relations, we pushed off from the
shore. Without delay we took our onward course to the mouth of the
Blue Nile, doubling the Ras-el-Khartoom, that large promontory, which
resembles in form the snout of an animal; it gives its name to the
town, and is the partition land between the two arms of the Nile.
Bulky and ponderous as was our boat, the power of the north wind laid
its hold upon our giant-sail, and carried us with the speed of steam
towards the south. On the forenoon of the following day we found
ourselves already 1° below the latitude of Khartoom. We sailed,
without staying our course, through the night, which was cheered by
the moonlight. I was sleepless with excitement at finding myself at
last brought irrevocably to the attainment of my cherished hopes. The
universal quiet was only broken by the rush of the bilge-water, and
now and then by the cry of the water-birds. Shrouded like mummies in
their white garments lay the crew, closely packed upon the narrow
deck; and altogether there was something spectral in the stillness of
the nocturnal voyage.
As the morning sun fell upon the low monotonous shores of the flowing
river, it seemed at times almost as though it were illuminating the
ocean, so vast was the extent of water where the current ran for any
distance in a straight and unwinding course. Low levels, that seemed
interminable, only marked out from the land beyond by narrow belts of
trees, formed the framework of the scene. The borders of the desert
rise and fall in gentle undulations, on which stand, sometimes
scantily and sometimes thickly, groups of Haras and Seyal acacias. The
vegetation which is visible demonstrates the complete desert character
of Nubia. The shooshgrass (_Panicum turgidum_), the most general of
herbage for the camels, is here trodden down in masses.
The voyage up the White Nile has been very frequently described by
various travellers. The districts along the shore mostly retain an
unchanging aspect for miles together. Barely does some distant
mountain or isolated hill relieve the eye from the wide monotony. In
spite of all, there was no lack of interest. There is much that cannot
fail to make the progress ever striking and impressive.
The attention is soon attracted by the astonishing number of geese and
ducks which are seen day after day. The traveller in these parts is so
satiated with them, fattened and roasted, that the sight creates
something akin to disgust. The number of cattle is prodigious: far as
the eye can reach they are scattered alike on either shore, whilst,
close at hand, they come down to the river-marshes to get their drink.
The stream, as wide again as the Nile of Egypt, is enlivened by the
boats belonging to the shepherds, who row hither and thither to
conduct their cattle, their dogs in the water swimming patiently
behind.
Early on the third day we reached Getina, a considerable village
inhabited by Hassanieh, and which is a favourite rendezvous of the
Nile-boats. The flats here were bright with the luxuriant green of the
sedge; growing abundantly as it does, it serves to impart to the banks
the meadow-like character of northern tracts. Thousands of geese
(_Chenalopex ægyptiacus_), in no degree disconcerted by the arrival of
any stranger, waddled up and down. Although in places the right bank
is bounded by sand-banks thirty feet high, the left appears completely
and interminably flat, and occasionally admits of the culture of
sorghum. This remarkable difference which exists between the aspect of
the two banks, and which may be observed for several degrees, is to be
explained by a hydrographical law, which is illustrated not only here,
but likewise in the district of the Lower Nile. As rivers flow from
southerly into more northern latitudes, their fluid particles are set
in motion with increased velocity, the result of which is to drive
them onwards so as to wash away the eastern bank, leaving a continual
deposit on the west.
This phenomenon, which may be just as plainly perceived on several of
the great rivers of Europe, is, as might be expected, presented here
on a large scale, where the Nile retains its northerly direction along
a course which extends over a third part of the earth’s quadrant.
Hence it has arisen that the cultivated fields lie more generally upon
the western shore, while the eastern gives a deeper fairway, and is
found dotted at intervals with settled villages. Hardly ever does the
fairway deviate from the eastern shore, and the evident depression of
the shore has led several travellers to suspect that they have
discovered a proof of the continuous sloping of the land, which, in
truth, is only apparent.
It will be understood, therefore, how great a mistake is made in
attempting to estimate, as many of my predecessors have done, the
degree of productiveness of the country by the sandy levels and
starving fields on the right bank. As matter of fact, the White Nile
is enriched by an alluvium which would be quite as fruitful as that of
the Blue Nile, except that it is wanting in the crumbling clay, which
is the product of the volcanic mountains of Abyssinia, and which
undoubtedly exercises a most beneficial influence on the results of
Egyptian agriculture. Here the soil is not only rich, it is remarkable
for its lightness; and, probably from the absence of chalk, it has a
warmer, brighter colour than generally marks the Nubian or Egyptian
land.
Towards midday the wind had so much increased that our Reis let the
boat drift without sail against the stream. The progress we thus made
was surprising: then as the gale gradually fell, we ventured to unfurl
our sail, till the speed we reached was like that of an arrow over the
waters. We drove through the midst of the flocks of geese which came
athwart our course, and firing at random caught up as many of the
wounded as came within our grasp. Towards the close of the day we
reached Wod-Shellay.
[Sidenote: WOD-SHELLAY.]
Wod-Shellay is one of the favourite resting-places of all voyagers
upon the Nile. Here, according to custom, an ox was slaughtered,[8]
and a formal leave was taken of the Mohammedan world, by liberal
draughts of merissa beer. This leave-taking had to be repeated more
than once. We were told that higher up the stream there were no more
villages, but somehow or other opportunities were found, either on
pretext of making purchases or of looking at old friends, on which it
became necessary to have some more parting cups of merissa beer.
Subject to these delays, I lost considerable time frequently in
insipid dreariness, where neither scenes nor men could excite my
interest.
After making a complete day of rest at Wod-Shellay, I crossed over to
the western shore on a brief excursion. I entered some villages at a
distance from the Nile and gained some information as to the condition
of their agriculture. Wide, though much thinned, forests of the Sunt
acacia (_A. nilotica_ and _arabica_) cover the districts near the
shore; further on there was a wide extent of cultivated flat. The soil
is a stiffish ash-grey clay, different from that of Egypt, but not
inferior in fertility—an opinion which Sir Samuel Baker, not
investigating the west and being acquainted only with the sandy east,
has ventured to deny.
A large yellow-grained variety of _Sorghum vulgare_, known in the
Khartoom markets as “soffra,” thrives here in such perfection that but
few ears came under my notice which were not at least nine inches long
and more than four in diameter; convincing evidence to me of the
fruitful nature of the ground.
I was accompanied by Arslan, a great sheep-dog, which I had brought
with me from Europe, and in all the villages through which I passed
the inhabitants, as I advanced, scampered off in terror, crying
“Hyæna, hyæna!” It was difficult to make them understand that the
brown-spotted animal was only a dog. I do not think I know a country
where the dread of great dogs is so universal as in the Soudan.
But a few years ago unlimited forests here met the stranger’s eye; the
large demand for timber for ship-building purposes, however, has all
but destroyed them. At Wod-Shellay, in Mohammed Ali’s time, the
Government maintained a large dock, on which were built the numerous
boats which that enterprising ruler sent out into the upper districts;
at present there is a similar establishment higher up the stream upon
the Isle of Aba, where the stores of wood are awhile secured to meet
the demands of the future. Scarcely one tree out of a hundred yields
timber suitable for building: and all along the bank the owners like
to pay their taxes by means of wood instead of money; the consequence
naturally is that the best trees are prematurely lost and that old
trees are comparatively rare. The steamboat service on these waters is
much assisted by the inexhaustible supply of fuel which is everywhere
to be procured along the banks.
[Sidenote: MOUNT ARRASH-KOL.]
Our voyage was next continued, through the night, as far as a
watering-place on the western shore, near which lay the village of
Turra. We lay-to in sight of the neighbouring mountain Arrash-kol.
The hippopotamuses now became more frequent; their noise, gurgling,
and snorting was heard far over the waters, and grated as harshly on
the ear as the incessant creaking of our own rudder. The traveller up
the White Nile must accustom himself to this, or he has no hope of an
undisturbed night’s rest.
The western shores, which are marked by rows of acacias almost as
though arranged in avenues, have nothing African in their aspect,
chiefly on account of the absence of the palm, that chief ornament of
the tropics; they rather remind of what may be seen in the
thinly-populated districts beside the Volga and other of the streams
of Russia. The Arrash-kol is an isolated mountain some hundred feet
high, of which the jagged steeps jut up from the uniform level. It is
well known to botanists through the treasures which were gathered
there thirty years ago by the traveller Kotschy. Time did not permit
me to investigate the country from this interesting centre. I was
obliged to content myself with a trip to the village of Turra, two
leagues away.
No idea can be formed of the number of cattle all hereabouts; the
route leads over continual watering-places, where herds of cattle,
varying in number from 1000 to 3000, are assembled, and form a most
striking spectacle. The cattle of the Hassanieh are distinguished by a
hump, and are of a race peculiar to the whole of the Soudan, having
beyond a doubt some close affinity to the Indian zebu. The ox of the
Egyptians, which, in consequence of the cattle-plague in 1863-64, has
almost entirely died out, has no hump. Its horns are short, and it
differs in the shape of its skull from the ox of the Soudan; the breed
has survived only in Central Nubia. In girth and height, not only do
the cattle of the Hassanieh exceed the Egyptian, but those which I
shall have occasion to mention hereafter as belonging to the Baggara
Arabs, surpass the breeds which are kept by the pagan negroes of the
Upper Nile. Amongst the Shillooks and Dinka, for instance, the light
grey colour predominates, whilst the marking of the skin in the
majority of those of which we speak is like a spotted leopard, black
specks on a lightish ground; but neither are the white and brown, the
piebald, nor coats entirely dun-colour, at all unfrequent.
I was conducted through the fragrant wood of the flowering acacia to a
place where a little weekly market had gathered the neatherds of the
neighbourhood, and where milk flowed in streams. The Hassanieh do not
differ externally from the score of other nomad races which, more or
less Arabised, inhabit the steppes and deserts on both sides of the
Nile. They appeared to me far more confiding than my old friends the
Bishareen and Hadendoa, but perhaps for the reason that, speaking good
Arabic, they were able to contribute their part to a good
understanding on both sides. They crowded round me everywhere to gaze
at my strange big dog, and I was repeatedly obliged to give a history
in detail of his genealogy, his qualities, and all about him. Being in
possession of a splendid race of greyhounds, which they train for
gazelle hunting, and of which they have a high opinion, their interest
was raised to the highest pitch. The dogs smelt strongly; and it is no
exaggeration to say, so did the men.
[Sidenote: AFRICAN NOVELTIES.]
The graceful shade acacias (_A. spirocarpa_) here come once again into
the front, soon to be finally lost sight of on the other side of the
neighbouring desert. Along the right bank there were many masses of a
large-leaved shrub, which covers the country, and for miles disputes
the precedence with all the prevailing vegetation; it is the _Ipomæa
asarifolia_, appearing in some places like rose bushes in the
luxuriant adornment of its ample blossoms, a bright relief to the
general dreariness of the shore.
Our voyage is again continued by night; the channel is broad and deep;
freely we sail throughout the hours of darkness. The noise of the
hippopotamuses is the chief disturbance; it seems as if there is no
relief from their tumult. It almost seemed as if they were quite close
about us, but one had but to look around, and their clumsy heads were
visible in the distance, projecting like black points above the
stream. By way of variety there came, at intervals, the roar of some
lion prowling on the bank. Such were the novelties of Africa.
In the morning we passed Dueme, one of the largest villages in this
district. Soon we reached the groups of little islands whose soil,
naturally fertile, has been successfully subject to a recent
cultivation. It is a cheering sign of the progress of cultivation in
these regions, to see the fellaheen of Nubia travelling continually
further and further up the banks of the White Nile. The passive
population of blacks on the river, at least in the space of a few
decades, has been partly displaced, and partly spurred on to greater
energy; and doubtless, therefore, there are many places in Nubia
itself capable of being cultivated, which have become desolate only as
a consequence of the oppressiveness of a heavy taxation.
The flocks of geese were still unending, and every expedient was
resorted to to make a variety in the way of cooking them; they were
stuffed with rice; they were dressed with tomato sauce; they were
served with mushrooms; and when every imaginable way of preparing them
was exhausted, we had recourse, by way of variety, to the ducks (_Anas
viduata_) which were obtainable. Then was the golden age of my
_cuisine_. Our provisions were ample, and the inventive faculties of
my cook Riharn turned them all to the best account. But different
times were yet to come, times when Riharn must murmur that the three
years of his life spent in Shepherd’s Hotel in Cairo had all been
sacrificed, and must repine that he could find no scope for his
abilities in Central Africa. The result of all this was, that he was a
terrible backslider in his art, and at the end of three years could
never cook a dish of rice without burning it.
A few days after our departure I had made the unpleasant discovery
that the prudent Ghattas, to whom the vessel belonged, with an eye to
economy, had put on board, without due protection, all his powder and
a year’s supply of the cartridges necessary for the expedition. In
order to save the expense of proper chests he had wrapped up several
hundredweight of these combustibles loosely in sacks of matting and
paper parcels only, and piled them up just under the entrance to my
cabin, where I was accustomed to sit smoking my pipe and surveying the
land. I had now thrown a cowhide across this explosive heap, and so
secured that the smoking and the contemplation might be resumed with
greater composure on my part.
On the same day we reached the Egyptian military station Kowa, or
El-Ais, at which there is a large Government corn-store. El-Ais was
for years the extreme southern boundary of the State. Passing through
it is a much frequented road, which crosses the White as well as the
Blue Nile, and unites Kordofan with Abyssinia. Along this road the
Baggara fetch most of their horses, which they buy by auction in the
market of Gallabat.
Directly above Kowa begins the region of the Shillook Islands, which,
as yet unthinned by the axe, are very valuable. A little further up
the stream, following the outline of the banks, stretches a series of
Nubian agricultural settlement. At one of these goodly islands, known
as Om-mandeb, we stayed our course awhile. Mandeb is the name here
given to the prickliest of prickly plants, the _Mimosa asperata_;
transplanted by the stream, it is occasionally found even as far off
as Egypt, but here it surrounds the island shore, and forms a hedge of
impenetrable thorns. Here in a wild state is the water melon, and I
have submitted proofs that the cradle of this nursling of culture lies
in Africa, the original home of the domestic cat and of the ass.
[Sidenote: ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE LIFE.]
A rich variety of animal life is developed in this wilderness; not
only did the shore swarm with hippopotamuses, whose vestiges were like
deep pit-holes, but the ground was scooped out in places vacated by
rows of crocodiles, which now basked only thirty paces in our front.
Great iguanas (_Varanus_) and snakes rustled in the dry grass.
Everywhere under the trees were snake skins and egg shells; above in
the branches was heard the commotion of the mischievous monkeys
(_Cercopithecus griseoviridus_), whilst birds of many a species,
eagles from giant nests, and hosts of fluttering water-fowl, gave
incessant animation to the scenery of the shore.
What, however, most interested me, was the unlimited variety in the
kinds of water plants which abounded on the floods, the sport of the
winds and waves. Among them the Herminiera, known under the native
name of ambatch, has already been the subject of general remark; it
plays so prominent a part in the upper waters of the Nile, that it
might fairly be designated the most remarkable of the native plants.
My predecessor, Kotschy, who did not know that it had already been
observed by Adanson in Senegambia, named it _Ædemone mirabilis_, which
was corrupted into the still more wonderful name of _Anemone
mirabilis_, and so appeared in many books which treated of Africa. The
ambatch is distinguished for the unexampled lightness of its wood, if
the fungus-like substance of the stem deserves such a name at all. It
shoots up to 15 or 20 feet in height, and at its base generally
attains a thickness of about 6 inches. The weight of this fungus-wood
is so insignificant that it really suggests comparison to a feather.
Only by taking it into his hands could any one believe that it were
possible for one man to lift on to his shoulders a raft made large
enough to carry eight people on the water. The plant shoots up with
great rapidity by the quiet places of the shore, and since it roots
merely in the water, whole bushes are easily broken off by the force
of the wind or stream, and settle themselves afresh in other places:
This is the true origin of the grass-barriers so frequently mentioned
as blocking up the waters of the Upper Nile, and in many seasons
making navigation utterly impracticable. Other plants have a share in
the formation of these floating islands, which daily emerge like the
Delos of tradition; among them, in particular, the vossia grass, and
the famous papyrus of antiquity, which at present is nowhere to be
found either in Nubia or in Egypt.
On the 13th of January, on one of the thronging islands, we had our
first _rencontre_ with the Shillooks. This tribe of negroes formerly
extended themselves much further north than at present, having
settlements on all the islands; but now they only exceptionally
penetrate to this latitude (12° 30´) in their canoes of hollow
tamarind stems. The Baggara, meanwhile, are ever gaining a firmer
footing on the river banks, and have already with their flocks
ventured far to the east of the stream into the land of the Dinka.
[Sidenote: MISFORTUNE.]
Some long islands of sand distinguished by stripes here gave a
noticeable feature to the scene; they were cohered with flocks of
Balearic or peacock cranes, which had arranged themselves in five or
six rows like a regiment of soldiers, their beaks turned to the wind
and facing the north. When young this bird, thus plentifully supplied,
has flesh more palatable than the goose, because it feeds on corn and
beans; and, like the guinea fowl, it made a change in our bill of
fare. On the western banks were large herds of antelopes (_A.
megaloceras_), which we could see peacefully coming down to drink. In
other places we passed close by trees with a lively population of
monkeys swinging on the branches; and now for the first time we
observed the troops of maraboo storks, which made their appearance in
considerable numbers by the water’s edge. All this diversity of life
gave the fascination of romance to the loneliness of the forest.
The 14th of January was the first day of ill-luck, which I was myself
the means of bringing about. Early in the morning another boat had
joined us; and the people wished me to allow them to stay awhile that
they might enjoy themselves together. Being, however, at a spot which
seemed to me extremely dull, I urged them to go further, in order to
land on a little island that appeared more full of interest. The
excursion which I took was attended by a misfortune which befell one
of the two men whom I took to accompany me. Mohammed Amin, such was
his name, running at my side, had chanced to come upon a wild buffalo,
that I had not the least intention of injuring, but which the man,
unhappily, approached too near in the high grass. The buffalo, it
would seem, was taking his midday nap, and disturbed from his siesta,
rose in the utmost fury. To spring up and whirl the destroyer of his
peace in the air was but the work of an instant. There lay my faithful
companion, bleeding all over, and in front of him, tail erect, stood
the buffalo roaring, and in a threatening attitude ready to trample
down his victim. As fate would have it, however, the attention of the
infuriated brute was attracted by the other two men, who stood by
looking on speechless with astonishment. I had no gun; Mohammed had
been carrying my breech-loader in his hand, and there it was swinging
on the left horn of the buffalo. The other man with me, who carried my
rifle, had immediately taken aim, but the trigger snapped in vain, and
time after time the gun missed fire. No time now for any consultation;
it was a question of a moment. The man grasped at a small iron hatchet
and hurled it straight at the buffalo’s head from a distance of about
twenty paces; the aim was good, and thus was the prey rescued from the
enemy. With a wild bound the buffalo threw itself sidelong into the
reeds, tore along through the rustling stalks with its ponderous
weight, bellowing and shaking all the ground. Roaring and growling,
bounding violently from side to side, he could be seen in wild career,
and as we presumed that the whole herd might be in his train, we
seized the guns, and made our quickest way to a neighbouring tree.
All, however, soon was quiet, and our next thought was directed to the
unfortunate sufferer. Mohammed’s head lay as though nailed to the
ground, his ears pierced by sharp reed-stalks, but a moment’s
inspection convinced us that the injuries were not fatal. The
buffalo’s horn had struck his mouth, and, besides the loss of four
teeth in the upper jaw and some minor fractures, he had sustained no
further harm. I left my other companion on the spot to wash Mohammed,
and hastened alone to the distant boat to have him fetched. In three
weeks he had recovered, and as an equivalent for each of his four
teeth he had a backsheesh of ten dollars. This liberality on my part
wonderfully animated the desire for enterprise amongst my companions,
and put them in great good humour towards me for the future.
[Sidenote: BRETHREN IN THE FAITH.]
After a long time a mountain once again appeared; it was the two peaks
of the Nyemati, imposing masses of granite which rise aloft on the
right. We took up our quarters on the opposite island, where a number
of Baggara Arabs had pitched their tented camp. “Habbabkum, habbabkum,
habbabkum, aschera” (good friends), again and again our people begin
to shout as soon as they see their swarthy brethren in the faith upon
the shore. Then from our side are heard demands for “semmem” and for
“roab” (butter and buttermilk), whilst the Arabs cry for “esh, esh,”
that is, for corn. “Corn,” we reply, “we have hardly enough for
ourselves.” And then once more ensues the mingling of the sounds
“semmem” and “habbabkum.” At last, on shore, we are embracing the
“habbabkums” with wonderful emotion; but this does not quite go down;
we find everything they offer us has to be paid for handsomely at
Khartoom market-prices. As soon as it was seen that nothing was to be
got out of them without payment, our crew was not long in conferring
upon them the name of “Nas-batalin” (rascals).
The women were much more courteous, and vied in amiability, so as to
entice as many visitors as possible to their merissa-shops. These they
had improvised in their huts, eager to make a profit from the
ever-thirsty Khartoomers as they sail along. With these women, who
were ever actively employed at the hearth, though little accustomed to
keep alive the sacred fire of Vesta, my party spent their holiday in
rioting and revelry. I, for my part, lingered out my time on the
neighbouring steppe, treating the children to biscuits, as I should to
bonbons.
The Baggara Arabs possess the wide district which extends from
Kordofan and Darfur on the south, as far as the river banks inhabited
by the Dinka and Shillooks. Part of them—indeed, in the east, a third
of them—pay tribute to Egypt. The name Baggara means “neatherds,” and
indeed their wealth consists simply of cattle; they are not, however,
shepherds, as they are represented in the idylls of home, but mounted
and warlike from their youth; they are bolder robbers than any other
of the Ethiopian nomad races. They bring down elephants with lance and
sword, a feat scarcely less free from risk than playing with lions and
leopards as though they were kittens. Many of them hire themselves out
to the Khartoomers to accompany their expeditions to the interior.
Several came to offer their services to me, under the impression that
my object was the capture of slaves. I confess that I could hardly
restrain my admiration when I gazed upon their athlete, agile forms,
although I had no call for their services.
The Baggara speak a tolerably pure Soudan-Arabic; they seem to extend
themselves rapidly as an immigrant tribe over the pasture steppes, at
the expense of other and less favoured races. Their countenances
betray little of the Semitic expression, and I saw not a few whose
physiognomy reminded me of some of my old friends at home. I can
confidently maintain that they form the finest race of the nomad
people dwelling on the Nile. I could not help being surprised at the
love of ornament and finery which was manifested by this race,
advanced as it is. The clothing of the generality consists of
indigo-blue shirts, such as are worn by the peasants of Egypt, whilst
the more wealthy array themselves in robes of scarlet and figured
calico.
On the other shore I visited the mountain, which is almost contiguous
to the river. Growing here I first found the tamarind, which never
failed me more throughout my entire wanderings. The thick shade of
these bright green trees makes them a favourite rendezvous on all the
roads of Central Africa. Every traveller in the Soudan can scarce be
otherwise than quite familiar with the Hegelig (_Balanites_), of
which, like plums, the fruit falls off and thickly strews the ground
below. By the people of Khartoom it is called Lalôb. It contains a
sweetish pulp, tasting at first like gingerbread, but it leaves a
bitter taste behind, and is purgative in its properties.
[Sidenote: MOUNT NYEMATI.]
Climbing about 800 feet I reached the summit of the Nyemati, and had a
fine view of the steppes intersected by the stream. The slopes consist
partly of rough, massy blocks of granite, and partly of huge unbroken
flats, some a hundred feet in length, which descend to the river and
in places appear like sunken roofs. In the rifts and deeper clefts
swarm multitudes of bats, and a fetid atmosphere exhales from these
murky chasms. The Abyssinian rock-rabbit, creeping like a marmot over
the stones, is ever to be seen among the mountains of the steppes. The
eastern horizon is bounded by the mountains of the Dar-el-Fungi in
Upper Sennaar, at a distance of more than thirty miles.
As we progressed further the river islands became more frequent, and
the channels more and more narrowed by the surrounding masses of
impenetrable grass. The ambatch is here almost excluded by the vossia
grass, but only to re-appear at the mouth of the waters. We came
continually upon Baggara, with whom, without stopping on our course,
we talked and discussed the market prices of provisions. A fine fat
bullock was bought for only three dollars, a price at which it would
pay to found here a company for the extract of meat; the skins are not
exported, but are used in the country. The Baggara hold all the left
bank, and visit it in winter when the steppes in the interior are dry
and scorched. Wherever they settle, as now and then they do, either on
the islands or on the right bank, they completely drive out the
Shillook negroes. At various times in the day we landed to fraternise
with the Baggara. The large flocks of ducks afforded entertaining and
successful sport; and as for geese, there were still more than I and
my people could eat. To and fro, ever and again swept through the
water a Shillook fishing in his fragile boat; he is not entitled to
the “habbabkum,” because he is a heathen; he is mocked with
“Wod-e-Mek” (son of a king) for a greeting, made to tell where he
comes from, and whither he is going, and if he has any fish, it is
taken from him: such is the practice on every vessel. But the
Shillooks are also subject to Egyptian rule, and there is no reason to
doubt that in a short time they will enjoy equal rights with the other
subjects of the Viceroy, however insignificant these may appear to be.
To a degree that created some misgiving as to what might be before us,
the progress now began to be unalterably tedious. For a weary time all
woodlands seemed wholly to have forsaken the shore; nothing was to be
perceived but the desolation of a vast savannah. Dark brown
widow-ducks (_Anas viduata_) and shovellers were shot, whose oily
taste is only disguised by red pepper. At night the time was usually
beguiled by stories of adventures in the Upper Nile district. Everyone
has something wonderful which he delights to tell, something beyond
all experience, and is ready to swear by the Koran and by the beard of
the Prophet that what he says is true. “Africa,” said Aristotle ages
ago, “has always something new to show;” the latest tale was now about
the pygmies, of whom I here received my earliest information. I had no
idea that I should be brought into actual and close connection with
such people. I laughed at the accounts which eye-witnesses gave of
them, and, for my part, quietly put them into the category of men with
tails. I took my share in dressing up a story for the entertainment of
my party. Alexandre Dumas’s tale, ‘l’Homme à queue,’ served my purpose
admirably. It is so clever, and yet so pointed in its fine simplicity,
that it thoroughly enlisted the attention of all who heard it.
[Sidenote: NILE VEGETATION.]
Notwithstanding the undeniable sameness which prevailed in its outward
character, I found every fresh landing-place afford me some surprise
or other. Rich was the reward of penetrating, as I did, a thorough
wilderness on the right bank on the mainland. Buffaloes forcing their
way along had beaten many avenues through thickets and creepers, and
along these I went, followed by a group of armed men. The vestiges in
every direction were so conclusive as to the number of the beasts that
were about, that we might well expect a _rencontre_ as dangerous as
that which has already been related. Here in a wild state is found the
Luffa, a plant of the gourd family. The dried fruit of this contains a
fibrous skeleton, that answers the purpose of a bathing-sponge, and it
is frequently cultivated in Egypt for that purpose. I could enumerate
a whole series of plants, known in Egypt only under cultivation, which
find their original and proper home in the primeval forests of the
White Nile. Not unreasonably may an inference be drawn that, in ages
indefinitely long ago, the entire Nile Valley exhibited a vegetation
harmonising in its character throughout, much more than now. It was
the upgrowth of civilisation in ancient Egypt which displaced the
flora from its northern seat, and made it, as at present, only to be
found hundreds of miles higher up the land. This assumption is in a
measure confirmed by the traditions which survive with regard to
animals. In remote times, the ibis, the hippopotamus, the crocodile,
all existed in far more northerly latitudes than now. The papyrus, it
may be added, gives its witness to the same theory.
After a while the southern horizon was again broken by the elevation
of a mountain, which proved to be the Defafang, an extinct volcano,
1000 feet high, several miles from the river. Werne, one of the first
explorers of the Upper Nile waters, the only European who visited this
locality, collected a variety of specimens of the rocks, and they
exhibited the volcanic nature of the basaltic lava, corresponding to
similar formations in the Eifel. This mountain stands as the
boundary-mark between the first negro territory on the White Nile and
the shepherd race of the Baggara.
As we were sailing in deep water close to the reedy shore, the roar
and rustle of our great sail started up a herd of wild buffaloes,
which disappeared from sight, before we had time to seize our rifles.
When presently we were passing the last camp of the Baggara, our
attention was attracted to a scene of excitement, at once vivid and
picturesque. The entire population, alarmed by an attack of wild
buffaloes on some cattle-drivers, was up and in hot pursuit. Hundreds
of men armed with lance or sword, some of them mounted, were furiously
hurrying to the scene, urged on by the frantic shrieks of the excited
women. We could not resist the conclusion that the buffaloes, which we
had disturbed, had proceeded to attack the neighbouring drivers. An
impression seemed to prevail that we had fired at the Baggara, but in
the tumult nobody exactly understood the circumstances. The gale was
in our favour, and we glided rapidly out of reach without learning the
precise issue of the disorder. We observed one poor fellow who had
incurred a disaster similar to, and perhaps worse than, that which
happened to my own Mohammed Amin. About Mohammed I may here mention
that his upper lip had been held together by a couple of
insect-needles; that he had been treated to plenty of pap and
camomile-tea, and that after spitting out one little splinter of bone
after another, he soon found himself getting all right again.
In the course of the afternoon the boat sailed for a wager with a
flotilla of light-grey pelicans. Repeated small shot could not make
them rise; but at last we outstripped them, and succeeded in shooting
down several from the group. From the supple breast-feathers of this
bird, the savages of the Upper Nile prepare close perukes, which make
an excellent imitation of a luxuriant crop of grey hair, and would be
a valuable acquisition to any theatrical wardrobe.
[Sidenote: MOHAMMED KHER.]
A hurried trip upon the left bank brought me upon the track of a large
herd of elephants. According to the Baggara, this district is most
prolific as a hunting-ground for these animals. The adjacent
territories of the Shillooks, on the other hand, are too densely
populated to allow elephants to be numerous, and they have to be
sought at some distance, where on account of the wide water-level,
they are often reached in boats.
At sunset we reached a place on the right bank, which will always
retain a certain notoriety in the history of the White Nile, as having
once been the headquarters of the renowned robber chief, Mohammed
Kher. The raised works, having on their interior traces of decayed
walls of earth, and surrounded by deep trenches, mark the site of
Mohammed Kher’s seriba. To judge by the heaps of bones which still
exist, the number of cattle slaughtered and feasted on must have been
something enormous. Booty was plundered from far and near, but the
Shillooks were the greatest sufferers. Mohammed Kher, with his
contingent of well-mounted Baggara, was not only for many years a
terror to the neighbouring negro races, but could defy the authority
of the Governor at Khartoom. Yet principally it was he who taught the
people of Khartoom how, by means of earthworks and regular ramparts,
to intimidate the natives and bring them into subjection. Many human
bones, the relics of slaves carried off by sickness, as well as the
skulls of asses and horses, are found everywhere about. As a
consequence of the burning of the steppes, they are frequently noticed
in a half-charred condition. Throughout Africa burnt human bones are
ever the marks which the slave trade leaves behind. Not far from this
ill-famed place we lay-to alongside the village of Kaka, the most
northerly place inhabited by Shillooks on the White Nile, and at which
the Egyptian Government maintained a depôt for corn. Twenty years ago
hundreds of Dinka villages stood on this side of the river. From the
descriptions of travellers who accompanied the expeditions sent out by
Mehemet Ali to discover the sources of the Nile, it has been
ascertained that the number of the population here was formerly as
important as it now is in the very heart of the Shillook country. As a
result of the incessant ravages of Mohammed Kher, the entire eastern
shore has degenerated into a forest waste. The river still parts the
separate districts of the hostile tribes; but the Shillooks have
attempted to settle nowhere except at Kaka in the deserted district;
the Dinka, on their part, having withdrawn some days’ journey into the
interior.
Soon after the arrival of the boat, a great crowd of naked Shillooks,
prompted by curiosity, assembled on the shore, my dog still being the
chief attraction. The first sight of a throng of savages, suddenly
presenting themselves in their native nudity, is one from which no
amount of familiarity can remove the strange impression; it takes
abiding hold upon the memory, and makes the traveller recall anew the
civilisation he has left behind.
One of the Khartoom men disturbed my pensive contemplations by
pointing to the Shillooks, and making a remark that they looked like
Christians. I punished him with the scornful reply to the effect that
of whatever faith the savages were, I could answer for it that they
had the good luck to be neither Jews nor Mohammedans.
A large _sombrero_ of Mexican cut which protected my head from the
rays of the sun, excited the curiosity of the Shillooks. On their own
heads they wore a similar covering, except that theirs was made from
their own hair. I called their attention to the great likeness between
black men and white men, but very great was their astonishment when
they saw that my hair could be taken off and put on again, which would
be to them very incredible. It might almost be said that they are
hardly born without their crests, which sometimes resemble the comb of
a guinea-fowl, and at other times seem to be borrowed and designed
from the aureoles which we admire in Greek sacred pictures. Even while
they are infants at the breast, the hair is begun to be fastened into
shape with gum-arabic and ashes, and in course of time is permanently
brought into whatever form they please.
[Sidenote: SWARM OF BEES.]
The dreary steppe in the neighbourhood of Kaka contained nothing that
was worth the trouble of collecting. The dried-up remains of
vegetation had been completely annihilated by fire. Accordingly I was
anxious to proceed farther the same day, that I might botanise in some
undisturbed spot of the primæval forest; my desire was, however,
frustrated by an incident which I do not even now remember without a
shudder. At the village the shore, as far as the eye could reach,
forms a treeless steppe; but at some little distance the river is
again bordered by a dense forest. A place was soon reached, where the
stream takes a remarkable bend, and proceeds for eight miles in a
north-easterly direction. This place has the singular name of
Dyoorab-el-Esh, or the sack of corn. Now, as the north-east wind of
course was adverse to any north-east progress, it was necessary that
the boat should be towed by the crew. As the rope was being drawn
along through the grass on the banks it happened that it disturbed a
swarm of bees. In a moment, like a great cloud, they burst upon the
men who were dragging; every one of them threw himself headlong into
the water and hurried to regain the boat. The swarm followed at their
heels, and in a few seconds filled every nook and cranny of the deck.
What a scene of confusion ensued may readily be imagined.
Without any foreboding of ill, I was arranging my plants in my cabin,
when I heard all around me a scampering which I took at first to be
merely the frolics of my people, as that was the order of the day. I
called out to inquire the meaning of the noise, but only got excited
gestures and reproachful looks in answer. The cry of “Bees! bees!”
soon broke upon my ear, and I proceeded to light a pipe. My attempt
was entirely in vain; in an instant bees in thousands are about me,
and I am mercilessly stung all over my face and hands. To no purpose
do I try to protect my face with a handkerchief, and the more
violently I fling my hands about so much the more violent becomes the
impetuosity of the irritated insects. The maddening pain is now on my
cheek, now in my eye, now in my hair. The dogs from under my bed burst
out frantically, overturning everything in their way. Losing well nigh
all control over myself, I fling myself in despair into the river; I
dive down, but all in vain, for the stings rain down still upon my
head. Not heeding the warnings of my people, I creep through the reedy
grass to the swampy bank. The grass lacerates my hands, and I try to
gain the mainland, hoping to find shelter in the woods. All at once
four powerful arms seize me and drag me back with such force that I
think I must be choked in the mud. I am compelled to go back on board,
and flight is not to be thought of.
[Sidenote: BEE-STINGS.]
In the cooling moisture I had so far recovered my self-possession,
that it occurred to me to drag a sheet from my chest, and this at last
I found some protection, but I had first gradually to crush the bees
which I had enclosed with me within this covering. Meantime by great
self-denial and courage on the part of my excellent people, my large
dog was brought on board to me and covered with cloths; the other, an
animal from Khartoom, was unfortunately lost. Cowering down
convulsively, I lingered out thus three full hours, whilst the buzzing
continued uninterruptedly, and solitary stings penetrated periodically
through the linen. Everyone by degrees became equally passive as
myself; at length a perfect silence reigned on board; the bees
subsided into quietness. Meanwhile, some courageous men had crept
stealthily to the bank, and had succeeded in setting fire to the
reeds. The smoke rose to their assistance, and thus they contrived to
scare away the bees from the boat, and, setting it afloat, they drove
it to the other bank. Had the thought of the fire occurred at first,
our misfortune would have assumed a much milder character; but in the
suddenness of the attack everyone lost all presence of mind. Free from
further apprehension, we could now examine our injuries. With the help
of a looking-glass and a pair of pincers I extracted all the stings
from my face and hands, and inconvenience in those places soon passed
away. But it was impossible to discover the stings in my hair; many of
them had been broken off short in the midst of the fray, and,
remaining behind, produced little ulcers which for two days were
acutely painful. Poor Arslan was terribly punished, especially about
the head; but the stings had clung harmlessly in the long hair on his
back. I was really sorry for the loss of my nice little dog, which was
never recovered, and in all likelihood had been stung to death. These
murderous bees belong to the striped variety of our own honeybee. A
mishap like ours has been seldom experienced in the waters of the
White Nile. Consul Petherick, as his servants informed me, had once to
undergo a similar misfortune. Our own grievance was not confined to
ourselves: every boat of the sixteen which that day were sailing in
our track, was pestered by the same infliction. No imagination can
adequately depict the confusion which must have spread in boats where
were crowded together from 60 to 80 men. I felt ready, in the evening,
for an encounter with half a score of buffaloes or a brace of lions
rather than have anything more to do with bees; and this was a
sentiment in which all the ship’s company heartily concurred. I took
my quinine and awoke refreshed and cheerful; but several of the
ill-used members of our party were suffering from violent fever. My
own freedom from fever might perchance in a measure be attributed to
my involuntary vapour-bath. I had been sitting muffled up for some
hours in my wet clothes through the heat of the day, and no vapour
bath more effectual could be contrived. Among the crews of the boats
which followed us there were two deaths, which ensued as the result of
the injuries which had been sustained.
On the day of the bee-visitation another insect had likewise presented
itself, which inflicted some sharpish stings, although they were not
attended by any continuous annoyance. It was in itself an
insignificant gadfly (_Tabanus_), which here appears to play the part
of the tsetse-fly, the natives declaring of it that it injures the
cattle. It is widely diffused in the regions through which I
travelled, and where the tsetse seems to fail.
Our second day of misadventure came to an end; on the following
morning we were again passing along banks void of trees. Towards
midday we made a pause on the right bank by a charming grove,
where trailing creepers (_Leptadenia_) dropped their pendants
perpendicularly down, and bound the spreading boughs of the Shubahi
acacias (_A. verugera_) to the ground, an apparatus admirably adapted
to the gymnastic frolics of the little apes. Wherever anyone ventures
to penetrate into the thickets he will not fail to find countless
traces of animal life; snake-skins and feathers of many a species are
scattered over the ground; tortoise-shells and fish-bones, the remains
of the eagle’s feast; bones of animals; occasionally even human
skeletons, perfectly entire. On the shore are the shell-fish left by
the high water, especially the homes of the Ampularia (_A. Wernei_) as
large as one’s fist, in its way a giant amongst the mollusks of the
mighty river.
[Sidenote: AMBATCH CANOES.]
Warned by our experience we were ever on the alert against bees,
keeping in readiness a bundle of straw and some faggots, in order to
be able to kindle the dry grass immediately we had accomplished our
excursion on the land. Towards midday we perceived with horror more
bees in the shore-grass, and lost no time in getting across to the
left bank. Here we came across numbers of Shillooks fishing in their
light canoes of ambatch; darting through the water almost as swiftly
as the fish themselves. This speed does not, however, prevent them
from having a waddling movement, something like a duck, in their light
craft. So light are these canoes that one man can carry three of them
on his shoulder, although each canoe is capable of holding three men.
From a few dozen shoots of ambatch of about three years’ growth, a
canoe of this kind can be easily produced; at about six feet high the
stem goes rapidly off to a point, so that a bundle of them needs only
be tied together at the extremities, and there is at once attained a
curve that would grace a gondola.[9] To use these canoes adroitly
requires considerable practice, as the least shifting of the centre of
gravity is made at the risk of a capsize. Nevertheless, they afforded
me good service by taking me to the bank with dry feet, and by
enabling me to make botanical collections from the floating bushes.
When the Shillook has come to the end of his voyage, he seizes his
gondola like an ancient warrior might his shield. He carries it,
partly to ensure its safety and partly to allow it to dry, because the
ambatch wood easily imbibes moisture and becomes saturated.
[Illustration: Ambatch Canoe.]
During our wanderings the crew had made a valuable discovery to
replace the cracked middle of our long sailyard. It consisted of a
tolerably straight, though much knotted, stem of Balanites; it was
only 10 feet long, but was doubtless found with much trouble, so rare
are any trees that are straight. The portion of the sailyard which had
become useless now fell under the axe; it was full of cracks, and
could no longer be held together by cow hide; the old bit of northern
pinewood, which had done service for years on no one knows how many
vessels or in how many latitudes, had now reached the limit of its
destiny here on the White Nile, and was to be committed to the flames.
Peace to its ashes!
The width of the cultivated country appears to be about ten miles, the
whole of the left shore being dotted with numerous small villages. We
were not far from Fashoda, the seat of the provincial government, and
for the first time availed ourselves of our store of glass beads to
open a lively trade with the Shillooks. But the beads had already so
much deteriorated in value that we were obliged to buy eggs, fowls,
and milk, quite at Khartoom market prices. The poor savages insisted
upon this as only right and fair; it was in consequence of their
transition from the monkey age of man—the termination, as it were, to
them of the stone and bronze period—directly into the advanced
condition of citizens and payers of taxes.
[Sidenote: FASHODA.]
Towards midday on the 24th of January we reached Fashoda, and thus,
after a prosperous progress, arrived at the limit of the Egyptian
empire. Fashoda is the seat of a Mudir, provided with a garrison for
the maintenance of Egyptian power. The complete subjection of the
entire Shillook country did not, however, follow until two years
later. The governor for a considerable time resided six leagues from
the town, where he was quartered with 500 soldiers, in order to bring
to reason the southern Shillooks, who were by no means inclined to
submit. During this time the armed force in Fashoda did not consist of
more than 200 men.
The erection of anything like a town had only been begun within the
last two years. The place was formerly called Denab, and now consisted
of merely a large mass of conical huts of straw, besides the
remarkable structure which constituted the fort. The long boundary
walls of the fort, with their hundreds of waterspouts, looked at a
distance as though they were mounted with so many cannon, and
presented a formidable appearance. In reality the number of cannon
which the fort could boast was only four, the rest of the field
ordnance being in the camp of the Mudir. His deputy received me very
courteously. As a present he sent me at once two fat wethers, and
placed at my disposal his boats, mules, horses, soldiers—in short,
everything that could assist me to inspect the neighbourhood in
comfort.
On account of the shallowness of the water on the side on which the
town is built, the boat was moored close by a narrow island which was
connected with the mainland by a kind of jetty composed of faggots.
This at the time of high water serves as a mole for any boats that may
arrive, which are then able to lie close alongside the doors. Before
the walls of the town, on a terrace left dry by the sunken flood,
extend fields and vegetable gardens, which the Governor, following the
Egyptian fashion, has caused to be planted.[10] This is the southern
limit of the wheat culture in the Eastern Soudan.
The neighbouring country consists of steppes, over which, as far as
the eye can see, larger and smaller groups of Shillook huts rise from
the grass. The demand of wood for the use of the troops has caused the
larger trees everywhere to be miserably mutilated, and the few boats
which are at the disposal of the Government have enough to do in
procuring fuel for the heating of the steamer stationed there. Every
branch as it grows is immediately cut off, and the naked stems of the
acacias, once so magnificent on account of their massive proportions,
are alone able to defy the meagre tools Fashoda can supply.
[Illustration: View of Fashoda.]
For three years, it is said, there has been an undisturbed peace here,
that is to say, in the environs of Fashoda; up to that time, outbreaks
more or less violent, on the part of the negro settlers, had been the
order of the day. Near a withered Adansonia, less than a mile from the
walls, the spot was pointed out to me where the cannon of the fortress
was for the last time called into action. A well-directed shot had
mown down fifteen men at once from a single party who were taking
advantage of the rainy season and the high grass to make an attack.
The fatal shot was decisive, and the attack was abandoned. From among
the bones of the Shillooks killed on that day I selected from a
neighbouring pit nine skulls in good preservation, the investigation
of which has furnished some material evidence towards the ethnography
of Africa.
[Sidenote: TENT ON THE BANK.]
All boats are compelled to stop for several days at Fashoda, partly to
complete their corn-stores, and partly on account of the poll-tax, to
submit to an inspection of the papers, which contain the lists of the
crew and soldiers. Hence it happens that throughout January and
February Fashoda life is pretty brisk. Egyptian galley-slaves, wearing
no fetters—escape being as difficult as in Siberia—loitered on the
shore begging, and pestered me with scraps of French and Italian. This
I found by no means agreeable. After the cramped dimensions of my
cabin, I longed for wider freedom to my limbs; accordingly I had a
tent pitched upon the bank, but from fear of thieves it was obliged to
be continually guarded by men with loaded guns. Many boats came and
went, wending their way to the Upper Nile waters; all reported that
more or less they had been sufferers from the bees in Dyoorab-el-Esh.
I was told that the whole crew of one boat was obliged to remain in
the water from noon till evening, now and then raising their heads to
get air, but always under the penalty of getting some dozen fresh
stings.
The weather during these days was very cool, for a strong north-east
wind blew incessantly with such violence, that at daybreak we had
usually a temperature of only 62° Fahr. Even the hippopotamuses seemed
to find it over cool in the water, for at sunrise they appeared _en
masse_ on a neighbouring sandbank: amongst them I found a suitable
target on which to try the effect of the full-sized ball which my
large elephant gun carried.
I was continually bewildered by the jokes and buffoonery of the crews,
for whom jesting seemed a necessity of life. Nothing was done without
bad puns. There was an undying _esprit amusant_, whose flow was
unchecked alike by day and night. Whenever any one did a thing which
could be made ridiculous, he was received with a volley of cheers of
“Hue! hue!” (there he is). The merissa beer of Fashoda, served out in
gourd-shells—pints and pots being here unknown—naturally is not
without its influence in promoting this perpetual folly. The love of
jocoseness among these people is not confined to the young, but makes
them, even when advanced in years, as merry and as naïve as children.
Some Arab names are as generally common as our own Brown and Smith; on
our boat alone we had six Mohammeds; for distinction, therefore, each
of these had to be assigned his special nickname. One was called
Abu-Asherah (the man with ten fathers); another Berdawily (the chilly
one). The others were designated by epithets more or less poetical, as
father of the virgin, or sheikh of the women. My Mohammed, who had the
_rencontre_ with the buffalo, was sufficiently distinguished by his
appellation of Amin, the faithful, but he was also jocosely known as
“the swimmer.” He had once been the means of losing a boat which a
merchant had entrusted to his care, and had only escaped by swimming
to shore, a feat which acquired for him the satire associated with his
name.
An occurrence, which I can hardly say surprised me, but which I had
expected hourly from amongst the Arab idlers, alarmed us on the first
evening of our arrival. The gun of one of our soldiers went off
accidentally, and the ball whistled across our boat. On the following
morning, through similar carelessness, a slave of one of the
Government officials received a shot through his arm, for which the
offender had to pay 150 dollars, a sum which had to be raised from the
entire crew, because, as they said, they were all liable to the same
accident. I had myself only narrowly escaped being hit by the first
mishap, and the captain (although generally he was most considerate
towards his crew), acting as Ghattas’ agent, fell with great severity
upon the offender. By the judgment of the majority, to which the
Nubians ever appeal, the fellow was assigned some dozen lashes of the
kurbatch, which he was thrown down on the deck to receive, and which
he bore without a murmur.
The right side of the main stream at Fashoda is not the mainland, but
is a long island, which extends for several leagues above and below.
Beyond the true eastern shore the Dinka are said to be settled in
extensive villages, and at that time still furnished an inexhaustible
supply of slaves to the marauding expeditions of the garrison of
Fashoda. In 1870, Baker succeeded in putting an end to this disorder,
the knowledge of which penetrated to the most remote tribes. The Dinka
tribes of that region are called Dang-Yoht, Dang-Yahl, Behr, Nyell,
and Abelang.
[Sidenote: KILLING A BOA.]
The shore opposite Fashoda contains wide bush-forests and unlimited
supplies of wood. During one of my excursions thither I killed an
enormous African boa, the Python Sebæ. It was about fifteen feet in
length, not above the average size to which the species attains; in
Gallabat I have frequently seen them over twenty feet. The speedy
death of this huge reptile by a charge of heavy shot, of which only
four grains hit, struck me as very remarkable. The skin was
brilliantly spotted, and yielded admirable material for making a
waterproof gun-case.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] In the Soudan, every thorn-hedge, or palisade, is
called a Seriba; in Syria, also, the cane-hedges, for the
enclosing of cattle, are termed Sirb, or Sereebe.
[8] For five Maria Theresa dollars (1_l_.) I bought two fat
bullocks.
[9] The accompanying illustration represents a similar
canoe, weighing about 40 lbs.
[10] The illustration represents the different well-like
Shadoofs used for irrigation.