The Albert N'Yanza Part 3

I hear that the s.h.i.+llook tribe have attacked Chenooda's people, and that his boat was capsized, and some lives lost in the hasty retreat. It serves these slave-hunters right, and I rejoice at their defeat. Exodus xx. 16: "And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death."

Jan. 16th.--A new dis.h.!.+ There is no longer mock-turtle soup--REAL turtle is MOCK HIPPOPOTAMUS. I tried boiling the fat, flesh, and skin together, the result being that the skin a.s.sumes the appearance of the green fat of the turtle, but is far superior. A piece of the head thus boiled, and then soused in vinegar, with chopped onions, cayenne pepper, and salt, throws brawn completely in the shade. My men having revelled in a cauldron of hippopotamus soup, I serve out grog at sunset, all s.h.i.+ps being together. Great contentment, all appet.i.tes being satisfied.

The labour of towing through swamps, tugging by the long gra.s.s, and poling against a strong current, is dreadful, and there appears to be no end to this horrible country. "On dit," that during the dry season there is plenty of game near the river, but at present boundless marshes devoid of life, except in the shape of mosquitoes, and a very few water-fowl, are the only charms of the White Nile. The other day I caught one of the men stealing the salt; Richarn having been aware of daily thefts of this treasure, and having failed to report them, the thief received twenty with the coorbatch, and Richarn is reduced to the ranks, as I antic.i.p.ated. No possibility of taking observations, as there is no landing-place. Jan. 17th.-As usual, marshes, mosquitoes, windings, dead flats, and light winds; the mosquitoes in the cabin give no rest even during the day. Stream about two miles per hour. Course S.E.; the river averaging about one hundred and ten yards in width of clear water.

Jan. 18th.-Country as usual, but the wind brisker. In company with Koors.h.i.+d Aga's boats. I have bound the stock of Oswell's old gun with rhinoceros hide. All guns made for sport in wild countries and rough riding, should have steel instead of iron from the breech-socket, extending far back to within six inches of the shoulder-plate; the trigger-guard should likewise be steel, and should be carried back to an equal distance with the above rib; the steel should be of extra thickness, and screwed through to the upper piece; thus the two, being connected by screws above and below, no fall could break the stock.

Jan,. 19th.-At 8 A.M. we emerged from the apparently endless regions of marsh gra.s.s, and saw on the right bank large herds of cattle, tended by naked natives, in a country abounding with high gra.s.s and mimosa wood.

At 9.15 A.M. arrived at the Zareeba, or station of Binder, an Austrian subject, and White Nile trader; here we found five noggurs belonging to him and his partner. Binder's vakeel insisted upon giving a bullock to my people. This bullock I resisted for some time, until I saw that the man was affronted. It is impossible to procure from the natives any cattle by purchase. The country is now a swamp, but it will be pa.s.sable during the dry season. Took equal alt.i.tudes of sun producing lat.i.tude 7 degrees 5' 46". The misery of these unfortunate blacks is beyond description; they will not kill their cattle, neither do they taste meat unless an animal dies of sickness; they will not work, thus they frequently starve, existing only upon rats, lizards, snakes, and upon such fish as they can spear. The spearing of fish is a mere hazard, as they cast the harpoon at random among the reeds; thus, out of three or four hundred casts, they may, by good luck, strike a fish. The harpoon is neatly made, and is attached to a pliable reed about twenty feet long, secured by a long line. Occasionally they strike a monster, as there are varieties of fish which attain a weight of two hundred pounds.

In the event of harpooning such a fish, a long and exciting chase is the result, as he carries away the harpoon, and runs out the entire length of line; they then swim after him, holding their end of the line, and playing him until exhausted. The chief of this tribe (the Kytch) wore a leopard-skin across his shoulders, and a skull-cap of white beads, with a crest of white ostrich-feathers; but the mantle was merely slung over his shoulders, and all other parts of his person were naked. His daughter was the best-looking girl that I have seen among the blacks; she was about sixteen. Her clothing consisted of a little piece of dressed hide about a foot wide slung across her shoulders, all other parts being exposed. All the girls of this country wear merely a circlet of little iron jingling ornaments round their waists. They came in numbers, bringing small bundles of wood to exchange for a few handfuls of corn. Most of the men are tall, but wretchedly thin; the children are mere skeletons, and the entire tribe appears thoroughly starved. The language is that of the d.i.n.ka. The chief carried a curious tobacco-box, an iron spike about two feet long, with a hollow socket, bound with iguana-skin; this served for either tobacco-box, club, or dagger.

Throughout the whole of this marshy country it is curious to observe the number of white ant-hills standing above the water in the marshes: these Babel towers save their inmates from the deluge; working during the dry season, the white ants carry their hills to so great a height (about ten feet), that they can live securely in the upper stories during the floods. The whole day we are beset by crowds of starving people, bringing small gourd-sh.e.l.ls to receive the expected corn. The people of this tribe are mere apes, trusting entirely to the productions of nature for their subsistence; they will spend hours in digging out field-mice from their burrows, as we should for rabbits. They are the most pitiable set of savages that can be imagined; so emaciated, that they have no visible posteriors; they look as though they had been planed off, and their long thin legs and arms give them a peculiar gnat-like appearance.

At night they crouch close to the fires, lying in the smoke to escape the clouds of mosquitoes. At this season the country is a vast swamp, the only dry spots being the white ant-hills; in such places the natives herd like wild animals, simply rubbing themselves with wood-ashes to keep out the cold.

Jan. 20th.--The river from this spot turns sharp to the east, but an arm equally broad comes from S. 20 degrees E. to this point. There is no stream from this arm. The main stream runs round the angle with a rapid current of about two and a half miles per hour. The natives say that this arm of dead water extends for three or four days' sailing, and is then lost in the high reeds. My reis Diabb declares this to be a mere backwater, and that it is not connected with the main river by any positive channel.

So miserable are the natives of the Kytch tribe, that they devour both skins and bones of all dead animals; the bones are pounded between stones, and when reduced to powder they are boiled to a kind of porridge; nothing is left even for a fly to feed upon, when an animal either dies a natural death, or is killed. I never pitied poor creatures more than these utterly dest.i.tute savages; their method of returning thanks is by holding your hand and affecting to spit upon it; which operation they do not actually perform, as I have seen stated in works upon the White Nile. Their domestic arrangements are peculiar. Polygamy is of course allowed, as in all other hot climates and savage countries; but when a man becomes too old to pay sufficient attention to his numerous young wives, the eldest son takes the place of his father and becomes his subst.i.tute. To every herd of cattle there is a sacred bull, which is supposed to exert an influence over the prosperity of the flocks; his horns are ornamented with tufts of feathers, and frequently with small bells, and he invariably leads the great herd to pasture. On starting in the early morning from the cattle kraal the natives address the bull, telling him "to watch over the herd; to keep the cows from straying; and to lead them to the sweetest pastures, so that they shall give abundance of milk," &c.

Jan. 21st.--Last night a sudden squall carried away Koors.h.i.+d Aga's mast by the deck, leaving him a complete wreck. The weather to-day is dull, oppressive, and dead calm. As usual, endless marshes, and mosquitoes. I never either saw or heard of so disgusting a country as that bordering the White Nile from Khartoum to this point. Course S.E.

as nearly as I can judge, but the endless windings, and the absence of any mark as a point, make it difficult to give an accurate course--the river about a hundred yards in width of clear water; alive with floating vegetation, with a current of about two miles per hour.

Jan. 22d.--The luxuries of the country as usual--malaria, marshes, mosquitoes, misery; far as the eye can reach, vast treeless marshes perfectly lifeless. At times progressing slowly by towing, the men struggling through the water with the rope; at other times by running round the boat in a circle, pulling with their hands at the gra.s.s, which thus acts like the cogs of a wheel to move us gradually forward. One of my horses, "Filfil," out of pure amus.e.m.e.nt kicks at the men as they pa.s.s, and having succeeded several times in kicking them into the river, he perseveres in the fun, I believe for lack of other employment.

Hippopotami are heard snorting in the high reeds both day and night, but we see very few. The black women on board are daily quarrelling together and fighting like bull-dogs; little Gaddum Her is a regular black toy terrier, rather old, wonderfully strong, very short, but making up in spirit for what she lacks in stature; she is the quintessence of vice, being ready for a stand-up fight at the shortest notice. On one occasion she fought with her antagonist until both fell down the hold, smas.h.i.+ng all my water jars; on another day they both fell into the river. The ennui of this wretched voyage appears to try the temper of both man and beast; the horses, donkeys, and camels are constantly fighting and biting at all around.

Jan. 23d.--At 8 a.m. arrived at Aboukooka, the establishment of a French trader. It is impossible to describe the misery of the land; in the midst of the vast expanse of marsh is a little plot of dry ground about thirty-five yards square, and within thirty yards of the river, but to be reached only by wading through the swamp. The establishment consisted of about a dozen straw huts, occupied by a wretched fever-stricken set of people; the vakeel, and others employed, came to the boats to beg for corn. I stopped for ten minutes at the charming watering-place Aboukooka to obtain the news of the country. The current at this point is as usual very strong, being upwards of two and a half miles per hour; the river is quite bank-full although not actually flooding, the windings endless; one moment our course is due north, then east, then again north, and as suddenly due south; in fact, we face every point of the compa.s.s within an hour. Frequently the noggurs that are far in the rear appear in advance; it is a heartbreaking river without a single redeeming point; I do not wonder at the failure of all expeditions in this wretched country. There is a breeze to-day, thus the oppressive heat and stagnated marsh atmosphere is relieved. I have always remarked that when the sky is clouded we suffer more from heat and oppression than when the day is clear; there is a weight in the atmosphere that would be interesting if tested by the barometer.

The water is excessively bad throughout the White Nile, especially between the s.h.i.+llook and the Kytch tribes; that of the Bahr Gazal is even worse. The reis Diabb tells me that the north wind always fails between the Nuehr and the upper portion of the Kytch. I could not believe that so miserable a country existed as the whole of this land.

There is no game to be seen at this season, few birds, and not even crocodiles show themselves; all the water-animals are hidden in the high gra.s.s; thus there is absolutely nothing living to be seen, but day after day is pa.s.sed in winding slowly through the labyrinth of endless marsh, through clouds of mosquitoes.

At 4.20 a.m. arrived at the Austrian mission-station of St. Croix, and I delivered a letter to the chief of the establishment, Herr Morlang.

Jan. 24th.--Took observations of the sun, making lat.i.tude 6 degrees 39'.

The mission-station consists of about twenty gra.s.s huts on a patch of dry ground close to the river. The church is a small hut, but neatly arranged. Herr Morlang acknowledged, with great feeling, that the mission was absolutely useless among such savages; that he had worked with much zeal for many years, but that the natives were utterly impracticable. They were far below the brutes, as the latter show signs of affection to those who are kind to them; while the natives, on the contrary, are utterly obtuse to all feelings of grat.i.tude. He described the people as lying and deceitful to a superlative degree; the more they receive the more they desire, but in return they will do nothing.

Twenty or thirty of these disgusting, ash-smeared, stark naked brutes, armed with clubs of hard wood brought to a point, were lying idly about the station. The mission having given up the White Nile as a total failure, Herr Morlang sold the whole village and mission-station to Koors.h.i.+d Aga this morning for 3,000 piastres, 30 pounds! I purchased a horse of the missionaries for 1,000 piastres, which I christened "Priest" as coming from the mission; he is a good-looking animal, and has been used to the gun, as the unfortunate Baron Harnier rode him buffalo-hunting. This good sportsman was a Prussian n.o.bleman, who with two European attendants, had for some time amused himself by collecting objects of natural history and shooting in this neighbourhood. Both his Europeans succ.u.mbed to marsh fever.

The end of Baron Harnier was exceedingly tragic. Having wounded a buffalo, the animal charged a native attendant and threw him to the ground; Baron Harnier was unloaded, and with great courage he attacked the buffalo with the b.u.t.t-end of his rifle to rescue the man then beneath the animal's horns. The buffalo left the man and turned upon his new a.s.sailant. The native, far from a.s.sisting his master, who had thus jeopardized his life to save him, fled from the spot. The unfortunate baron was found by the missionaries trampled and gored into an undistinguishable ma.s.s; and the dead body of the buffalo was found at a short distance, the animal having been mortally wounded. I went to see the grave of this brave Prussian, who had thus sacrificed so n.o.ble a life for so worthless an object as a cowardly native. It had been well cared for by the kind hands of the missionaries and was protected by thorn bushes laid around it, but I fear it will be neglected now that the mission has fallen into unholy hands. It is a pitiable sight to witness the self-sacrifice that many n.o.ble men have made in these frightful countries without any good results. Near to the grave of Baron Harnier are those of several members of the mission, who have left their bones in this horrid land, while not one convert has been made from the mission of St. Croix.

The river divides into two branches, about five miles above this station, forming an island. Upon this is a fis.h.i.+ng-station of the natives; the native name of the spot is Pomone. The country is swampy and scantily covered with bushes and small trees, but no actual timber.

As usual, the entire country is dead flat; it abounds with elephants a few miles inland. Herr Morlang describes the whole of the White Nile traders as a mere colony of robbers, who pillage and shoot the natives at discretion. On the opposite side of the river there is a large neglected garden, belonging to the mission. Although the soil is extremely rich, neither grapes nor pomegranate will succeed; they bear fruit, but of a very acrid flavour. Dates blossom, but will not fruit.

Jan. 25th.--Started at 7 A.M. Course S.E.

Jan. 26th.--The Bohr tribe on the east bank. No wind. The current nearly three miles per hour. The river about a hundred and twenty yards wide in clear water. Marshes and flats, as usual. Thermometer throughout the journey, at 6 A.M., 68 degrees Fahr., and at noon 86 to 93 degrees Fahr.

Jan. 27th.--One day is a repet.i.tion of the preceding.

Jan. 28th.--Pa.s.sed two bivouacs of the Aliab tribe, with great herds of cattle on the west bank. The natives appeared to be friendly, dancing and gesticulating as the boats pa.s.sed. The White Nile tribe not only milk their cows, but they bleed their cattle periodically, and boil the blood for food. Driving a lance into a vein in the neck, they bleed the animal copiously, which operation is repeated about once a month.

Jan. 29th.--Pa.s.sed a mult.i.tude of cattle and natives on a spot on the right bank, in clouds of smoke as a "cha.s.se des moustiques." They make tumuli of dung, which are constantly on fire, fresh fuel being continually added, to drive away the mosquitoes. Around these heaps the cattle crowd in hundreds, living with the natives in the smoke. By degrees the heaps of ashes become about eight feet high; they are then used as sleeping-places and watch-stations by the natives, who, rubbing themselves all over with the ashes, have a ghastly and devilish appearance that is indescribable. The country is covered with old tumuli formed in this manner. A camp may contain twenty or thirty such, in addition to fresh heaps that are constantly burning. Fires of cow-dung are also made on the leveled tops of the old heaps, and bundles of green canes, about sixteen feet high, are planted on the summit; these wave in the breeze like a plume of ostrich feathers, and give shade to the people during the heat of the day.

JAN. 30TH.--Arrived at the "s.h.i.+r" tribe. The men are, as usual in these countries, armed with well-made ebony clubs, two lances, a bow (always strung), and a bundle of arrows; their hands are completely full of weapons; and they carry a neatly-made miniature stool slung upon their backs, in addition to an immense pipe. Thus a man carries all that be most values about his person. The females in this tribe are not absolutely naked; like those of the Kytch, they wear small lappets of tanned leather as broad as the hand; at the back of the belt, which supports this ap.r.o.n, is a tail which reaches to the lower portions of the thighs; this tail is formed of finely-cut strips of leather, and the costume has doubtless been the foundation for the report I had received from the Arabs, "that a tribe in Central Africa had tails like horses." The women carry their children very conveniently in a skin slung from their shoulders across the back, and secured by a thong round the waist; in this the young savage sits delightfully. The huts throughout all tribes are circular, with entrances so low that the natives creep both in and out upon their hands and knees. The men wear tufts of c.o.c.k's feathers on the crown of the head; and their favorite att.i.tude, when standing, is on one leg while leaning on a spear, the foot of the raised leg resting on the inside of the other knee. Their arrows are about three feet long, without feathers, and pointed with hard wood instead of iron, the metal being scarce among the s.h.i.+r tribe.

The most valuable article of barter for this tribe is the iron hoe generally used among the White Nile negroes. In form it is precisely similar to the "ace of spades." The finery most prized by the women are polished iron anklets, which they wear in such numbers that they reach nearly half-way up the calf of the leg; the tinkling of these rings is considered to be very enticing, but the sound reminds one of the clanking of convicts' fetters.

All the tribes of the White Nile have their harvest of the lotus seed.

There are two species of water-lily--the large white flower, and a small variety. The seed-pod of the white lotus is like an unblown artichoke, containing a number of light red grains equal in size to mustard-seed, but shaped like those of the poppy, and similar to them in flavour, being sweet and nutty. The ripe pods are collected and strung upon sharp-pointed reeds about four feet in length. When thus threaded they are formed into large bundles, and carried from the river to the villages, where they are dried in the sun, and stored for use. The seed is ground into flour, and made into a kind of porridge. The women of the s.h.i.+r tribe are very clever at manufacturing baskets and mats from the leaf of the dome palm. They also make girdles and necklaces of minute pieces of river mussel sh.e.l.ls threaded upon the hair of the giraffe's tail. This is a work of great time, and the effect is about equal to a string of mother-of-pearl b.u.t.tons.

Jan. 31st.--At 1.15 P.M. sighted Gebel Lardo, bearing S. 30 degrees west. This is the first mountain we have seen, and we are at last near our destination, Gondokoro. I observed to-day a common sand-piper sitting on the head of a hippopotamus; when he disappeared under water the bird skimmed over the surface, hovering near the spot until the animal reappeared, when he again settled.

Feb. 1st.--The character of the river has changed. The marshes have given place to dry ground; the banks are about four feet above the water-level, and well wooded; the country having the appearance of an orchard, and being thickly populated. The natives thronged to the boats, being astonished at the camels. At one village during the voyage the natives examined the donkeys with great curiosity, thinking that they were the oxen of our country, and that we were bringing them to exchange for ivory.

Feb. 2nd--The mountain Lardo is about twelve miles west of the river.

At daybreak we sighted the mountains near Gondokoro, bearing due south.

As yet I have seen no symptoms of hostility in this country. I cannot help, thinking that the conduct of the natives depends much upon that of the traveller. Arrived at Gondokoro. By astronomical observation I determined the lat.i.tude, 4 degrees 55 minutes North, Longitude 31 degrees 46 minutes East. Gondokoro is a great improvement upon the interminable marshes; the soil is firm and raised about twenty feet above the river level. Distant mountains relieve the eye accustomed to the dreary flats of the White Nile; and evergreen trees scattered over the face of the landscape, with neat little native villages beneath their shade, form a most inviting landing-place after a long and tedious voyage. This spot was formerly a mission-station. There remain to this day the ruins of the brick establishment and church, and the wreck of what was once a garden; groves of citron and lime-trees still exist, the only signs that an attempt at civilization has been made--"seed cast upon the wayside." There is no town. Gondokoro is merely a station of the ivory traders, occupied for about two months during the year, after which time it is deserted, when the annual boats return to Khartoum and the remaining expeditions depart for the interior. A few miserable gra.s.s huts are all that dignify the spot with a name. The climate is unhealthy and hot. The thermometer from 90 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit at noon in the shade.

I landed the animals from the boats in excellent condition all rejoicing in the freedom of open pasturage.

CHAPTER II.

BAD RECEPTION AT GONDOKORO

All were thankful that the river voyage was concluded; the tedium of the White Nile will have been partic.i.p.ated by the reader, upon whom I have inflicted the journal, as no other method of description could possibly convey an idea of the general desolation.

Having landed all my stores, and housed my corn in some granaries belonging to Koors.h.i.+d Aga, I took a receipt from him for the quant.i.ty, and gave him an order to deliver one-half from my depot to Speke and Grant, should they arrive at Gondokoro during my absence in the interior. I was under an apprehension that they might arrive by some route without my knowledge, while I should be penetrating south.

There were a great number of men at Gondokoro belonging to the various traders, who looked upon me with the greatest suspicion; they could not believe that simple travelling was my object, and they were shortly convinced that I was intent upon espionage in their nefarious ivory business and slave-hunting.

In conversing with the traders, and a.s.suring them that my object was entirely confined to a search for the Nile sources, and an inquiry for Speke and Grant, I heard a curious report that had been brought down by the natives from the interior, that at some great distance to the south there were two white men who had been for a long time prisoners of a sultan; and that these men had wonderful fireworks; that both had been very ill, and that one had died. It was in vain that I endeavoured to obtain some further clue to this exciting report. There was a rumour that some native had a piece of wood with marks upon it that had belonged to the white men; but upon inquiry I found that this account was only a report given by some distant tribe. Nevertheless, I attached great importance to the rumour, as there was no white man south of Gondokoro engaged in the ivory trade; therefore there was a strong probability that the report had some connexion with the existence of Speke and Grant. I had heard, when at Khartoum, that the most advanced trading station was about fifteen days' march from Gondokoro, and my plan of operations had always projected a direct advance to that station, where I had intended to leave all my heavy baggage in depot, and to proceed from thence as a "point de depart" to the south. I now understood that the party were expected to arrive at Gondokoro from that station with ivory in a few days, and I determined to wait for their arrival, and to return with them in company. Their ivory porters returning, might carry my baggage, and thus save the backs of my transport animals.

I accordingly amused myself at Gondokoro, exercising my horses in riding about the neighbourhood, and studying the place and people. The native dwellings are the perfection of cleanliness; the domicile of each family is surrounded by a hedge of the impenetrable euphorbia, and the interior of the enclosure generally consists of a yard neatly plastered with a cement of ashes, cow-dung, and sand. Upon this cleanly-swept surface are one or more huts surrounded by granaries of neat wicker-work, thatched, resting upon raised platforms. The huts have projecting roofs in order to afford a shade, and the entrance is usually about two feet high. When a member of the family dies he is buried in the yard; a few ox-horns and skulls are suspended on a pole above the spot, while the top of the pole is ornamented with a bunch of c.o.c.k's feathers. Every man carries his weapons, pipe, and stool, the whole (except the stool) being held between his legs when standing. These natives of Gondokoro are the Bari: the men are well grown, the women are not prepossessing, but the negro-type of thick lips and flat nose is wanting; their features are good, and the woolly hair alone denotes the trace of negro blood. They are tattooed upon the stomach, sides, and back, so closely, that it has the appearance of a broad belt of fish-scales, especially when they are rubbed with red ochre, which is the prevailing fas.h.i.+on. This pigment is made of a peculiar clay, rich in oxide of iron, which, when burnt, is reduced to powder, and then formed into lumps like pieces of soap; both s.e.xes anoint themselves with this ochre, formed into a paste by the admixture of grease, giving themselves the appearance of new red bricks.

The only hair upon their persons is a small tuft upon the crown of the head, in which they stick one or more feathers. The women are generally free from hair, their heads being shaved. They wear a neat little lappet, about six inches long, of beads, or of small iron rings, worked like a coat of mail, in lieu of a fig-leaf, and the usual tail of fine shreds of leather or twine, spun from indigenous cotton, pendant behind.

Both the lappet and tail are fastened on a belt which is worn round the loins, like those in the s.h.i.+r tribe; thus the toilette is completed at once. It would be highly useful, could they only wag their tails to whisk off the flies which are torments in this country.

The cattle are very small; the goats and sheep are quite Lilliputian, but they generally give three at a birth, and thus multiply quickly. The people of the country were formerly friendly, but the Khartoumers pillage and murder them at discretion in all directions; thus, in revenge, they will shoot a poisoned arrow at a stranger unless he is powerfully escorted. The effect of the poison used for the arrow-heads is very extraordinary. A man came to me for medical aid; five months ago he bad been wounded by a poisoned arrow in the leg, below the calf, and the entire foot had been eaten away by the action of the poison. The bone rotted through just above the ankle, and the foot dropped off. The most violent poison is the produce of the root of a tree, whose milky juice yields a resin that is smeared upon the arrow. It is brought from a great distance, from some country far west of Gondokoro. The juice of the species of euphorbia, common in these countries, is also used for poisoning arrows. Boiled to the consistence of tar, it is then smeared upon the blade. The action of the poison is to corrode the flesh, which loses its fiber, and drops away like jelly, after severe inflammation and swelling. The arrows are barbed with diabolical ingenuity; some are arranged with poisoned heads that fit into sockets; these detach from the arrow on an attempt to withdraw them; thus the barbed blade, thickly smeared with poison, remains in the wound, and before it can be cut out the poison is absorbed by the system. Fortunately the natives are bad archers. The bows are invariably made of the male bamboo, and are kept perpetually strung; they are exceedingly stiff, but not very elastic, and the arrows are devoid of feathers, being simple reeds or other light wood, about three feet long, and slightly k.n.o.bbed at the base as a hold for the finger and thumb; the string is never drawn with the two forefingers, as in most countries, but is simply pulled by holding the arrow between the middle joint of the forefinger and the thumb. A stiff bow drawn in this manner has very little power; accordingly the extreme range seldom exceeds a hundred and ten yards.

The Bari tribe are very hostile, and are considered to be about the worst of the White Nile. They have been so often defeated by the traders' parties in the immediate neighborhood of Gondokoro, that they are on their best behavior, while within half a mile of the station; but it is not at all uncommon to be asked for beads as a tax for the right of sitting under a shady tree, or for pa.s.sing through the country. The traders' people, in order to terrify them into submission, were in the habit of binding them, hands and feet, and carrying them to the edge of a cliff about thirty feet high, a little beyond the ruins of the old mission-house: beneath this cliff the river boils in a deep eddy; into this watery grave the victims were remorselessly hurled as food for crocodiles. It appeared that this punishment was dreaded by the natives more than the bullet or rope, and it was accordingly adopted by the trading parties.

Upon my arrival at Gondokoro I was looked upon by all these parties as a spy sent by the British Government. Whenever I approached the encampments of the various traders, I heard the clanking of fetters before I reached the station, as the slaves were being quickly driven into hiding-places to avoid inspection. They were chained by two rings secured round the ankles, and connected by three or four links. One of these traders was a Copt, the father of the American Consul at Khartoum; and, to my surprise, I saw the vessels full of brigands arrive at Gondokoro, with the American flag flying at the mast-head.

Gondokoro was a perfect h.e.l.l. It is utterly ignored by the Egyptian authorities, although well known to be a colony of cut-throats. Nothing would be easier than to send a few officers and two hundred men from Khartoum to form a military government, and thus impede the slave-trade; but a bribe from the traders to the authorities is sufficient to insure an uninterrupted asylum for any amount of villany. The camps were full of slaves, and the Bari natives a.s.sured me that there were large depots of slaves in the interior belonging to the traders that would be marched to Gondokoro for s.h.i.+pment to the Soudan a few hours after my departure.

I was the great stumbling-block to the trade, and my presence at Gondokoro was considered as an unwarrantable intrusion upon a locality sacred to slavery and iniquity. There were about six hundred of the traders' people at Gondokoro, whose time was pa.s.sed in drinking, quarrelling, and ill-treating the slaves. The greater number were in a constant state of intoxication, and when in such a state, it was their invariable custom to fire off their guns in the first direction prompted by their drunken instincts; thus, from morning till night, guns were popping in all quarters, and the bullets humming through the air sometimes close to our ears, and on more than one occasion they struck up the dust at my feet. Nothing was more probable than a ball through the head by ACCIDENT, which might have had the beneficial effect of ridding the traders from a spy. A boy was sitting upon the gunwale of one of the boats, when a bullet suddenly struck him in the head, shattering the skull to atoms. NO ONE HAD DONE IT. The body fell into the water, and the fragments of the skull were scattered on the deck.

After a few days' detention at Gondokoro, I saw unmistakeable signs of discontent among my men, who had evidently been tampered with by the different traders' parties. One evening several of the most disaffected came to me with a complaint that they had not enough meat, and that they must be allowed to make a razzia upon the cattle of the natives to procure some oxen. This demand being of course refused, they retired, muttering in an insolent manner their determination of stealing cattle with or without my permission. I said nothing at the time, but early on the following morning I ordered the drum to beat, and the men to fall in. I made them a short address, reminding them of the agreement made at Khartoum to follow me faithfully, and of the compact that had been entered into, that they were neither to indulge in slave-hunting nor in cattle-stealing. The only effect of my address was a great outbreak of insolence on the part of the ringleader of the previous evening. This fellow, named Eesur, was an Arab, and his impertinence was so violent, that I immediately ordered him twenty-five lashes, as an example to the others.

Upon the vakeel (Saati) advancing to seize him, there was a general mutiny. Many of the men threw down their guns and seized sticks, and rushed to the rescue of their tall ringleader. Saati was a little man, and was perfectly helpless. Here was an escort: these were the men upon whom I was to depend in hours of difficulty and danger on an expedition in unknown regions; these were the fellows that I had considered to be reduced "from wolves to lambs!"

I was determined not to be done, and to insist upon the punishment of the ringleader. I accordingly went towards him with the intention of seizing him; but he, being backed by upwards of forty men, had the impertinence to attack me, rus.h.i.+ng forward with a fury that was ridiculous. To stop his blow, and to knock him into the middle of the crowd, was not difficult; and after a rapid repet.i.tion of the dose, I disabled him, and seizing him by the throat, I called to my vakeel Saati for a rope to bind him, but in an instant I had a crowd of men upon me to rescue their leader. How the affair would have ended I cannot say; but as the scene lay within ten yards of my boat, my wife, who was ill with fever in the cabin, witnessed the whole affray, and seeing me surrounded, she rushed out, and in a few moments she was in the middle of the crowd, who at that time were endeavoring to rescue my prisoner.

Her sudden appearance had a curious effect, and calling upon several of the least mutinous to a.s.sist, she very pluckily made her way up to me.